Why does mla exist

However, if you are writing a complex document such as a thesis or lengthy manuscript, or if you have detailed questions, you should consult the MLA Handbook 9th Edition , which you can usually find at your local library or in many bookstores.

The site includes resources for students and teachers as well as answers to frequently asked questions on MLA Style. Using MLA Style properly makes it easier for readers to navigate and comprehend a text through familiar cues that refer to sources and borrowed information.

Editors and instructors also encourage everyone to use the same format so there is consistency of style within a given field. Abiding by MLA's standards as a writer will allow you to:. Was this helpful? Yes 49 No Warning: Your browser has javascript disabled. Without javascript some functions will not work, including question submission via the form.

What is MLA format and why does it matter? Toggle menu visibility. Ask Another Question. It even invites the mixing of formats, provided that the result is clear and consistent. For instance, the fifteenth edition of The Chicago Manual of Style permits either footnotes or in-text citation styles; it provides information on in-text citation by page number like MLA style or by year of publication like APA style ; it even provides variations in footnote style, depending on whether or not the paper includes a full Bibliography at the end.

Because the primary advantages of using footnotes are simplicity and concision, this guide describes only one variation of Chicago style: shortened footnotes in a paper that gives a full Bibliography. What this means is that our examples of Chicago footnotes do not give full bibliographical information at the bottom of the page. Instead, our footnote examples give brief references that would be supplemented, at the end of the paper, with a full Bibliography. If your teacher tells you to use Chicago style, or footnotes, you should check to see if the shortened format is acceptable.

If you need to give the full citation, the format for each note is nearly identical to MLA format, except that a full footnote generally begins with the first name of the author. Note that the footnotes illustrated in this guide focus on publication information, giving only the data necessary for your reader to track down the source. But footnotes can also be used to comment on a source. Such footnotes are often referred to as discursive footnotes, and they are also used in MLA and APA style to add information about a source.

Often, professors will ask you to use the citation style most commonly used in that discipline. This gives you a taste of what it's like to be in that discipline! For more about different citation styles, see this list of citations styles by discipline from OWL. For more help, ask a librarian. Was this helpful? Yes 11 No Warning: Your browser has javascript disabled.