What is MLA Style?
MLA Style is an abbreviation for the Modern Language Association Style. It's a way of citing research and tackling grammatical issues for people writing within the liberal arts and humanities.
History of MLA Style
If you've ever felt like MLA and APA styles are rival citation formats, you're actually kind of right. MLA Style was created in 1931, just two years after APA Style. MLA members Carleton Brown and Cyril Arthur Peerenboom invented the style to create a consistent look and, more importantly, consistent grammatical and citation rules for the scholarly journal the association published. MLA had a few bugs to work out in its early days, such as choosing to use in-text citations instead of footnotes. Now in its eighth edition, the style has evolved into a helpful, world-renowned citation method for writers of all experience levels.
Using MLA Style
The style guide's parent organization, the MLA, shares the ins and outs of MLA citations on its website. The MLA Style Center offers free resources, such as citation quick guides, a FAQs section, style blogs, and even a formatting template to help you set your paper up the right way. You can also check out Purdue University's Online Writing Lab (Purdue OWL) for MLA formatting and citation guidelines and helpful video tutorials.