What Does MLA Stand For?

What does MLA stand for? The full name

The three letters come straight from the group's name: Modern, Language, Association. The association was founded in 1883 to support the study of modern languages, such as English, French and Spanish, at a time when colleges focused mostly on Latin and Greek.

Today it holds a large yearly conference, publishes research journals and keeps the MLA Handbook up to date. The handbook is what made the letters famous with students. When the rules change in a new edition, teachers update their rubrics to match. Because you say it letter by letter, MLA is an initialism; read what is an acronym for more on these labels.

What MLA format looks like on a paper

A paper in MLA style usually follows these layout rules:

• One inch margins on all sides, with the whole paper double spaced.
• A readable font, such as Times New Roman, at 12 point.
• No title page. Instead, four lines at the top left: your name, the instructor's name, the course and the date.
• The title centered on the next line, in normal capitals, not bold or underlined.
• Your last name and the page number in the top right corner of every page.

How MLA citations work

MLA uses a short note in the sentence and a full entry at the end. The note in the sentence usually gives the author's last name and a page number in parentheses, with no comma between them: (Rivera 42). If you name the author in your sentence, the parentheses hold only the page: Rivera argues that small towns shaped the novel (42).

The Works Cited page lists every source in alphabetical order by the author's last name. Each entry follows a set pattern of core elements: author, title, the container it appears in (such as a magazine or a website), other contributors, version, number, publisher, date and location (a page range or a link). Entries use a hanging indent, so the second line of each one is pushed in.

MLA vs APA and other styles

The biggest difference is the date. APA puts the year up front because research ages quickly in the sciences. MLA cares more about where exactly a quote sits in a text, so it points to a page. If a teacher does not name a style, ask before you start.

MLA as a lawmaker's title

Outside the classroom, MLA often means Member of the Legislative Assembly. Several provinces in Canada and many states in India use this title for elected members of their regional legislatures. A news story might say a local MLA visited a school or voted on a budget.

The context makes the meaning clear. A rubric, a syllabus or a writing center handout means the citation style. A headline about elections, a riding or a state assembly means the elected official. US readers rarely see the second meaning, because American state lawmakers go by other titles.

Tips for getting MLA right

1. Collect the author, title, publisher and date for each source as you research, so the Works Cited list is easy later.
2. Check that every in-text citation has a matching entry at the end.
3. Keep the same font and spacing on the Works Cited page as in the essay.
4. Italicize the titles of whole works, like books, and put titles of short works, like articles, in quotation marks.
5. Follow your teacher's sheet if it differs from the handbook. The class rules come first.

For more letters on syllabi and report cards, see the school acronyms list, including ELA, the class where MLA papers are most common.