Research Strategies

What has changed since MLA 8th edition?   

• Not much! MLA 9th edition is an expansion of the 8th edition with new sections on grammar, writing advice, mindful of inclusive language, expansion endnotes & footnotes, and new guidelines for annotated bibliographies.
• URLs:
• Continue: if a DOI is available it is preferred over a URL or permalink.
• DOIs should now include the http:// and https://
• For general websites, copy and paste from your browser, some will include the www. and some will not. Either is acceptable.
• Full URLs are recommended but optional especially for long URLs that are three or more lines long.
• You can shorten URLs to the general site if it is excessively long.
• Don’t use shortening services such as bit.ly.
• Remember, when getting a URL from a library database where you have to log in and is behind a closed paywall; use the permalink or stable URL provided by the database. Do not copy and paste the browser URL.  
• If an article is issued by season (spring, summer, fall, winter) the first letter is now lower case.
• The appendix includes over 30 pages of citation examples listed by publication format.
• Shortening University Press publisher name. If the publisher includes University Press, abbreviate to UP. Example, Cambridge University Press would be shortened to Cambridge UP.

MLA Style Center: What's New with the Ninth Edition includes information on formatting your research paper, citation practice template, FAQs, sample papers, and quick guide. They also provide citation guideline for common titles of online works.

Book

Ontiveros, Randy J. In the Spirit of a New People: The Cultural Politics of the Chicano Movement. New York UP, 2014.

This book analyzes the journalism, visual arts, theater, and novels of the Chicano movement from 1960 to the present as articulations of personal and collective values. Chapter 3 grounds the theater of El Teatro Campesino in the labor and immigrant organizing of the period, while Chapter 4 situates Sandra Cisneros’s novel Caramelo in the struggles of Chicana feminists to be heard in the traditional and nationalist elements of the Chicano movement. Ontiveros provides a powerful and illuminating historical context for the literary and political texts of the movement.

Journal article

Alvarez, Nadia, and Jack Mearns. “The Benefits of Writing and Performing in the Spoken Word Poetry Community.” The Arts in Psychotherapy, vol. 41, no. 3, July 2014, pp. 263-268. ScienceDirect, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aip.2014.03.004.

Spoken word poetry is distinctive because it is written to be performed out loud, in person, by the poet. The ten poets interviewed by these authors describe “a reciprocal relationship between the audience and the poet” created by that practice of performance. To build community, spoken word poets keep metaphor and diction relatively simple and accessible. Richness is instead built through fragmented stories that coalesce into emotional narratives about personal and community concerns.  This understanding of poets’ intentions illuminates their recorded performances.

*Note, citations have a .5 hanging indent and the annotations have a 1 inch indent. 

Works Cited Page  

1. Highlight the citations with your cursor. 
2. Use the ruler at the top and drag it over to .5 margin line 
3. Now grab the top piece of the ruler and bring it back to the margin line. 

OR 

1. Highlight the citations with your cursor. 
2. Right click 
3. Select paragraph 
4. Under Indention, select special and Hanging 

Annotated Bibliography MLA 9th edition format   

1. Highlight the citation with your cursor. 
2. Use the ruler at the top and drag it over to .5 margin line 
3. Now grab the top piece of the ruler and bring it back to the margin line.
4. Now go to your annotation and move the ruler to the 1 inch margin line.