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If you use MLA style, then you should know about the significant changes in the new MLA Handbook, Eighth edition and its approach to citing sources. MLA has shifted from a fixed set of rules to a system based on general principles to use with any type of source. ZSR librarians have created a local guide to MLA Style to help you get started. To learn about containers and other new MLA citation concepts, attend one of the upcoming classes on “What’s New in the MLA Style Manual, Eighth Edition.” Notable changes from the seventh edition include:

  1. If a source has three or more authors, list only the first, followed by et al. (22). The writer has the flexibility to decide if a translator, performer, etc., should be emphasized and used in the “author” position while listing the actual author as an “other contributor.”
  2. Precede the pagination by p. or pp. in the Works Cited (46).
  3. City of publication is no longer listed except in special circumstances (51).
  4. Identify periodicals with vol. 35, no. 3 instead of 35.3 (39-40).
  5. Include the full date information (month, day or season) along with the year (45).
  6. When citing URLs, do not include http:// or https:// and do not use angle brackets (48, 110).
  7. The use of DOIs (Digital Object Identifiers) is encouraged (110).
  8. Citing the date a website was accessed is now optional (53).
  9. Formats (print, web, DVD, etc.) are no longer included.
  10. If an organization is both the author and publisher of a work, give the organization’s name only once, usually as the publisher (25).