‘Difference between MLA Handbook of the 8th and the 9th Edition’

 

Paper-1: Assignment

 

 Research Scholar Name: Gohil Namrata Rasikbhai

Assignment topic: ‘Difference between MLA Handbook of the 8^th and the 9^th Edition’

Guide: Dr. M. B. Gaijan Sir

Ph.D. Registration No.: 1929 (16th May 2019)

Assignment Submitted to: The Dept. of English-MKBU

M.K. Bhavnagar University, Bhavnagar-Gujarat (India).

Mail ID: gohilnamrata1992@gmail.com

Introduction:

     Students, teachers, professors, and anyone who works with words will want to know about the updates offered in the new MLA 9 Handbook, which was released in April 2021. The ninth edition builds on the Modern Language Association’s long-standing authority on source documentation guidelines and continues MLA’s dedication to promoting information and digital literacy, which are crucial in today’s world. With the updated guidance of MLA 9, you will learn how to accurately and informatively cite everything from novels to song lyrics to dissertations. The MLA Handbook is the definitive resource for writers at a range of levels and positions, but not everyone has the time or means to access and read the new edition in its entirety. Here you will find a summary of what you need to know about the latest writing and citation guidelines from the professionals at the Modern Language Association and how this edition differs from the eighth.

     What is MLA Style?

     Each academic discipline has its own rules for presenting research and citing ideas and words borrowed from other writers and researchers’ courses in English and the humanities use the modern language Association style and its rules.

•        In Simple way, It ensures all writers follow the same format, use of language, quotation, and documentation of sources. The three main elements are:

Overview of the MLA 9 handbook:

     The MLA 9 Handbook contains significantly more content than its predecessor, the eighth edition, which was released in April 2016. MLA 8 has 146 pages, whereas MLA 9 has 367. The increased length is explained by the following added chapters on:

 The new edition has also added 142 visuals (as compared to MLA 8’s 24) across most chapters, as well as expanding the following pre-existing sections:

• Information on each element of a citation
• Punctuation guidelines
• Plagiarism guidelines

     Additionally, MLA 9 offers guidance on the following subjects, which were missing from previous handbooks:

• Annotated bibliographies
• Citing social media
• Citing works in apps and databases
• 
  
• Citing sources:

       The Modern Language Association is perhaps best known for its guidance on citations. A citation is simply a reference to someone else’s information used in a work, and that information can be anything from a YouTube video to a dictionary. Citations are how one gives credit to the owner of the information they are using. Failing to cite your sources, or failure to cite them properly, is considered plagiarism.

     MLA offers in-depth guidance on how to cite your sources properly. There are two primary ways to cite: in-text and a Works Cited list. MLA 9 provides ample guidance on both, as well as a total of 333 sample citations (quite a jump from MLA 8’s 164).

Below is the updated guidance MLA 9 offers for each kind of citation.

 Major Changes in the 9th Edition:

     While the rest of this overview will go into more detail regarding individual changes in this edition, the major changes are as follows:

• More guidance on how to use MLA core elements to create a Works Cited list by explaining the definition of each element in different types of documents (it will not always be literal), where to find each element, and how to style it. The MLA 9 was designed so that the core element strategy will become even more accessible through more examples and explanations, such as how to use notes, websites, interviews, and YouTube videos. 
• A deeper dive into in-text citations, a category many users expressed struggles with.
• Reintroduction of MLA guidance on research papers, absent in MLA 8, with expanded instructions.
• A new chapter on inclusive language.
• Expanded guidelines on grammar mechanics.

v Research Projects:

     After a brief, 1-edition reprieve, MLA 9 has reintroduced their guidelines for formatting a research paper. General formatting guidance has remained consistent from MLA 7 while this edition expands upon table, illustration, and list formatting. 

v Grammar and Mechanics:

     Updates have been provided on spelling, punctuation, capitalization, and use of italics in prose. MLA 9 confirms that various spellings are acceptable but must be used consistently, except in quotations from another text. It also provides guidance on using plurals correctly. It provides in-depth examples of the correct and incorrect uses of commas, colons, dashes and parentheses, hyphens, apostrophes, and slashes. The chapter also asserts the use of italics for emphasis, word references, letters referred to as letters, and foreign words. Finally, MLA provides extensive examples of how to correctly format names of persons, organizations or groups, titles of works, and numbers into your writing. 

v Inclusive Language:

     This new chapter on inclusive language recommends focusing on relevance, precision, respectfulness, thoughtfulness, and awareness of exclusionary pronouns, judgement, and offensive terms. Through these general principles, writers are encouraged to think critically about their language, contexts, and audiences. 

v Plagiarism Guidance:

     This section focuses on recognizing and avoiding plagiarism through quoting, paraphrasing, and identifying when documentation is optional. It expands beyond common knowledge as a reason for omitting documentation and introduces passing mentions, allusions, and epigraphs. 

v Works Cited Page:

     Works Cited guidance is one of the most widely-used elements of the MLA Handbook. Appropriately, this section features the most updates, responsive to users seeking more guidance, details, and examples on the aforementioned MLA 8 overhaul that introduced the core element template. Consequently, each element is defined, including the range of situations it applies to. There is also guidance on how to find information, such as “publication” in a variety of sources. Finally, more advice is given on how to style details of these elements in a Works Cited. 

A)How to cite social media content:

     Whereas MLA 8 advised using a social media user’s username as the author’s name, MLA 9 advises using the author’s real name or account name as the author’s name in citations. If the user’s name is different from their username, you may include the username in brackets.

MLA 9 examples:

Eilish, Billie [@billieeilish]. “TIME 100.” Instagram, 15 Sep. 2021, https://www.instagram.com/p/CT2PD92pa6e/.

Biden, Joe. “I’ve set a course for the U.S. to achieve 100% clean electricity by 2035, and to reach net-zero emissions economy-wide by 2050…” Twitter, 15 Sep. 2021, https://twitter.com/POTUS/status/1438278944692842503?s=20.

MLA 8 examples:

@billieeilish (Billie Eilish). “TIME 100.” Instagram, 15 Sep. 2021, https://www.instagram.com/p/CT2PD92pa6e/.

@POTUS (Joe Biden). “I’ve set a course for the U.S. to achieve 100% clean electricity by 2035, and to reach net-zero emissions economy-wide by 2050…” Twitter, 15 Apr. 2021, https://twitter.com/POTUS/status/1438278944692842503?s=20.

B) Truncating URLS in citations:

URLs can get lengthy and can become cumbersome in citations. MLA 9 advises shortening URLs that run over three full lines. Omit “http://” and “https://,” but the host site should always remain. MLA advises against using URL-shortening websites like tinyurl.com.

MLA 9 example:

https://www.jstor.org/stable/26659913

MLA 8 example:

https://www.jstor.org/stable/26659913?Search=yes&resultItemClick=true&searchText=asteroids&searchUri=%2Faction%2FdoBasicSearch%3FQuery%3Dasteroids%26acc%3Doff%26wc%3Don%26fc%3Doff%26group%3Dnone%26refreqid%3Dsearch%253A2d76cacb22f389e6c62ca90f68881076&ab_segments=0%2FSYC-6061%2Fcontrol&refreqid=fastly-default%3Afe0951296fd808e357f1ed81a8d281cf&seq=1#metadata_info_tab_content

C)Abbreviation of academic press names

     Like MLA 8, MLA 9 advises that academic presses/publishers with the words “university” and “press” (in any language) can be abbreviated. However, if the word “university” is not in the publisher’s name, the word “press” should still be spelled out.

D)Formatting pseudonyms

     MLA 9 has expanded guidance on citing authors with pseudonyms. Author pseudonyms should now be formatted with square brackets [ ] rather than parentheses (the former edition’s requirement).

MLA 9 examples:

J.K. Rowling [Robert Galbraith]

MLA 8 examples:

J.K. Rowling (Robert Galbraith)

Added Guidance on Core Template Elements:

v Author: how to cite pseudonyms, name changes, and stage names; how to cite works by the same author published under different names; and how to style the names of authors of government publications.

v Title of source: how to provide a description instead of a title; how to effectively and appropriately shorten a title; how to list titled and untitled front and back information, such as introduction, foreword, and afterword; and how to use mechanics to correctly style titles of various sources including website containers, apps, and databases. 

v Contributor (formerly “Other Contributors”): how to distinguish between key and other contributors; and how to document a source with multiple, same-role contributors. 

v  Versions: how to identify “version” is various types of works including e-books.

v   Number: how to find “number” in various works such as books, print journals, database articles, PDF journal articles, television shows, and podcasts; how to style numbers through form (spelled out, numerals, numbers) and mechanics within the Works Cited page.

v Publisher: how to identify what constitutes a publisher; how to list governmental agencies and nongovernmental organizations; and how to abbreviate publishers’ names.

v   Publication Date: how to identify what constitutes non-traditional date types, such as personal letters, revisions of online works, attendance of live events, and the label “forthcoming” for works yet to be published; dictates to lowercase season with publication date, for example, fall, 2021. 

v   Location: how to find location in print, online, unique works viewed or heard firsthand, and physical media other than print works; it also makes URLs optional.

    Supplemental Elements:

Beyond the core elements are supplemental elements, previously titled “Optional Elements.” The change in name reflects the fact that different circumstances will dictate whether or not these elements are necessary for readers.

    In-Text Citations:

     While the guidance regarding in-text citation has not changed, the MLA 9’s adjusted approach seeks to reduce the confusion about in-text citations. This chapter explains the need for unambiguous, consistent references to the Works Cited. It also expands on how to style parenthetical citations with quotation marks. A new section, “When Author and Title are not Enough,” helps users navigate works when an author has more than one work of the same title. Finally, expanded guidance on subheads, multiple works, referencing items such as symbols or figure numbers, and quoting the same passage multiple times has been added. 

ü  For Examples:

1)Citation in prose:

     MLA now uses the term “citation in prose,” a type of citation that is also known as a narrative citation. This is the second type of in-text citation, along with parenthetical citations. Citations in prose use the author’s name in the text while the page number is cited parenthetically at the end of the sentence.

Here is an example of the same in-text citation, first cited parenthetically and second cited in prose:

Parenthetical citation example:

“Based on this evidence, we know that human life would not be sustainable on Mars.” (M. Rogers 508).

Citation in prose example:

Mary Rogers proved that human life would not be sustainable on Mars based on her peer-reviewed evidence (220).

2)How to cite titles with quotation marks

When citing sources in-text without an author, include the source’s title in the in-text citation. This can get tricky when there is a quotation in the title that is already in quotation marks. In that case, put double quotation marks around the whole source title and use single quotation marks around the quote within the title.

Original title example:

“With Great Responsibility “: What it Means to be a Leader

Parenthetical citation example:

(“‘With Great Responsibility” 45)

3)Include the source title in in-text citations

The source title must be included in the in-text citation. This can be done in three ways:

Examples:

• Rich writes in Eco-tography that, “Digital photography is more eco-friendly than traditional photography” (113).
• Rich writes, “Digital photography is more eco-friendly than traditional photography” (Eco-tography 119).
• Rich posits that, “Digital photography is more eco-friendly than traditional photography” (Burman, Eco-tography 119).

Notes

This new section explains when and how to use notes to provide commentary or additional information. It also explains where and how to place notes in text. 

Annotated Bibliographies

A section has been added that offers guidance for annotated bibliographies. Annotations are succinct descriptions and/or evaluations of a source. Sources should be styled no differently from a list of works cited. However, annotations should be appended at the end of an entry, with one-inch indentations from where the entry begins. Annotations may be written as concise phrases or complete sentences and typically do not exceed one paragraph.

Takeaways

This update includes fewer large overhauls to the methods of MLA 8. MLA 9 instead focuses on providing specificities and examples to each element. This version continues giving writers freedom to judge the appropriate information needed for their specific projects while adding more guidance for readers looking for it. Through MLA 9, users will better understand the following:

1)     What the core elements look like in different types of works, both traditional and non-traditional.

2)     How to use in-text citations effectively.

3)     How to be conscious of the effect on various audiences of gender-specific terms, stereotyped language, people-first language, pronouns, and capitalization.

4)     What does and does not constitute plagiarism.

5)     How to format a research paper.

6)     How to correctly use grammar mechanics.

 

Conclusion:

The Handbook of 9^th edition is very bulky than previous editions. But it gives unique knowledge in comparison with 8^th edition which I try to describe. The 9^th edition enhances the knowledge of 8^th edition which describe here. It is very helpful to research scholars to cite their works in depth way. This work of the assignment just gives the basic knowledge of difference between 8^th and 9^th edition. In short, it has a big grammar section that it didn’t have before this book of 9^th edition is like twice as large as the 8^th. It gives writing advice inclusive papers in our academic paper, endnotes, foot notes, and annotated bibliographies. The 9^th edition focuses on containers because it can be book, You Tube channel, Social media, Cite T.V. episode which hosted in YouTube Channel etc.