Abbreviations
MLA is specific about abbreviations in citations. You will probably
need to abbreviate months for any journal reference. Note that
May, June and July are not abbreviated.
Jan. - January
Feb. - February
Mar. - March
Apr. - April
May - May
June - June
July - July
Aug. - August
Sep., Sept. - September
Oct. - October
Nov. - November
Dec. - December
In works cited lists, shortened forms of publishers' names are
recommended. In general, omit articles (a, an and the)
and business abbreviations (Co., Corp., Inc. or Ltd.).
If the publisher's name includes the name of one person, cite
the surname only. (W.W. Norton would be simply Norton.)
If the publisher's name includes several names, cite only the
first of the surnames.
Examples:
- use Little for Little, Brown and Company, Inc.
- use ALA for The American Library Association
- use Cambridge UP for Cambridge University Press
Rules for Punctuating Titles of
Sources
Italicize titles of longer works :
- books
- periodicals
- databases
- full-length plays (usually three to five acts)
- movies or television series
- works of art--paintings, sculptures
- book-length poems
- major Web sites
Set in quotation marks titles of shorter works, not independently
published:
- chapters
- essays
- articles in periodicals
- short poems
- Web pages
- TV episodes
- one-act plays
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