Should the job title be spelled “dietitian” or “dietician”?¹ Is the tomato a fruit or a vegetable?² When does obesity become morbid? However, everyone does agree that forcing children to eat Brussels sprouts is immoral. The note(s) will show up as a superscript number in your text:ĭietitians are still divided on some key questions. Whichever option you choose, don’t mix and match. Then go to the References panel in MS Word and insert either a footnote or endnote. To add a note, place your cursor in the text (typically at the end of a sentence or unit of thought). You can use notes for all kinds of reasons, including explaining what edition of a text you used, listing additional citations when there are a lot of sources, or simply providing more information. However, sometimes a note may be helpful to provide some information without adding a digression or interrupting the flow of the argument. After all, the whole point is to cite your source in the body of the text. The MLA Handbook (9th ed.) discourages extensive use of footnotes and endnotes. = and so forth (from the Latin et cetera)įor more information on abbreviations, see Appendix 1 of the MLA Handbook (9th ed.). = and others (from the Latin et alii)Įtc.

= for example (from the Latin exempli gratia)Įt al. Here’s a list of other abbreviations used in MLA citations:Į.g. MonthsĪny months longer than four letters can be abbreviated: An exception would be mph (miles per hour), which does not need extra periods. Lowercase abbreviations of multiple words may contain extra periods: Lowercase abbreviations usually end in periods: You’ll find though that the spaces between initials are often omitted, as anyone researching G.I.

However, for people’s initials you can add periods and spaces unless the entire name is abbreviated: Punctuating AbbreviationsĪbbreviations that consist mostly of capital letters don’t need periods or spaces: While abbreviations are rare in academic prose, they are perfectly common in citations. All Citations BooksĪrticle with unusual page numbering Electronic Sources Scan the list for the type of citation you need and click on the link to find detailed instructions. Welcome to our quick guide for citing sources following the guidelines set out in the MLA Handbook (8th ed.).

Multivolume work endnote example