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MLA Style Guide, 9th Edition: Optional Elements

This LibGuide reflects the changes to MLA style as directed by the MLA Handbook, Ninth Edition

Optional Elements (Works Cited)

Optional elements may be included if they are relevant to the source and/or your use of the source. Some optional elements are placed at the end of the Works Cited entry, while others are placed near a relevant core element. Please consult pages 50-53 of the MLA Handbook, Eighth Edition. 

Optional elements include:

  • Date of Original Publication
  • City of Publication
  • Total Number of Volumes:
    • 8 vols.
  • Series Name and Number:
    • Not italicized or in quotations.
    • Example: A Song of Ice and Fire 3.
  • Unexpected Type of Work:
    • Transcript. 
    • Address.
  • Information about a Prior Publication:
    • Originally published in Harper's Magazine, Jan. 2007, pp. 2-10.
  • Including the Number and Session of Congress for bills, reports, or resolutions from the United States Congress:
    • 107th Congress, 2nd Session, House Report 203.
  • Date of Access: 
    • Accessed 28 June 2016.