MLA Footnotes

joypalacios

I am new to Zotero (switching from Endnote) and I have not yet been able to figure out how to generate an MLA-style footnote in Word 2007. Is this possible? I keep getting in-text citation format instead.

Thank you for any help you can provide.

adamsmith

MLA is usually not a footnoted style - if you can link to a guide of how footnotes in MLA should look that would most likely be easy to do, though.

joypalacios

Thank you for your quick response. Here is a link to a PDF that has a fairly complete explanation for the MLA's footnote and endnote formats.

http://www.utoledo.edu/library/help/guides/docs/MLAstyle.pdf

Thank you for your help.

TabletFreak

I second this request.

There are papers that require footnotes instead of endnotes in the MLA format.

Here is a link to a page that explains it quite well: http://www.aresearchguide.com/7footnot.html

tuxedoknight

+1

I would very much like to see this style implemented. The URL that TabletFreak referenced above looks like a very good resource.

I tried my hand at coding it myself but failed miserably.

Anyone able to help, please?

anupambasu

Has this been implemented? While MLA is not a footnoted style it does allow for footnotes and Zotero gets the formatting wrong if citations are inserted in footnotes.

fbennett

How great is the divergence from the endnote MLA style, and if it's in the ballpark, what are the specific differences? If the footnoted style is very different, you'll need to either build the style yourself, or find someone who knows (or can learn) the style, and knows (or can learn) CSL. If the differences are relatively minor, and you're willing to do the necessary tweaks yourself, the forums are a good source of advice.

anupambasu

What I am trying to achieve doesn't seem to work with either footnotes or endnotes in NeoOffice. For example, if I insert a footnote/endnote in the body, the note should read something like the following:

1. For a detailed discussion of early modern jests, see Paul M Zall, _A Nest of Ninnies, and Other English Jestbooks of the Seventeenth Century_ (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1970).

But it comes out looking like the following:

1. For a detailed discussion of early modern jests see (Zall)

Zotero seems to treat citations in notes (either endnote or footnote) simply as if they were in the body of the text, but the MLA guide specifies that citations in notes should be full citations - much like the Chicago style.

Thanks for any help sorting this issue.

adamsmith

MLA - footnotes is a different style from MLA. Much like Chicago author-date and Chicago full-note.
And no, it's not been done yet and would entail more work than I can do at the moment, sorry!

Edit: If someone wants to do this, MLA-notes are quite similar to Chicago notes.

fbennett

@anupambasu,

As adamsmith notes, Zotero/CSL will support either in-text references (your first example), or footnote/endnote references (your second example), but not both together in the same document. The reference format is a property of the style itself, and (as you have indicated) it does not change depending on where the reference is inserted in the document. That's expected behavior: you will need the create a new style separately for this.

adamsmith

I also think that anupambasu is wrong about this.
If you're using in-text MLA references in general, you should use the same format in notes. See page 6 of the UToledo link above.
MLA has a separate footnote format, as described (and linked to) by the OP.

anupambasu

Okay - I understand that MLA footnotes might be a different style. But this raises another problem. For a bibliographic note, the correct format then seems to be the following (according to the document adamsmith cites, and also MLA Handbook, 7th ed, p 231):

1. For a detailed discussion of early modern jests see Zall.

Or maybe

1. For a detailed discussion of early modern jests see Zall 3-15.

But I can't get rid of the brackets in Zotero. What I get is:

1. For a detailed discussion of early modern jests see (Zall).

Is this formatting for notes not supported or am I just not configuring something right in Zotero. Thanks.

adamsmith

That's at least not trivial - you can try using suppress author in the plugin (and writing out Zall in Word), which would then insert an invisible citation, I think. That's not ideal, but should work.

adamsmith

OK, there is now an MLA (Notes) style in the repository.
Note that this answers the request of the orignal poster, it is completely unrelated to anupambasu's question/concern.

Also note that per the 7th edition of the MLA manual, this style does not longer exist - as it was requested multiple times I have based it on the 6th edition, but you should be aware that you're - by definition - using an outdated style. The style is relatively similar to the Chicago Manual of Style, which I would consider a preferable alternative whenever its permitted.

Anyway, with that in mind, the style is up - it's a first attempt, which should get most things right, but please do report back if you find problems.