AVOIDING PLAGIARISM BY USING MLA STYLE GUIDE

The writers of ancient literature of oriental civilizations did not give reference in their texts. The concept of giving references in texts was not heard of in those times. However, even in present times also many researchers do not cite the references or quote sources consulted by them, which can be described as an act of plagiarism. Plagiarism is a serious offence where a writer merely copies the ideas of the original writers without acknowledging them. Proper citation of the sources consulted or quoted in the text can help in avoiding plagiarism students of literature must use MLA handbook for making their research work acceptable by the readers all over the world. When MLA style manual was published for the first time in 1951, it was of only 31 pages, whereas 8th edition of the manual has 146 pages. It has kept pace with the changing times and this article highlights the changes made in the 8th edition of the MLA style sheet.