According to the organization, their MLA style "has been widely adopted for classroom instruction and used worldwide by scholars, journal publishers, and academic and commercial presses".

The announcement also stated that the organization "is in the process of developing additional publications to address the professional needs of scholars.

[8] The first five editions, published between 1977 and 1999 were titled MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers, Theses, and Dissertations.

[8] Released in spring 2016, it changes the structure of the works cited list, most directly by adding abbreviations for volumes and issues (vol.

), not abbreviating words like "editor" or "translator", using URLs in most instances (though preferring DOI, as in APA), and not favoring the medium of publication.

While MLA Handbook is aimed at secondary and post-secondary students and their teachers, the intended audience of MLA Style Manual primarily consisted of graduate students, academic scholars, professors, professional writers, and editors.