The MLA Style Manual and Guide to Scholarly Publishing (2008) the third edition of The MLA Style Manual, was first published by the Modern Language Association of America in 1985. It was an academic style guide widely used in the United States, Canada, and other countries, providing guidelines for writing and documentation of research in the humanities, especially in English studies; the study of other modern languages and literatures, including comparative literature; literary criticism; media studies; cultural studies; and related disciplines (but not disciplines like history, philosophy, and theology, which follow The Chicago Manual of Style).