Examples of special cases for using hyphens (p, 881)

There are a number of special cases involving the use of hyphens, particularly in academic writing and with the mechanics of citing sources. Some of these are as follows:

Use a hyphen to join nouns that are coequal, such as singer-songwriter or poet-playwright. Make sure, however, that the first term doesn't merely modify the second (e.g., music lover).

Jeff and Jenny are the finest scholar-athletes this university has seen.

Today, we welcome you to our gathering of teacher-librarians.

A hyphen is used to separate two numbers that create a range, usually in works cited lists but also in text. In MLA style, double-digit numbers are given in full (79-94) while numbers larger than 99 use only the final two digits unless it would create confusion (321-56, 1002-12, but 378-402). In APA style, full numbers are always used.

Davis, Julie. "When Grandpa Went Away." Survivor's Journal 11 (1994): 543-61.
During the period 1908-12, Ford continued to perfect his automobiles.

You might cite a volume in a multi-volume collection that was published over several years. In that case, the years over which the collection was published are summed up in a range of inclusive numbers that follow the same rules as above.

Rufus, Jaylo. All the Ways to Cook an Egg. Vol. 3. New York: Neverever, 1993. 5 vols. 1990-95.

Often a big publisher will have several imprints, or divisions, for the various types of work they publish. To cite such a publication, include both the imprint and the publisher, separated by a hyphen. In the following example, Waycool is the imprint and Stolid is the publisher that owns the imprint.

Jupiter, Hale. How to Hop a Bus. New York: Waycool-Stolid, 2000.

If there is more than one work by a given author in your works cited list, MLA style is to use the name for the first entry and to begin other entries with three hyphens (- - -) instead of the name.

Cassidy, Butch. How to be a Real Bad Outlaw. New York: Criminal Books, 1930.
- - -. How to be a Really, Really Bad Outlaw. New York: Criminal Books, 1931.