MLA style specifies guidelines for formatting manuscripts and using the English language in writing. MLA style also provides writers with a system for referencing their sources through parenthetical citation in their essays and Works Cited pages.

Writers who properly use MLA also build their credibility by demonstrating accountability to their source material. Most importantly, the use of MLA style can protect writers from accusations of plagiarism, which is the purposeful or accidental uncredited use of source material by other writers.

If you are asked to use MLA format, be sure to consult the MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers (6th edition). Publishing scholars and graduate students should also consult the MLA Style Manual and Guide to Scholarly Publishing (2nd edition). The MLA Handbook is available in most writing labs and reference libraries; it is also widely available in bookstores, libraries, and at the MLA web site. See the Additional Resources section of this handout for a list of helpful books and sites about using MLA style.

Paper Format

The preparation of papers and manuscripts in MLA style is covered in chapter four of the MLA Handbook, and chapter four of the MLA Style Manual. Below are some basic guidelines for formatting a paper in MLA style.

General Guidelines

Type your paper on a computer and print it out on standard, white 8.5 x 11-inch paper,

Double-space the text of your paper, and use a legible font like Times New Roman or Courier.

Leave only one space after periods or other punctuation marks (unless otherwise instructed by your instructor).

Set the margins of your document to 1 inch on all sides. Indent the first line of a paragraph one half-inch (five spaces or press tab once) from the left margin.

Create a header that numbers all pages consecutively in the upper right-hand corner, one-half inch from the top and flush with the right margin. (Note: Your instructor may ask that you omit the number on your first page. Always follow your instructor’s guidelines.)

Use either italics or underlining throughout your essay for the titles of longer works and, only when absolutely necessary, providing emphasis.

If you have any endnotes, include them on a separate page before your Works Cited page.

Formatting the First Page of Your Paper

Do not make a title page for your paper unless specifically requested.

In the upper left-hand corner of the first page, list your name, your instructor’s name, the course, and the date. Again, be sure to use double-spaced text.

Double space again and center the title. Don’t underline your title or put it in quotation marks; write the title in Title Case, not in all capital letters.

Use quotation marks and underlining or italics when referring to other works in your title, just as you would in your text, e.g.,

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas as Morality Play

Human Weariness in “After Apple Picking”

Double space between the title and the first line of the text.

Create a header in the upper right-hand corner that includes your last name, followed by a space with a page number; number all pages consecutively with Arabic numerals (1, 2, 3, 4, etc.), one-half inch from the top and flush with the right margin. (Note: Your instructor or other readers may ask that you omit last name/page number header on your first page. Always follow their guidelines.)

MLA format – means that you will have to tell WHERE you got your information from – citing to be exact. In the body of your paper you will refer to your cited part (the part that you got your information from) as the last name of the author and the year. So it would look like this (Smith, 2006) Now, this sounds pretty easy except you have to have a bibliography to back it up – that means in the end of your paper you will have the word Bibliography and underneath you will list your sources in alphabetical order, last name.

Better yet, do a Google thing on this if you are really in doubt. But hopefully you will get the paper done with just this info.

Hope it helped.

The MLA suggests that, when creating a document on a computer, the writer try to maintain a series of guidelines that make it easier for people to read a composition without causing the style to distract from the content.

Choose Times New Roman, 12-point font.

All margins should be set to 1 inch.

Align text to the left and do not justify. Center titles.

Double space throughout.

Put one space after non-period punctuation marks.

Turn off your word processor’s automatic hyphenation feature.

Turn off your word processor’s automatic hyperlink feature (URLs on your works cited page should neither be underlined nor hyperlinked).

Website addresses should be placed between angle brackets to set them apart from the rest of the text.

Print on only one side of each piece of paper.

Although underlining is rendered in print through italicization, MLA style recommends that writers of research papers and scholars preparing manuscripts for publication by presses use underlining, unless directed that italicization is permissible or preferred.[3]

In addition to these general format guidelines, MLA has a specific format for labeling papers for a class. It dictates that one must put the following items left justified above the first paragraph in the following order:

Student’s whole name – Ex. Jane/John Doe

Professor’s name – Ex. Mr./Ms./Mrs./Professor Jones

Class/ section – Ex. English 101-05

Date (day, month, year) – Ex. 6 May 2007

“A research paper does not need a title page,” according to the Handbook.[4]

http://www.ccc.commnet.edu/mla/index.shtml

http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/557/01/

good luck.