Firstname Lastname

Dr. Miskec

ENGL XXX

14 March 2013

Center Title, Do Not Bold or Underline

This document was created by Kirby Rideout of Collin County Community College and modified by Dr. Miskec. This is a template for formatting a research paper using MLA format. An MLA formatted paper has one-inch margins all around. Each page has the page number in the upper right corner, beginning on the second page. The paper will be double-spaced throughout, with no extra space between sections or paragraphs. If your Word software adds an extra space between paragraphs by default, simply select the “Home” tab on the upper left side of the Word dashboard, then click on the little arrow in the bottom right side of the “Paragraph” tab, and check the “Don’t add space between paragraphs of the same style” box in the “Spacing” section. The entire paper, including the heading and title, needs to be in the same type and size of font. Times New Roman 12pt font is the required font and font size for Dr. Miskec’s class. Make sure that the essay is left aligned, not fully justified. One or two spaces between sentences is standard.

In the MLA format, you document your research in parenthetical citations. This allows you to “acknowledge your sources by keying brief parenthetical citations in your text to an alphabetical list of works that appears at the end of the paper” (Gibaldi 142). Notice that in this brief citation the period goes after the parenthesis. All subsequent quotations in this paragraph “can just be labeled with the page number if they are by the same author” (90). You will only use the author’s last name and the page number on which the quoted or paraphrased material is found. Even if it’s the first time an author is mentioned, if you use key information (author’s last name or the title of an unsigned work) in your text, do not repeat it in the parenthesis. For example, Gibaldi explains:

The information in your parenthetical references in the text must match the corresponding information in the entries in your list of works cited. For a typical works-cited-list entry, which begins with the name of the author (or editor, translator, or narrator), the parenthetical reference begins with the same name. . . . If the work is listed by title, use the title, shortened or in full. (238-239)

Notice how the long quote was set off by an extra one-inch margin rather than quotations marks, and in this case, the period goes before the parenthetical citation. Referencing information from a course chart, such as “text fears threats to childhood freedom” can be cited using my last name and the chart title (Miskec, “Pat/Prod” n. pag.). Though if you acknowledge the chart in the sentence, such as the “Adult Centered/Child Centered” chart, just like with an author’s name, you can skip announcing the work again (Miskec n. pag.). A book, movie, or TV show title should be listed in italics; chapter, chart, and episode titles are in quotation marks. It is also worth reminding you again that any phrase—a good rule of thumb is anything more than three words together—taken from any other source must have quotation marks around it. If you did not create the phrase then you must give the author credit using parenthetical citation.

After the last paragraph in a MLA style essay, force the document to begin a new page for the Works Cited page. The Works Cited page will have the same margin and page number format as the rest of the document. This page will also be double-spaced throughout with no extra space between entries. Items in a Works Cited page will be alphabetized by the first word of each entry (author’s last name or title of work). Each entry will use a hanging indent, in which lines after the first indent half an inch. Works Cited pages do not count toward your minimum page number. For more information, refer to chapters 5 and 6 of the MLA Handbook and Purdue University’s Online Writing Lab (OWL).


Works Cited

Gibaldi, Joseph. MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers. New York: MLA, 2003. Print.

Lastname, Firstname. Title of the Book. City of Publication: Publisher, Year. Print.

Lastname, Firstname. Title of the Book. Illust. Firstname LastName. City of Publication: Publisher, Year. Print.

Lastname, Firstname. “Title of the Article.” Name of the Scholarly Journal Volume.Issue (PubYear): first page-last page. Print.

Miskec, Jennifer M. "Adult Centered/Child Centered." Dr. Miskec's Webpage.Longwood University,
n.d. Web. Day Month YearofYourAccess.
- - - . "Pat/Prod." Dr. Miskec's Webpage.Longwood University, n.d. Web. Day Month
YearofYourAccess.