Steps for Formatting an MLA Report
Purpose:
MLA reports are one of the most commonly formatted reports in colleges and universities. These steps explain how to type a new report in MLA format. If you are using these steps to format text that you have already written, you may need to highlight the text to be reformatted before applying the necessary steps.
Directions:
1. Set your Font Style to Times New Roman.
2. Adjust your Font Size to 12.
3. Set your Margins to 1” on all sides; Top, Bottom, Left & Right
a. Page Layout Tab
b. Page Setup Group
c. Margins Button
d. Select Normal 1” Top, Bottom, Left & Right
3. Set your Line Spacing to Double
a. Home Tab
b. Paragraph Group
c. Select the Line and Paragraph Spacing Button
d. Click on Line Spacing Options
e. Change Line spacing to Double.
f. Set the Before and After values in the Spacing section to 0 pt.
4. Insert your Page Numbers
a. Insert Tab
b. Header & Footer Group
c. Page Number Button
d. Top of Page
e. Select “Plain Number 3”
f. Double click on your page number one to open your Header, click your Right Align icon and type your last name
g. Don’t forget to change the font and size.
h. Close your Header Footer Window
5. Report Heading in the Top Left Corner of the page, each item on a new line (Not in the Header)
a. Your Name (first name and last name)
b. Teachers Name
c. Course
d. Date: Format dd Month yyyy (Make sure you spell out the Month)
6. Title
a. Center Align the title of the report
b. The body of the report follows the title, without any blank lines between. The body of the report is left justified.
7. Paragraphs
a. At the start of a new paragraph, press the Tab key once to indent the first line of the paragraph.
b. When typing new paragraphs, do not click your Enter key until you get to the end of a paragraph - let Word decide when to move to a new line.
c. Do not have any blank lines between your paragraphs.
d. At the end of your last paragraph set your Page Break (next step)
8. Page Break (Insert a page break, to start a new page for the Works Cited Page)
a. Place your cursor at the end of your last paragraph, and click Enter one time. Your cursor needs to be on a new line all by itself.
b. Insert on the Menu Bar
c. Page Break
9. Works Cited Page – gives credit and location for your work. Must start on a new page.
a. Center Align the title Works Cited
b. References are left aligned
c. Set your Hanging Indent (next step)
10. Set your Hanging Indent
a. Home tab
b. Paragraph section, click the box with the arrow in the bottom right corner of the paragraph section.
c. Indents and Spacing Tab
d. In the Indentation Section, see the Special Box.
e. Click the down arrow and select Hanging
f. In the By area, use the areas to set the value to 0.5
g. Click Ok when done.
11. Typing your References
a. Press Enter one time at the End of each Reference (not at the end of each line)
12. Organizing your References into Alphabetical Order
a. Highlight all of your References (DO NOT highlight the title Works Cited)
b. Home tab
c. Sort is found in the Paragraph section, in the top row of icons.
d. Sort by: Paragraphs
e. Type: Text
f. Ascending Order, OK
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