MLA Format Quick Reference Guide

Type & Formatting:

  • The entire paper (including page header, heading, title, and works cited) is in plain (not bold, italicized, or underlined) 12-point Times New Roman or Arial font (something easy to read).
  • The entire paper should be double-spaced.DO NOT ADD AN EXTRA SPACE BETWEEN PARAGRAPHS. If you have Word 2007, you will have to manually undo this.
  • The body of the paper should be left-aligned.

Page Header:

  • The header includes your last name and page number and appears in the top right hand corner of every page of the document. To insert a page header in Word:
  • Click VIEW and Header and Footer: The following box will appear.
  • Type your last name and press the # button
  • To align your Header correctly, press the Right Justify button

Heading:

  • Heading in upper left-hand corner in same 12-point, double-spaced font as rest of paper
  • Heading should include: Student name, Teacher Name, Class Name, and Date
  • Note the format of the date—MLA requires dates be written in the form: Number Month Year with NO COMMAS.

Title:

  • Title immediately follows heading, centeredin same 12-point font as rest of paper
  • Capitalize essential words (helping verbs, articles, and prepositions not at start of title are not capitalized)
  • Title should NOT be bold, italicized, all caps, or in quotes

In-Text Citations:

  • Parenthetical citations should follow every specific in your essayand should:
  • Include page number of cited material
  • Include author’s last name if you are citing more than one piece in your essay and you have not included author information within the sentence

  • Be placed after quotations or example in parentheses with end punctuation following citation

For example:

After Jem gets “his arm badly broken at the elbow,” Boo Radley visits the Finch home for the first time (3).

In To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee writes through the voice of Scout, “When he was nearly thirteen, my brother Jem got his arm badly broken at the elbow” (3).

If, however, the original sentence ends with other punctuation (an exclamation mark or question mark, for instance), the original punctuation will remain inside the quotation marks and you will use a period following the parentheses:

In To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee writes through the voice of Scout, “When he was nearly thirteen, my brother Jem got his arm badly broken at the elbow!” (3).

Works Cited:

  • Bibliographic information is given in a Works Cited list which should be formatted in the following ways:
  • The heading (Works Cited) should be centered on a new page
  • The list of references should follow without skipping spaces and should be aligned to the left of the page.
  • This is the format for referencing a book. Pay attention to the punctuation!

Author’s last name, Author’s first name. Title of Book. Place of Publication:

Publisher, Year Published.

*It should be noted that if publication information takes more than one line, the first line is NOT indented and each subsequent line is indented. This is called a hanging indent.

Example Paper: