Jerz > Writing > Academic
[ Argument | Title | Thesis | Blueprint | Pro/Con | Quoting | MLA Format ]
(View a Google Doc template for an MLA Style paper.)
0.1) If your instructor has asked you to submit a paper in MLA style, that means you’ll be expected to follow certain conventions that will affect your grade. This document will show you how to format your essay in MLA style.
0.2) If you are still getting started on your essay, you might instead see my handouts on writing a short research paper, coming up with a good thesis statement, and using quotations in the body of your paper.
For the most complete information, check your campus library or writing center for the MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers, 8th ed.
Your word processor comes with default settings (margin, line height, paragraph spacing, and typeface) that will likely need adjustment. For MLA style, you need:
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(Jump directly to instructions for adjusting MS-Word settings in Windows or Mac; or, skip ahead to 2) Page Header.) |
1.1 Adjusting Document Setting in Google Docs
My copy of Google Docs defaults to
Changing Google Docs to MLA Style
Or you can see my Google Docs template for an MLA style paper
My copy of Microsoft Word for Windows defaults to
Changing to MLA Style (Windows)
Changing to MLA style (Mac)
In the top right of every page, use your word processor’s “Page Header” function add an automatic page number and your surname.
2.1 Adding the Page Header in MS-Word (Windows)
2.2 Adding the Page Header in MS-Word (Mac)
In the upper left corner, type your name, your instructor’s name, the course number and section, and today’s date. Centered on the next line, type an informative title that actually informs the reader of your main point (not just “English Paper” or “A Comparison between Hamlet and Macbeth”).
This handout presumes you already know why you should cite your sources (to establish your authority, to introduce persuasive evidence, to avoid plagiarism, etc.).
To fully cite a source requires two stages. The first happens in the body of your paper (the “in-text citation”) and the second happens on a separate page at the end of your paper (see “Works Cited List,” below.)
4.1 Citing a Block Quote (more than three lines)
4.2 Citing an Inline Quotation
When the passage you want to quote is less than three lines long, use inline style. Here we have two brief passages, taken from the same page of the same source, so we can handle both with a single parenthetical citation.
4.3 Citing a Paraphrase
Let’s imagine we want to reference Wordsworth-Fuller’s general idea about citation as a way to establish credibility, but we don’t need to include any of the technical details. We can save space, and make it much easier on our reader, if we paraphrase:
Tips for avoiding common errors in MLA citations.
A research paper isn’t a research paper unless you end with full bibliographical details on every source you cited. This part can be tedious and tricky; leave yourself plenty of time to do it.
How to format the “Works Cited” list of an MLA style paper.
Exactly what goes into each item in your bibliography depends on what kind of item it is. The general format is as follows:
Author. Title of Source. Container, contributors, version, volume and issue, publisher, date, location.
Exactly how that basic format gets turned into a Works Cited entry depends on the source.
Here’s the basic format for any book:
Basic Format for Any Academic Article
Author. “Title of Article in Quotation Marks.” Title of Journal in Italics, volume #, issue #, YEAR, pp. [pages of article]. Italicized Name of Database.
Let’s break that example down.
The author Margaret Kantz wrote the article “Helping Students Use Textual Sources Persuasively.” That article doesn’t exist on its own floating in space; it was published by a journal called College English, in the 52nd year of publication, in the first issue of its 52nd volume, in the year 1990, the article started on page 74 and ran through page 91. The student found this article while searching the database Academic Search Elite.
Every academic article has a specific title, and is published in a journal with a different title. (Online citation generators often get this wrong, and will often repeat the same title twice.)
If College English were a TV series, then “volume” would be which season, and the title of the article would be the episode.
The title of the database (in the example, “Academic Search Elite“) is like the name of the streaming service (Netflix, or Paramount+).
Here’s a short video that explains why EBSCOhost is not specific enough to put in the slot where MLA style asks for the database, and how to find what you should put in that slot instead.
EBSCOhost is not specific enough. It’s not the name of a database; it’s a tool researchers use to access databases, but different schools can access different databases through different EBSCOhost subscription plans | |
If you tell me that I can find your favorite TV show “on a MacBook,” that’s too vague. Just because I own a MacBook doesn’t automatically grant me access to all the streaming services you access on your MacBook. In a similar way, telling me you found a source on “EBSCOhost” is too vague. |
“Academic Search Elite” or “SPORTDiscus with Full Text” are titles of specific databases. | |
This is like telling me your favorite TV show is on Netflix or Disney+. It tells me the specific name of the database I need to access in order to find the article you found. |
In the above example, reporter Camila Domonoske filed a news story called “Students Have ‘Dismaying’ Inability To Tell Fake News From Real, Study Finds,” that aired on a news program called The Two-Way, which is published by National Public Radio, and the story aired Nov 23, 2016.
In MLS Style, the full URL is optional. Really long URLs with long strings of numbers in them are often generated for specific users, so someone else who visits that same URL will often get an error message.
You might shorten the URL to “npr.org,” because it would be a simple matter to use a search engine to find the actual story.
What if your source doesn’t fit any of my examples?
You might be trying to cite something that doesn’t fit the above pattern, like a social media post, a video game, a work of art, an email from a relative, a billboard, or something else. It’s just not practical for me to try to include an example of every single thing it’s possible to cite.
The MLA citation format is designed to be flexible, so that it works for forms of media that haven’t been invented yet.
See Purdue OWL’s handouts for how to create a bibliography entry for a book, an article in a periodical (such as a journal or newspaper), or an electronic source (such as an email, web page or a YouTube clip). See also this list of other common sources (such as a personal interview or a movie).
Sort the entries alphabetically by the author‘s last name.
29 May 2011 — new document posted, replacing outdated handout written in 1999.
06 Jun 2011 — expanded section on organizing the Works Cited list, since several readers asked for clarification.
07 Jun 2011 — reorganized for emphasis
19 Apr 2012 — added numbers to more subheads
24 Mar 2014 — added details on Works Cited paragraph formatting.
02 Oct 2016 — updated with MLA 8th Edition details.
30 Nov 2016 — added annotated Works Cited sample image.
07 Sep 2020 — updated section 5.1
24 Feb 2025 — streamlined opening; added Google Docs instructions and link to video explaining my advice about EBSCOhost
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This website saved my life. It was my first time doing an mla paper in years and I aced it. Thank you for creating this blog! :)
Glad to hear it!
Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!!! :)
dear sir! i just need to understand the mla formatting for writing papers and i couldn't understand your given description about it so, please can teach me about mla formatting in simple or easy way. if can, then kindly reply me soon i just wait.
If I knew exactly what section you found confusing, then perhaps I could improve that section, or direct you to a different page altogether that already answers your question.
This page assumes you already have written your paper, and that now you just need to format it. See section 0.2 -- perhaps you need to read a different page first.
I don't usually comment on sites like this, but man, this article rocks! I had to do an assignment last minute, and man you really saved my hide and gave my something quick and easy to understand. Keep up the good work!
Thanks, Pierre. I'm glad to hear it helped.
I am confused. On your other weblog, you have the name of your book listed as "MLA Style Papers: Step-by-Step Instructions for Formatting Research Papers" but on this weblog you have it listed as "MLA Style Papers: Step-by-s>tep Instructions for Formatting Research Papers". Which is correct?
There is no book, just a web page. I would use the title on this page, rather than how it's written anywhere else.
nice work bro ur a weird o
Still confused, since you ostensibly write both blogs (with 2 separate variants), but thank you for your reply.
Tiva...breathe and stop being snarky. It's an informative article. You have enough sense to use ostensibly correctly, but you're coming to his playground for help. If you're taking his guidance, you may want to also take his reply - which he did answer - and move on about your merry way.
It's quite likely I mistyped it elsewhere, or changed it here and did not update the reference elsewhere.
Tag! Danke fur deine ausgeseichnet site! Es hat mich viel geholfen(: Du bist eine tolle Man!
What is the Thesis
Mauri, see the link in section 0.2 above. I have a separate handout on writing thesis statements.
Thanks so much made it easier doing my freshman research paper because i don't know all to much about MLA format. :D
Perhaps I missed this somewhere, I found the information on how to cite the email interview, but how do I note this in parenthetical citation, just surname? I need to distinguish this from another interview with the same author (which is on the web). Thank you so much.
I think this is very helpful i got all the information i needed to complete my research paper. Thanks alot.