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:
| |
(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
Related Writing Links |
|
View Comments
I cant get my works cited page to indent the second line!. Please help
Search your word processor's "help" section for "hanging indent."
Dennis:
How do you write a Expository Essay? what is the format? How is it different from a Narrative Essay? Thank you in advance for you help and reply.
Expository means explaining something, like how the US Government is organized, or why birds fly south. Narrative tells a story, like what happened when you visited Washington DC for the first time, or what how the grumpy old coot found an injured bird and learned a lesson about the fragility of life while nursing the bird back to health… during a zombie uprising.
There is no one format for these essays. Your instructors will expect you to do slightly different things, based on the level of the course and the function of this particular assignment.
I’m flattered that people find these pages helpful, but only your instructor knows what he or she wants you to do, so your instructor really is the best source of such information.
I'm writing two papers- one on MLA and one on APA. Your website was a big help in writing the first one and i was wondering if you know where I should go for info for the APA one.
Thanks for the great formatting tips. I need to know what the whole paper should be if it's here I missed it. Should it be left right centered or justified. I have word 2007.
If your instructor has not stated a preference, left justify.
I'm in a group of 7 with a paper due this Thur which must be in MLA. We seem to disagree on the 1st page. Since MLA calls for no title page do we list all 7 names on the left? Or in this case do you create a title page? Or we have a group number, do we just use that instead of names? HELP!
I have a question, on Macbook pro I have the document 'pages' that I use to write my papers, the only thing I have trouble with is when i'm typing my paper, if a word is too long, it cuts the word in half like this; as I am typing the word it sends ha-
lf of it to the next line, just like I did. I have no clue how to set it to where it doesn't do that. Could you help me out?
How to you quote something that is 2 paragraphs long? Do I write out the whole thing? Or is there a way to shorten it?
You might just quote the most important sentence, and paraphrase the rest.
Can you help me?!
Maybe...
hey,
your site is really helpful.Especially since i had no idea how to go about it.But now my question is,does MLA work on a draft with track changes?or do i first go through the changes,then continue with the same draft?
thanks.
If you're worried, you might try turning off "Track Changes" while you make the MLA formatting changes, then turn it back on; but really, I don't think it will matter.
lol yall stupid crazy!!!!!