Modern Language Association (MLA) Style Guide

This page will provide you with the information necessary to write a research paper using MLA format. The first section covers the formatting of the research paper. The second section covers parenthetical documentation, and the third section covers the works cited page. All of the information for this handout comes from the MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers, 7th edition, 2009.

The Format of the Research Paper

Most of the formatting for the research paper is set as the default in Microsoft Word (Word) 2007; however, you should always check to ensure that the settings reflect the requirements set forth in the latest MLA handbook.

The Basics

You should set the margins (top, bottom, left, and right) to one inch (117). You should align your essay on the left. Do not center. Do not justify the text, as it adds unnatural spacing. Use 12-point, Times New Roman font.

Spacing

Double-space the entire essay, including your name, date, class information, and professor’s name (117). Also, use a 1.5-inch indent to identify the beginning of new paragraphs (117). The tab key on a computer keyboard is set to auto-space one-half of an inch in Word.

One problem worth noting here is that Word auto-formats 2.5 spaces between paragraphs. You can fix this by doing the following:
1. Right-click in the body of the essay
2. Select Paragraph
3. Set spacing before and after the paragraph to 0 (zero).

Note Set off long quotations (i.e., prose writing that is five lines or longer and verse of more than three lines) on a new line in the essay. In addition, double indent long quotations by using a three-inch indent throughout the quotation.

Note You should only leave one space after a period "or other concluding punctuation mark, unless your instructor prefers two spaces" (116).

Page Numbers

Insert page numbers in the top, right-hand corner of the essay, starting with the first page and continuing through the last. Place your name adjacent to the page number, separated by one space.

Use the following steps to add page numbers to your essay in MS Word:

For Word on a PC
1. On the Insert tab, in the Header and Footer group, click Page Number
2. Click Top of Page
3. Choose a page number design 3 (three)
4. Type your name next to the page number and hit the space bar once
5. Using the mouse, double left click in the body of the essay to exit the header

For Word on a Mac
1. Select Insert from the menu
2. Select Page Numbers
3. From the Position dropdown menu, select Top of page (Header)
4. From the Alignment dropdown menu, select Right
5. Make sure that the option Show number on first page is checked
6. Click OK
7. Using the mouse, double left click the page number that now appears in your essay
8. Type your name next to the page number and hit the space bar once
9. Using the mouse, double left click in the body of the essay to exit the header

Heading

Do not use a title page (116). In the top, left-hand corner of the essay, identify yourself, your professor’s name, your class, and the date (117).

Use the following template (substituting the appropriate information, of course):

Anna G. Johnson
Professor Hunt
ENGL 1310-001
29 March 2010

Note Defer to the syllabus when entering your professor’s name. For example, if the syllabus refers to the professor as “Martin Brown,” your heading should read “Professor Brown.” If the syllabus refers to the professor as “Dr. Martin Brown,” your heading should read “Dr. Brown.”

Title

Include the title on the first page of the essay (centered below the date in 12-point, Times New Roman font). Do not put it in bold face, "quotations marks," or italics (116-117). Employ title case (i.e., Capitalize the First Letter of Every Word That Is Not an Article, a Preposition, Coordinating Conjunction, or the “to” in an Infinitive When They Do Not Appear at the Beginning of the Title) (87).

Examples of Titles

To Be or Not to Be a Race Car Driver
Why Suzie Should Be the Next President of the United States
The Day I Learned Why I Should Not Snort Ground Pepper

Parenthetical Documentation

Failure to appropriately document the use of another's ideas or work constitutes plagiarism. You can find more information on the plagiarism page.

Make parenthetical documentation as concise as possible to ensure both overall readability and that citations “clearly point to specific sources in the list of works cited" (214). If you mention the author of a work by name in the sentence, do not include his or her name in the parenthetical reference (215). If you directly quote a source, the parenthetical reference should be placed after the closing quote and before the period (216). If the source you are citing was written by more than three authors you can either use the last name of the first author followed by et al., or you can list the last names of all the authors.

See the following examples for more information:

Examples of Works by One Author

Author's Name in Text
Grant does not support this argument (16).

Author's Name in Reference
He does not support this argument (Grant 16).

Author's Name in Text with Quote
Grant writes that "we should reject this argument on its merits" (16).

Author's Name in Reference with Quote
He writes that "we should reject this argument on its merits" (Grant 16).

Examples of Works by Multiple Authors

Multiple Authors' Name in Text
Grant, Robinson, and Davis do not support this argument (16).

Multiple Authors' Name in Reference
They do not support this argument (Grant, Robinson, and Davis 16).

Multiple Authors' Name in Text (Four or More Authors)
Grant et al. do not support this argument (16).

Multiple Authors' Name in Reference (Four or More Authors)
They do not support this argument (Grant et al. 16).

Note If your professor reads any of these sentences, he or she would know that you are using a source written by a person named Grant. If you cite Grant in the body of your essay, you must include information on the source in the list of works cited. If your professor looks at your works cited page, he or she will see the title information on Grant that he or she could refer to for more information (or to check for accuracy).

Parenthetical References of Web Sources

Considering that most web pages are not paginated, in order to cite a web source, use either the name of the author of the source or the title of the source (291). Please see the following examples for more information:

Baseball is "the only thing that keeps me sane" (Cox).
Mars is the fourth planet from the sun ("Mars").

Note If he or she looks at the list of works cited, your professor should see that there is an entry written by someone named Cox and an entry on “Mars” that has no author. The parenthetical reference should contain the first word that appears in the list of works cited for that entry.

The Works Cited Page

The first thing you should do when you are preparing your list of works cited is go to the library and have a librarian help you set up an account on RefWorks. RefWorks is an online resource available to every student at UNT that can automatically generate a list of works cited based on information you provide. This saves both time and inconvenience.

The works cited records "key features" of a work to direct readers to outside sources used in the research paper (129). Include the works cited page after the last page of your essay (a manual page break may be necessary). At the top center of this new page type “Works Cited."

Alphabetically list the works cited by author (or title where necessary) (132). Ignore articles (A, The, An) when using titles for an entry (e.g., A Guide to Baseball would be listed under "G" not "A"). Italicize titles of longer works (e.g., books, albums, journals). Place titles of shorter works (e.g., journal articles, short stories, poems, songs) inside quotation marks.

Citing Print Sources

The basic MLA citation is an entry for a work by a single author:

Fitzgerald, F. Scott. The Great Gatsby. New York: Collier, 1992. Print.

This entry contains the author (Fitzgerald, F. Scott), the title of the work (The Great Gatsby), the name of the publisher and the city in which it was published (New York: Collier), and the year in which it was published (1992). Additionally, the reader knows that this is a print source as opposed to a web source because it is marked as “Print.”

Another common example is an entry for a journal article:

Warner, Paul. "The Trials of F. Scott Fitzgerald." Modern American Literature Quarterly. 10.2-3 (2009): 80-85. Print.

This journal entry contains the author's name (Warner, Paul), the title of the article in quotation marks ("The Trials of F. Scott Fitzgerald"), the title of the journal in italics (Modern American Literature Quarterly), the volume (10) and issue number (2-3), the year of publication (2009), and the page numbers of the article (80-85). Again, the entry identifies whether this is a print source or a web source.

Use a hanging indention for each entry in the works cited page. In other words, indent each subsequent line of an entry one-half of an inch. Follow these steps to use a hanging indentation:

1. Right-click in the body of the essay
2. Select Paragraph
3. Select Hanging from the Special dropdown menu in the Indentation section

Citing Web Sources

You are no longer required to include URLs as part of your citations, unless title and/or author information is insufficient to locate the source (182).

This is an example of a web source:

"Gost." Def. 3.a. The Middle English Dictionary Online. Middle English Dictionary, 2001. Web. 29 March 2010.

This particular example is that of a definition pulled from a website. The entry starts with the word listed in the dictionary ("Gost"). The abbreviation “Def.” identifies it as a dictionary entry, and the exact location of the entry is listed (i.e., it is the third definition given for the word “Gost” in this particular dictionary).

Note Include a date of access (i.e., the date you looked at the source) at the end of the entry when citing web sources.

Note For detailed information on the creation of the list of works cited, including hundreds of examples of citations, please consult the MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers, 7th edition, 2009, pages 123-212. This book is available for library use only at the UNT Willis Library reference desk (call number LB2369.G53 2009).

Works Cited

Modern Language Association. MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers. New York: MLA, 2009. Print.