MLA Format Rules for
Writing Research Papers
Learn it, live it, love it!
First page
• Double spaced, Times New Roman or
Calibri font size 11 or 12, One inch
margins on all sides
– Four line heading, upper left corner:
•
•
•
•
•
Your name
Teacher’s name
Title of the course
Date due: 8 December 2014
Double spaced
• Title of paper centered on next line after heading
Running head
• Upper right-hand corner of each page of your
research paper including your “Works Cited”
page.
• Includes YOUR last name and the page number
of the paper
• Page number changes for each consecutive
page of your paper
• Go to Insert “headers and footers” to input your
running head in the “header” of your pages.
Typical citation for including
research in your writing:
• Direct quote:
– Lines to be directly quoted (taken word for
word from your source) must be placed inside
quotation marks.
– For direct quotes of less than four typed lines,
you must place the citation directly after the
quote. You need to include the author’s last
name/editor’s last name/keyword from the
source and the page number that the
information appears on from your source.
Example of a citation for a direct
quotation:
• Arthur Miller’s The Crucible “forces a
revolution in our perception and definition
of reality” (Martin 73).
• The period for the end of the sentence
goes after the parentheses.
• If there is no author, use the editor of the
source inside the parentheses.
Block Quote:
•
•
•
•
To be used for direct quotes only.
Must be at least 4 lines or more.
Quotation is introduced by a colon (:)
Entire quotation starts on a new line and is
indented 10 spaces (tab 2x) from left-hand
margin.
• The citation must come immediately after the
quotation and no quotation marks are needed
for a block quote.
• The period comes before the parentheses in a
block quote.
Example of Block Quote:
Wages are so low, and jobs were so few, that thousands of
migrants were driven to desperate poverty. The extent of the
desperation is made clear in a report written in 1939, the year that
The Grapes of Wrath was published:
The State Relief Administration estimates the most
agricultural workers only have employment for six
months in the year of less; and that the average yearly
earnings per family…[were] $289 in 1935. In the same
study the S.R.A. estimated that each family…should
have had at least $780 to eke out an existence…In 1932
there were 181 agricultural workers for every 100 jobs
offered; in …1934, 142. (McWilliams 48)
Then continue the paragraph as you normally would on a new line.
Works Cited Page
• The works cited page lists only sources that you
actually used (there are citations for) in the text
of your research paper.
• https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/
12/
• The sources are listed in alphabetical order
based on whatever comes first in the citation.
• A very credible website for MLA format
information:
https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/1/
Paraphrasing
• Paraphrasing means that you are putting the
information from the source into your own words.
• You still need to cite where the information came
from even if you are paraphrasing.
• The citation is the same for direct quote.
• You will cite after you are finished paraphrasing
from a particular source at that point in your
paper. This does not mean that you can’t use it
somewhere else in your paper, but you need to
cite it again, each time you use it, paraphrased
or directly quoted.
Reminders:
• Each time you use a particular source, the
citation for it must be the same except the page
number may change.
• There is no need to use a “p.” or “pg.” in front of
the page number in the parentheses. Just use
the number alone.
• Avoid “overquoting.” It is important to use your
own voice.
• Please no cover pages or report covers needed.
Your work is beautiful enough without this extra
stuff!!!
So, use in-text documentation to
cite a source whenever you:
• Use an original idea from one of your sources,
whether you quote or paraphrase it.
• Summarize original ideas from one of your
sources.
• Use factual information that is not common
knowledge
• Quote directly from the source.
Use quotations when:
• You want to add the power of an author’s words
to support your argument
• You want to disagree with an author’s argument.
• You want to highlight particularly eloquent or
powerful phrases or passages.
• You are comparing and contrasting specific
points of view.
Little reminders for research
simulated tasks:
• Underline or italicize book/play titles/magazine
titles. Once you choose one method, stick with
it.
• Quotation marks go around articles titles.
• Never use a quotation as a topic sentence!
• Avoid “I think/I believe” and the worst offender,
“You”!
• Your thesis statement should answer the
question. Make sure this sentence is something
arguable.