Writing a Research Paper
in MLA Format
General Guidelines
Double Space
Font: Times New Roman, size 12
Leave only one space after punctuation
Create a header that numbers all pages consecutively
in the upper right-hand corner, one-half inch from the
top and flush with the right margin.
• Indent the first line of paragraphs one half-inch from
the left margin.
• This means you will hit TAB to begin every paragraph.
•
•
•
•
So, this is what your first page should look like:
In MLA format, you
are not expected to
include a title page
unless your professor
specifically asks for it
or if you are including
an outline, abstract or
other introductory
information.
So, unless you just want to
create a title page to make
your work appear more
‘polished,’ your first page
should look like this.
Upper left-hand
corner: Your
name, your
teacher’s name,
Class, Date –
notice how it is
formatted!
Title:
Centered –
do not
bold face
or underline
your title
Indent (TAB!)
Header: Last name,
5 spaces, page
number.
Doublespaced
Font: Times
New Roman,
Size 12
In-Text Citations
MLA format follows the author-page method of in-text citation. This
means that the author's last name and the page number(s) from
which the quotation or paraphrase is taken must appear in the text,
and a complete reference should appear on your Works Cited page.
You will have 3 types:
• Quoting
• Paraphrasing
• Summarizing
Quoting
For directly quoting sources, you will need to use the last name of the author
and the page number. If no author is given, you will use the title or publisher
instead.
Romantic poetry is characterized by the
"spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings"
(Wordsworth 263).
Source:
Wordsworth, William. Lyrical Ballads. London: Oxford U.P., 1967. Print.
Long Direct Quote
For quotations that extend to more than four lines of verse or
three lines of prose, place quotations in a free-standing block of
text and omit quotation marks. Start the quotation on a new
line, with the entire quote indented one inch from the left
margin; maintain double-spacing.
This is what it
should look
like!
You may not include more
than ONE long direct quote
in your paper.
Any long direct quote must
be purposeful…NOT just
an effort to make the paper
longer!
Summarizing & Paraphrasing


Use your OWN words.
You only need the last
name of the source when
citing in-text. You do NOT
need the page number
unless you are quoting
directly.
Example:
What they fail to tell you, in contrast,
smoking causes your chances of lung
cancer by 19 percent (Buckley).
Source:
Buckley, William F., Jr. “Tobacco
Settlement Time?” National Review.
20 April 1998: 63.
In the interest of saving a few trees and having note cards that
you can cut & paste from…..highly convenient!
We will be making DIGITAL NOTECARDS.
These work JUST like paper note cards, they are just digital….if you
missed the workshop over digital notecards on March 20th, you need to
have someone explain to you how to create your notecards on
www.easybib.com
Don’t forget to take the
Works Cited page from
easybib and attach (copy
and paste) it to the end of
your research paper.
Once you have done that,
you will upload your entire
paper to www.turnitin.com
Let’s go over how to SHARE your
note cards with me on easybib. You
must do this sometime prior to the
deadline for the paper on April 14th.
You must have 25. Yes, I will check.
Works Cited Page:
Must be “hanging”
You MUST
have a
works cited
page at the
end of your
paper. This
is nonnegotiable.
A research
paper must
include a
Works
Cited page.
Must be in
alphabetical order!