Leave a 1-inch
margin from the top
Student’s Name
1-inch
margins
Times New Roman 12 point font
Instructor’s Name
Course Number (Ex. English 101)
Today’s Date (Day Month Year)
Center Title, Do Not Bold or Underline
Indent ½
inch when
beginning
a new
paragraph
Double-space the
entire paper, with
no extra spacing
between headings
and paragraphs.
This template explains how to setup a paper in MLA format. In the MLA format,
you document research in parenthetical citations. This allows you to “acknowledge your
sources by typing brief parenthetical citations in your text to an alphabetical list of works
that appears at the end of the paper” (Gibaldi 142). Notice that in this brief citation the
period goes after the parenthesis. You will use the author’s last name or a shortened title
for unsigned works. If you used the key information (author’s last name or the title of an
unsigned work) in your text, do not repeat it in the parenthesis. Gibaldi explains in a
longer quotation that needs to be indented:
The information in your parenthetical references in the text must match
If a quotation runs
more than 4 lines,
indent 1 inch with no
quotation marks.
the corresponding information in the entries in your list of works cited.
For a typical works-cited-list entry, which begins with the name of the
author (or editor, translator, or narrator), the parenthetical reference begins
with the same name. . . . If the work is listed by title, use the title,
shortened or in full. . . . (94).
After the last paragraph in an MLA style essay, force the document to begin a
new page for the Works Cited page by hitting the enter key until you get to a new page.
Items in a Works Cited page will be alphabetized by the first word of each entry (author’s
last name or title of work).
1-inch margins on all
sides
Student’s Last Name 2
Double spaced
Leave a 1-inch margin
from the top
Each entry uses a hanging indent.
Lines after the first are indented a
half-inch.
Alphabetize citations
by first element
Works Cited
Gibaldi, Joseph. MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers. 7th ed. New York:
Book
MLA, 2009. Print.
Article from
a database
Hatch, David. “Drug Company Ethics.” CQ Researcher 13.22 (2003): 531-544. Web.
25 Oct. 2013.
News article
without an
author
Book
with 2-3
authors.
“Kanye West Visits Occupy Wall Street.” WNBC.COM. WNBC, 10 Oct. 2011. Web.
12 Oct. 2013.
Marquart, James W., Sheldon Ekland Olsen, and Johnathan R. Sorensen. The Rope, the
Chair, and the Needle: Capital Punishment in Texas, 1923-1990.
Austin: U of Texas P, 1994. Print.
Book with no
author or editor
listed
Single
article from
a web site
Personal
interview
.
Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary. 11th ed. Springfield, MA: Merriam-Webster,
2003. Print.
“MLA Works Cited: Electronic Sources (Web Publications).” The Writing Lab and OWL
at Purdue. Purdue U, 2009. Web. 21 Oct. 2016.
Norris, Diane. Personal interview. 27 Oct. 2016.
Rogers, Chris. Capitalism and Its Alternatives: A Critical Introduction. London: Zed
eBook
Books Ltd, 2014. eBook Collection (EBSCOhost). Web. 22 Mar. 2016.
News article
with author
Temple-Raston, Dina. “How Close is Al-Qaida to Defeat?” NPR.org. National Public
Radio, 12 Oct. 2011. Web. 12 Oct. 2013.
Journal
article
from a
database
Winslow, George. “The New Technology of Campaign Coverage.” Broadcasting &
Cable. 3 Oct. 2011: 12. ProQuest. Web. 25 Oct. 2013.
For more help with citations, please visit our research guide:
http://libguides.mcckc.edu/citations
Note: This was adapted from a handout created by Kirby Rideout of Collin County Community College.