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Student Name
Kelly Peden, Instructor
CAS 216
Current Date
MLA Report Format
A common style for research papers is known as the MLA style. To follow these
guidelines, double-space text on all pages with one-inch top, bottom, left, and right margins.
Page numbers, preceded by your last name, are placed at the right margin, one-half inch
from the top margin in a header. To create this style, insert a header (use the “blank” style).
Click on Align Right (change font to Times New Roman, 12 pt.; key your last name and then
press the space bar once. Insert a page number by using the “Current Position” choice; plain
number. Close the Header and Footer box (hint: click on the Design Tab).
No title page is required; instead, key your name, course information and date at the left
margin. Begin these items one inch from the top. Center the title a double-space below the
heading information. The first line of each paragraph is indented .5” from the left margin.
To create automatic first-line indents, place your cursor over the top “triangle” on the
ruler (the First Line Indent marker), hold down the left mouse, and drag it over to the .5” mark,
then release the button. When you have finished keying the first paragraph, press Enter and the
next paragraph will automatically indent.
Adding a footnote in Word is relatively simple.1 Key the text that will have the reference
notation (the raised number). Click on References, and then click on Insert Footnote. You
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This is a sample of a footnote. Word automatically adjusts the text so the reference
number and the footnote are printed on the same page.
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should now see a raised number at the bottom of the page; key your footnote at this position. To
adjust it for MLA style, right click in the footnote area at the bottom of the page. Click on Style;
Modify, change font to 12 pt., double spacing; click on Format, click Paragraph, change Special
to first line; then click OK until you’re back at the Style box, then click on Apply. To return to
the body of the report, simply click after the raised number that was inserted when you created
the footnote to position your insertion point and resume keying your report.
To create a separate page for references (MLA calls them Works Cited), insert a manual
page break (also called a hard page break). To do this, press Ctrl + Enter. Center the title
(Works Cited) one inch from the top margin. Double-space all lines of the references. Begin
these lines at the left margin and create a hanging indent for subsequent lines one-half inch from
the left margin. To create a hanging indent, point to the Hanging Indent marker on the ruler.
Click and hold it down while dragging it to the .5” mark. If necessary, click on the First Line
Indent marker and drag it back to the 0” position. REMEMBER: To get appropriate use of
this feature, use word wrap and do not press enter at the end of each line.2
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Word wrap will be used to create a hanging indent automatically. When you press the
Enter key at the end of the first paragraph, the insertion point will automatically return to the left
margin.
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Works Cited
Alverson, Monica, “Paper Styles for Research Papers,” The Revised Collegiate Press Handbook,
April 2004, pages 129-132.
Murdock, James, Guide to Current MLA Documentation. Portland: Willamette Publications,
January 2004, www.willamettepub.com.