Please note much of this information has been modified from the Purdue University owl page on MLA. It
is a great resource and can be found at this URL: http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/557/01/
MLA style
The EPTS program has adopted the MLA (Modern Language Association) style as a writing standard.
Depending on your future university, you may use the MLA style, APA style, Chicago style or another
style. The MLA is most commonly used to write papers and cite sources within the liberal arts and
humanities departments. Alternatively the APA (American Psychological Association) is most commonly
used to cite sources within the social sciences. Your professor or university may tell you what style they
want you to use when referencing but all of the styles follow the same concepts.
As this is an introduction to the MLA style, we will not require you to adopt all the aspects and nuances
of this style of documentation. In this course, we will mainly be concentration on the formatting of
pages and the organization of citations. Our aims are to introduce you to academic writing so that at
university it will not be so overwhelming. The advantage with referencing articles properly is that it
lends credit to your writing and you will not be accused of plagiarism, which is considered to be a major
offence in academic communities.
General Guidelines please consult the Purdue’s university on MLA for further details


Type your paper on a computer and print it out on standard, white 8.5 x 11-inch paper, please
only use one side of the page.
Double-space the text of your paper, (to change to double spacing ...
(MenuFormatParagraph Line spacing double )
Use a legible font like Times New Roman or Courier. The font size should be 10-12 pt.
Leave only one space after periods or other punctuation
Indent the first line of a paragraph one half-inch (press tab once) from the left margin.
Create a header in the upper right-hand corner that includes your last name, followed by a
space with a page number; number all pages consecutively with Arabic numerals (1, 2, 3, 4,
etc.), one-half inch from the top and flush with the right margin. (Insert header)
Any number under 10 or any numbers written one or two words should be written out.

Otherwise, use Arabic numerals. Ex Write: one, five, twenty-one, one hundred, eighteen
hundred, but write 5½, 101, 3,810. Do not use Roman numbers I, II, IV, X, C etc
Don’t use abbreviations. Generally, spell out names of countries, provinces, and prefixes.





Title page
A title page is optional for the MLA style, but it is a useful addition to your report, so include it for your
EPTS courses. Please include things such as the title of your report, your name (nickname), your
student number, your teachers name, date that the paper is due and the course. The following title
page example is from http://homeworktips.about.com/od mlastyle/ig/Sample-MLAPages/titlepage.htm :
Figure 1: Title page expample
Formating your first page
Formatting the First Page of Your Paper



In the upper left-hand corner of the first page, list your name, your instructor's name, the
course, and the date. Again, be sure to use double-spaced text.
Double space again and center the title. Don't underline your title or put it in quotation marks;
write the title in Title Case, not in all capital letters.
Double space between the title and the first line of the text.

Create a header in the upper right-hand corner that includes your last name, followed by a
space with a page number; number all pages consecutively with Arabic numerals (1, 2, 3, 4,
etc.), one-half inch from the top and flush with the right margin.
Figure 2: Modified from Purdue University’s MLA formatting and study guide
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/557/01/
Basic citation format
One of the hardest things for students to know is when to give credit to people for their work and when
not to. When in doubt, give credit but really just use common sense. You do not need to give sources
for familiar proverbs, well-known quotations or common knowledge. Here is Purdue’s list of items you
should give credit to avoid plagiarism:





Words or ideas presented in a magazine, book, newspaper, song, TV program, movie, Web
page, computer program, letter, advertisement, or any other medium
Information you gain through interviewing or conversing with another person, face to face,
over the phone, or in writing
When you copy the exact words or a unique phrase
When you reprint any diagrams, illustrations, charts, pictures, or other visual materials
When you reuse or repost any electronically-available media, including images, audio,
video, or other media
In MLA style, referring to the works of others in your text is done by using what's known as
parenthetical citation ().There are 2 main styles of citations. If you are citing a source that is under 40
words you generally put the quote in quotation marks, add the parenthetical citation and keep on
writing as you would normally. Immediately following a quotation from a source or a paraphrase of a
source's ideas, you place the author's last name followed by a space and the relevant page number(s).
ex
Human beings have been described as "symbol-using animals" (Burke 3).
Long Quotations
Place quotations longer than 40 words separate from your main body of text. Start the quotation on a
new line, with the entire quote indented one inch from the left margin; maintain double-spacing. Only
indent the first line of the quotation by a half inch if you are citing multiple paragraphs. Your
parenthetical citation should come after the closing punctuation mark. When quoting verse, maintain
original line breaks. (You should maintain double-spacing throughout your essay.) For example:
Nelly Dean treats Heathcliff poorly and dehumanizes him throughout her narration:
They entirely refused to have it in bed with them, or even in their room, and I
had no more sense, so, I put it on the landing of the stairs, hoping it would
be gone on the morrow. By chance, it crept to Mr. Earnshaw's door, and there he
found it on quitting his chamber. Inquiries were made as to how it got there; I
was obliged to confess, and in recompense for my cowardice and inhumanity was
sent out of the house. (Bronte 78)
Work Cited
According to MLA style, you must have a Works Cited page at the end of your research paper
This is where you reference all the resources you used to research your paper. It does not matter
if you have quoted any information from them or not. It is also advisable to have a number of
different formats (websites, books, journal articles etc) It should be stressed here that not all
websites are the same and please choose websites that are appropriate to cite. Wikipedia is NOT
an appropriate website to cite in an academic paper as there are no restrictions on what can be
placed in there and the information may be wrong. All entries in the Works Cited page must
correspond to the works cited in your main text.
Basic Rules





Begin your Works Cited page on a separate page at the end of your research paper. It should
have the same one-inch margins and last name, page number header as the rest of your paper.
Label the page Works Cited (do not underline the words Works Cited or put them in quotation
marks) and center the words Works Cited at the top of the page.
Double space all citations, but do not skip spaces between entries.
List page numbers of sources efficiently, when needed. If you refer to a journal article that
appeared on pages 225 through 250, list the page numbers on your Works Cited page as 225-50.
If you're citing an article or a publication that was originally issued in print form but that you
retrieved from an online database, you should provide enough information so that the reader
can locate the article either in its original print form or retrieve it from the online database (if
they have access).
Capitalization and Punctuation


Capitalize each word in the titles of articles, books, etc, but do not capitalize articles,
short prepositions, or conjunctions unless one is the first word of the title or subtitle:
Gone with the Wind, The Art of War, There Is Nothing Left to Lose
Use italics or underlining for titles of larger works (books, magazines) and quotation
marks for titles of shorter works (poems, articles)
The following examples are from Long Island University’s MLA page : http://www.liu.edu/cwis/cwp/library/workshop/citmla.htm
Book
Okuda, Michael, and Denise Okuda. Star Trek Chronology: The History
of the Future. New York: Pocket, 1993.
Journal Article
Wilcox, Rhonda V. "Shifting Roles and Synthetic Women in Star
Trek: The Next Generation." Studies in Popular Culture 13.2 (1991):
53-65.
Newspaper or Magazine Article
Di Rado, Alicia. "Trekking through College: Classes Explore Modern
Society Using the World of Star Trek." Los Angeles Times 15 Mar.
1995: A3.
Book Article or Chapter
James, Nancy E. "Two Sides of Paradise: The Eden Myth According to
Kirk and Spock." Spectrum of the Fantastic. Ed. Donald Palumbo.
Westport: Greenwood, 1988. 219-223.
Encyclopedia Article
Sturgeon, Theodore. "Science Fiction." The Encyclopedia Americana.
International ed. 1995.
ERIC Document
Fuss-Reineck, Marilyn. Sibling Communication in Star Trek: The Next
Generation: Conflicts between Brothers. Miami: Speech
Communication Assn., 1993. ERIC Document Reproduction Service
ED364932.
Website
Lynch, Tim. "DSN Trials and Tribble-ations Review." Psi Phi: Bradley's
Science Fiction Club. 1996. Bradley University. 8 Oct. 1997 <http://
www.bradley.edu/campusorg/psiphi/DS9/ep/503r.html>.
Newspaper or Magazine Article on the Internet
Andreadis, Athena. "The Enterprise Finds Twin Earths Everywhere It
Goes, But Future Colonizers of Distant Planets Won't Be So Lucky."
Astronomy Jan. 1999: 64- . Academic Universe. Lexis-Nexis. B.
Davis Schwartz Memorial Lib., Brookville, NY. 7 Feb. 1999 <http://
web.lexis-nexis.com/universe>.
Notes







Arrange the items on your reference list alphabetically by author, interfiling books,
articles, etc.
Doublespace all lines.
Indent the second and following lines 5 spaces (or one half inch).
If no author is given, start with the title.
Abbreviate the names of all months except May, June, and July.
If the encyclopedia does not arrange its articles alphabetically, treat the encyclopedia
article as if it were a book article. Specific volume and page numbers are cited in the
text, not in the list of references.
Websites: include the title of the web page, the name of the entire web site, the
organization that posted it (this may be the same as the name of the website). Also
include the full date the page was created or last updated (day, month, year if
available) and the date you looked at it.
Basic Style for Citations of Electronic Sources
Here are some common features you should try and find before citing electronic sources in
MLA style. Always include as much information as is available/applicable:







Author and/or editor names
Name of the database, or title of project, book, article
Any version numbers available
Date of version, revision, or posting
Publisher information
Date you accessed the material
Electronic address, printed between carets ([<, >]).
An Entire Web Site
Basic format
Name of Site. Date of Posting/Revision. Name of institution/organization affiliated with the site
(sometimes found in copyright statements). Date you accessed the site [electronic address].
It is necessary to list your date of access because web postings are often updated, and
information available on one date may no longer be available later. Be sure to include the
complete address for the site. Here are some examples:
The Purdue OWL Family of Sites. 26 Aug. 2005. The Writing Lab and OWL at Purdue and
Purdue University. 23 April 2006 <http://owl.english.purdue.edu>.
Felluga, Dino. Guide to Literary and Critical Theory. 28 Nov. 2003. Purdue University. 10 May
2006 <http://www.cla.purdue.edu/english/theory>.
Modified from Widerner University
http://www3.widener.edu/Academics/Libraries/Wolfgram_Memorial_Library/Need_Help_/Ho
w_to_do_Research/Citing_Your_Sources_/497/