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Research and Library Introduction (ENGL 101 and 102)

MLA Formatting

 

MLA Style Guide (OWL) (Online Writing Lab) from Purdue University-this is one of the most comprehensive resources you will find on citation and paper formatting.

 

MLA Formatting in MS Word Tutorial

Basics of MLA Formatting and Citations

Quick Guide from MLA


​​MLA Works Cited FORMATS FOR DIFFERENT SOURCES

Each link shows you how to create a specific MLA (9th ed.)Links to an external site. citation type for a "Works Cited" list

Articles from a database
(e.g. Gale PowerSearch or EBSCO databases)
Books eBooks, online books or chapters
Print magazine articles Print newspaper articles Articles from Encyclopedias or other
reference sources, including online
Article in an online journal Article from a newspaper website Website or webpage
Email, Blog, Podcast, Tweet Digital files Photo or image from a website
Video or online video Television or radio program Sound recording
Advertisement Work of art Poem or short story from a website
Interviews Performances or class lectures Unpublished documents, including class handouts

Formatting an MLA Style Paper-the Basics

MARGINS

  • 1 inch margins on all sides

TEXT FORMATTING

HEADING

  • Your name
  • Your instructor's name
  • Course number
  • Date

TITLE Page

  • On a new, double-spaced line, center your paper's title, without any punctuation or special font styling.

PAGE NUMBERS

  • Number your pages in the following format:
  • Your Last Name 1
  • Your Last Name 2
  • etc.
  • Page numbers go in the upper right corner, 1/2 inch from the top and flush with the right margin.

SAMPLE FIRST PAGE

 

For more information, see the MLA Style Center's guide to Formatting a Research Paper.

 

Works Cited

Citing your work is an important part of the research and writing process.  While your voice and thoughts definitely needs to be in your paper it is important to acknowledge the ideas, research and thoughts of others as they appear in your work. 

Imagine a conversation with a friend or family member--you might say I heard or I read or I saw...and you would probably say where you go that information.  For example "I read this article in the New York Times but Kate Murphy on COVID..." just as we already do in everyday life we also need to put that in our papers.  These are in-text citations.  Below are two examples of what these often look like-

IN-TEXT CITATIONS

In-text citations give a brief amount of information that ultimately leads your reader to your Works Cited.

MLA style uses parenthetical notations to identify the source (author's last name) and the specific location (page reference) from which you borrowed material.

Examples:

According to John Wiltshire, Jane Austen's novels have a "narrative confidence" that makes them appealing to many readers (16).

or

Jane Austen's novels have a "narrative confidence" that makes them appealing to many readers (Wiltshire 16).

WORKS CITED

  • The list of works cited goes at the very end of your paper on a new page.
  • Keep the page numbering on the Works Cited page(s).
  • Center the title, Works Cited, an inch from the top of the page.
  • Begin each entry flush with the left margin.
  • If an entry runs more than one line, indent the subsequent line(s) 1/2 inch from the left margin. This is called a hanging indent.

WORKS CITED PAGE Citation Basics

Material Type Works Cited
Book with one author Austen, Jane. Persuasion. Oxford University Press, 2004.
eBook, with login required Wiltshire, John. Recreating Jane Austen. Cambridge University Press, 2004. eBook Academic Collection (EBSCOhost).
Essay or Chapter from an Anthology Poovey, Mary. "Jane Austen's Literary English." A Companion to the History of the English Language, edited by Haruko Momma and Michael Matto, Blackwell Publishing, 2008, pp. 464-470.
Article from a Scholarly Journal in a Database Hopkins, Robert. "Moral Luck and Judgment in Jane Austen's Persuasion.Nineteenth-Century Literature, vol. 42, no. 2, Sep. 1987, pp. 143-158. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/3045204.
One Page of a Website or One Blog Post Vic. "Jane Austen's Descriptions of a House and a Home." Jane Austen's World, December 3, 2008, janeaustensworld.wordpress.com/2008/12/03/jane-austens-descriptions-of-a-home-an-a-house/.

 

SAMPLE WORKS CITED PAGE