MODERN LANGUAGE ASSOCIATIONMLA Style

Modern Language Association

• MLA is most often used in• Pre-collegiate contexts (secondary education)• Liberal Arts and Humanities (histories, arts, etc.)

• Most updated edition: 7th Edition• Updated in 2009 to add type of media to the end of a bibliography

Format of MLA

Project Format: • Title page (if

instructed)

• Paper (double-spaced with page numbers in upper right hand corner)

• Works Cited page

Formatting the First Page

• 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. Do not underline, italicize, or place your title in quotation marks; write the title in Title Case (standard capitalization), not in all capital letters.

• Create a header in the upper right-hand corner • Includes author’s last name, followed by a space

with a page number• Place one-half inch from the top and flush with the

right margin

• Double space between the title and the first line of the paper

Paper Format

• Choose a legible text (e.g. Times New Roman) and 12 point

• Leave only one space after punctuation and following word

• Margins should be one inch on all sides

• Use italics to indicate titles of longer works, and if necessary, for emphasis

• Indicate first line of paragraph by hitting the tab button once, or indenting a half inch from the margin

Parenthetical Citations• Parenthetical citations must be included for all sources

cited in the research project• Format:

• Author’s last name, space, page number-- (Foy 134)

• If an author is not listed, then use the title of the document– (Teaching Science 134)

• If there is no page number because it is electronic, then just give author’s last name or title– (Foy) or (Teaching Science)

• Citation is placed at the end of the sentence with the ending punctuation following the citation– … (Foy 134).

Works Cited Page FormatList sources by last name in alphabetical order

If a source does not have an author, use the source’s title and place in alphabetical order along with the other sources

No bullets, numbers, dashes

First line of source is flushed left, while every line after is indented

Double-spaced throughout the entire document

Major publication titles (books, magazines, encyclopedias) are underlined or italicized

Minor titles (chapters, poetry, articles) are in quotation marks

Sample Works Cited PageWorks Cited

Brake, Laurel. “Alfred Tennyson: Overview.” Reference Guide to English

Literature, 2nd ed. 1991. Republished in Literature Resource Center. 18

December 2001. <http://www.galenet.com>.

“Crimes in War.” War in Society. <http://www.war.edu/crime.history.html>.

(3 Apr. 2001).

“Kipling, Rudyard.” Contemporary Authors. 1998. 214-218. Republished in

Literature Resource Center. GaleNet. 5 May 2001. <http://www.

galenet.com>.

“War.” Encyclopedia Brittanica. 2000.