This template goes for everything. The front page has fields in the upper left hand corner for the headers as well as the identifying information that goes above the title. Everything is laid out so all the writer needs to do is enter the correct data and move on to writing the paper itself. This template only takes care of general formatting issues. It leaves in-text citations and the works cited alone, but it does provide examples to follow.
Compiling a works-cited page can be time-consuming, with most of the time being spent thumbing through the pages of the MLA Handbook. Microsoft offers a template for just the works-cited page. It looks nearly identical to the page at the end of the research paper template, and it does not employ data entry fields. It does, however, give examples of the most common types of citations. The key is to follow them and erase the examples as needed.
Jill Lancaster of the College of New Jersey has a detailed process of how to use Word to create the different components that go into putting a research paper together under MLA rules. It's important to note that technology can never take the place of doing the work. It can ease the burden, however. Lancaster suggests toggling between the usual screen and "page view." This allows the writer to check spacing issues, among many others, without having to waste paper printing out disposable hard copy, as opposed to the final product.