Use standard 8.5-by-11-inch paper with 1-inch margins on all sides, when using MLA format. This is easy to do with a word processing program like Microsoft Word, as the program is usually preset to these margins.
Open the "File" menu option at the top and select "Page Setup," if the program does not already use these margins. Click the "Margins" tab and adjust accordingly.
Always double-space your work, when typing your paper. To choose double-space in Word, select the "Formatting" menu and click "Double Space."
MLA formatting prefers that students use an easy-to-read font such as Times New Roman. You can print your paper in either the 10- or 12-point size, which you can select from the menu bar at the top. Most professors prefer 12 point because 12 point is easier to read, although some professors may allow you to use 10 point, which will save paper when printing.
Always include a page header at the top of every page. This header should include your last name and the page number. Some professors prefer that students include their full names, as there may be several students with the same last name, so check with your teacher to be sure you are using the correct format.
To add a header in Word 2013, click "Insert," and then click "Header & Footer," and then click "Header." Choose the type of header you want from the choices you see and then type your name in the header box. Click "Insert," and then click "Header & Footer," and then click "Header" and type your name in the header box. Click "Close Header & Footer" when you have finished.
To add page numbers in Word 2013, click "Insert" and then click "Page Number" and then select "Top of Page" and then select "Plain Number 3" which will give you a page number on "Page Right." Click "Close Header & Footer" when you have finished.
Instead of creating a special title page, MLA formatting indicates that you should list the following information in the upper left corner of the first page of your essay: your full name, instructor’s name, the name of the course and course number, and the paper's due date.
For instance, an essay for Professor Whitman's class on Postmodernism, due April 10 would use this:
Laura Roberts
Professor Whitman
ENGL 270, Postmodernism
10 April 2009
Remember to double space this information, and begin each item on a new line. Leave one line between this first-page header and the title of your essay, which should be centered on the page. Do not format the title except to use title case, which would be to capitalize all important words in the title.
Use in-text citations to provide the documentation for all sources that you use in quotations or as paraphrased thoughts mentioned throughout your essay. Citations, or attribution of these quotes, is required so that you do not commit plagiarism.
MLA formatting specifies parenthetical in-text citations and uses the author’s last name followed by a space and the page number of the text from which you are quoting. For example, a book written by the author Charles Dickens and quoting from page six would be cited as (Dickens 6). Always place the period after the closed parentheses, rather than before.
Students have the option of including in-text attribution within the text. For example: In the beginning of "A Tale of Two Cities," Charles Dickens writes, "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times ..." (6).
If the author's name is mentioned in the text, you only need to include the page number in parenthesis. If there is no page number, as in a website, you don't need to include one.
All MLA documents require a Works Cited page at the end of the paper, which lists every source you have cited throughout your paper (i.e. the books, magazines, Web sites and other reference materials used in your in-text citations). Begin the Works Cited page on a new sheet of paper and center the words "Works Cited" without any further formatting at the top of the page.
Each reference should be double-spaced, but should not skip lines in between individual entries. Works should be listed in alphabetical order according to their authors' last names, and if the entry goes past a single line, the next lines should be indented.
This is the basic format for a book. If you are citing a website, anthology or database, you would follow the same basic format. Alphabetize according to author's last name, unless there is no author. In that instance, alphabetize according to the title of the article or whichever item is listed first.
Last name, First name. Title of Book. Place of Publication: Publisher, Year of Publication.