Type MLA Style papers on white, 8.5 by 11-inch paper. Use 1-inch margins on all sides. Double-space all text in your paper, including the Works Cited list.
Use a header throughout your entire paper. Include your last name followed by the page number,
1/2-inch from the top margin, flush to the right side of the page.
Indent the first line of each paragraph 1/2-inch from the margin, using one stroke of the "Tab" key. Allow just one space after all punctuation marks.
Enclose short quotations--less than four lines of prose--in double quotation marks. Include an in-text citation, following the author-page number format, next to the borrowed material, as illustrated below.
Of the peer-reviewed articles, all showed "a masterful control over the material"
(Jones 414). According to Jones, "34 percent of the articles came after the
professor achieved tenure" (416).
Locate longer quotations--more than four lines of prose-on a "free-standing block of text" without quotation marks, according to Purdue University's Online Writing Lab (OWL). Begin the quotation on a new line and indent the entire quote 1 inch from the margin. Continue to use double-spacing. The parenthetical citation comes after the punctuation mark when formatting long quotations.
Match each in-text parenthetical citation to a listing in your document's Works Cited page. Start the Works Cited page on a separate page at the end of your paper. Center the words "Works Cited" at the top of the page, but do not use special formatting, such as bold, italics or quotation marks.
Arrange Works Cited list entries alphabetically by the author's last name. Capitalize each word in the titles of books, articles and other works, with the exception of articles, such as "a" or "an." Italicize the titles of larger sources, such as books. Wrap the titles of shorter works, including articles, in quotation marks.