Nail the MLA format for your research paper with this guide!

You need to write a research paper, and your professor wants you to use the MLA format. What is it, and how do you do it?

The MLA research paper format was developed by the Modern Language Association to organize research papers and clearly cite sources. It is one of the most common styles of writing research papers. It's most often used in humanity courses, such as English and social studies.

Whether MLA is new to you or you just need a refresher, use this guide to make sure you get all of the essentials down.

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Format your research paper to MLA standards by:

1. Typing and printing on a standard sheet of paper (8.5 x 11-inch).

2. Setting your margins at 1 inch on each side.

3. Double-spacing your paper.

4. Using the font "Times New Roman" at font size 12 pt.

5. Adding page numbers on the top right corner of your paper. Put a space in front of the page number and include your last name.

MLA research paper format has two parts to the heading: key information about your class and the title of your research paper. On the left, include:

1. Your full name.

2. Your professor's full name (ex. "Professor Jamie Chang").

3. The name of your class (ex. "English 193").

4. The day your paper is due. It must follow the "day-month-year" format.

Skip one line and add the title of your report. Note that your title will not be underlined or bolded. After that, skip one line, add an indent, and start writing your paper!

Check out this video for a step-by-step tutorial!

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You will be referencing other works as you write your research paper. MLA formatting requires you to use in-text citations to show that your ideas are based on someone else's work. There are two ways to do this:

1. Mention the author and then add the page number in parentheses.

   ex. Christine Wong explored the importance of proper nutrition in her 2004 study and found that a balanced diet was key to good health (42).

2. Summarize the main point and include both the author's last name and the page number in parentheses.

   ex. A 2004 study found that a balanced diet was key to good health (Wong 42).

Don't forget: When you cite in-text, you must include the source information in a works cited page.

Reference this video to see how in-text citations can look on your paper!

To hear an audio version of the text in the Works Cited page above, click play on the audio player below:

According to Scribbr, a works cited is a separate page that lists all of your references. This allows your reader to follow up on any of the information you've provided.

Set up your works cited page page in MLA research paper format by:

1. Creating a separate page for your references. Title this page "Works Cited" and skip one line.

2. Creating a hanging indent. This will keep the first line of your citation aligned with the margin and indent the following lines. Most applications like Google Docs and Microsoft Word have an option called "hanging indent" that automatically sets this up.

3. Creating your citations using this format:

   Author's last name, author's first name. "Title of work." Title of collection, other contributors, version, number, publisher, publication date, publication location.

Organize your citations in alphabetical order based on the author's last name.

• If two authors share the same last name, the first name that is first alphabetically should be listed first.

• If you cite two works from the same author, go alphabetically based on the title of their work.

• If your source has no author, it should be at the top of the list of citations and listed alphabetically.

Use this video to dive deeper into the works cited page!

Using MLA research paper format will become second nature once you get the basics down. Now that your paper is set up, you're ready to tackle that essay!

Check out these resources to enhance your research paper: