Instructions to Format a Manuscript following Modern
Language Association (MLA) Style in Microsoft Word
Set Top, Bottom, Right, and Left Margins to 1"
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To set the margins, select File and Page Setup from the Menu Bar.
Make sure the "Margins" tab is selected (see Figure 1).
Enter 1" for each of the margin settings.
Click OK.
Figure 1 Format Margin Dialog Box.
Set line spacing to double spaced.
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From the Menu Bar, select Format and Paragraph
Make sure the Indents and Spacing tab is selected (see Figure 2).
Under Line Spacing, select "Double" (see Figure 2).
Click OK.
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Figure 2 Set line spacing to double space.
Create a Header with your last name and the page number.
Every page of a manuscript in MLA format has a header in the upper right-hand corner of the
manuscript, approximately 1/2" from the top of the page. To create the header and set the page
numbering to automatically increment each page,
1. Select View, Header and Footer from the Menu Bar.
2. Click on the Align Right icon (see Figure 3), or, from the menu bar, select Format and
Paragraph, select the Indents and Spacing tab, and change Alignment to Right (see
Figure 2).
3. Type your last name and a single blank space.
4. Click on the pound sign (#) in the Header/Footer bar to automatically insert the page
number in the Header on each page (see Figure 4).
5. Click Close in the Header/Footer bar (see Figure 4) to close the header and return to the
document.
Figure 3 Set alignment to left, center, right, or full justification.
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Figure 4 Creating a Header.
Enter document information.
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Type your name and then press the Enter key once.
Type your professor's name, and then Enter.
Type the course identification, and then Enter.
Type the date. Press the Enter key once only.
Click on the Align Center icon (see Figure 3), or, from the menu bar, select Format and
Paragraph, select the Indents and Spacing tab, and change Alignment to Center (see
Figure 2).
6. Type the title of your paper, capitalizing the first word and all major words and proper
nouns. Do not use italics, boldfaced type, underlining, or all caps to format your title. Do
not type a period at the end of the title. Press the Enter key once.
7. Click on the Align Left icon (see Figure 3), or, from the menu bar, select Format and
Paragraph, select the Indents and Spacing tab, and change Alignment to Left (see Figure
2).
8. Depress the Tab key to indent 1/2 inch to begin your first paragraph and begin typing your
document. (See Figure 5 for an example of a properly-formatted MLA-style manuscript.)
Note: Do not hit the return or enter key at the end of a line; allow the word processor to
automatically wrap the text to the next line. Depress the enter key only once at the end of each
paragraph, and use the tab key to begin a new paragraph.
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Figure 5 A properly formatted MLA-Style paper.
Format the Works Cited page.
Immediately after typing the final line of your paper, depress the CTRL key and the ENTER key at
the same time. This will take you to the first line at the top of the next page. Your header and page
number should already appear.
1. Click on the Align Center icon (see Figure 3), or, from the menu bar, select Format and
Paragraph, select the Indents and Spacing tab, and change Alignment to Center (see
Figure 2).
2. Type Works Cited (do not underline, boldface, italicize, or enclose in quotes).
3. Depress the Enter key once.
4. Click on the Align Left icon (see Figure 3), or, from the menu bar, select Format and
Paragraph, select the Indents and Spacing tab, and change Alignment to left (see Figure
2).
5. Select Format and Paragraph, select the Indents and Spacing tab, locate the Special drop
box under Indentation and select Hanging (see Figure 6).
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6. Type your first works cited entry. (Note: For most sources, follow the guidelines for citation
of sources in the 5th edition (1998) of the MLA Handbook; for electronically-accessed
sources, follow the guidelines in The Columbia Guide to Online Style (1998). Both of these
style guides are available in the reference section of the library. A brief style guide for
Columbia Online Style is also available online at
http://www.columbia.edu/cu/cup/cgos2006/basic.html). A properly formatted MLA/COS
style Works Cited page is shown in Figure 7, below.
7. At the end of each entry, depress the Enter key only once. Do not introduce extra spaces
between entries!
8. Repeat steps 5, 6, and 7 for each entry.
Figure 6 Setting a hanging indent.
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Figure 7 A properly-formatted Works Cited page in MLA format.
Print your manuscript.
Before printing, make sure your document is as finished as possible. Run spell check (select Tools
and then Spelling and Grammar) and correct any obvious spelling errors; read through the
document on your screen and correct any mistakes you may find. Read the paper again carefully
after printing, too. If necessary, make additional corrections and print it again. Do not make
pencil/pen corrections on your papers.
1. Select File from the Menu Bar and then Print on the drop-down menu.
2. In the Print Dialog box, select OK.
Note: If for some reason your document does not print, do not repeat these steps; ask the lab
assistant or your teacher for assistance.
Save your file.
1. Insert an IBM-formatted floppy diskette (3.5 inch) in the a:\ drive.
2. Select File from the Menu Bar.
3. Select Save As from the Drop-Down menu. (Note: If you have previously saved this
document to disk, you can just click Save and skip the next step.)
4. Enter a file name in the space indicated in the dialog box (see Figure 8). (Note: if possible,
use file names no longer than 8 characters, containing no spaces or special characters.) The
word processor will automatically add the .doc file extension for Word documents.
5. If you need to save the file in a format other than Word, click on the arrow next to the Save
as type box (see Figure 8). If you are unsure of the proper file type, choose RTF (Rich Text
Format) for portability across applications.
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Figure 8 "Save As" dialog box.
For an online tutorial on formatting Microsoft Word 2007, please go to
the following website:
http://www.nvcc.edu/loudoun/english/writingcenter/mla-formattutorial07.htm
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