MLA Guidelines for Academic Writing
I. Introduction
All teachers at Lexington Catholic High School require their
students to follow MLA standards for all formal writing
assignments and to give credit to all outside sources according to
MLA guidelines.
The Modern Language Association of America (MLA) has
established guidelines for student and professional writers to
follow in their formal, academic writing. The MLA is recognized
as a credible organization of teachers and scholars with the
expertise and authority to set the following standards. Various
fields of study have accepted the standards set by the MLA, and
many schools, colleges, and publishing organizations around the
world follow MLA guidelines. APA and Chicago Style are two
other citation styles that students may learn in college.
II. Page Format Guidelines
Paper:
plain white paper, 8 ½” x 11” in size
Margins:
1” margins on all sides
Type font:
Times New Roman (or similar) style, size 12 pt
Spacing:
consistent double spacing (no extra spaces anywhere)
Cover page:
none, unless specified by instructor
Heading:
located in the top left corner; lists writer’s name, instructor’s
name, class’s name, and date (military style) on separate lines
Title:
centered on the line following the heading; size 12 pt;
no underline, boldface, italics, or quotation marks for
the title of the paper; all major words capitalized
Page numbers: located in top right margin of every page, ½” down;
lists writer’s last name and page number
Tabs:
½” tab for paragraph indents and works cited entries
II. Page Format Sample
1/2 ”
1”
Jones 1
1”
Rex Jones
Ms. Sampson
American Literature
23 April 2006
Gatsby and His Wealth
1/2”
Jay Gatsby relies heavily on his wealth to establish his identity and to help
him win over his true love, Daisy. He knows that she is a shallow woman who
1”
III. Parenthetical Citations
A. Explanation
MLA guidelines require that all references to outside sources be
documented with an in-text, parenthetical citation. These citations
are brief source references that give credit to the source of the
material and correspond to the complete source listings on the
works cited page.
B. Format
The most basic parenthetical citation includes two pieces of
information: the last name of the source’s author and the page
number from which the material came.
III. Parenthetical Citations
The basic formula is fairly simple: (Mason 24) or (Diaz 231-233)
Note: there is no punctuation between the name and the number: just one space.
The following citations illustrate variations to the basic formula:
A source with two authors- (Brown and Solis 44)
A source with three authors- (Carter, Drake, and Farmer 81-82)
A source with four or more authors- (Thomas et al. 37)
Two sources where the authors have the
(N. Smith 101)
. same last name and different first names
(R. Smith 23)
Two different sources
(McGraw, Love 101)
. by the same author
(McGraw, Self 42)
A source with no author starts with the first word of the title
. in italics- (Interpreting 19)
An article with no author starts with the first word of the title in
. quotation marks- (“Hunger” 56, 60)
III. Parenthetical Citations
C. Placement
A writer must place the citation after the material taken from the
source, as close to the material as possible. For a direct quote, the
citation should immediately follow the quoted material, after the
closing quotation mark and before the end punctuation. For a
summary or paraphrase, the citation should go at the end of the
sentence or sentences taken from the source.
D. Usage
A writer must include a citation every time he or she uses a
source in any way. In other words, any information that is not a
writer’s original knowledge or opinion must be cited. Writers who
are not sure if source material should be cited, should choose to
cite, in order to avoid plagiarism.
IV. Works Cited Page
A. Explanation
The works cited page comes at the end of the paper and provides a
complete list of sources that the writer cited in the paper. Each
entry includes detailed information about the source and
corresponds to the parenthetical citations.
B. Page Format
1) The works cited page follows the paper’s conclusion and always
. starts a new page.
2) The margins remain 1” on all sides and pagination continues in
. the top right margin.
3) The heading “Works Cited” is centered at the top of the page, in .
plain text—no underline, no italics, no bold, no “quotation
.
marks,” no ALL CAPS.
IV. Works Cited Page
4) Works cited entries are listed in alphabetical order, according to
. the authors’ last names. Do not bullet or number these entries.
. Multiple sources with the same author are alphabetized by the
. titles. Sources with no authors are alphabetized by the first
. major word in their titles.
5) The list of entries must be formatted with reverse indentation:
. the first line of each entry begins at the 1” left margin; if the
entry is longer that one line of typed text, the following lines
. are indented ½” from the left margin (MS Word: hanging indent).
6) If the list of entries is longer than one page, the list should
. continue in alphabetical order on to the next page. The
. proceeding page should be numbered, but does not require a
. heading.
IV. Works Cited Entries
C. Format for Entries
Each type of source follows a specific format, which can be found
in the MLA section of the Writer’s Reference handbook, in the back
of all literature textbooks, and online.
1) Entry for a Book
For most books, arrange the information into three units, each
followed by a period and one space:
. 1. author's name- last name, first name, middle initial/name
. 2. title of book- italicized: subtitle (if there is one)
3. publication information- city: company, year
4. Format
House, Silas. Clay’s Quilt. New York: Ballantine, 2001. Print.
IV. Works Cited Entries
2) Entry for an Article from a Website
For online articles, follow the order below and include as many
pieces of information as the web page provides:
. 1. author’s name- last name, first name, middle initial/name
. 2. title of article- in quotation marks
. 3. title of the website- italicized
.
4. publishing information- publisher or sponsor of site, then date
of creation or last update, separated by a comma. If no
publisher is listed, write “N.p.” If no date is listed, write “n.d.”
5. Format= Web
. 6. date of access- military style
Shiva, Vandana. “Bioethics: A Third World Issue.” NativeWeb. NativeWeb, n.d. Web.
15 Sept. 2001.
“Media Giants.” Frontline: The Merchants of Cool. PBS Online, 2001. Web. 7 March 2001.
IV. Works Cited Page Sample
Orlov 9
Works Cited
Adams, Scott. Dilbert and the Way of the Weasel. New York: Harper, 2002. Print.
American Management Association and ePolicy Institute. “2005 Electronic
Monitoring and Surveillance Survey.” American Management Association.
Amer. Management Assn., 2005. Web. 15 Feb. 2006.
“Automatically Record Everything They Do Online! Spector Pro 5.0 FAQ’s.”
Netbus.org. Netbus.org, n.d. Web. 17 Feb. 2006.
Flynn, Nancy. “Internet Policies.” ePolicy Institute. ePolicy Inst., n.d. Web. 15 Feb.
2006.
Frauenheim, Ed. “Stop Reading This Headline and Get Back to Work.” CNET
News.com. CNET Networks, 11 July 2005. Web. 17 Feb. 2006.
Sample works cited page taken from: http://image.mail.bfwpub.com/lib/feed1c737d6c03/m/1/Hacker_MLA2009Update.pdf