Margins

Leave margins of one inch at the top and bottom and on both sides of the text. 

Text Formatting

Always choose an easily readable typeface (Times New Roman is just one example) in which the regular type style contrasts clearly with the italic, and set it to anywhere between 11 and 13 points, unless your instructor specifies a different font size. Generally use the same typeface and type size throughout the paper. Do not justify the lines of text at the right margin, and turn off the automatic hyphenation feature in your word processing program. It is unnecessary to divide words at the ends of lines in a manuscript. Double space the entire paper, including quotations, notes, and the list of works cited. Indent the first line of a paragraph half an inch from the left margin. Indent block quotation half and inch as well. Leave one space after a period or other concluding punctuation mark, unless your instructor prefers two spaces.

Title

One inch from the top of the page and flush with the left margin, type your name, your instructor's name (or instructor's names, if there is more than one instructor), the course name and number, and the date on separate double-spaced lines. On a double-spaced line, center the title. Do not italicize or underline your title, put it in quotation marks or boldface, or type it in all capital letters. Follow the rules for capitalization and italicize only words that you would italicize in the text.

Do not use a period after your title or after any heading in the paper (e.g. Works Cited). Begin your text on a new double-spaced line after the title, indenting the first line of the paragraph half an inch from the left margin. A research paper does not normally need a title page, but if the paper is a group project, create a title page and list all the authors on it instead of in the header on page 1 of your essay.

Running Head and Page Numbers

Number all pages consecutively throughout the paper in the upper right-hand corner, half an inch from the top and flush with the right margin. Type your surname, followed by a space, before the page number. If a project has several authors and all authors' surnames do not fit in a running head, include only the page number. Do not use the abbreviation "p." before the page number or add a period, hyphen, or any other mark or symbol. Your word processing program will probably allow you to create a running head of this kind that appears automatically on every page. 

Internal Headings and Subheadings

Headings and subheadings in the body of your research project can help organize and structure your writing, but you should avoid overusing them. Headings should never be used to compensate for poor structure or to explain an underdeveloped idea, and they are generally not needed in short, essay-length works. When headings are called for in your writing project, keep them short and observe basic guidelines.

• each level 1 heading should appear in the same style and size, as should each level 2 heading, and so on

• in general, boldfaced, larger font indicates prominence; a smaller font, italics, or lack of bold can be used to signal subordination

• for readability, avoid using all capital letters for headings (in some cases, small capitals may be acceptable)

• in the body of the paper, headings should be flush wit the left margin, not intended or centered; for readability, include a line space above and below the heading

• generally avoid using numbers and letters to designate headings unless you are working in a discipline where using them is conventional

• capitalize and punctuate headings like the titles of works

Placement of the List of Works Cited

The list of works cited appears at the end of the paper, after any endnotes. Center the heading, Works Cited, an inch from the topic of the page. If the list contains only one entry, make the heading Work Cited. Double-space between the heading and the first entry. Begin each entry flush with the left margin; if any entry runs more than one line, indent the subsequent line or lines half an inch from the left margin. This format sometimes is called hanging indent, and you can set your word processing program to create it automatically for a group of paragraphs. Hanging indent makes alphabetical lists easier to use. Double-space the entire list. 

Tables and Illustrations

Place tables and illustrations as close as possible to the parts of the text to which they relate. A table is usually labeled Table, given an arabic numeral, and titled. Type both the label and title flush left on separate lines above the table, and capitalize them as titles (do not use all capital letters). Place the source of the table and any notes in a caption immediately below the table. To avoid confusion between notes and the text and notes to the table, designate notes to the table with lowercase letters rather than with numerals. Double-space throughout; using dividing lines as needed. 

Any other type of illustrative visual material--for example, a photograph, map, line drawing, graph, or chart--should be labeled Figure (usually abbreviated Fig.), assigned an arabic numeral, and given a caption. A label and caption ordinarily appear directly below the illustration and have the same one-inch margins as the text of the paper. If the caption of a table or illustration provides complete information about the source and the source is not cited in the text, no entry is needed for the source in the works-cited list. If you provide full bibliographic details in a caption, punctuate the caption like a works-cited-list entry but do not invert the name of the author or artist that appears at the beginning of the caption. Otherwise, use commas to separate elements in the caption and provide full publication details in the works-cited list. 

Musical illustrations are labeled Example (usually abbreviated Ex.), assigned an Arabic numeral, and given a caption. A label and caption ordinarily appear directly below the example and have the same one-inch margins as the text of the paper. 

Lists 

    Lists can help you organize information and present it economically. The goal of any list is to help readers easily understand information. Overusing lists, however, can have the opposite effect, making prose difficult to follow. Lists can be incorporated into your prose or set vertically. They can be numbered when enumeration is essential to your point. It is preferable to integrate lists into your prose, rather than to set them vertically, whenever the information can be readily understood in this format. A colon is often used to introduce an integrated list unless the list is grammatically essential to the introductory wording--for example, when the list is the object of the verb that introduces it, as in the second example below (where the list is the object of the verb include). Punctuate items in an unnumbered, integrated list just as you would words in a sentence.

Examples

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie has written four books of fiction: Purple Hibiscus, Half of a Yellow Sun, The Thing around Your Neck, and Americanah. 

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's books of fiction include Purple Hibiscus, Half of a Yellow Sun, The Thing around Your Neck, and Americanah. 

Numerals in lists in your prose should be enclosed in parentheses.

Example

The workshop will walk students through five key stages in the research process: (1) selecting a topic, (2) searching for sources, (3) evaluating sources, (4) reading and taking notes from relevant sources, and (5) refining the topic. 

Lists Set Vertically

Vertical lists are best used when the information presented is lengthy, has many component parts, or benefits from being set apart from the main prose. Below are examples of vertical lists--which may be unnumbered, numbered, or bulleted--and how to introduce, punctuate, and capitalize them. 

Lists introduced with a complete sentence

A list may be introduced with a complete sentence followed by a colon, as in the examples below. The items in the list can be composed of complete sentences or fragments but should be consistent in using one or the other. If the list items are complete sentences, the first letter of the first word of each item should be capitalized, and the item should be followed by closing punctuation, such as a period or question mark.

Example

Students were asked to address one of the following questions in their group presentation:

What signs of the ancien regime continue to influence the social mores of characters in the novel?

How is realism evinced in the novel, and when does the novel retreat from realism?

How are workers depicted in the novel's urban scenes?

How do the moments of magical realism in the novel relate to the subplot of the dictator's coup?

In bulleted lists, elements begin with a lowercase letter (unless the first word is normally capitalized, such as a proper noun), and no punctuation follows list elements unless they are composed of a full sentence.

Example

The MLA Style Center (style.mla.org), a free companion to the MLA Handbook, is the only official website devoted to MLA style and provides a number of useful features:

• the opportunity to submit questions about MLA style

• sample research papers

• teaching resources

• tools for creating works-cited-list entries 

If the list items are not complete sentences and the list is not bulleted, then, whether the list is numbered or not, begin each item with a lowercase letter and punctuate the fragments like parts of a sentence. Use semicolons between the list items and write and or or before the final item. A period should conclude the list. 

Example

The specific contexts influencing the author's work fall into four main areas:

1. ideas about free will and the change and mutability that attend human decision-making, derived from Boethius;

2. teachings about the importance of translating the Bible into English;

3. humanism's founding precepts and, especially, the writings of Petrarch;

4. the political insurrection that took places as a result of heavy taxation to continue funding of the Hundred Years' War.

Lists that continue the sentence introducing them

A list may also start with a sentence continued in the list, as shown in the examples below. No colon should appear before such lists. In most cases, list items continuing the sentence introducing them will not be complete sentences, and each item can therefore begin with a lowercase letter. In formal contexts, you may punctuate the fragments in numbered and unnumbered lists like parts of a sentence. Use semicolons between the list items and write and or or before the final item. A period should conclude the list.

Example

The campus health clinic is expanding its advocacy efforts by 

launching a twenty-four-hour care hotline;

developing strategic partnerships with community health care providers;

running a website that provides reliable, up-to-date health information, mental health resources, nutritional 

advice, and more. 

In bulleted lists, elements begin with a lowercase letter (unless the first word is normally capitalized, such as a proper noun), and no punctuation follows list elements unless they are composed of a full sentence.

Example

A free companion to the MLA Handbook and the only official website devoted to MLA style, The MLA Style Center (style.mla.org) provides

• the opportunity to submit questions about MLA style

• sample research papers

• teaching resources

• tools for creating works-cited-list entries 

Paper and Printing

Use only white, 8 1/2-by-11 inch paper. Some instructors prefer papers printed on a single side because such papers are easier to read, but others allow printing on both sides to conserve paper.