Papers constructed according to MLA guidelines should adhere to the following elements:
Double-space all of the text of your paper, and use a clear font, such as Times New Roman or Arial, 11 or 12-point font.
Use one-inch margins on all sides, and indent the first line of a paragraph one half-inch from the left margin.
Type your name, your instructor’s name, the course, and the date in the upper left-hand corner of the first page. This is called a heading. There is no cover page.
Insert a header in the upper right-hand corner with your last name, a space, and then a page number. This is called a running header. Pages should be numbered consecutively with Arabic numerals (1, 2, 3, 4, etc.), one-half inch from the top and flush with the right margin. You only need a running header when your paper is longer than one page.
Provide in-text citations for all quoted, paraphrased, and summarized information in your paper.
If you use endnotes, include them on a separate page before your Works Cited page.
Include a Works Cited page at the end of your paper that gives full bibliographic information for each item cited in your paper.
Your Works Cited page at the end of your project should match with the in-text citations in the body of your essay.
The information in this section follows the MLA Handbook, 9th edition. See more information about formatting papers in the MLA Online Guide.
For information on formatting in-text citations and creating a Works Cited page, see this MLA guide from California State University.
Note: While this example paper uses MLA 8th edition, these example pages are still accurate. The items that have changed in the 9th edition are not used in these examples.
Adapted from "How to Format a Paper" and "Example Paper" from MLA in Minutes by Sami Lange; Vicki Brandenburg; and Leila Palis is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.