MLA Guide

General Format: 8.5 x 11 inch paper Double Spaced Times New Roman 12 pt font Only ONE space after each period 1 inch margins on all sides Indent 1st lines of each paragraph a half-inch from the left margin Use a header that includes your last name and page number The First Page: In the upper left-hand corner list your full name, your instructors name, the class, and the date (in the form Day Month Year). The title of your paper should be one double-space down and should not be bolded, italicized, or underlined. The beginning of your paper should start one double-space down with the first line indented a half-inch. Example:

In-Text Citations When you know the authors name: (Last Name + Page Number) Example: (Meyer 39) (Last Name + Line/Para Number) Example: (Kipling 39)

When you dont know the authors name: (Book Title + Page Number) Example: (Twilight 39) (Article Title + Page Number) Example: (Vampires and Werewolves 39) Works Cited Page: Begin your Works Cited page on a separate page at the end of your research paper. It should have the same one-inch margins and last name, page number header as the rest of your paper.

Label the page Works Cited (do not italicize the words Works Cited or put them in quotation marks) and center the words Works Cited at the top of the page. Double space all citations, but do not skip spaces between entries. Indent the second and subsequent lines of citations by 0.5 inches to create a hanging indent. Sources are listed in alphabetical order. If a source has more than one author, the first given name appears in lastname, firstname format, the following authors appear in firstname lastname format and are separated by commas, with the last author name being preceded by and.

Print Sources: Book/Poem: Lastname, Firstname. Title of Book/Poem. City of Publication: Publisher, Year of Publication. Print. Magazine/Newspaper Article: Author(s). "Title of Article." Title of Periodical Day Month Year: pages. Print. Journal Article: Author(s). "Title of Article." Title of Journal Volume.Issue (Year): pages. Print. Web Sources: Whole Website: Name of Site. Sponsor or Publisher, date of resource creation. Web. Date of

access. Web Page/Article: Author(s). "Title of Article." Name of Site. Sponsor or Publisher, date of resource creation. Web. Date of access. Online Journal Article: Author(s). "Title of Article." Title of Journal Volume.Issue (Year): pages. Web. Date of access.

Exceptions: 1. If the author is unknown, begin citation with the title. 2. If the publisher is unknown, write n.p. in its place. 3. If the publishing date is unknown, write n.d. in its place.