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PurdueOWL:MLAFormattingandStyleGuide

GeneralWritingResearchandCitationTeachingandTutoringSubjectSpecific
WritingJobSearchWritingESL
ThispageisbroughttoyoubytheOWLatPurdue(https://owl.english.purdue.edu/).When
printingthispage,youmustincludetheentirelegalnoticeatbottom.

MLAFormattingandStyleGuide
Summary:
MLA(ModernLanguageAssociation)styleismostcommonlyusedtowritepapersandcitesourceswithintheliberalarts
andhumanities.Thisresource,updatedtoreflecttheMLAHandbookforWritersofResearchPapers(7thed.)andthe
MLAStyleManualandGuidetoScholarlyPublishing(3rded.),offersexamplesforthegeneralformatofMLAresearch
papers,intextcitations,endnotes/footnotes,andtheWorksCitedpage.
Contributors:TonyRussell,AllenBrizee,ElizabethAngeli,RussellKeck,JoshuaM.Paiz,MichelleCampbell,Rodrigo
RodrguezFuentes,PurdueOWLStaff
LastEdited:2014101009:09:47
PleaseusetheexampleatthebottomofthispagetocitethePurdueOWLinMLA.
Toseeasidebysidecomparisonofthethreemostwidelyusedcitationstyles,includingachartofallMLAcitation
guidelines,seetheCitationStyleChart.
YoucanalsowatchourMLAvidcastseriesonthePurdueOWLYouTubeChannel.

GeneralFormat
MLAstylespecifiesguidelinesforformattingmanuscriptsandusingtheEnglishlanguageinwriting.MLAstylealso
provideswriterswithasystemforreferencingtheirsourcesthroughparentheticalcitationintheiressaysandWorksCited
pages.
WriterswhoproperlyuseMLAalsobuildtheircredibilitybydemonstratingaccountabilitytotheirsourcematerial.Most
importantly,theuseofMLAstylecanprotectwritersfromaccusationsofplagiarism,whichisthepurposefulor
accidentaluncrediteduseofsourcematerialbyotherwriters.
IfyouareaskedtouseMLAformat,besuretoconsulttheMLAHandbookforWritersofResearchPapers(7thedition).
PublishingscholarsandgraduatestudentsshouldalsoconsulttheMLAStyleManualandGuidetoScholarlyPublishing
(3rdedition).TheMLAHandbookisavailableinmostwritingcentersandreferencelibrariesitisalsowidelyavailablein
bookstores,libraries,andattheMLAwebsite.SeetheAdditionalResourcessectionofthishandoutforalistofhelpful
booksandsitesaboutusingMLAstyle.

PaperFormat
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ThepreparationofpapersandmanuscriptsinMLAstyleiscoveredinchapterfouroftheMLAHandbook,andchapter
fouroftheMLAStyleManual.BelowaresomebasicguidelinesforformattingapaperinMLAstyle.

GeneralGuidelines
Typeyourpaperonacomputerandprintitoutonstandard,white8.5x11inchpaper.
Doublespacethetextofyourpaper,andusealegiblefont(e.g.TimesNewRoman).Whateverfontyouchoose,
MLArecommendsthattheregularanditalicstypestylescontrastenoughthattheyarerecognizableonefrom
another.Thefontsizeshouldbe12pt.
Leaveonlyonespaceafterperiodsorotherpunctuationmarks(unlessotherwiseinstructedbyyourinstructor).
Setthemarginsofyourdocumentto1inchonallsides.
Indentthefirstlineofparagraphsonehalfinchfromtheleftmargin.MLArecommendsthatyouusetheTabkey
asopposedtopushingtheSpaceBarfivetimes.
Createaheaderthatnumbersallpagesconsecutivelyintheupperrighthandcorner,onehalfinchfromthetop
andflushwiththerightmargin.(Note:Yourinstructormayaskthatyouomitthenumberonyourfirstpage.
Alwaysfollowyourinstructor'sguidelines.)
Useitalicsthroughoutyouressayforthetitlesoflongerworksand,onlywhenabsolutelynecessary,providing
emphasis.
Ifyouhaveanyendnotes,includethemonaseparatepagebeforeyourWorksCitedpage.Entitlethesection
Notes(centered,unformatted).

FormattingtheFirstPageofYourPaper
Donotmakeatitlepageforyourpaperunlessspecificallyrequested.
Intheupperlefthandcornerofthefirstpage,listyourname,yourinstructor'sname,thecourse,andthedate.
Again,besuretousedoublespacedtext.
Doublespaceagainandcenterthetitle.Donotunderline,italicize,orplaceyourtitleinquotationmarkswritethe
titleinTitleCase(standardcapitalization),notinallcapitalletters.
Usequotationmarksand/oritalicswhenreferringtootherworksinyourtitle,justasyouwouldinyourtext:
FearandLoathinginLasVegasasMoralityPlayHumanWearinessin"AfterApplePicking"
Doublespacebetweenthetitleandthefirstlineofthetext.
Createaheaderintheupperrighthandcornerthatincludesyourlastname,followedbyaspacewithapage
numbernumberallpagesconsecutivelywithArabicnumerals(1,2,3,4,etc.),onehalfinchfromthetopand
flushwiththerightmargin.(Note:Yourinstructororotherreadersmayaskthatyouomitlastname/pagenumber
headeronyourfirstpage.Alwaysfollowinstructorguidelines.)
HereisasampleofthefirstpageofapaperinMLAstyle:

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ImageCaption:TheFirstPageofanMLAPaper

SectionHeadings
WriterssometimesuseSectionHeadingstoimproveadocumentsreadability.Thesesectionsmayincludeindividual
chaptersorothernamedpartsofabookoressay.
Essays
MLArecommendsthatwhenyoudivideanessayintosectionsthatyounumberthosesectionswithanarabicnumberand
aperiodfollowedbyaspaceandthesectionname.
1.EarlyWritings

2.TheLondonYears

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3.TravelingtheContinent

4.FinalYears

Books
MLAdoesnothaveaprescribedsystemofheadingsforbooks(formoreinformationonheadings,pleaseseepage146in
theMLAStyleManualandGuidetoScholarlyPublishing,3rdedition).Ifyouareonlyusingonelevelofheadings,
meaningthatallofthesectionsaredistinctandparallelandhavenoadditionalsectionsthatfitwithinthem,MLA
recommendsthatthesesectionsresembleoneanothergrammatically.Forinstance,ifyourheadingsaretypicallyshort
phrases,makealloftheheadingsshortphrases(andnot,forexample,fullsentences).Otherwise,theformattingisupto
you.Itshould,however,beconsistentthroughoutthedocument.
Ifyouemploymultiplelevelsofheadings(someofyoursectionshavesectionswithinsections),youmaywanttoprovide
akeyofyourchosenlevelheadingsandtheirformattingtoyourinstructororeditor.
SampleSectionHeadings
Thefollowingsampleheadingsaremeanttobeusedonlyasareference.Youmayemploywhateversystemofformatting
thatworksbestforyousolongasitremainsconsistentthroughoutthedocument.
Numbered:
1.SoilConservation

1.1Erosion

1.2Terracing

2.WaterConservation

3.EnergyConservation

Formatted,unnumbered:
Level1Heading:bold,flushleft
Level2Heading:italics,flushleft
Level3Heading:centered,bold
Level4Heading:centered,italics
Level5Heading:underlined,flushleft

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HowtoCitethePurdueOWLinMLA
EntireWebsite
ThePurdueOWL.PurdueUWritingLab,2010.Web.Dateofaccess.

IndividualResources
Contributors'namesandthelastediteddatecanbefoundintheorangeboxesatthetopofeverypageontheOWL.
Contributors'names."TitleofResource."ThePurdueOWL.PurdueUWriting
Lab,Lastediteddate.Web.Dateofaccess.

Russell,Tony,AllenBrizee,andElizabethAngeli."MLAFormattingand
StyleGuide."ThePurdueOWL.PurdueUWritingLab,4Apr.2010.Web.
20July2010.

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