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Scribbr MLA Format Template

This document provides instructions and examples for formatting a paper in MLA style. It discusses formatting the main text, indenting paragraphs, using headings, citing sources with in-text citations and a works cited list, including tables and figures, and generating citations automatically using an MLA citation generator.

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Laib Abir
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730 views4 pages

Scribbr MLA Format Template

This document provides instructions and examples for formatting a paper in MLA style. It discusses formatting the main text, indenting paragraphs, using headings, citing sources with in-text citations and a works cited list, including tables and figures, and generating citations automatically using an MLA citation generator.

Uploaded by

Laib Abir
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 4

Surname 1

Your Name

Supervisor Name

Course Name

Due Date

Title of Your Paper

The main text in an MLA formatted paper is left-aligned. Don’t use the right-side

justification since that is not in line with the guidelines of the eight edition MLA Handbook

published in 2016. Text is also double-spaced throughout your paper. Not only the body text,

but also headings, titles, and the entries in the list of works cited.

The first sentence of every new paragraph in your essay is indented half an inch or

1.27 centimeters. This makes it easier for your reader to see the transitions between

paragraphs. In this template we automated the indent by dragging the square block in the

ruler to the half an inch mark. When you move the square in the ruler, you will see that the

indent of the paragraph changes. If you select all the text in this document and then move the

square block, the indent will change for all paragraphs.

In longer papers you might want to use headings to help organize and provide

structure to your paper. There are no set formatting requirements by MLA – the only rules are

that you must be consistent and not add a period after the heading. We recommend keeping

the font and size the same as the body text and applying title case capitalization. In general,

boldface indicates greater prominence, while italics is appropriate for subordinate headings.
Surname 2

Heading Example
After researching your topic, you might end up quoting or paraphrasing from other

sources. It’s important that you do this correctly in order to avoid committing plagiarism. In

MLA Style, a proper citation consists of two parts: the in-text citation and the entry in the list

of works cited. The in-text citation is placed right after the quote or paraphrase and contains

the author’s last name and page number. Usually this information is placed within

parentheses. Let’s look at an example: “A membership referendum held today would be

backed by 55 percent of Danish voters” (Levring 8).

In some situations, you might want to include a table, illustration, graph, photo or

some other visual in your paper. Tables and other visuals should be placed as close to the

relevant part of text as possible. Tables are usually labelled and numbered, along with a

descriptive title. The label and title are placed above the table on separate lines. Source

references or explanatory notes are placed below the table and assigned a lowercase letter

instead of a numeral.

Table 1

Percentage of EU Population Capable of Conversation in a Foreign Language

Age One language Two languages Three languages

15-24 74% 37% 12%


25-39 64% 31% 12%
40-54 55% 25% 10%
55-65 38% 17% 7%
a. Research based on 1,500 participants from 15 countries.

Illustrations and other visuals are also labelled and numbered. The label “Figure” is

usually abbreviated to “Fig.” and is followed by a number and caption. The information is

placed directly below the table.


Surname 3

15-24 25-39 40-54 55-65

One language Two Languages Three languages


Fi

g. 1. Percentage of EU Population Capable of Conversation in a Foreign Language

The in-text citation we included in an earlier paragraph corresponds to the entry in the

list of works cited, placed at the end of your paper on a separate page. There you give more

information about a source such as the title, publisher and date of publication. If a reference

entry is longer than one line, each line after the first should be indented ½ inch (called a

hanging indent). The entries in the list are then sorted alphabetically. You can either create

the entries manually or use an accurate citation generator such as Scribbr’s MLA Citation

Generator.
Surname 4

Works Cited

Adams, Amanda. Citing Sources: How to Cite a Book. Academic Press, 2019.

Barnes, Barney. “A Chapter in an Edited Collection.” A Book of Examples, edited by John

Smith, Academic Press, 2019, pp. 25–35.

Cox, Christopher, and Brian D. Smith. “The Title of the Article.” Website name, 15 Sept.

2019, www.scribbr.com/page.

Dayton, Daniels, and Bob Matthew Williams. “Journal Article Title.” Journal of Academic

Research, vol. 32, no. 15, 2014, pp. 232–265, doi:10.1080/02626667.2018.1560449.

Fox, Ferdinant, et al. The Basics of Citing in MLA Style. 2nd ed., Scribbr Press, 2008.

How to Easily Create MLA Citations


Create your own MLA Style citations with the free Scribbr MLA Citation Generator.

It’s the easiest and most reliable tool to create and manage your MLA works cited list and in-

text citations. Based on the most recent 8th edition MLA format requirements.

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