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MLA Citation Style Guide - 9th ed.

Sections of MLA style paper


Papers done in MLA format, generally do not have a separate title page. The author's name, instructor's name, course number and date appear at the start of the paper aligned to the left-hand side of the page. 

Endnotes begin on a new page following last paragraph of paper and before the Works Cited section. Entries are double-spaced and are indented .5" from the margin.

Work Cited page is a list of all sources cited in the paper beginning on a new page following either the final paper paragraph or Endnotes page. Entries are double-spaced beginning at left margin with subsequent lines indented one half inch from left margin (hanging indent).

** Always check with your instructor, for specific formatting and paper instructions.

General Guidelines


Font - 12-point Times News Roman

Spacing - Double-space entire paper, including quotations, EndNotes and Works Cited pages.

Margins - 1" on all sides.

Author/Title information - Type your name, instructor name(s), course name & number and date double-spaced beginning One inch from top of first page and flush with left margin. Check with instructor for instructions for format and group project title page requirements.

Page Numbers - Number all pages consecutively in the upper right-hand corner, one-half inch from top.

Running Header - The format is Last Name followed by a space before the page #. Do not use "p" before the page number. Check with instructor if the first page needs to be numbered.

Indentation - Indent first line of paragraph half an inch from left margin; Indent block quotations half an inch from left margin as well.

Capitalization rules located in section 2.90

Parenthetical References - Used in text of paper for all sources of information/data, whether paraphrased or direct quote; format is author-page method. Page numbers required.

Works Cited page - Requires hanging indents, where the first line of each citation is not indented but all following lines are indented one-half inch.