This handout provides a quick reference to the basics of using MLA style. For complete guidelines, please consult MLA Ha
MLA Format Cheat Sheet For C.R. Anderson Middle School This handout provides a quick reference to the basics of using MLA style. For complete guidelines, please consult MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers, 7th edition. You may also visit the University of Purdue Online Writing Lab: http://bit.ly/MLAformatguide
Formatting Basics
Double space throughout paper, with no extra spaces between paragraphs. Top, bottom, and side margins should be one inch. Use Times New Roman, 12 point font. Indent the first word of each paragraph by 1/2 inch or 5 spaces. Insert a Header, right aligned, which includes your last name followed by the page number at the top of the first page. This header will automatically repeat itself throughout your paper and on your Works Cited page. Do not use a title page for the research paper. Instead, simply type your name, your instructor's name, name of class and period, and date. This should be left aligned. Center the title of the paper. Do not underline the title, or put in "quotation marks," or set in ALL CAPITALS.
SAMPLE FIRST PAGE:
Josephson 1 Laura Josephson Professor Barnett English Period 5 25 February 2015 Ellington’s Adventures in Music and Geography In studying the influence of Latin American, African, and Asian music on…
CREATING AN MLA WORKS CITED PAGE HOW TO CITE SOURCES 1. Follow punctuation use exactly in examples provided below. 2. If required information, such as an author is not available, leave it out. 3. If required information, such as date or place of publication is not available, include n.p. (no publication) or n.d. (no date). 4. Arrange all citations alphabetically by the first word, which will be the author's last name or the first important word of the title. BOOK WITH ONE AUTHOR
Author's Last name, First name, Last name. Title of the book in ITALICS if you are typing on a computer (or UNDERLINED if you are writing by hand.) City of Publication: Publisher, Date of Publication. Type of Material (medium).
Example: Cohen, Daniel. America's Very Own Ghosts. New York: Doubleday, 2010. Print.
BOOK WITH TWO AUTHORS
First listed author's Last name, First name and second author’s First name, Last name. Title of the book in ITALICS if you are typing on a computer (or UNDERLINED if you are writing by hand.) City of Publication: Publisher, Date of Publication. Type of Material (medium).
Example: Cohen, Daniel and Ellen Jacobs. America's Very Own Ghosts. New York: Doubleday, 2010. Print.
A PAGE ON A WEBSITE
Author's Last name, First name (if known.) “Title of Article” in quotes. Title of Website in ITALICS if you are typing on a computer (or UNDERLINED if you are writing by hand.) Publisher/sponsor of website, Date website was electronically published. Use n.d. if no date found. How you accessed the information (or the “medium” of publication). Date you accessed the information.
Example:
"How to Make Vegetarian Chili." eHow. Demand Media, n.d. Web. 24 Feb. 2010.
PHOTOGRAPH FROM INTERNET/WEBSITE
Author’s Last name, First name (if known). Title or description of image. Photograph. Title of Website in ITALICS if you are typing on a computer or UNDERLINED if you are writing by hand. Publisher/Sponsor of Website, Date website was electronically published. Use n.d. if no date found. How you accessed the data (or the “medium” of publication). Date you accessed the image.
Example:
Alligator gar eating man. Photograph. Lincoln Park Zoo. Lincoln Park Zoo, n.d. Web. 22 Jan. 2015.
Sources Used to Create this Handout: Clark, Kristen. “Creating a Bibliography.” Teachers Pay Teachers. n.d. Web. 16 Jan. 2015. The Purdue OWL. Purdue U Writing Lab, 2010. Web. 26 Jan. 2015.
