MLA Format

It is important to remember that MLA format requires more than citations. The basic requirements are:

1. Times New Roman 12pt. font

2. 1" margins on all sides (this is standard in most word processors)

3. In-text citations and a works cited page

4. Italics (only used for the titles of longer works)

5. A header AND a heading

In MLA, the header is in the top right corner. It contains your last name and page number, and will appear on every page. It is indicated in the picture by the red arrow.

If you need help creating a header, check out the step-by-step explanation in the link below!

The heading is in the top left corner. This will NOT appear on every page. It should include your name (John Doe), the course title (World History II), the teacher's name (Mrs. Smith), and the date (30th January 2017). It is indicated in the picture by the red box.

For step-by-step instructions, click here.

The basic elements you need are as follows:

1. Author

2. Title of source

3. Title of container

3. Version and number (if applicable)

4. Publisher

5. Date of publication

6. Location of publication

In a book you can look at the title and copyright pages at the beginning of every printed text.

Websites can be a little trickier to gather information from.

Some websites have the date at the top. Others have a copyright date at the bottom that you can use as your publication date.

"Psalm 27," Holy Bible: New International Version. BibleGateway.com 2011. Accessed 18 Jul. 2018. https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=psalm+27&version=NIV

Your standard citation should look something like this!

Last name, First name M.I. "Shorter Title (if applicable)," Longer Title. Publisher, Date of publication. page number.

Check out the example below!

If you are using an internet based source, you want to follow up the previous entry like this:

Last name, First name M.I. "Shorter Title (if applicable)," Longer Title. Publisher, Date of publication. https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/01/ Accessed 25th Jan. 2018.

You may be familiar with MLA format's good old Works Cited page. However, there is one more kind of citation. In-text citations occur at the end of a sentence that includes a quotation or paraphrase. If quotation marks are used, the citation goes after the marks but before the period.

Electronic source: Purdue Owl

"When deciding how to cite your source, start by consulting the list of core elements" (Purdue Owl).

Book: An Excerpt from Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

"You will rejoice to hear that no disaster has accompanied the commencement of an enterprise which you have already regarded with such evil forebodings" (Shelley 16).

No Pagination

Sometimes you will find a source without page numbers. In this case, you can either:

1. Count paragraphs (Shelley PAR 3)

2. Leave the page number blank (Shelley)

If it is short enough to count paragraphs, that is the most exact citation.

No Author

Likewise, if a source has no author, you can use a shortened form of the title. Let's say we are using the article "5 Words You Should Never Use When Setting New Goals" from Grammarly. We could use something like this:

("5 Words You Should Never Use")

("5 Words")

When you are finished, your final paper may look something like this!

One helpful resource in your writing journey is Owl Purdue. Check out this link!