The following guidelines are based on information found in the MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers, 5th Edition, which is published by the Modern Language Association of America. If you need information that is not covered in this handout, please refer to the MLA Handbook or ask a writing advisor at English Works!

Paper Format

Always check with your instructor to see if he or she has any different requirements or specifications for your paper.

• Margins are 1" (one inch) on all sides. 
• Header (optional) is ½" from the top right-hand corner.  Each page must have a header consisting your last name and the page number.
• Double-space throughout your paper.
• There is no separate title page.  The top left-hand corner of the first page, right below the header line should have your full name, your professor's name, course name and number, and the date.
• The title of your paper should be centered two lines below the date.  Do not underline or quote the title.
• Indent (or five spaces) the first word of each paragraph.
• For more complicated paper, please visit English Works! for further assistance.

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In-Text Citations

Citations for Most Written Sources

MLA guidelines require that credit must be given for all information whether it be a direct quote or a paraphrase. Generally you are required to give the following information: author's last name and page number, in parenthesis directly after the quote or paraphrase.

If the author's name is included as part of your sentence, you do not need to put the author's last name in parenthesis, only the page number(s).

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Multiple Authors

When a source has two or three authors, you should give both (all) authors' last names.

For a source with four or more authors, you cite in the following way:

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Citations for Personal Interviews

To cite a person that you interviewed yourself, you put just the last name of the person you are quoting, referring it to the appropriate entry in your Works Cited list.

Your related Works Cited entry will look like either one of these:

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Citations for Works with No Authors

For a book with no listed author, you should cite the full title if it is short, or an abbreviated title if it is too long to use the entire name. You should underline the book's title, and put the page number after it. When abbreviating titles, you should use the main word by which it would be alphabetized in your Works Cited page.

For publications, internet articles, magazines, newspapers, and encyclopedias that have no author(s) or that have no listed author, you include the name of the article (in quotation marks) and the page number(s) of your source(s).

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Citations for Literary Works

Classic Prose (like a novel or a play):  Since classic works are generally available in several different books, you will need to include more than just page numbers in a reference. You may also want to include the chapter number, book number, act number, scene number, stanza number and/or line number. You should give the page number first, followed by a semi-colon, then give other identifying information with commas separating each item.

Poetry and Classic Verse Plays (like Shakespeare's plays):  For poems, you should omit the page number altogether. You should instead cite by using the division number (act, scene, canto, book, part) and the line number, with periods separating all the numbers. If there are no line numbers in the poem, simply cite the title of the poem in quotation marks.

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Citations for Electronic Sources

Basically, you cite information from electronic sources the same way that you would cite from a book, article, or interview. If the author is identified, use the author's name for in-text citations. If the electronic source provides page numbers, use those in your in-text citation as well.

If an electronic source has paragraph numbers instead of page numbers, use them for in-text citations as you would use page numbers, but with two differences: use a comma followed by one space after the name and use the abbreviation par. for a reference to one paragraph (or pars. for a reference to two or more paragraphs).

You may find electronic information that does not have page or paragraph numbers at all. In this situation, you would simply cite the author's name in parenthesis after your quoted or paraphrased information.

If you are citing from an electronic source that does not provide an author's name, use the title of the source for your in-text citations instead of the author's name. Put the title in quotation marks, and abbreviate long titles to one main word of the title according to how it is listed in your Works Cited page.

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Quotes of 40 Words or More

If your quote is more than 40 words, indent the entire paragraph 5 spaces on a separate line and then begin the quote. Continue the double space rule. Do not use quotation marks. Cite it without the period.

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Reference Format - "Works Cited"

For a paper done in MLA documentation style, the reference page is called and will be titled as "Works Cited." Here on your Works Cited page, you acknowledge your sources by listing them in an alphabetical order by author's last name on the last page of your paper. Although the Works Cited page appears at the end of your paper, you will draft this section in advance, so that you will have the appropriate information to cite your paper properly.

• List your sources in an alphabetical order according to the author's last name.
• If no author is listed, begin with the main word of the article or book title (ignoring A, An, or The).
• Underline the title of books, magazines, or journals.
• Quote the title of articles, or any other work that appears within a publication.
• Format each entry with a hanging indent. A hanging indent means that the first line of the entry remains flush with the left margin, and the subsequent lines are indented 5 spaces to the right. Your word processing software will provide this feature easily.
• The order of each entry is as follows: -- Author. "Article." Title of Book. City Published: Publisher, Year of Publication.

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Works Cited format for Books

If a book has one author, list by last name, first name and middle initial (if any). If a book has two or three authors, the subsequent authors will be listed by first name, middle initial, and last name, each name separated by a comma.

If a book has more than three authors, you list the first author normally as above, and add et al. (meaning "and others"). Optionally, you may give all names in full in order in which they appear on the title page.

If a book has no author or by an anonymous author, begin the entry with the title. Alphabetize the entry by the main word of the title, ignoring any initial A, An, or The.

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Works Cited format for Articles

General format for citing articles and other publications from periodicals is as follows:

• Author. "Article." Title of Publication Issue/Volume # (Date of Publication): page(s).

If an article has no author or by an anonymous author, begin the entry with the title. Alphabetize the entry by the main word of the title, ignoring any initial A, An, or The.

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Works Cited format for Electronic Sources

If you are citing from an online book or publication, you should include all of the information that you would include for printed books. After this standard information, you should include the date you found the information on the world wide web (the date of access) and the web address (URL) where you found the information.

The basic citing format for electronic sources is as follows:

• Author. "Article." Publication Title. Date of Publication. Retrieval date <web address>.

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