Writing a Research Paper in MLA Format

• Double Space• Font: Times New Roman, size 12• Leave only one space after punctuation• Create a header that numbers all pages

consecutively in the upper right-hand corner, one-half inch from the top and flush with the right margin.

• Indent the first line of paragraphs one half-inch from the left margin.

• This means you will hit TAB to begin every paragraph.

General Guidelines

So, this is what your first page should look like:

In MLA format, you are not expected to include a title page unless your professor specifically asks for it or if you are including an outline, abstract or other introductory information.

So, unless you just want to create a title page to make your work appear more ‘polished,’ your first page should look like this.

Upper left-hand corner: Your name, your teacher’s name, Class, Date – notice how it is formatted!

Title: Centered –

do notbold face

or underline your title

Indent (TAB!)

Header: Last name, 5 spaces, page number.

Double-spaced

Font: Times New Roman, Size 12

In-Text Citations

MLA format follows the author-page method of in-text citation. This means that the author's last name and the page number(s) from which the quotation or paraphrase is taken must appear in the text, and a complete reference should appear on your Works Cited page.

You will have 3 types:

• Quoting

• Paraphrasing

• Summarizing

QuotingFor directly quoting sources, you will need to use the last name of the author and the page number. If no author is given, you will use the title or publisher instead.

Romantic poetry is characterized by the "spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings" (Wordsworth 263).

Source:Wordsworth, William. Lyrical Ballads. London: Oxford U.P., 1967. Print.

For quotations that extend to more than four lines of verse or three lines of prose, place quotations in a free-standing block of text and omit quotation marks. Start the quotation on a new line, with the entire quote indented one inch from the left margin; maintain double-spacing.

Long Direct Quote

This is what it should look

like!

You may not include more than ONE long direct quote in your paper. Any long direct quote must

be purposeful…NOT just an effort to make the paper longer!

Summarizing & Paraphrasing

Use your OWN words.

You only need the last name of the source when citing in-text. You do NOT need the page number unless you are quoting directly.

Example:

What they fail to tell you, in contrast, smoking causes your chances of lung cancer by 19 percent (Buckley).

Source:

Buckley, William F., Jr. “Tobacco Settlement Time?” National Review. 20 April 1998: 63.

In the interest of saving a few trees and having note cards that you can cut & paste from…..highly convenient!We will be making DIGITAL NOTECARDS.

These work JUST like paper note cards, they are just digital….if you missed the workshop over digital notecards on March 20th, you need to have someone explain to you how to create your notecards on www.easybib.com

Let’s go over how to SHARE your note cards with me on easybib. You must do this sometime prior to the deadline for the paper on April 14th. You must have 25. Yes, I will check.

Don’t forget to take the Works Cited page from easybib and attach (copy and paste) it to the end of your research paper.

Once you have done that, you will upload your entire paper to www.turnitin.com

Works Cited Page:

Must be “hanging”

Must be in alphabetical order!

You MUST have a works cited page at the end of your paper. This is non-negotiable. A research paper must include a Works Cited page.