1. A Practical Guide to MLA Style

2. No Need for a Title page
The First Page unless your instructor
requests one
Top Left Corner:
Your Name, Instructor’s
Name, Course, Date Barnett 1
Header with last name
Leecy Barnett and page in upper right
corner
Dr. Smith
Dialog of Self and Society
10 October 2008
Title---Center &
Capitalize A Practical Guide to MLA Style
Important Words
When the MLA style was first conceived more than apaper
Begin your
half
immediately

3. The Body
10 October 2008 Always double
space
A Practical Guide to MLA Style
Indent ¶s When the MLA style was first conceived more than a half century ago,
the main purpose was to develop standards for the publication of manuscripts in
the field of English and other modern, as opposed to ancient, languages (Modern
Language Assoc. xvi). ―Although designed for those who intend to publish,‖
Houghton and Houghton point out that, ―numerous colleges and universities
adhere to these stringent guidelines‖ ( xii). Learning to do MLA style well shows
you are concerned about doing thorough research and giving proper credit to those

4. In Text Citations--Ideas
Whenever you get an idea from a source, cite it using the author’s name and page
number in parentheses at the end of the sentence or paragraph describing their
idea. The period goes after the final parenthesis.
Example:
When the MLA style was first conceived more than a half century ago, the main
purpose was to develop standards for the publication of manuscripts in the field of
English and other modern, as opposed to ancient, languages (Modern Language
Assoc. xvi). Modern Language
Association is a corporate
author….for corporate
authors abbreviate words
with standard abrievations.

5. In Text Citations—Author in text
If you refer to the author(s) in the text of your paper, cite the source simply with
page number (s) in parentheses next to the author’s name.
Example:
According to Fox, the internet has played a significant role in the
increase of plagiarism in academia today (27).

6. In Text Citations—
Short Direct Quote
When you directly quote a source you need to add quotation marks around the
words or sentence you copy. You put the parenthetical citation and final period
after the closing quotation mark.
Example:
―Although designed for those who intend to publish point out that
numerous colleges and universities adhere to these stringent guidelines‖
(Houghton and Houghton xii).

7. In Text Citations—Long Direct Quote
When your direct quotation is longer than 4 typed lines of prose or 3 lines of
poetry, put it in an indented paragraph without quotation marks.
Example:
The Owl at Purdue clearly explains MLA long quotations:
Place quotations longer than four typed lines 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. Only
indent the first line of the quotation by a half inch if you are citing multiple
paragraphs. Your parenthetical citation should come after the closing
When quoting from a webpage,
determine the paragraph # quoted and
punctuation mark. (Kunka et al. par. 8) use that instead of a page #

8. Tip:
Do the
Reference
Page 1st
The Works Cited Page Barnett 10
Center Works Cited
Gibaldi, Joseph . MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers. New York: Modern
Language Association, 2003. Print.
Kunka , Jennifer Liethen et al. ―MLA Formatting and Style Guide--- Formatting
Quotations.‖ The Owl at Purdue. Purdue University, 30 Sept. 2008. Web. 13
Oct. 2008.
•Alphabetical by
Lipson Charles. Doing Honest Work in College: How to Prepare Citation, Avoid
Author’s Last Name
•Hanging Indent
Plagiarism and Achieve Real Academic Success. Chicago: University of Chicago
•Double Space
Press, 2004. Print.

9. Books
Author---Last name, First name. Authors can also be a company or
organization
Title—Italiacs.
Publication information---City and state (if mentioned—use postal
abbreviation) , publisher and year of publication.
Medium of Publication—Print.
Example:
Lipson Charles. Doing Honest Work in College: How to Prepare
Citation, Avoid Plagiarism and Achieve Real Academic Success.
Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2004. Print.

10. Journal Articles---Print
Author --same as book
Article Title— in quotation marks
Journal Title—italics Volume– number only Issue---number only
Date– in parentheses, followed by colon
Page Numbers
Medium of Publication--Print.
Example:
Raymond, Richard C. "When Writing Professors Teach Literature: Shaping Questions,
Finding Answers, Effecting Change. " College Composition and
Communication 59.3 (2008): 473-502. Print.

11. Journal Articles---Database
Author --same as book
Article Title— in quotation marks
Journal Title—italics If you get your journal
from a database add:
Volume– number only Issue---number only
•Name of database—in
Date– in parentheses, followed by colon italics
•Medium of publication---
Page Numbers Web.
•Date you got it (d/m/yr)
Example:
Wang, Yu-Wei. "University Student Online Plagiarism. " International
Journal on ELearning 7.4 (2008): 743-757. ProQuest. Web. 18 Aug.
2009.

12. Webpage
Author --- same as book if available. More than 3 authors, use first
author given and et. al.
( et. al. means and others)
Add:
No Author---use title of page •Name of Producing
Organization
Title of page —in quotation marks •Date produced or
updated (d/m/yr)
Name of Website---in italics • Medium of
publication---Web.
•Date Retrieved
Example: (d/m/yr)
Kunka , Jennifer Liethen et al. ―MLA Formatting and Style Guide---
Formatting Quotations.‖ The Owl at Purdue. Purdue University, 30
Sept. 2008. Web. 13 Oct. 2008.

13. Using Microsoft Word 2010
Warning:
The Reference Tab does not have the
latest version of MLA!