Elements of MLA Format and Documentation Presentation by Katie Bierach ‘09 California Lutheran University Writing Center Updated by Amelia Wayne ’11 April 5, 2010

Format Black ink on white paper 12 point, Times New Roman font “In the academic community, submitting a paper with incorrect formatting is like running around without your pants on.” -Dr. Marja Mogk Black ink on white paper 12 point, Times New Roman font Double space it all (heading, title, notes, quotes and works cited) One inch margins on all sides Indent the first word of each paragraph one-half inch No extra spaces between paragraphs No title page necessary Place last name and page number in the top, right corner, ½ inch from the top of the page, against the right side margin. In Word, click View  Header Footer, tab twice

Example of First Page Format

Quick Tips Be brief, clear, and accurate. Remember: your job is to argue a point. Use your MLA handbook! Use it for all questions of formatting, citation, or style. It is not a scary book. Italicize titles of books, magazines, films, albums, and websites. Enclose in quotations titles of chapters, articles, scenes, songs, and particular website pages.

Using Quotes If you quote or paraphrase someone, you need to cite the source. If the source is questionable, your paper loses credibility. Quotation marks mean you give the words and punctuation marks exactly as presented in the original. Use ellipsis to indicate omissions from the quoted passage. Use spaces between each period . . . Use single quotation marks for quotations within the passage you are quoting. Semicolons, colons, exclamation points and question marks go outside closing quotation marks unless part of the quoted material.

Using Quotes A quote running one to four lines should be incorporated into the text. If the quote is longer than four lines on your page, start it on a new line, indent the whole block one inch and do not use quotation marks. For poetry: up to three lines can be incorporated into the text. Use a slash with a space on each side ( / ) to indicate line breaks.

Parenthetical Documentation As Joseph Gibaldi states in the MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers, at the end of the sentence containing a quotation or paraphrase, “identify the location of the borrowed information as specifically as possible” (239). Notice that because the author’s name is in the text, it is not needed in the reference for that sentence. “References in the text must clearly point to specific sources in the list of works cited” (Gibaldi 238). Notice that the reference is after the closing quotation mark and followed by the punctuation mark. If citing multiple works by the same author, put a comma after the last name, add the title of the work and the relevant page number. If the quotation, whether of poetry or prose, is set off from the text . . . Type a space after the concluding punctuation mark of the quotation and insert the parenthetical reference. (241)

Formatting Your List of Works Cited A list of every source that was cited in the paper (listed only once). Type “Works Cited” at the top of the page. Goes at the very end of the paper (after the conclusion). Each source in the Works Cited is listed in Alphabetical Order by the authors’ last names. If a source has no documented author, it goes behind all the others with authors. If there are more than one of this type, they are organized in Alphabetical Order by their titles. Use hanging indentation: only the first line of each source touches the left margin; all others are indented one half inch (one tab space).

Citing Periodicals Here is the order to arrange your information when citing periodicals: Author’s name Title of article Name of periodical Series number or name (if relevant) Volume number (for a scholarly journal) Issue number (if needed) Date of publication Page numbers Bierach, Katie. “A Fascinating Article.” Scholarly Journal 3.2 (2007): 127-43. “3.2” indicates volume 3, issue 2. Citing a Newspaper Article: Chang, Kenneth. “The Melting (Freezing) of Antarctica.” New York Times 2 Apr. 2002, late ed.: F1+. (Gibaldi 186) Punctuate correctly! (Gibaldi 184)

Citing a Published Book or Textbook The order to arrange information when citing a book: Author’s name Title of a part of the book Title of the book Name of the editor, translator, or compiler Edition used Number(s) of volume(s) used Name of the series Place of publication, name of the publisher, and date of publication Page numbers The Basic Book Entry: Bierach, Katie. The Novel I’ll Write. Penguin: New York, 2011. And for textbooks: Crane, Stephen: The Red Badge of Courage: An Episode of the American Civil War. 1895. Ed. Fredson Bowers. Charlottesville: UP of Virginia, 1975.

Recent Changes in MLA Style The most visible changes found in MLA 7 include:   • No more underlining -- publication titles and the name of the online product accessed are now italicized   • No more URLs -- MLA no longer requires URLs, but Gale is adding a document URL below the citation to easily lead readers back to the original source   • Continuous pagination -- this is no longer an issue for scholarly journal citations; both volume and issue numbers are required, regardless of pagination   • Publication medium -- since all documents are accessed from an online Gale resource, the citation will always include the medium “Web.” In addition, MLA has eliminated the requirement to include the name of the service (“Gale”) and the name of the subscribing institution   • New abbreviations -- when certain metadata is missing, such as publisher or page numbers, there are suggested abbreviations to display denoting that fact