Power Point for First Year Students

1. MLA Format
Style and Guidelines for
Research
And Writing
MLA Handbook for Writers of Research
Papers, 7th ed., published in 2009.

2. MLA Format
Principles: Where
do they Apply?
 Page setup
 In-text citations
 The Works Cited
Page

3. MLA Format: Page Setup
•Margins
 1 inch
•Spacing
 Double
•Header
 Top, left corner
 Name, Instructor, Course,
Date
•Title
 Centered, above text of
paper; no special
formatting
•Page Numbers
 Top, right corner
 Last name & Page number

4. MLA Format Page Setup:
Example Paper
Does my page setup
include the correct format
for each of these….
Margins
Spacing
Header
Page Numbers
Title
Header
Page
number
and last
name Entire paper
is double spaced
Title,
centered
1” margin
1’’
margin
1’’
margin

5. MLA Format In-text
Citations:
Author-page system
•Use Author(s) last name(s) and
page numbers
 Place in parentheses at the
end of sentence
 When names not available,
used shortened version of
work title
 Names of organizations can
be used in place of last
names if applicable
 Use “et al.” and last name of
first author when there are
more than 3 authors

6. MLA Format In-text Citations:
Examples
Single Author
(Smith 27)
Three Authors
(Edwards, Johnson, and Brown 33)
More than three authors
(Reynolds et al. 254)
Organization as Author
(World Health Org. 45)
Website article with no author
(“Early America”)

7. MLA Format In-text Citations: Example Paper
Notice there
are no
commas
in citations
between last
name and page
number and
the period
comes after the
parentheses.
The last names
of up to three
authors should
be included in
the citation.
When an author
or authors are
introduced, only
the page
number is
needed in the
parenthetical
citation.
When a work
has more than
three authors,
the last name of
the first author
is given
followed by et
al.
Notice the
abbreviation of
the organization
name when
cited in the text
as the author
A shortened
version of the
title of an article
is used in the
citation when
there is no
author available

8. The Works Cited Page
Page Setup
This is the list of your sources that
corresponds with your in-text citations;
in-text citation should match the first
part of each works cited entry
Sources are listed in alphabetical
order
Always begin with last name, first
name of author(s) if available
Entire page is double-spaced
First line of each entry begins on left
margin; all other lines are indented ½
inch (5 spaces or tab)
Dates are written in day, month, year
format (no commas used); months are
abbreviated

9. MLA Format:
The Works Cited Page
Major Themes
Each entry should include a source
medium (usually Web or Print)
Titles are either italicized or placed in
“quotation marks”---no underlining!!
Web addresses are NOT included in
internet citations
Abbreviations should be used when
publication information is missing from
internet sources:
• “N.p.” for no publisher
• “n.d.” for no date of publication
• “n.pag.” for no page numbers given
Publisher names are abbreviated; don’t
include words such Inc., Press, Publishers,
Co., etc.

10. MLA Format: The Works Cited Page
Basic Format for Books, Scholarly Journal Articles, &
Websites
Books (Print)
Last Name, First Name. Title of Book. City of Publication: Publisher
Name, Year of Publication. Print.
Scholarly Journal Article (from database)
Last Name, First Name. “Title of Article.” Title of Journal volume.issue
(Year of Publication): page numbers. Name of Database.
Web. Date of Access.
Website (No author)
“Title of website article/section.” Title of Website. Publisher of
website, Date of publication. Web. Date of Access.

11. MLA Format: Sample Selection of Works Cited Page
Title, “Works Cited” is
centered at the top
Last name and
page number is
also included on
Works Cited
page(s)Titles of
books,
websites,
periodicals,
and databases
are italicized
Double-spacing
occurs
throughout entire
pageEntries begin
On the left
margin; all
other lines are
indented 5
spaces
Titles of
articles are
placed in
quotation
marks
Appropriate
abbreviation used
to indicate that
there is no date of
publication
Edition number is
indicated after
title if work is
edition other than
the the first
Web sources
include date of
access

14. Final Thoughts
• MLA Format is not an exact science!
• When in doubt, consult your resources
• Reminder: no underlining or URLs!
• Buy the handbook!