MLA Formatting and Style Guide

• Papers should be typed and printed on standard, white 8.5 x 11-inch paper.
• The text of your paper should be double-spaced using a legible font such as Times New Roman.
• MLA recommends that regular and italics type styles have enough contrast to be distinct from each other.
• Use a 12 pt font size.
• Only one space should be left after periods or other punctuation marks, unless your instructor says otherwise.
• Set the margins of your document to 1 inch on all sides.
• Indent the first line of each paragraph one half-inch from the left margin.
• Use the “Tab” key instead of pressing the space bar five times, as recommended by the MLA.
• All pages should have a header that numbers them consecutively in the upper right-hand corner, one-half inch from the top and flush with the right margin.
• Note that your instructor may ask you to omit the number on your first page.
• Italicize titles of longer works and use italics to provide emphasis when absolutely necessary.
• If you have endnotes, put them on a separate page before your Works Cited page, with the centered, unformatted title "Notes".

Formatting the First Page

• Unless specifically requested or assigned as a group assignment, papers should not contain a title page.
• If the paper is assigned as a group project, include the names of all contributors in the header, each on a separate line, followed by any other MLA header specifications.
• You should format the rest of the first page according to the instructor’s guidelines.
• In the upper left-hand corner of the first page, provide your name, instructor's name, the course, and the date using double-spaced text.
• Center the title and double space. Do not underline, italicize, or use quotation marks.
• Type the title in Title Case (standard capitalization), but not in all capital letters.
• When referring to other works in your title, use quotation marks and/or italics following the same guidelines as in your paper.
• Example title: Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas as Morality Play; Human Weariness in "After Apple Picking"
• Double space between the title of your paper and the first line of the text.
• The header in the upper right-hand corner should include your last name, a space and the page number; these pages should be numbered consecutively using Arabic numerals (1, 2, 3, 4, etc.), with the header one-half inch from the top and flush with the right margin.
• Note that instructors or other readers may ask that you omit the last name/page number header on your first page.