A Simple Guide to MLA Format for Beginners

If you are a student or scholar in the humanities, you may have encountered the MLA format. 

It is the most common formatting and citation style for academic writing in humanities. Whether you’re writing for English, Philosophy, Linguistics, Art, Religion, or any other humanities subject, you have to use MLA to cite your sources. 

The MLA citation format is developed by the Modern Language Association. Its rules and guidelines were last updated with the 9th edition of the MLA handbook, which was released in 2021. 

So what does MLA style require, and how can you format your paper according to its guidelines?

In this blog, you will learn the basics of the MLA format, from page formatting guidelines to the rules for citation and bibliography. You will also get a checklist to make your MLA formatting and citation easier and faster. 

Let’s get into it! 

Page Formatting Guidelines for MLA Style

Page formatting involves guidelines about structuring the page consistently to make it readable for editors and readers. This includes rules for text formatting, titles, headings, page numbers, etc. 

Page & Text Formatting Rules 

Here’s how to set up your page in according to the MLA guidelines:

Title

The MLA style does not require a separate title page. Instead, it requires you to provide relevant information in the following format:

• First line: Author’s full name. (Alignment: Flush-Left)
• Second line: Name of professor or instructor (Alignment: Flush-Left)
• Third Line: Course name and course number (Alignment: Flush-Left)
• Fourth Line: Date (dd/month/yyyy) (Alignment: Flush-Left)
• Fifth line: Title of the Paper (Alignment: Centre-Aligned)
• Sixth line: Beginning of normal text, with first line indent.

The image below demonstrates how a correctly-formatted title in MLA looks like:

Header and Running Head

The MLA header is a short line of text that appears at the top-right of every page of your paper. It contains your last name and the page number, separated by a space. The header helps the reader keep track of the pages and the author of the paper. 

To create an MLA header, follow these steps:

• Insert the page numbers at the top-right corner.
• Write your last name, right-aligned, along with the page number. Use 12-pt Times New Roman text.

Here’s how it looks:

Headings and Subheadings

There are specific rules for headings and subheadings in MLA. The main purpose is to make them visually distinct from the rest of the text to improve readability and navigation. 

Here’s how to format different levels of headings in your MLA research paper:

How to Cite in MLA Style?

Along with page formatting, the other important element of MLA is its guidelines for citations. Citing external sources is essential for establishing the credibility and authority of any academic work. It is also important to avoid plagiarism.

In the MLA format, citations consist of two parts: 

• In-text citations
• References in the “Works Cited” page

Let’s discuss both aspects of the MLA citation.

MLA In-Text Citations

An in-text citation is a brief reference to a source that you use in your paper. It usually contains the last name of the author of the source and the page number.

It shows that the information or ideas mentioned at a specific point are taken from another source. An in-text citation also helps your readers locate the full citation of the source in your “Works Cited” list.

There are two ways of citing the sources within the text: Parenthetical citations and narrative citations.

Parenthetical Citations

A parenthetical citation is a citation that appears in parentheses at the end of a sentence or a paragraph where you use a source. It usually includes the author's last name and the page number where you found the information. 

For example:

Here are some common rules for parenthetical citations in MLA:

• If the source has two authors, include both names in the parentheses, separated by "and." For example:

• If the source has three or more authors, include only the first author's name, followed by "et al." (which means "and others"). For example:

• If the source has no author, use the title or a shortened version of the title in the parentheses, in quotation marks. For example: 

Narrative Citations

A narrative citation is a citation that appears as part of the sentence where you use a source. 

It usually includes the author's name and a signal phrase that indicates the information or idea is from the source. The page number is still given in parentheses at the end of the sentence. For example:

Here are some guidelines to remember when using narrative citations in MLA:

• If the source has two authors, include both names in the narrative citation, separated by "and". For example:

• If the source has three or more authors, include only the first author's name, followed by "and others" or "and colleagues" in the narrative citation. For example:

• If the source has no author, use the title or a shortened version of the title in the narrative citation, in quotation marks or italics, depending on the type of source. For example:

Works Cited Page in MLA

All in-text citations must have a detailed corresponding reference at the end of your paper. In the MLA style, the separate “Works Cited” section serves as the bibliography, mentioning the full details of the sources used in your paper.

How to Format the Works Cited Page?

Here are some rules for creating the works cited page:

• The references start on a separate page. Write the “Works Cited” heading in the center. 
• Keep Times New Roman, 12-pt size, and double-spaced text throughout the works cited section.
• Arrange the entries in alphabetical order by the author's last name.
• Use a hanging indent for each entry. This means that the first line of each entry is aligned with the left margin, and the subsequent lines are indented by 0.5 inches.

H4- How to Format Each Citation Entry? 

Use the MLA core elements to format each entry. The core elements are Author, Title of source, Title of container, other contributors, Version, Number, Publisher, Publication date, and Location. You only include the elements that apply to your source.

Here is how you format the most common source types in the MLA style:

• Book

• Journal Article

• Online Sources

Here’s an example of an MLA works cited page:

H2- MLA Format Checklist

Writing an MLA paper? Use this checklist to ensure that you’ve followed all the guidelines accurately.

To sum up,

Using a citation style properly is crucial to avoid accidental plagiarism of others’ works. However, it’s impossible to remember all these minute and precise rules. The good news is that you don’t have to. Whether you need to create a works cited page or cite in-text, you can get help from online tools. This could make the citation process a lot more accurate and fast.

That's why you should use MyEssayWriter.ai's citation machine to make your citations more precise and effective according to the MLA format.

Our citation machine is always updated with the latest rules and guidelines for different citation styles. So whether you want to find relevant sources for your content or cite sources in a specific style, our citation tool can make it quicker and more accurate.