MLA Formatting Basics

The Modern Language Association (MLA) is the style standard for all formatting requirements in terms of in-text citations (parenthetical citations), and works cited pages created for academic papers in most first-year writing and English studies programs. Using MLA style guidelines for your formatting and page layouts creates uniformity and consistency in how you present information while also giving credit to the ideas and quotes used from outside sources—such as when you write about the readings in this textbook. MLA Style primarily consists of general guidelines for how your papers should be formatted and how information needs to be presented and credited.

Formatting

The basics of MLA formatting (for Microsoft Word and Google documents) include:

1. Using 1-inch margins on the top, bottom, and both sides of the page.
2. Indenting the start of each new paragraph by a half inch.
3. Using an easy-to-read font such as Times New Roman or Garamond in 12-point.
4. Double spacing every page.
5. Listing your name, instructor’s name, course number, and date in the upper left-hand corner of the first page.
6. Providing a running header for each page using your last name and page number (Lastname 1).

Works Cited

For up-to-date information and examples on current 9th edition MLA standards and other useful writing resources, refer to the Excelsior Online Writing Lab, The Purdue Owl Writing Lab, or the MLA Style Center.

For MLA Style papers, your works cited page is a document at the end of your writing that presents all relevant sources utilized in the essay in a comprehensive list. Whether you directly quote, paraphrase, or summarize ideas, you need to offer all relevant information of the source to your readers. Works cited pages are important because they

• Offer a well-formatted list of your sources for your readers,
• Help you keep track of all of the sources you use and keep you from accidentally plagiarizing other authors, and
• Showcase credibility to your readers through the sources you use.

Each works cited entry (or reference) must include:

• Author(s)
• Title of Source (such as the title of an essay in this book)
• Title of Container (larger work the source exists in; this eBook is the container the individual chapters and readings are found in)
• Contributors (such as editors or translators)
• Version of Source
• Number
• Publisher
• Publication Date
• Location (the page numbers for print sources, or where you accessed the source for digital texts)

Also, make sure that each source is presented with a hanging indent (each line following the first is indented by a half-inch) and sources are presented in alphabetical order by the author’s last name.

Examples

Last Name, First Name. "Title." Container of Source (Journals, Books, Larger Collections of Works, etc.), Other contributors (editors), Version or Edition, Volume Number, Publisher, Publication Date, Location (pages, paragraph, etc.). DOI or URL

Ciampaglia, Giovanni Luca, and Filippo Menczer. "Misinformation and Biases Infect Social Media, Both Intentionally and Accidentally." The Commons: Tools for Reading, Writing, and Rhetoric. 2nd ed., edited by Jill Parrott and Dominic Ashby, Eastern Kentucky University, 2025.

Doctorow, Cory. “Writing in the Age of Distraction.” The Commons: Tools for Reading, Writing, and Rhetoric. 2nd ed., edited by Jill Parrott and Dominic Ashby, Eastern Kentucky University, 2025.