MLA Formatting Ms. Scales

MLA Format MLA or Modern Language Association  Is a style and format guide for students and professional to use to cite information and format papers or journals.

Formatting Your Paper Use 8½ X 11 inch paper 12 point, New Times Roman, or similar font 1 inch margins Header at ½” margins Header included with your last name and page number Number pages, starting on the first page Double-space your text

MLA: Formatting Your Paper

Formatting Your Paper A title page is not necessary Your name Instructor Course number Date Title of paper

Formatting Your Paper Indent the first line of each paragraph by five spaces (tab button) Place tables and illustrations as close as possible to their related text After the body of your paper comes the Works Cited page

The Works Cited List Reference sources used in your paper must be listed In MLA format, this page is labeled “Works Cited” List sources alphabetically by author’s last name (or title, if author not known)

The Works Cited List The purpose of a reference list is to:  Identify and credit the sources you used  Enable the reader to locate your sources

The Works Cited List Article in a journal Lastname, Firstname. “Title of Article.” Title of Journal volume (year): pp-pp. Sacks, Samuel. “Fraud Risk: Are You Prepared?” Journal of Accountancy (2004):

The Works Cited List Article in a Magazine Lastname, Firstname. “Title of Article.” Title of Magazine day month year: pp-pp. Weintraub, Arlene, and Laura Cohan. “A Thousand- Year Plan for Nuclear Waste.” Business Week 6 May 2002: Paul, Annie Murphy. “Self-Help: Shattering the Myths.” Psychology Today Mar.-Apr. 2001:

The Works Cited List Info you need to cite a website Last name, first name of author.  If there is no author listed, begin with the title. “Title of article within the website.”  Put quote marks around the title Name of website.  Underline the name Date article was written.  Put the date first, then abbreviate the month. Date you accessed the article. URL.  If the URL won’t fit on one line, break it at a slash. Include the entire URL, not just the one for the home page.

The Works Cited List Entire Web site, no author Title of Web site. Editor. Electronic publication info including version #, date of publication or latest update. Name of any sponsoring organization. Date of access. Jane Austen Information Page. Ed. Henry Churchyard. 6 Sept June 2002.

The Works Cited List Page on a web site, with author. Firstname, Lastname. “Title of Page.” Name of Web site. Date of publication or latest update. Sponsoring organization. Date of access. Stolley, Karl. “MLA Formatting and Style Guide.” The OWL at Purdue.10 May Purdue University Writing Lab. 12 May 2006.

Citing Your Source in your Paper Within the body of your text, you must cite your sources as you use them. You must cite any and all data, facts, information, opinions, ideas, tables, charts, graphics, photographs, etc. that you obtained in your research.

References in the text must clearly point to specific sources in the list of works cited. Identify the location of the borrowed information as specifically as possible. Readability is important. Keep citations as brief as clarity and accuracy permit.

Citing Your Source in your Paper Author’s name in text Lipson has argued this point (38-40). Author’s name in reference This point has already been argued (Lipson 38-40). Lipson, Charles. Doing Honest Work in College. Chicago: U of Chicago P, 2004.

Citing Your Source in your Paper Author’s name in text Lipson’s first rule of academic honesty is, “When you say you did the work yourself, you actually did it” (3). Author’s name in reference “When you say you did the work yourself, you actually did it,” is a good rule to keep in mind (Lipson 3). Lipson, Charles. Doing Honest Work in College. Chicago: U of Chicago P, 2004.

Why do we need to use MLA? Formatting rules make research papers uniform and easy to read The ability to verify facts through proper citation of sources is essential to good scholarship In-text citation and the reference list:  Identify and credit the sources you used  Enable the reader to locate your sources