Students of the humanities often complete MLA research papers, based on their specialized education and an academic style guide, generally used within the United States or Canada. More precisely, there are quite a few countries around the world where this guide is commonly used ever since its first publication in America in 1985.

Published by the Modern Language Association, the MLA research style guide is a manual made for scholarly publishing. It consists of a series of fundamental rules used by students, editors, scholars and professional writers when writing research papers, mainly in the English fields of study. It serves as a guide also in learning modern languages and literatures, cultural studies or media. MLA documentation of literary criticism and comparative literature, and also other related disciplines of the above mentioned humanity studies can also go into the category of those considering the purpose of these rules.

The guidebook is extremely relevant, as a consequence, the latest edition of the MLA Style Manual, which was published in 2008 by the Modern Language Association is gaining increasingly more popularity in the world. After the United States and Canada, it was taken in by countries such as Brazil, China, India, Japan and Taiwan and throughout North America. Even if the main beneficiaries of such guidelines in MLA research papers are the academic departments, those same rules are used in scholarly and literary journals, newsletters and magazines.

The third publication of the style guide provides important ground rules in formatting the MLA studies, and also presents information concerning the use of font formats, i.e. underlining or italics.We further gather that certain writers may include underlined words as well as italics, although this may not serve as a proper formatting for a MLA research paper. In addition to using the guideline, the writers must also be advised by their editors about each of the unusual aspects of their research paper.

Authors might be expecting special software for managing citations supplied by the style guide, so as to make their writing job a lot easier. MLA research style does not comprise a special software, but it allows several possibilities intended for recording main features of a work. The style meets the needs of different sorts of MLA research papers, each one with its own emphasis on documentation. Using automatic templates will minimize the precision in documenting the research. In this case, MLA research paper studies cannot be dependent on specific software to generate entries.

Bogdan is an editor for this article. If you are willing to learn more feel free to check MLA Research.

It happens to quite a few people in the wee hours of the morning just before assignments are due. Quotes are checked, sources verified, word limit exceeded, then, one comes to a screeching halt, “Papers should be formatted according to the MLA or APA style”. And so begins a frenzied computer research on the two writing styles.

MLA writing style

The MLA (Modern Language Association) requires that specific rules be followed for formatting manuscripts. It provides writers with a proper system to cite references, the usage of which enhances the writer’s credibility by listing outside sources in order to give recognition where it is due. One advantage of the MLA format is that it provides the user protection from possible accusation of plagiarism.

General Guidelines for MLA writing style

When preparing a paper using the MLA writing style, general format guidelines must be adhered to as well as the technical rules of citation and bibliography.

• Assignments are to be typed on pages no larger that 8.5 x 11, double spaced, with either Times New Roman font, or Courier.
• One space must be inserted between all punctuation marks.
• Margins must be set to one inch on all sides of the paper.
• All paragraphs must be indented one inch (one tab) from the left margin of the page.
• Headers must be inserted on each page in the upper right hand corner displaying the page numbers of the essay consecutively (some instructors will ask that a student’s last name follow the page number on each page).
• If endnotes are included in your work, they must be placed on the last page, right before your works cited page.

For a more detailed look at the rules regarding end notes, in-text citations or works cited (multiple authors, electronic sources, periodicals, etc.), there are resources available online and in print that will aid you with this writing style. Some excellent print titles for reference material are: MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers (6th edition), and MLA Style Manual and Guide to Scholarly Publishing (2nd edition). For those who have internet access, all MLA writing style rules can be found on a site built by the people at Owl at Purdue.

At all times, it is equally important to strictly follow your professor’s instructions on the use of long titles, the need to emphasize with underlines or italics and other personal choices. Careful attention must be paid to every detail so as to prevent loss of marks in the grading process.

APA writing style

APA (American Psychological Association) is a writing style that is generally used within the realm of the social sciences. As in the case of the MLA writing style, the APA has a list of general format guidelines as well as a list of rules pertaining to paragraph structure.

General Guidelines for APA writing style

All essays written in the APA writing style should be structured in accordance to the following guidelines:

• Assignments must be typed double-spaced on 8.5 x 11 inch pages.
• The title page must include bylines, titles, or running headers.
• Page numbers must be included (similar to MLA) followed by 5 spaces, then an abridged version (2 words) of the paper’s title.
• Some instructors require students to prepare an abstract which is a 75 to 100 word overview of the chosen topic highlighting the major points of discussion in the paper. It must be set up on its own page with the word “Abstract”centered at the top of the page, and placed right after the title page.
• Headings are not specifically necessary but can be helpful in navigating through a paper. Every word of the heading must be capitalized with the exception of articles such as ‘the’, ‘a’, and ‘an’, and certain conjunctions such as ‘and’, and ‘but’.
• Visuals such as tables and figures including graphs, charts, and drawings may be included; however, each must be labeled with an Arabic numeral i.e. Table 1, Table 2, etc.. Titles must be flush left, each inserted illustration must include its source.
• Lists of all references must be included on its own page at the end of your written work. Each reference should be centered, starting at the top of the page (also double spaced) and listed in alphabetical order according to the authors last name, editor, or by the title of the work (excluding the words A, An, and The)

For a more detailed look at the rules of the APA writing style regarding references, in text citations, and footnotes or endnotes, please see Owl at Purdue.

Alexandria Haber writes both fiction and non-fiction for a variety of people and places. As a result, she has had the benefit of gaining a little bit of knowledge about a lot of different subjects. While researching this article on the hottest careers, she gained a new respect for the education industry. For more information on distance education you can visit: Online College Degrees Information.

When conducting research papers, there are two major styles we can choose. The first style is MLA style. MLA style is more commonly used to write papers and cite sources within the liberal arts and humanities category. The second style that we use for research papers is APA style. APA style is commonly used to cite sources within the social sciences category. So far in my writing career I have only experienced writing MLA format. I am excited to conduct my next library research on immigration using the APA style. In this journal entry, I will be exploring some key aspects of using APA style and exploring some major differences between APA and MLA styles.

The general format of the APA format includes: a title page, page numbers and running head, an abstract, headings, visuals, and a list of references. The title page should include a running head for publication purposes, a title, and byline. Going with the title page includes page numbers and a running heading. On the upper right-hand corner of each page, there should include a 1-2 word version of the title. Next follow the title with five spaces and then the page number. The abstract is a 75-100 word overview of the essay and should be on its own separate page after the title page. Visuals such as tables and graphs can be very useful in providing supplements to the research paper. The visual must be as simple as possible clearly labeled. Finally, similar to a works cited page in a MLA style paper, an APA research paper need a list of reference. The list of reference must have a title that is centered from the top of the page and double spaced. The list must be alphabetized by last name of the authors.

MLA papers on the other hand, do not include a separate title page but do contain a works cited page unlike the reference page of APA papers as mentioned. The first page in the upper left-hand corner of an MLA paper should include your name, your instructor’s name, the course title, and the date, all double spaced. All pages should be numbered in the upper right-hand corner and the title should be centered. The works cited page should begin on a new page must be numbered and alphabetized by the author’s last name first. Sentences made should also be double spaced with indented lines after the first sentence. Titles should be underlined or enclosed in quotation marks.

In writing research papers, there are two very distinctive styles yet important in their own rights in presenting the research conducted. After working with MLA style until now, I feel that the MLA style would be easier to organize because it is the style that I am most common with. However, I feel that the structure of the APA style is more professional wherein it includes the need to analyze important scientific literature. The APA style is also more professional in which it goes in depth and includes an abstract, headings for sub-topics, and visuals.

For these papers Modern Language Association adopted different styles like APA, MLA. MLA stands for Modern Language Association. The students as well as writers of the said language and art curriculum adopt this style of referencing. The students who are following these curricula should consult the material related information with such styles that it can be accepted. They should study concerned material for producing good quality. It depends upon the students common sense that he follows that style, which is suitable for his term paper; teacher will not strictly guide his in this regard. If any student wishes to start research in any curriculum, first of all he should seek the guidance of the style of writing that he should use and will be useful for him as well. An academic writer has to quote the source of his work and has to complete the work with MLA style placed in the brackets. Apart from title on the first page as well as preamble, the last page of the book contains the name of the author as well as source of the information he took. If information is quoted as it is without any change or alteration, the same is required to be quoted with in inverted comas. This type of quotation will warrant that it has been borrowed from the mentioned source. It also differentiates the written material from the writers own material. Sometime some materials of the famous writers are so important that have to be mentioned without any changes. Such information required to be mentioned with page numbers in the brackets. Usually such information is mentioned in the paper to make your work more understandable and authentic.

For this reason MLA research documents have to be examined carefully. For instance, if a writer wishes to quote the information of more than one author, each author should be mentioned separately and prominently. One work of the author should not be mixed with others work, as the same group of writers/authors has done numerous works. All such quoted information should be featured in different pieces.

MLA term paper writing is a vast filed, it cannot be contented in a limited article. A number of books deal with the MLA research style in detail. Keeping in view the abundance of available books covering a vast area, a student may not present his excuse that he could not find a better guidance material for preparing a good paper. These books are easily available in the libraries. Such material works as a handbook for the student and provides comprehensive information related with the term paper. MLA style is a difficult style, and cannot be referenced by heart; therefore, the writer has to go through with his handbook many times for perfection and ensuring good quality.

MLA is an acronym for the Modern Language Association of America. The Modern Language Association was founded in 1883. Today, the MLA consists of 30,000 members from 100 different countries. The MLA provides its members with opportunities to share their teachings and scholarly findings with one another and to discuss trends in the field of language and literature.

MLA format is most frequently used to write papers and cite sources within the subject of liberal arts and humanities. The MLA published its third style guide in 2008. The MLA Style Manual and Guide to Scholarly Publishing is widely used in the United States and Canada. The third edition updates the second edition, published in 1998. The MLA style guide is addressed mainly to academic scholars, graduate students, professors, and other advanced-level writers. MLA style guide provides guidelines for writing and documenting research.

There are some general guidelines you must follow when using MLA format. Your paper must be typed on standard 8.5 x 11 inch paper and the text of your paper must be double-spaced. Moreover, you font must be legible, you should use either Times New Roman or Courier and you should leave only one space after punctuation marks. Your margins must be 1 inch at all sides of the page. You must also have a header at the upper right hand corner of your page that numbers each page consecutively.

MLA is an acronym for the Modern Language Association of America. The Modern Language Association was founded in 1883. Today, the MLA consists of 30,000 members from 100 different countries. The MLA provides its members with opportunities to share their teachings and scholarly findings with one another and to discuss trends in the field of language and literature.

The Works Cited page in MLA Style is important to your thesis or dissertation because it gives readers a list of sources you used to reach your conclusions. A well-researched paper will have high-quality sources. With MLA Style, you list these sources on the Works Cited page(s) at the end of the paper. MLA Style requires that you follow a specific format for listing every source, based on the type of source.

To start the Works Cited page, type “Works Cited” centered at the top margin. Then begin the first source immediately, double-spacing all text on the page. Each source should have a hanging indention, meaning the first line is flush left, and each subsequent line for the source should be indented one-half inch.

You should alphabetize the entire Works Cited list by author’s last name. If the author’s name is not known, use the title of the source in the alphabetized list, ignoring “A,” “An,” or “The” on the front of the name of the title.

Here are some examples for listing various types of sources. The examples here only list the information you need about each source. They do not follow the hanging indention or double-spacing rules.

A) BOOK.

List the author’s name, the title of the book in italics, the city of publication, the publisher, and the year of publication. You are allowed to abbreviate the name of certain publishers in MLA Style. The MLA Style Manual lists the acceptable abbreviations. Specify the type of publication at the end of the entry, denoting whether the book is a printed version or an electronic version.

*Smith, Xavier Z. Working with a Fledgling Economy. New York: State University Press, 2006. Print.

B) DISSERTATION OR THESIS.

If you make use of a dissertation or thesis as a source, you’ll need to list the author’s name, the title (in quotation marks), the type of paper, and some information about the publication. For example, many dissertations appear in “Dissertation Abstracts International,” usually abbreviated to DAI. DAI requires some specific information, as you can see in the following example.

*Jones, Thomas. “The Relationship Between Economic Power and Technological Innovation.” Diss. State University, 2003. DAI 66.17 (2004): item DA4267399. Print.

In MLA Style, you can abbreviate dissertation as “Diss”, and master’s thesis as either “MA thesis” or “MS thesis”.

C) PUBLISHED ARTICLE.

List the author’s last name, followed by the full first name and middle initial, if the author commonly uses it. List the title of the article in quotation marks, followed by the publication name (in italics), the issue or volume numbers, the year of publication, and the page numbers for the full article. If you have other information you think would be helpful for a reader, you may list it at the end of the entry. In the following two examples, the first is for a scholarly journal and the second is for a newspaper. Notice how the word “Print” in the newspaper example differentiates between the print edition and Internet edition of the newspaper.

*Smith, Xavier Z. “Economic Growth in Africa.” Economics Quarterly 3 (2008): 332-3.
*Johnson, Travis. “African Economic Viability.” New York Financial Newspaper 13 Jun. 2008: B3. Print.

D) MULTIPLE AUTHORS.

List the first author by last name, then first name, and subsequent authors by first name, then last name.

*Johnson, Travis, and Xavier Z. Smith. “Economic Downturn in Africa.” Economics Quarterly 4 (2008): 413-21.

E) MULTIPLE WORKS, SAME AUTHOR.

After listing the first source with the author’s full name, subsequent sources from the same author don’t require the author’s name. Instead, substitute three hyphens.

*Johnson, Travis. “Africa’s Economic Future.” Economics Quarterly 2 (2008): 200-3.
*—. “African Economic Viability.” New York Financial Newspaper 13 Jun. 2008: B3. Print.

F) MULTIPLE WORKS, MULTIPLE AUTHORS.

If the same author is involved in multiple sources, but some of those sources include multiple authors, you will have to list the full name in every source. If you have multiple works from the same group of authors, however, you can substitute the three hyphens for listings beyond the first listing. In this example, Johnson and Smith combined to write the second and third entries, meaning the three hyphens are appropriate for the third entry.

*Johnson, Travis. “Africa’s Economic Future.” Economics Quarterly 2 (2008): 200-3.
*Johnson, Travis, and Smith, Xavier Z. “Economic Downturn in Africa.” Economics Quarterly 4 (2008): 413-21.
*—. “Nurturing a Fledgling Economy.” New York Financial Newspaper 19 Jan. 2008: B1. Print.

G) ANONYMOUS AUTHOR.

If you don’t know the author, just skip that part of the listing and begin with the title.

*”Economic Growth on the African Continent.” Editorial. New York Financial Newspaper 4 Feb. 2008: B7.

When citing sources in an MLA Style thesis or dissertation, you’ll need to follow two different formats. In-text citations are references to sources that you make within the main text of your paper. “Works Cited” is a separate page at the end of your paper where you list every reference source you used in the paper.

In a formal paper, it’s important to cite every source you use. You need to let your readers know that you’ve performed the proper research to support the position you’ve taken in the paper. Readers who want more information than what you’ve provided in your paper can use the cited sources. It’s important to credit the researchers who provided the information in your paper.

With this article, we’ll focus on MLA rules for citing sources inside the text.

I. BASIC RULES

With MLA Style, an in-text citation is sometimes called a parenthetical citation. Essentially, any time you paraphrase another person’s or source’s ideas, or any time you use a direct quotation in your paper, you need to cite that source.

By citing the source within the text, you give your readers a chance to find the source material themselves, should they want more information about a particular quote or idea.

II. IN-TEXT CITATIONS

When creating an in-text citation, you want to give your readers an easy method for finding the source material. You only need enough information in the in-text citation to give the reader an easy method of finding the source in the Works Cited list at the end of your paper. Because the Works Cited list will be in alphabetical order, listed by the author’s last name first, you only need to list the author’s last name for your in-text citation. That should be enough information for your readers to find the source on the Works Cited page.

Here are some examples for in-text citations, based on particular sources and circumstances.

A) One source, author known.

List the author of the source and the page number or numbers that you used in your reference. Place the source material inside parentheses immediately after the material you need to source. Do not separate the author’s name and the page number with any punctuation.

*Some economists have indicated that technological advancements spur economic growth (Johnson 16).

B) One source, author unknown.

In addition to the page number, list a shortened title for the source, if you don’t know the author’s name. If the title is for a long work, list it in italics. If the title is for a short work, list it inside quotation marks. Again, use parentheses for the in-text citation.

*Some economists have indicated that technological advancements spur economic growth (“2007 Economic Growth Report” 16).

C) Two or more sources, authors known.

Follow the same rules as you used with one source, but you’ll need to separate each source with a semicolon.

*Some economists have indicated that technological advancements spur economic growth (Johnson 16; Jones 37-38; Smith 2).

D) Multiple works, same author.

If you have more than one source from the same author, just add a shortened title for the particular source you’re using to the author’s name in the in-text citation. Separate the author’s name and the title with a comma.

*Some economists have indicated that technological advancements spur economic growth (Johnson, “2007 Economic Growth Report” 16).

E) Multiple authors, same last name.

You might end up with sources from two different authors who share the same last name. In that case, you may use the author’s first initial, first and middle initials, first name and middle initial, or first and middle names. Use as much of the first and middle names as required so it’s easy for your readers to find the source in the Works Cited list.

*Some economists have indicated that technological advancements spur economic growth (B. Johnson 16).

F) Indirect source.

If you have a quote taken from an indirect source, include the phrase “qtd. in” with the in-text citation. List the actual source where you found the quote in the in-text citation and in the Works Cited list.

*Jones has mentioned that “technological advancements spur economic growth” (qtd. in Johnson 16).

G) Other option.

If it makes more sense in your writing to list the author in the actual text, you can simply list the page number inside the parentheses for the in-text citation.

*The economist Johnson has indicated that technological advancements spur economic growth (16).

Although MLA Style allows you to use the author’s name in the text of the sentence you’re citing, you are not allowed to use the page number or numbers in the sentence. The page number should always appear in parentheses.

When formatting your paper in MLA Style, you’ll need to follow a series of rules that outline all aspects of the creation of the paper. Most people think of MLA Style when trying to determine how to cite sources used as references in the paper. However, MLA Style includes rules for many aspects of formatting the paper beyond citing sources. Here are 15 formatting tips you should follow when creating your MLA paper.

ALIGNMENT. Align the text flush left. If your word processor, such as MS-Word, has a “full justify” setting, which spreads the text and aligns it both left and right, do not use it. Leave the text ragged on the right side.

BINDING. MLA Style calls for binding the pages with a simple paper clip or spring clip. Do not use a staple or other permanent binding system, unless your instructor requests it.

ENDNOTES AND FOOTNOTES. You may use endnotes or footnotes with MLA Style, but they should only be used to further explain a term or a complex idea, beyond what you’re able to include in the main text. Endnotes and footnotes should not be used to cite sources. Save those for the “Works Cited” page.

FONT. MLA Style calls for a 12-point font size, along with an easily readable font, such as Times New Roman.

HEADINGS. In MLA Style, headings and subheads that break up the text are optional. Check with your instructor before using them.

INDENTIONS. You’ll need to indent the first line of any paragraph by one-half inch from the left margin. If you aren’t using word processing software, indent by five spaces.

ITALICS. You should use italics for titles of longer works. MLA Style also allows use of italics within the body of the text for emphasis of a particular word or phrase, but use such items sparingly.

MARGINS. All four sides of the MLA paper — top, bottom, right, and left — require a margin of 1 inch. The only items that should appear outside the margins are the page numbers.

PAGE NUMBERING. Place the page number in the upper right corner of every page. Use Arabic numerals for the page numbers. The page number should appear one-half inch from the top of the paper and even with the right margin (1 inch from the edge of the paper). If you choose to use an optional title page, you should not number it. If you choose not to create a separate title page, instead including the title and other relevant information on the first page of the main text, you must use “1″ as the number of that page.

PAPER TYPE. Use standard, 20-pound white paper that measures 8.5-by-11 inches.

PUNCTUATION. Follow all standard punctuation marks with just one space, including colons, commas, periods, and semicolons. Some instructors still prefer the old rule of using two spaces after periods that end sentences. MLA Style does allow some flexibility in punctuation when the instructor requests a change from the standard MLA Style.

QUOTATION BLOCKS. Whenever using a quotation that will be longer than four typed lines, set the entire quotation block apart by indenting it from the left margin 1 inch (or 10 spaces). Double-space within the quotation block. You do not need to use quotation marks with a quotation block.

SPACING. You’ll need to double-space all of the text within the paper, except in rare special circumstances as directed by your instructor. All quotations, notes, and lists of works cited should be double-spaced.

TITLE. MLA Style doesn’t require a separate title page. You can include the information used for the title on the first page of the paper, and begin the paper’s main text on the same page. All text should be double-spaced on the first page. You can place the page number in the upper right corner. In the upper left corner, flush left and beginning at the margins, include your name, the instructor’s name, the course, and the date. Then center the text for the title, mixing uppercase and lowercase letters. If you choose to skip the separate title page, you can begin the main text immediately after the title text.

UNDERLINING. With the third edition of the MLA Style Manual, the new guidelines have eliminated the use of underlining. Now italicize all published works, rather than using underlining.

MLA or Modern language association is a widely accepted format of writing essays and research papers. This style of writing is most commonly used in arts and humanities essays and research papers. There are several advantages of using MLA style:

•    MLA style prescribes a system to the authors for referencing the sources via parenthetical citation in the essays.
•    With a robust referencing system MLA style helps the authors in building up their credibility as their writing can be tracked back to the source material.
•    As the works of the writers can be tracked back to the original, using this style in their writings authors can effectively ward off any false accusations of plagiarism.

Generic MLA style guidelines are as follows:

•    The essay should be written on 8″x11″ white paper.
•    Recommend font is Times New Roman with a font size of 12 pt. The text should be double spaced.
•    Leave one space after every punctuation mark (periods, question marks, colon, and comma).
•    Leave a margin space of 1″ on every side of paper.
•    Indent the first line of the paragraph 1″ from the left margin to mark the beginning of a paragraph
•    Restrict the use of italics and underlining to emphasize certain points in your essay.
•    Create a header on the upper right margin of the title page to number the page.

•    Create a title page for your essay only if it is specifically requested by the teacher.
•    Mention your name, instructors name, the course and date in the same order on the upper left hand corner of the first page.
•    Write the title in Title case, not in All CAPS. Put the title in the center of the page. Do not put the title in quotation marks, period or underline it.
•    Use italics or quotation marks when referring to someone else´s work on your title page.
•    Create a header on the upper right margin of the title page. The header should include your last name, and page number in Arabic numerals. If your research guide doesn´t want you to put a number on the title page then start number the rest of the document from Page 2. Do not put period after the page number.
•    Put a double space between the title of the page and first line of the text.
•     In MLA writing style when somebody else´s work is cited with the text of the essay the cited material is mentioned in a “signal phrase” which includes author´s name. Mention the page number of the cited work from which the information is drawn in a bracket after the signal phrase.
•    The works cited list consists of the list of sources, which have been referred to write the essay, enlisted on a separate page after the end of the essay.

Knowledge of MLA style of writing can be very helpful for research scholars and writers. To understand the MLA style in depth there are various helpful resources available on the internet and in reference libraries.

Unlike some other formal styles for writing scholarly papers, MLA Style does not specify a large number of specific pages that you must include in your paper. APA Style, for example, requires a title page, an abstract page, and a table of contents, among several other types of optional pages. MLA Style, however, does not even require a title page.

I will discuss optional pages you can use in your MLA Style paper in this article, along with some methods you can use to format your paper in MLA Style.

1) TITLE PAGE. MLA Style makes a title page an optional choice for the writer. If you decide to use a title page, center the text. The title page may contain the title, author’s name, mailing address, e-mail address, and contact telephone numbers. Some instructors will require you to include the name of the faculty advisor, the date of submission, and the members of the committee that will accept the work. With MLA Style, a separate title page is not numbered. If you’re writing an extremely formal paper, such as a thesis or dissertation, you almost certainly should include a separate title page, unless your instructor specifies differently. If you include the title on the first page of the main text, you should number it, but this format is limited to a less formal paper.

2) APPROVAL PAGE. The approval page, which contains all signatures of approval from members of the thesis approval committee, is optional.

3) ABSTRACT PAGE. The abstract page, which is a short summary of the purpose of the paper, is optional.

4) BIOGRAPHY PAGE. The biography page, which provides a short description of the author and his or her accomplishments, is optional.

5) DEDICATION PAGE. The dedication page, which allows the author to dedicate the thesis to a person or multiple people who helped with the paper, is optional.

6) EPIGRAPH PAGE. The epigraph page, which may contain a poem or quotation, is optional.

7) TABLE OF CONTENTS PAGE. If the paper is long enough to have sections, you may include a table of contents page.

8) LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS AND TABLES. This page, if applicable, lists all of the illustrations and tables you used in the paper, sorted by the pages on which they appear.

9) PREFACE. The preface, which is an optional page, may introduce the paper by discussing a related idea that doesn’t quite fit within the parameters of the main text.

10) MAIN TEXT. With the main text, simply select a readable font, usually Times New Roman at 12 points. Double space throughout the main text, and indent all paragraphs by one-half inch.

MLA Style does not require headings, chapters, or any other method for breaking up the main text. MLA Style also does not prohibit any methods for breaking up the text, however. If your instructor doesn’t specify a method for breaking up the text, you can use a few different optional methods. If you choose to use chapters, you can use the following methods for breaking up the text within the chapters.

You can use an extra blank line to separate ideas. Just hit the Enter key an additional time after completing a paragraph. Keep in mind, though, that this method might be ineffective if the blank line occurs at the end of a printed page. Some writers combat this problem by typing three asterisks, centered on the page, in place of the blank line. Others actually type “[blank line]” flush left in place of the blank line.

You may use headings to break up the text and organize similar ideas. MLA Style prefers using an Arabic number with each heading. You also should type each heading flush left with no extra blank lines before or after the heading. For example:

1. Economic Growth 2006

2. Economic Growth 2007

3. Economic Growth 2008

Finally, you may simply use an Arabic number to signify related ideas in the text. Just type “1″ centered on a blank line before the first idea, “2″ centered before the second idea, and so on.

11) ENDNOTES. If you choose to list endnotes, you need to use a separate page immediately following the main text. An endnotes page is optional in MLA Style.

12) WORKS CITED. The Works Cited page in MLA Style is a list of all sources you referenced in the main text. The listing of all sources requires you to follow a specific set of rules.

13) GLOSSARY. The glossary page, which is a list of all confusing and unusual terms used in the text, along with definitions, is optional.

14) INDEX. If you choose to include an optional index page, it will list the various proper nouns and ideas that you’ve included throughout the main text, listed alphabetically and linked to the page numbers on which the items appear.