MLA Style: Formatting Rules

General Guidelines

• Type your paper on a computer and print it out on standard, white A4 paper.
• Double-space the text of your paper, and use a legible font (e.g. Times New Roman) set to a standard sixe (e.g. 12 pt.). Use the same font and size throughout the paper.
• Set the margins of your document to 1 inch on all sides.
• Indent the first line of paragraphs one half-inch from the left margin. 
• Create a page-number header that appears in the upper right-hand corner, flush-right and one-half inch from the top of the page, including your last name, followed by a space with a page number; number all pages consecutively with Arabic numerals (1, 2, 3, 4, etc.). This header must appear in every page.
• Use italics throughout your essay for the titles of longer works and, only when absolutely necessary, providing emphasis.

Formatting the First Page of Your Paper

• Do not make a title page for your paper unless specifically requested.
• In the upper left-hand corner of the first page, list your name, your instructor's name, the course, and the date. Be sure to use double-spaced text.
• Double space again and center the title. Do not underline, italicize, or place your title in quotation marks; write the title in Title Style (standard capitalization), not in all capital letters.
• Use quotation marks and/or italics when referring to other works in your title, just as you would in your text: Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas as Morality Play; Human Weariness in "After Apple Picking"
• Double space between the title and the first line of the text.