What is the MLA?

The acronym MLA stands for Modern Language Association. The MLA is a professional, international organization based in New York City, New York, U.S.A. Its stated purpose is to strengthen the study and teaching of language and literature. It also provides a way for people working in the humanities to format their documents and handle source materials (we call this “MLA style”), and it is the principal professional organization for the humanities field.

The humanities are the field of study concerned with human culture, including literature, history, art, music, religion, foreign languages, and philosophy.

In contrast, the empiric disciplines are those concerned with subjects involving verification through data collections, measurement, observation and other techniques for verification. The empiric fields of study include the sciences, math, teaching, psychology, and others.

What is MLA Style?

MLA style helps us format our documents and handle source materials. The use of a consistent document format by everyone using MLA makes it possible for us to pick up an MLA-formatted paper and follow it easily, without having to figure out how it’s arranged. Likewise, the use of a consistent approach to handling sources helps a writer avoid plagiarism and also helps a reader follow the writer’s use of sources.

Modern Language Association style periodically undergoes revision to keep up with changes in writing and publishing. The most recent eighth edition of MLA came out in 2016. Here’s what the MLA organization had to say about “MLA 8”:

The eighth edition of the MLA Handbook, published in 2016, rethinks documentation for an era of digital publication. The MLA now recommends a universal set of guidelines that writers can apply to any source and gives writers in all fields—from the sciences to the humanities—the tools to intuitively document sources (“What’s New”).

As a college student studying writing, you’ll use MLA style to accomplish the following:

1. To format your documents using a consistent style. MLA style is the “outfit” of our written documents in the humanities. Much like a football player wears a helmet and pads or a soccer player wears shin guards, our documents “wear” a certain style of formatting. We’ll discuss that more below.
2. To identify and manage source materials when you use them in your own writing. This insures you use sources correctly in your own work and give credit to the person who owns and/or created the source material, both of which help you avoid plagiarism. It also allows others—who read and are interested in your work—to easily review and consult the sources you’ve used.

Using MLA to Format Your Documents

The following are the basic guidelines for setting up an MLA-formatted document. Your word processor will have menu controls to help you with these settings.

• Set side margins to 1” on left, right, top, and bottom.
• Set margins to 0.5” for header and footer.
• Use a standard^[1] 12-point font throughout the document.
• Double-space throughout the document.
• Use a straight left edge and a “ragged” right edge.
• Indent paragraphs ½” (1 tab).
• Centre a document title on page 1. Use plain 12-point font—do not bold, underline, or italicize.
• Create an upper left heading on page 1 only. This should include the following:
  • Your name (first and last name)
  • The instructor’s name
  • The name of the class
  • The date, in MLA style^[2]
• Create an upper right header for all pages. This should include the following:
  • Your last name
  • An automatic page number

Use this format for your document heading and on your Works Cited list. When mentioning dates in your paper, use traditional format, i.e., “On February 11, 2016, I found the world’s best coffee shop.”

For examples of what an MLA-formatted papers looks like, try visiting Sample Papers in MLA Style

A Four-Step Process for Working with Sources

1. Create a Works Cited page. When you bring a source into to your writing, create a Works Cited page and immediately add your source to the page, creating a complete, correct listing.
2. Use sources correctly. Bring written sources into your paper using quotation, paraphrase, or summary.
3. Cite/identify in-text sources. When you add a source to your paper, immediately cite or identify it where it occurs.
4. Proofread your work with sources.
   • Check and double-check to make sure every sentence containing a source has been properly cited or identified.
   • Make sure Works Cited listings and in-text citations “match.” If you mention a source in your paper, it must also appear on the Works Cited list. If you mention a source on your Works Cited list, it must also appear in the paper.

Text Attributions

• This chapter was adapted from “Resources for Working with MLA” in The Word on College Reading and Writing by Carol Burnell, Jaime Wood, Monique Babin, Susan Pesznecker, and Nicole Rosevear, which is licensed under a CC BY-NC 4.0 Licence. Adapted by Allison Kilgannon.