What is MLA Format?

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MLA format is one of the most common structures for organizing a paper in academic writing. In this video, we will cover the basics of MLA format, focusing on citing within the text and creating a works cited page.

What Is MLA Format?

MLA is the abbreviation for the Modern Language Association, and MLA format refers to the format the association created that is commonly used in many areas of academic writing. Be sure to check for updates of your favorite style guide often because revisions are made every few years.

When it comes to a formatting style, you should think of it as the architectural style of your paper. Imagine if I told you a house were structured in a Tudor style or Ranch style, you would be expecting to see certain elements in the house. The same is true for formatting. If your paper is structured using MLA formatting, there are certain elements that are going to be expected in your paper. How good or bad the format of your paper is will be determined by how well you stick to the current guidelines for MLA.

MLA Basics

Let's start with the basics of MLA formatting. The formatting basics can be considered the overall structure and design of the home. They are the blueprint plans that the builder would follow. Here are some of the basics for MLA formatting:

Your paper should be typed and double-spaced with a 12-point font. The font should be readable, with many people settling on Times New Roman as their font of choice.
Indent the first line of paragraphs and leave one space between sentences. The indention should be one-half inch from the left margin.
While you won't have a separate title page unless requested by your instructor, in the upper left-hand corner of the first page, list your name, your instructor's name, the course and the date.
Double space and center your title, and capitalize only the first word and any proper nouns.
You will also need, unless directed otherwise by your professor, a header in the upper right-hand corner that includes your last name, followed by a space with a page number.

In-Text Citations

In-text citations can be considered the interior design of the home. Just like in home decorating, we stick to our home's basic style, but we get to be creative in our use of that style. There are several different formats that are acceptable in MLA for in-text citations that still stay true to the overall formatting style.

For in-text citations, you will need the name of the author and the page on which the citation can be found. Here is one example of an in text citation: Education is awesome (Jones, 146-148). This citation would follow the information you utilized from the author. Here is another common example of in-text citations using MLA: According to Jones (146-149), Sasquatch is real. If you are citing an entire work, no page number is needed for the citation.

Works Cited

We can think of our works cited page in MLA as the signs you often see outside of new and remodeled homes. When a particular company is used to provide a new roof, for instance, there is often times a large sign in the front yard advertising the roofing company. It's a way for the home owner to acknowledge the roofer and a way for the roofer to get credit for their great work. This is also the function of our works cited page. We acknowledge the great work of the people whose information we have utilized, proudly and boldly acknowledging them and allowing others to know how they can review these works for themselves.

If you are adding a book to your works cited page, you will need the name of the author or authors, title of the book, place and name of the publisher, year of publication and medium of publication. Here is an example of an authored book entry in your works cited page:

Robinson, Ken. Out of Our Minds: Learning to Be Creative. 2nd. ed. Capstone Publishing: West Sussex, UK, 2011. Print.

The first thing we have is the author's name. Remember both the last and first names are fully written out in MLA format. Next we have the title of the book, including the subtitle. This book is a revision, so we also include the number of the edition that we read. We then see the name of the publishing company followed by where the publishing company is located as well as the year of publication. Finally, we see the medium of publication, which is print.

If you are adding a journal article to your Works Cited page, this is what it would look like:

Amabile, Teresa M. Perspectives on the Social Psychology of Creativity. The Journal of Creative Behavior 46.1 (2012): 3 - 15. Web. 1 Oct. 2012

For our peer reviewed scholarly journal article first we have the last and first name, plus middle initial of the author. Next we have the title of our article in italics. Then we have the name of the journal, the volume and issue number, then the year of publication. Following the colon, we have the pages on which the article can be found. Even though this journal is available both online and in print, the medium of publication we used was online. Since we reviewed this article online, we also list the date that we accessed the article.

Lesson Summary

So, we have covered the basics of MLA formatting for academic papers. By following these steps, you will be able to correctly use this format for your paper. We covered two of the most common types of citations found in academic writing. If you are using other types of sources, like movies, audio clips and websites, make sure to review a copy of your favorite style guide or review some of our other video clips available now or coming soon. Remember to check the MLA Handbook for Writers or Research Papersoften for updates and changes. Happy citing!