The MLA style of formatting is seen to be used for citing sources and research papers within the domain of humanities and liberal arts. In this section, a detailed guide is provided on the general format and in-text citation basics for MLA 8th Edition.
General Rules for Formatting Paper
The paper should be written using double spacing with font size of 12-point Times New Roman font. Prior to that, the writer needs to see that the paper size is 8.5” x 11” and has a 1-inch margin on all the sides. The entire content of the paper should be left aligned with indentation of half inch for the paragraphs. The use of header is mandatory in all the pages and should be left aligned in the format as ‘Last Name 1’.
In a MLA format, there is a no use cover page unless specified by the instructor. Before starting the write up, the writer needs to provide the name of the author, the name of instructor, details of the course and date in the first page. All this should be left aligned using 12-point Times New Roman.
The title of the page is written in 12-point Times New Roman, un-bold and middle aligned formatting. All the principle words in the title needs to be capitalised. If there is any subtitle present then it is provided after the title separated by a semi colon and a space.
Rules for Heading
[Heading 1]
Heading one needs to be left alight with bold 12 point Times New Roman font. Except for articles and conjunction, first letter of each word needs to be capitalised.
[Heading 2]
Heading two needs to be left alight with bold 12 point Times New Roman font. Except for articles and conjunction, first letter of each word needs to be capitalised.
Instruction for Work Cited
MLA referencing list is denoted as ‘Work Cited’ and must be following the rules mentioned below:
MLA Referencing Basics
In text-Citations
The parts that are quoted or paraphrased from other’s work must be cited properly with in-text citations.
In-text citations are to be included in the main body of the text with proper citations against a portion that is paraphrased or quotation. The referencing style in a MLA format there involves editor (s) or the author (s) followed by the page number.
One Author:
Direct Quotation: Courtright (202) states that ….
Paraphrased section: (Courtright 202)
Two Authors
Direct Quotation: Johnson and Colbert (200) states that…
Paraphrased Section: (Johnson & Colbert 200)
Three or more Authors
When in texting three or more authors, then et al. is going to be followed after the surname of the first author
Direct quotation: Johnson et al. (200) opines that….
Paraphrased portion: (Johnson et al., 200)
Sources without any author
For an article, the title must be included in quotation followed by a bracket.
Direct Quotation: “Disruptive innovation is going stimulate profits by 2020” states that….
Paraphrased section: (“Disruptive innovation is going stimulate profits by 2020”)
Work Cited Format
Books written by a single author:
Last Name, First Name. Title of Book. Publisher, Publication Date.
Thomas, George. General Management. McGraw-Hill, 2015.
Book written by two authors:
Last Name, First Name, and First Name Last Name. Title of Book. Publisher, Publication Date.
Kinnear, Thomas, and James Ronald Taylor. Marketing research: an applied approach.
McGraw-Hill Companies, 1987.
Book written by two or more authors:
Armstrong, Gary, et al. Marketing: an introduction. Pearson Education, 2015.
Journal:
Author(s). "Title of Article." Title of Journal, Volume, Issue, Year, pages.
Ho, William, et al. "Supply chain risk management: a literature review." International
Journal of Production Research, vol. 53, no.16, 2015, pp. 5031-5069.
Online Article with Author:
Last Name, First Name. Name of article. Website, Date Month Year, Link. Accessed Date Month Year.
Dolan, Kerry. African Billionaire Fortunes Rise on Forbes 2018 List of Continent's Richest.
Forbes, 10 January 2018,
https://www.forbes.com/sites/kerryadolan/2018/01/10/african-billionaire-fortunes-rise-on-forbes-2018-list-of-continents-richest/#18f14a5b2777
Accessed 7 Dec. 2017.
Online Article without Author:
“Article Name”. Website, Date Month Year, Link. Accessed Date Month Year.
“UAE aviation industry to contribute $53b by 2020.” Gulf News Aviation, 18 Jan. 2015,
http://gulfnews.com/business/aviation/uae-aviation-industry-to-contribute-53b-by-2020-1.1443145. Accessed 7 Dec. 2017.