Modern Language Association

[Instructor’s Name]

[Course Title][Student’s Name]

7 April 2015

[Research Paper Title]

The Modern Language Association (MLA) provides guidelines for documentation style. This template is based on commonly used guidelines from the MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers (6th edition) and the MLA Style Manual and Guide to Scholarly Publishing (2nd edition). For the most up to date information about MLA style and publications, go to the MLA website at: www.mla.org.

In MLA format, quotations with fewer than four lines of prose or three lines of verse are quoted directly in the sentence. These lines must be enclosed in quotation marks, followed by the author’s last name and the page or pages of the source from which you are quoting in parenthesis, for example: “inline quotation here” (AuthorSurname 31). Note: The end punctuation follows the Parenthesis.

On the other hand, quotations that are longer than four lines of prose or three lines of verse follow different guidelines. These quotations are introduced with a colon:

Start long quotations on a new line. Indent the quote one inch from the left margin. Double-space the lines and omit quotation marks. Reference the source as you would for a shorter quotation. To quickly format a quotation of over four lines or three lines of verse, use the Long quotation style provided in this Microsoft Word template. (AuthorSurname 32) Note: the end punctuation goes before the parenthsis.

Per MLA guidelines, all sources must be listed on a Works Cited page at the end of the paper. The Works Cited title must be centered, and sources must in alphabetical order by author’s last name/or work title in no author given. Some examples are provided on the next page. To format sources, start with the works cited style provided in this template, but refer to the MLA publications noted above for the complete and most current formatting guidelines.

Works Cited

Author’s Last name, First name. Title of Book. City: Publisher. Year. Print.

Author’s Last name, First name. “Title of Article.” Title of Publication Date Published: Pages. Print.

Author’s Last name, First name. “Article from an Online Database.” Title of the Journal. Vol.Issue(Date): pages. Name of the Database. Web. Date Accessed.

Author’s Last name, First name. “Article in an Online Journal.” Title of Online Publication. Version. Year Published: Pages. Web. Date Accessed.

“Title of Article.” Title of Media. CD-ROM. City: Publisher, Year.

*all entries should be alphabetical by first word in the entry

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