The aim of this essay is to introduce the readers to MLA 7th edition paper formatting style. MLA (Modern Language Association) formatting is suitable for use in a number of disciplines like: humanities, language, literature, linguistics, communication, philosophy, religion and others. Writers adopt MLA format to provide a uniform layout for documenting their work. Adopting the correct MLA format will help the writers create an awareness about the standards of writing a paper in their respective discipline.
The three basic areas regulated by MLA are: document format, in-text citation and the work cited pages. The aim of the following essay is to provide the readers with much more clarity on these three basic areas. Ideally a MLA style paper should be typed and printed on a white 8.5” x 11” size paper. The words are to be double spaced throughout the text, while a single space is used after punctuation or periods. The standard font size used in MLA is 12pt. Times New Roman. The paper margin should be 1 inch on all sides and the first line of the paragraph should have a half-inch indent. Instead of using the space bar five times to create a half inch indent, MLA recommends the use tab bar to create an indent.
The 7th edition of MLA includes updates like: no more underlining text and instead, the writers can use italics. The title of published work can be italicized, instead of underlining. The writers are also required to mention the medium of publication of the sources used in the work cited page. The latest update has also removed the inclusion of URLs while citing the sources.
However, writers are encouraged to use the URL for web sources that are difficult to find. The update also includes new abbreviations like N.p for indicating publications with no information about the publisher. Likewise, websites that do not have a date of publication are abbreviate as n.d. for no date. Likewise, journals or print versions that lack pagination can be abbreviated as n.pag for no pagination.
All MLA style papers should have a header, with page number located on the upper right hand corner. The last name of the author or writer is placed before the page number. Italics are used for representing titles of books. Endnotes in the text are placed on a separate page, before the work cited page. MLA does not have a title page. The first page of the document, has the author name, instructor name, course and date listed on the upper left hand corner of the text. The title of the text is centered and written in standard caps. Given below is a picture of the first page in MLA formatting.
Subheadings in an essay are optional and if present, they are numbered, or a consistent format should be used for section heading throughout the text. In very long documents, use of subheadings will improve the readability of the text. MLA formatting, recommends the use of arabic number and a period, to number the sections in an essay. If short phrases are used for subheadings, a consistency in the format should be maintained throughout the text.
In text citations or parenthetical citations are used within a text. The format of parenthetical citation of MLA format varies with the type of source like: website, DVD, printed text, etc. The word used in the in text are the first words of the corresponding source in the work cited page. The in text citation involves placing the information about the source in parentheses, at the end of a quote or a paraphrase. The following are some of the examples of in text citation used in MLA type formatting:
Wordsworth called romantic poetry a “spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings” (263). Romantic poetry is the “spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings” (Wordsworth 263). Wordsworth related romantic poetry to powerful expression of once emotions (263).
The above formats are used for the following source in the work cited page:
Wordsworth, William. Lyrical Ballads. London: Oxford UP, 1967. Print.
When the cited text does not have the author information, a shortened title placed within double inverted commas is used as in text citation. Italics can be used to represent very long title. It is necessary to provide a page number in the in text citation. If there are two authors for an article, the authors last name of both authors are separated by ‘and’, e.g: (Smith and Yang 76). In case of three authors, the in text citation would be (Smith, Yang and Moore 76).
The work cited page is the last page in the document and it contains the list of sources cited in the paper. The basic format for listing sources in the work cited page is as follows:
Thus, while gathering information about the source, it is expected that the writer, notes the bibliographic items like author name, book title, publication date, publisher, place of publication, and medium of publication. If there is more than one author for a book or journal, the first author name is written as last name, first name format, and the subsequent author names are written as first name, last name format. If there are more than three authors, the writer can choose to write “et al.” after the first author. It is important to consider the period and punctuations use of different sources in the in text and work cited page. While this essay introduces the reader to some of the key aspects of formatting that will help to understand MLA, the reader can have an in-depth understanding by referring to the following website. http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/06/ for a detailed and complete list of formatting rules.
