How do I style headings and subheadings in a research paper?
Headings and subheadings can help organize and structure your writing. In general, longer and more complex works warrant more of them than shorter ones. Avoid… Read More
Posts related to formatting a paper
How to Write an Abstract
An abstract of a work, usually of an essay, is a concise summary of its main points . . . Read More
Is the page after the title page of an essay numbered 1 or 2?
The first page of an essay should be numbered 1. Therefore, if you are preparing an essay that includes a title page, do not number… Read More
Does the MLA offer guidance for outlines?
The MLA has never offered guidance on formatting outlines. The seventh edition of the handbook notes that there are many types of outlines and that… Read More
When creating a sortable list of alphabetized titles, where should the initial article be placed?
In an index or sortable list of titles, MLA style follows the The Chicago Manual of Style, which recommends placing initial articles at the end of the… Read More
How do I style names of headers or titled sections that I refer to in my prose?
When you refer to the names of headers or titled sections in a work, you may style them with or without quotation marks as long… Read More
If I have to place my appendix after the works-cited list, where should the works I cite in the appendix be listed?
It is not standard to place an appendix after a works-cited list, but if you need to do so, and the appendix cites many sources,… Read More
If I am writing a paper in a foreign language and my works-cited list contains works in more than one language, should labels such as “edited by” be given in the foreign language or in English? Also, should the works-cited-list entry be punctuated according to the rules of the foreign language?
The language that you use to describe elements in your works-cited list should be the language that your paper is written in, which should also… Read More
How should I style ellipses in MLA style?
The MLA Handbook explains that you should “[i]dentify an omission within a sentence by using three periods with a space before each and a space… Read More
How do I format and document epigraphs in MLA style?
Epigraphs establish tone, highlight allusions, provide commentary, and mark transitions between parts of a work. Primarily ornamental, they are not discussed subsequently in the text. … Read More