Research papers require not only creating a piece of writing that fully reaches the research’s aims and objectives but also organizing this writing in the correspondence of a particular formatting style.
Research papers in humanities, like literature and arts, usually require MLA format. The Modern Language Association has created this format to make publication and academic work more readable, unified, and well-structured.
Let’s not beat around the bush and directly talk about the peculiarities of formatting research papers in MLA formatting style. Here you can buy research papers with adequately cited sources followed by the latest MLA guidelines.
How to Cite a Research Paper: MLA Format
| Nota Bene(“Take notice” from Latin) Before you start, carefully investigate the requirements from your class instructor or basic college requirements for formatting academic papers. Some educational institutions have their own guidelines for research papers. |
What is MLA format?
MLA paper format requirements change occasionally, and it’s essential to stay updated with changes. The Modern Language Association recently published the 9th version of the MLA Handbook. You can check it in your college library or ask a friend to share the example with you. Also, the Association provides excerpts of the handbook on its main page.
While reading 400 pages may take a bunch of time, we are here to get you covered! In this article, you will find the basics for formatting and citation research papers in MLA format. At the very beginning, let’s overview the essential elements of MLA in the picture below:
Ready to proceed with the formatting process? Open the digital copy of your paper and set the parameters stated in the picture: spacing, margins, indentation, font style, and size – every detail matters.
To make the information more understandable, our writers will accompany each key feature with comments on the research paper MLA format example.
Research Paper in MLA: Title Page
The MLA guidelines require to place the full author’s name, the name of the instructor (or instructors’ names placed one under another if you have more than one instructor), the name of the course and number, and the date on the left upper corner of the first page.
Example:
If you are submitting research done by a group of students, list the full names of the participants, placing them one under another. MLA handbook recommends creating a separate title page for this case unless your instructor recommended the other. Always put the instructor’s requirements in the first place.
Example:
Sam Adams
Christina Pane
Sean Garcia
Prof. Lewis
Modern Literature 104
12 September 2022
Formatting the Title of the Research Paper
Place the title of your research paper at the center after you finished the previous block. Create a new line following the double-spaced format, type the title, and choose a Center pictogram in the Word’s Paragraph group. All words should be written in the title case, except prepositions. End the title text without a period. Don’t use italics, underline, bold text, “quotation marks” unless you need to implement a title for another resource into the paper’s title. Here are the cases as an exception to the rule:
- Use quotation marks for the parts of complete work (book chapter, poem, song, journal article, etc.).
E.g., The Theme of Isolation in “The Waste Land” by T.S. Eliot
- Italicize the title of full works (books, journals, films, etc.)
E.g., The role of death in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone
When you finish the title, make a new line aligned to the left. Press the Tab key to make an indentation as you start a paragraph. Voila! Now you are ready to write the introductory words to your research paper.
| Nota Bene You can use this MLA format example in Google Docs or save it as a Word document on your computer to have a backbone for your research paper. The template was created by Northern Essex Community College. |
Requirements for the Running Head
Add a header at the top right corner. It should contain your first name and the page number. Use Arabic numerals only and don’t use any punctuation mark. Sometimes teachers ask no to add your name to the header, so give preference to paper requirements instead of general format.
| Nota Bene You may ask whether you need a title page. The MLA guide doesn’t require creating a title page for your research paper unless your teacher asks you to do it. Usually, the title page will contain the educational institution’s name, the work’s title, the author’s name, and the date. Consider that there is no need to add a header and page number if you create this page. |
How to Implant Quotes in Your MLA Research Paper
Research papers usually require students to create a piece discussing a specific viewpoint. You need to use quotes from reliable sources to accompany your thoughts and give the proper depth to your perspective. There are three approaches to how you can implement citations and quotations:
- Paraphrasing the quote. This method is beneficial when you don’t want to interrupt your speech and need to mention other studies.
- Selective quotation. If you need to emphasize a stress viewpoint from another source in the original author’s voice, directly cite the part of the sentence that has the most powerful meaning. Don’t forget that you need to provide an analytical part to accompany that quote.
- Quote for analysis, synthesis, evaluation. The biggest mistake a student can make is to sink into summarizing the ideas of another author. Certainly, summarizing someone’s thoughts is the easiest way to reach the required word limit, but the quality of a research paper dramatically falls.
Which approach is best to choose? The obvious winner is properly organized paraphrasing. Quotes, without a doubt, also work great, especially in a literature research paper when you analyze the author’s voice in a particular book. But in the meantime, a text with a great variety of direct quotes will look like the author of the research paper has made few efforts to put their point of view. Paraphrasing will help you avoid such a problem, as it helps the reader see your research as a whole one.
Organizing MLA In-text Citations in Research Papers
It’s essential to understand that you should introduce any quote or paraphrasing in your research paper. And only then comment on the relation of the quotation to your research question and your point of view. You may apply the four-step strategy to organize the in-text citations:
Step One. Briefly introduce the context of the citing source.
Step Two. Insert quotation, insert paraphrasing or summary of the quote.
Step Three. Cite the source you have used.
Step Four. Write about how the citation context refers to your position or idea. Also, you can skip this step if you wish to present more materials from this or a new source to emphasize your viewpoint (then you need to proceed to step one again).
Don’t forget to use reporting verbs and transition phrases to make the quotation look logical and cohesive. You can find the guide about verbs for reporting from the University of Adelaide at the end of this article.
| Nota Bene Should I cite this, should I cite those? Yes! If the words you write don’t come up directly from your mind, as you retyping information from the other source, it’s an indication that you should cite the text. When you catch yourself wavering, cite to avoid accidental plagiarism. |
There are several types of in-text citations that can be utilized in research papers using MLA style.
Author-paged style
- Parenthetical citation is used when you insert the quote in the text. You can mention the author’s last name, add a quote and a page number at the end of the sentence. Remember that the page number is always in parentheses.
- This approach is also called “citation in prose.” You can paraphrase or add a quote in the text and add the author’s last name and page number of the source in parentheses. Here is an example citing the source written by two authors.
| Nota Bene The name format of the author should include:Name and surname if you mention the author in the sentence. If you need to add the author’s name in parenthesis, type the initial of the first name and the last name. E.g., (G. Milkovich 16). |
Both (16) and (Milkovich and Wigdor 153) indicate that the sentence contains a quote or paraphrasing from the mentioned author(s) and the page of source where the reader can find the original. At the same time, the works cited page should contain the full bibliographical information of this cited source, so readers may find the original work to observe it by themselves.
For example, the entry in the works cited page will look like:
Milkovich, George. “Strengthening the Pay-Performance Relationship.” Compensation; Benefits Review, vol. 24, no. 6, 1992, pp. 14–22., https://doi.org/10.1177/088636879202400611.
In such a case, when the source has no author, just include the title and page in parenthesis. If you can’t find the author, make sure that the article quality is good and the source is credible enough to use it in your research. Here are some examples:
For example:
In text:
… that’s why the meaning of love takes the first place in the novel (“Variations on the Theme of Love.”
In Works Cited list:
“Variations on the Theme of Love.” Dialectical Readings, 1997, pp. 95-120., https://doi.org/10.5325/j.ctv14gp07g.8.
Citing websites
In the 9th edition of MLA Handbook, authors ask to pay attention to the length of the website URLs. To cite a resource from the website, you need to use the following format. If you will find the author’s name, use it in parenthesis when using it in text, e.g. (Johnsons).
In text:
(“Harry Potter Series”)
In Works Cited list:
“Harry Potter Series by J. K. Rowling – Review.” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 26 Oct. 2014, https://www.theguardian.com/childrens-books-site/2014/oct/26/harry-potter-series-jk-rowling-review.
Adding Headings and Subheadings
To organize your work in an intelligent and good-looking way, use headings and subheading to create well-looking MLA paragraph format. Longer assignments, like research papers, need to have a proper structure and organization.
If you need to add a subheading or heading, make sure that it meets the following format:
- All words capitalized, except articles, prepositions, and “to” infinitives.
- Stick to the left margin
- End without a period
- Have the same font and size like the main text.
To create several levels of headings and subheadings, use the styles that are available both in Word and Google Docs.
Crafting MLA Table of Contents
To create a good research paper, you should take time to create a good outline. This will guarantee that you haven’t forgotten to cover the planned issue, and get your work more organized. If you are writing a book analysis, how should you incorporate the table of contents into the text?
Modern Language Association doesn’t provide obligatory mla title page format
to each type of paper, that’s why there are no strict recommendations to follow. At the same time, your teacher may ask you to add an MLA table of contents if you are writing a longer research paper. Keep in mind that this paper section will be one of the last to do in your research paper.
The MLA Style Center recommends creating a separate title page and the next page for the table of contents. Label the second page with title “Contents.” Keep in mind that you don’t need to number the title page, but number the next one. Besides, your teacher may ask you to make the table of contents as an additional page that won’t be added to the overall paper. We just remind you to follow the instructor’s recommendations first.
Contents
1. Introduction……………..2
2. The part I…………………3
3. The part II……………….8
4. The part III……………..14
5. Conclusions…………….21
6. Works Cited……………22
Wrapping Up
Remember to use quotes wisely. In one situation, you can emphasize your thoughts or launch a conversation that boosts the issue. Avoid ending the paragraph with a quote without any supporting sentences. Always continue the natural flow of paragraph topic discussion. Keep in mind that all the elements of a research paper, including quotations, should be connected with tissue that binds the elements into a meaningful whole.
| Additional sources to use: MLA Handbook, 9th edition by The Modern Language Association of America, 2021 Frequently Asked Questions about MLA from the official MLA Style Center MLA Formatting and Style Guide on Purdue OWL Writing Your Paper:MLA by Northern Essex Community College Verbs for Reporting: Writing Center Learning Guide by The University of Adelaide. |
