MLA format

MLA format (9th edition) is the standard for English, literature, languages, and other humanities courses. Its Word-level rules are precise: 1-inch margins all around, double spacing for the entire document including the heading and Works Cited, a legible font such as 12 pt Times New Roman, and a 0.5-inch first-line indent on every paragraph. The first page carries a four-line heading block (your name, instructor, course, and date) in the upper left, followed by a centered title, and a running header in the top-right showing your last name and the page number. Sources are cited in-text with author and page number, like (Smith 42), and listed alphabetically on a Works Cited page using hanging indents. Much like APA, most of what an instructor checks first is formatting: correct spacing, the header, the indent style, and the layout of the Works Cited entries. A formatting tool can standardize the margins, spacing, font, indentation, and header of an MLA paper while leaving your text and citations intact.