Last Name 1
Your Name
Mr. Instructor
Class 101
24 July 2018
How to Format an MLA-Style Document
Formatting a Modern Language Association (MLA)-style document is required for
academic writing in many college courses. MLA provides guidelines for citing sources in the
text of a document and on a Works Cited page. Typically, courses in the humanities use MLA
because of its emphasis on authorship and authority. Courses in English, art, film, foreign
language, music, religion, and philosophy customarily require MLA because it is the standard of
scholarly work in those disciplines. For citation help, consult your English course handbook, the
MLA Handbook, or Purdue OWL. This how-to guide focuses on formatting only.
There are several elements of an MLA-style document that are required for proper
formatting. Essays written in MLA do not typically require a cover page, but some instructors
may want one. Follow instructors’ directions regarding this requirement. The basic
characteristics of an MLA document include double-spaced lines throughout the essay with
paragraphs indented half an inch, size 12 Times New Roman font, and a double-spaced Works
Cited page with a hanging indent. Other elements include the use of a header on the first page of
the essay, not on the optional cover page, and on each subsequent page that displays the writer’s
last name and a page number.
This handout provides click-by-click instructions on setting up an MLA-style essay using
Microsoft Word. Consider saving a document as an MLA template so that you can simply open
the template and modify it for each MLA-style essay you write to save time and ensure accuracy.
