Modern Language Association Research Paper Guidelines

MLA or the Modern Language Association of America was started in 1883 and has members from hundred different countries. The guidelines set by them are used by students who pursue undergraduate students in humanities such as - Arts, English Literature, Theatre, Religion and Philosophy. The second edition was published in 1998. The third guide was published in 2008. This is mainly used for writing papers by graduate students, professors and academic scholars and advanced writers in the field of humanities. These guidelines help them in writing and documenting their research.

There are two books that can be used for reference. ence. They are ‘MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers" (6th edition) and ‘MLA Style Manual and Guide to Scholarly Publishing' (2nd edition). These sources will help the writer in cite in the correct manner.
All questions regarding how to write is also given clearly.

The MLA general format for the style used in English language is as follows:

1. The paper should be typed on a standard white paper which has the dimensions - 8.5 by 11 inches.
2. The paper should be typed ‘double spaced'. The font used should be ‘Times New Roman' or ‘Courier New', 12pt.
3. There should be only one space after a period or any other punctuation marks.
4. The margins used should be one inch on all sides of the paper. There should be a one half inch indent from the left margin for each paragraph.
5. The pages should be numbered in the top right hand corner of each page in the header, one half inch from the top of the page.
6. Wherever titles have to be given and points have to be emphasized in the paper, italics should be used.

The MLA also gives guidelines on:

In text citations - the basics,
In text citations - author and page style,
Formatting quotations,
Footnotes and Endnotes,
Works Cited page- the basic format,
Works Cited Page- books,
Works Cited- periodicals,
Works Cited- electronic Sources,
Works Cited - other non- print sources,
Any additional source.

All these guidelines are found in the M.L.A guidelines. The format at first glance will seem very complicated. In this method of formatting you get accountability and there is an inbuilt protection which helps you while writing your paper. When a writer takes information from other sources, he has to acknowledge it.

Whenever any author's work is quoted or the ideas summarized, the author's name and the page number from the work should be written in parantheses. If the author is not known, then the name of the work should be given with the number of the page where it appears. There are many such rules that have to be followed while writing a term paper according to the MLA style. All the intricacies while writing a paper are given in a detailed manner and you should follow them. Initially it will seem difficult, but you will gradually learn to use the style effectively.

Any paper that is written should read well, should be easily readable, should conform to certain standards and should give the citations properly. These are the moral and legal duties of any writer. The MLA format takes care of all these aspects and helps the writer to format the paper in a clear and readable manner so that the readers will be able to read with ease. So, it is essential that all writers follow the guidelines given by the Modern Language Association.

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