MLA Outline Template And Detailed Guidelines
The following informational material contains the most precise MLA outline template and detailed guidelines for each part of a written assignment.
MLA Cover Page Guidelines
Do not attach a separate cover page unless your assignment requires it. Following the provisions of the MLA standards, a cover page is optional and is not attached to most written papers.
However, sometimes your academic advisor may specifically request a cover page for an MLA paper project, especially if it is a lengthy work. For such cases, there are several directives regarding the information to specify on the cover page.
1. Align the title to the center. It should be precisely in the center of the line and be shifted one third from the top sheet edge.
Make sure the title of your work is informative and creative.
2. In the middle of the page, write your full name after the word “By” on a separate line. Center all of them. Format your full name like this: First Name Last Name.
3. At the end of the page, you must indicate the course name, the name of the professor, and the due date. This vital information should be placed about two thirds from the top edge of the paper.
Write the course name and number on the first line.
Write the professor’s name on the next line.
On the last line, enter the assignment due date using the following format: Month (name) Day (number) Year (number).
The First Page Formatting Guidelines
1. Write the title in the upper left corner. It must contain the same information as the cover page (if present). Indicate your full name, the professor’s full name, the name of the course, and assignment due date.
- Write your full name on the first line in the format First Name Last Name.
- On the next line, enter the professor’s name.
- On the third line, enter the name of the course.
- Indicate the assignment due date on the last line. The date should be written in the format Day (number) Month (name) Year (number).
2. On the next line, after the assignment due date, enter the title. Align the text to the center.
The title should be informative but creative at the same time.
3. Start writing the main body text on the next line below the heading, aligning the text to the left.
The Main Body Text Formatting Guidelines
- For photographs and illustrations, use “Fig. 1,” “Fig. 2,” and so on.
- Label each figure with descriptive titles, such as “caricature” or “statistical table.”
- Provide the name of the figure creator, source, publication date, and page number.
- Include all information in one line just below the figure.
Quotations in the Text Formatting Guidelines1. Include every borrowed content quote in brackets. After the direct quotation, paraphrasing, or presentation of borrowed content, indicate the source in parentheses.
E.g., (Connelly, X.J. And Dana Gioia. Literature: Introduction to Writing. 11th ed. Chicago: Longfellow, 2007. 699)
2. Most of the quotes in your work will be “inline,” which means they do not require much formatting and can be treated like regular text.
Always include quotes in a longer sentence. Never insert individual quotes, that is, quotes that are written by themselves, without any introduction from you.
3. If the quote you want to use is longer than three lines, it should be separated from the remaining text and turned into a blockquote.
After you have written the last word before the quote itself, press the “Enter” button and proceed to a new line.
Every line of the blockquote should be indented 1.25 cm (1/2 inch).
A blockquote does not require quotation marks, but you will still need to include the source in brackets after the quoted text.
Endnotes MLA Requirements
1. The heading “Endnotes” should be centered. Do not make it italic, bold, or underlined.
If your work contains endnotes, they should appear on a separate endnote page after the work itself. Do not confuse endnotes with footnotes.
2. Number the endnotes. If you have used the automatic endnote program built into your text editor, they should appear already numbered on the endnote page.
If you have not automated the addition of endnotes, make sure that each one is numbered using Arabic numerals according to the number of those endnotes in the body of your work.
The first lines of each endnote must be indented 1.25 cm (1/2 inch).
3. Endnotes should contain concise but essential information. Endnotes should only be used for data that does not fit coherently into the paragraph to which it refers.
Endnotes should not be more than three to four lines long. Avoid large amounts of information and never include new discussion points in the endnotes.
Appendix MLA Requirements
1. The heading “Appendix” should be centered. Do not make it italic, bold, or underlined.
If you include multiple appendices, name them “Appendix A,” “Appendix B,” and so on.
2. Add relevant and yet optional information. The content of the appendix should relate to the content of your work, but should not include crucial or essential information for your argument.
The appendix is an excellent way to add related information without detracting from the central argument of your work.
Works Cited Page MLA Requirements
1. The heading “Works Cited” should be centered. Do not make it italic, bold, or underlined.
Your works cited page must include all works and materials that you directly refer to in the text of your work.
2. Organize all cited material in alphabetical order according to the last name of the author.
If the material does not have an author, arrange it according to the first letter of its title.
3. The basic format for citing a book includes the full name of the author, the book title, publication-related information, and publication type.
Enter the author’s last name, put a comma, the author’s first name, and put a period.
Write the book title in italics.
Indicate the city of publication, put a colon, then write the name of the publisher. Place a comma followed by the year of publication. Put a period in the end.
At the very end, specify the type of publication, for example, “Print” or “E-book.” Put a period in the end.
E.g., Agent, Winfred. “Dulce et Decorum Est.” San Francisco, Longman. 2016. Print.
4. The basic format for citing a standard journal article includes the name of the author, article title, the title of a journal, information regarding publication, and type of writing.
Enter the author’s last name, put a comma, the author’s first name, and put a period.
Write the title of the article in quotation marks. The first letter of every word in the title must be capitalized. Put a period at the end.
Write the title of the journal in italics. Do not forget capitalizing the first letters of each word in the title. Put a period at the end.
Provide the issue number, then indicate the year of publication in brackets. Put a colon after the year and indicate the page number, close the parentheses. Put a period at the end.
Specify the type of publication (“Electronic edition”, “Print”, etc.). Put a period at the end.
E.g., Lope, Nicholas. “Who’s for the Party?”. Daily Mail. Issue Number 783432 (1997):56. Printed journal.
