Paper Formatting Guidelines

These guidelines follow Modern Language Association (MLA) specifications.*

• There is no cover page.

• Staple pages in the top left corner.

• In the header, place your last name, one space, and the page number.  This information must be right aligned.

• To do this in Word 2003:

1. Click View

2. Click Header and Footer

3. Right align the cursor in the header

4. Type your last name

5. Hit the space bar once

6. Click the first icon on the left of the toolbar to “Insert Page Number”

7. Close the toolbar.

• To do this in Word 2007 (or newer versions), simply double click anywhere in the top page margin to open the header, then follow the numbered instructions above.

• Use a 1-inch margin at the top, bottom, left, and right of each page.

• Use 12 point Times New Roman font throughout the paper.

• The entire paper, from the first letter of your first name in the heading to the last piece of punctuation on the last page, is double spaced.

• In the top left corner of page 1 only, place your heading:

Your name

Your instructor’s name (no formal title necessary)

Course and number

Date (day month year)

• Create a title for your paper that somehow relates to and introduces your topic.  Titles are usually phrases that act as “hooks.”  Center the title.

• The first line of each paragraph is indented ½ inch—set your Tab key default with this value.

• There are no extra lines between your heading, title, and paragraphs.

Here is an example of a properly formatted page, found in Diana Hacker's A Writer's Reference:

*Your instructor may ask you to modify these guidelines for specific assignments.

Work Cited

Diana Hacker. "Sample MLA Research Paper."  A Writer's Reference.  5th ed.  Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2003.  371.  Print.