MLA Research Papers: What Should Be Known about MLA Format

Writing research papers would be much easier if it was not for the various format requirements imposed on students. In that regard, MLA research papers imply that such papers are following a specific format established by the Modern Language Association.

The rationale of specifying the format in MLA research papers can be seen in standardizing the researches on specific subjects under common referencing style, structure, and paper layout. The following article provides several steps for those not familiar with the standards of MLA research papers.

Overview

The main direction of MLA research papers is generally agreed to be in the humanities subjects such as language and literature. The main advantage of following MLA in research papers can be seen in its simplicity in terms of referencing, and at the same time, MLA is concise, if compared with other styles.

In addition to referencing, MLA research papers should follow accepted conventions in formatting, specifically in such aspects as the title page and the headings.

Steps to Follow in MLA Research Papers

The main aspects of referencing MLA research papers can be obtained from The MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers, in which the main distinctions can be seen in brief in text citations in parenthesis, and an alphabetical works cited page at the end of paper. The paper formatting requirements, on the other hand, can be seen in the following steps:

1. MLA research papers should be double spaced throughout the paper, typed using 12 pt. font such as Arial or Times New Roman and printed on standard 8.5 x 11-inch paper.
2. MLA research papers should be set to one inch margins, with each paragraph indented half an inch.
3. Dividing the paper into sections, it is recommended that each section is numbered with Arabic letter, distinguishing each level of headings with particular format, e.g. bold centered, bold flush left, italics flush, etc.
4. Title pages are used if requested only, in which no specific page is devoted for the title.