Quick
Guide for Formatting MLA Paper
in
AppleWorks
Margins
Format,
Document (1” is the
default setting)
Line Spacing
 Look
in the gray bar above the ruler. The left gray box makes the spacing
get smaller (makes the lines of text closer together) and the right gray
box makes the spacing get larger (makes the space between the lines of
text get bigger).
Set at double spacing.
(showing a 2 in the white box).
Font
Style and Size
Always choose a standard, easily
readable typeface. (Times New Roman, Chicago)
Set size at 12 pt.
Do not type in all caps!
Header
(with name and date)
Format, Insert Header
On Toolbar, Align right
Type
last name, put in one space,
insert
the page number
, and close.
Heading
A research paper does not
need a title page. Instead
you make a heading.
Click into the body of the paper
and align left.
You will type your name,
your instructor’s name, the course number, and the date.
(on separate lines)
At
this point, your paper should look something like this:
Title
Press Enter one time
after you have written the date.
On toolbar, align to the center
and type the title of
your paper.
Do not:
underline
put in quotation marks
type in all capital letters
change font style, size, color, etc.
Do: follow the rules of
capitalization
“Capitalize the first words, the
last words, and all principal words, including those
that follow hypens in compound terms.” (MLA Handbook 5th Edition, page 73)
Body
Press Return (Enter) one
time after you have written the title.
On Toolbar,
Align to the left
On
Toolbar, Format, Paragraph
(set First Line at .5) (You set a “First line” indention so
that the first line of each new paragraph will automatically indent.)
Documentation
“In MLA documentation style,
you acknowledge your sources by keying brief parenthetical citations in
your text to an alphabetical list of works that appear at the end of the
paper.” (MLA Handbook 5th Edition, page 73)
Put citations at the end of sentences.
Page
Break
After
typing the body of the paper, press Return three times to come
down the page.
On
toolbar, Insert,
Break
Works
Cited
On
Formatting Toolbar, Align to the center
and type the words
“Work Cited”.
(Note:
don’t put in quotation marks.)
Press
Enter one time.
On
Formatting Toolbar, Align left
Format,
Paragraph, Indents and Spacing tab
*This will make the first line of each citation
align to the left. Subsequent lines will indent.
Listing are done alphabetically. When there is no author listed for a work, use the first
significant word of the title. The Encyclopedia of Bioethics
would thus be alphabetized by the word Encyclopedia
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