MLA format is a set of guidelines for academic writing and source citation published by the Modern Language Association. If you’re writing a paper in English, literature, film studies, cultural studies, or a related humanities field, there’s a good chance your professor wants you to use MLA.

Here’s what you need to know, from how your paper should look to how to cite your sources correctly.

What is MLA format?

MLA stands for the Modern Language Association, an organization founded in 1883 to support the study of language and literature. The association published its first style guide decades later, and today the MLA Handbook is in its 9th edition. It’s the standard citation and formatting system for the humanities – the equivalent of what APA is for the social sciences or Chicago/Turabian is for history and some other fields.

MLA format covers two things: how your paper is formatted on the page, and how you document your sources. Both matter, and both have specific rules.

MLA page formatting rules

An MLA-formatted paper has a clean, consistent look. Here’s what that means in practice.

Margins, fonts, and spacing

• Margins: 1 inch on all sides
• Font: Times New Roman, 12pt
• Spacing: double-space everything, including the heading block, the body, and the Works Cited page
• Paragraph indent: 0.5 inches (use Tab, not the spacebar)

Header

Every page gets a header with your last name and the page number, flush right. It looks like this: Henderson 1. No punctuation between the name and the number.

First-page heading block

MLA doesn’t use a title page for most papers. Instead, the first page opens with a four-line heading block in the top left corner:

• Your full name
• Your instructor’s name
• Course name and number
• Date (in day-month-year format: 30 April 2026)

After the heading block, center your paper’s title on the next line. Don’t bold it, italicize it, underline it, or make it larger than the rest of the text. It’s just a centered title in regular font.

MLA in-text citation

MLA uses a parenthetical citation system, but instead of author and year (like APA), MLA uses author and page number. The citation goes at the end of the sentence, before the period.

Basic format

(Keel 42)

No comma between the author’s name and the page number. No “p.” or “pp.” before the number. Just the name and the number.

Author named in the sentence

If you mention the author’s name in the sentence itself, you only need the page number in the parenthetical:

Keel argues that the sightings cannot be explained by conventional science (42).

No page number

If the source has no page numbers (a webpage, for instance), include just the author’s name:

(Keel)

No author

Use a shortened version of the title in quotation marks:

(“Mothman Sightings” 12)

Two works by the same author

Add a shortened title to distinguish them:

(Keel, “Prophecies” 14)

Block quotes

Prose quotations longer than four lines are formatted as block quotes: indent the entire passage 0.5 inches from the left margin, don’t use quotation marks, and place the parenthetical citation after the final period (not before it, as with regular quotes). Both direct quotes and paraphrased ideas require citations.

The MLA Works Cited page

The Works Cited page is a list of every source you cited in your paper. It goes on a new page at the end of your document with the title “Works Cited” centered at the top – no bold, no italics, no quotation marks.

Formatting rules

• Alphabetical order by author’s last name (or by title if there’s no author)
• Double-spaced throughout
• Hanging indent: the first line of each entry is flush left, and all subsequent lines are indented 0.5 inches.

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The MLA container system

MLA 9 organizes source information using a “container” system. Think of it this way: a journal article lives inside a journal, which might live inside a database. Each level is a container, and MLA asks you to document them in order. The core elements, in sequence, are:

• Author
• Title of source
• Title of container (e.g. journal name, website name)
• Contributors (editor, translator, etc.)
• Version
• Number (volume and issue)
• Publisher
• Date
• Location (page numbers, URL, DOI)

Not every element applies to every source. You only include what’s relevant. Here are a few examples:

Book

Keel, John A. The Mothman Prophecies. Saturday Review Press, 1975.

Journal article

Sergent, Donnie, and Jeff Wamsley. “Eyewitness Accounts from Point Pleasant.” Cryptozoology Review, vol. 4, no. 1, 2002, pp. 12–28.

Webpage

Cline, Bryan. “The Mothman Sightings: A Historical Overview.” Strange Appalachia, 22 Nov. 2022, www.examplewebsite.com/mothman-overview.

Chapter in an anthology

Wamsley, Jeff. “The Bridge Collapse and What Followed.” Mothman: The Facts Behind the Legend, edited by Donnie Sergent, Mothman Press, 2022, pp. 45–61.

Formatting titles in MLA

One of the most consistent sources of MLA errors is title formatting. Here’s the rule:

• Italics for standalone works such as books, films, albums, journals, websites, and other works that exist independently
• Quotation marks for works that live inside a larger work. Think articles, poems, short stories, episodes, and chapters.

Reminder: your own paper’s title gets no special formatting at all. No italics, no bold, no quotation marks, no underlining. Just plain, centered text.

Common MLA mistakes to avoid

• No hanging indent on the Works Cited Page – this is one of the most common formatting errors
• Single-spacing in any part of the paper – everything should be double-spaced
• Incorrect title formatting on the paper’s own title
• Using “p.” or “pp.” in in-text citations
• American date format in the heading block – MLA uses day-month-year, so 15 March 2025, not March 15, 2025
• Confusing Works Cited with a bibliography – a Works Cited page lists only sources you cited, while a bibliography lists everything you consulted
• Incomplete citation elements – missing volume numbers, page ranges, or publisher information

MLA format quick reference guide

Here’s a brief rundown of the key specs:

• Margins: 1 inch, all sides
• Font: Times New Roman, 12pt
• Spacing: double-space everything
• Header: Last name + page number, flush right (e.g., Henderson 1)
• Heading block: name, instructor, course, date – top left, first page only
• Title: centered, no special formatting
• In-text citations: (Author Page#) – no comma, no “p.”
• Works Cited: new page, alphabetical, double-spaced, hanging indent
• Standalone titles: italics
• Titles within larger works: quotation marks

PERRLA handles all of this automatically for MLA 9 – formatting, citations, and Works Cited included. Try it free for 7 days, no credit card required.

Frequently Asked Questions about MLA format

What does MLA stand for?

MLA stands for the Modern Language Association, an organization founded in 1883 that supports the study of language and literature. In academic writing, “MLA” refers to the association’s style guide – the MLA Handbook – which sets the rules for formatting papers and citing sources in the humanities.

What subjects use MLA format?

MLA is standard in English, literature, linguistics, film studies, cultural studies, and other humanities disciplines. If you’re writing about a text such as a novel, a film, or a poem – there’s a good chance your instructor wants MLA.

What edition of MLA is current?

The current edition is the MLA Handbook, 9th edition, published in 2021. It introduced the container system for organizing source information, which made citation more flexible across source types.

What is the difference between MLA and APA?

MLA is used in the humanities. APA is used in the social sciences, fields like nursing, psychology, and sociology. The most visible difference between the two is in citations: MLA uses author and page number (Smith 47), while APA uses author and year (Smith, 2019). Their Works Cited and References pages also follow different formatting rules.

What is a Works Cited page in MLA?

A Works Cited page is the list of resources you cited in your paper, placed on a new page at the end. It’s alphabetized by author’s last name, double-spaced, and formatted with a hanging indent. It only includes sources you actually cited, not everything you read.

Do MLA in-text citations use page numbers?

Yes, when they’re available. The basic MLA in-text citation format is (Author Page#). For example, (Smith 39). No comma, no “p.” If a source has no page numbers, include just the author’s name. If there’s no author, use a shortened version of the title in quotation marks.

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