MLA Style

MLA is an acronym for the Modern Language Association of America. The Modern Language Association was founded in 1883. Today, the MLA consists of 30,000 members from 100 different countries. The MLA provides its members with opportunities to share their teachings and scholarly findings with one another and to discuss trends in the field of language and literature.

MLA format is most frequently used to write papers and cite sources within the subject of liberal arts and humanities. The MLA published its third style guide in 2008. The MLA Style Manual and Guide to Scholarly Publishing is widely used in the United States and Canada. The third edition updates the second edition, published in 1998. The MLA style guide is addressed mainly to academic scholars, graduate students, professors, and other advanced-level writers. MLA style guide provides guidelines for writing and documenting research.

There are some general guidelines you must follow when using MLA format. Your paper must be typed on standard 8.5 x 11 inch paper and the text of your paper must be double-spaced. Moreover, you font must be legible, you should use either Times New Roman or Courier and you should leave only one space after punctuation marks. Your margins must be 1 inch at all sides of the page. You must also have a header at the upper right hand corner of your page that numbers each page consecutively.