MLA Format: How to Set Up Your Paper (MLA 9)

To set up a paper in MLA format (9th edition), use 1-inch margins, a legible 12-point font such as Times New Roman, and double spacing throughout. Put your name, your instructor's name, the course and the date on separate lines at the top left of the first page, center the title below, and add a header with your last name and the page number in the top right corner of every page. List your sources on a separate Works Cited page with hanging indents.

The examples below use a fictional student and course. Always check your assignment sheet, because your instructor's requirements override the general rules.

Page setup

Get these settings right before you start typing.

In Word, set spacing to "Double" and "Before/After" spacing to 0 pt, or Word may add extra space between paragraphs. In Google Docs, check Format → Line & paragraph spacing.

The first-page heading

MLA doesn't use a title page by default. Instead, type four lines at the top left of page 1:

Jordan Ellis
Professor Amara Quinn
English 101
24 October 2026

The heading is double-spaced like the rest of the paper. The date is written day, month, year. If your instructor wants different information, such as a student ID or section number, follow their instructions.

The title

Center the title on the line after the date. Use title case: capitalize the first and last words and all major words, but not articles, short prepositions or coordinating conjunctions in the middle.

Don't make your title bold, italic, underlined, larger or in all caps, and don't put it in quotation marks. The only exception is when your title includes the title of another work: italicize a book title and put a poem or story title in quotation marks.

Memory and Weather in The Quiet Coast
Why "The Lantern Keeper" Ends in Silence

Start your first paragraph on the next line, with no extra space.

The running header

Every page carries a header half an inch from the top, aligned with the right margin: your last name, a space, and the page number.

Ellis 1

To set it up:

• Word: Insert → Page Number → Top of Page → Plain Number 3 (right-aligned), then click before the number and type your last name and a space.
• Google Docs: Insert → Page numbers, choose the top-right option, then click into the header and type your last name and a space before the number.

Make sure the header font matches the body text. Some instructors ask you to leave the header off the first page; otherwise it appears on every page, including Works Cited.

MLA Citation GeneratorMLA 9 works-cited entries

Quotations and block quotes

Short quotations go in the text with quotation marks and a parenthetical citation before the period:

Hartley describes the harbor as "half asleep and half listening" (84).

Use a block quotation when a prose quotation runs more than four lines in your paper, or a verse quotation runs more than three lines:

• Start it on a new line, indented half an inch from the left margin.
• Keep it double-spaced, with no quotation marks.
• Put the parenthetical citation after the final punctuation mark.

Long quotations should support your argument, not replace it. Follow each one with your own analysis. For quoting a source quoted inside another source, see how to quote a quote.

Headings, tables and figures

Short papers usually don't need section headings. If yours does, keep the headings short, consistent in format and in title case.

For tables, put the label and number (Table 1) and a caption above the table, flush left, and the source below it. For figures such as images, charts and maps, put the label "Fig. 1" with a caption and source information below the image. If the caption gives full source details and you don't cite the source elsewhere, you don't need to repeat it in Works Cited.

The Works Cited page

Start Works Cited on a new page at the end of your paper.

• Title: Works Cited, centered at the top, in plain text. Use "Work Cited" if you cite only one source.
• Order: alphabetical by the first word of each entry, usually the author's last name. If there's no author, alphabetize by title and ignore A, An and The.
• Hanging indent: the first line of each entry is flush left and the following lines are indented half an inch.
• Spacing: double-spaced, with no extra lines between entries.
• Header: the running header continues on this page.

Delgado, Rafael. "Reading Maps as Stories." Places on Paper: Essays on Cartography, edited by Sarah Whitfield and Alan Ng, Harlow House, 2020, pp. 45-68.

Hartley, Mara J. The Quiet Coast: How Small Harbors Survived the Shipping Boom. Tidewater Press, 2021.

Moreno, Luisa. "How Rain Gardens Reduce Street Flooding." Greenway Water Project, 11 Feb. 2025, www.example.org/rain-gardens.

To set a hanging indent in Word, select the entries and choose Paragraph → Special → Hanging, 0.5". In Google Docs, use Format → Align & indent → Indentation options → Special indent → Hanging.

For entry formats by source type, see how to cite a book and how to cite a journal article.

Final checklist

• 1-inch margins, 12-pt legible font, double-spaced throughout
• Four-line heading at top left; no title page unless requested
• Centered title in title case, no bold or quotation marks
• Last name and page number in the top right header on every page
• First line of each paragraph indented half an inch
• Block quotes for prose over four lines, indented, no quotation marks
• Works Cited on a new page, alphabetized, hanging indents
• Every in-text citation matches a Works Cited entry, and every entry is cited in the paper

Key takeaways

• MLA papers start with a heading on page 1, not a title page.
• Double-space everything, use 1-inch margins and a readable 12-pt font.
• The header is your last name and the page number, top right, on every page.
• Works Cited goes on a new page, centered title, alphabetical order, hanging indents.
• If your course uses another style, the APA vs. MLA vs. Chicago guide compares the setup of each.