TYPING YOUR RESEARCH PAPER

SENIOR ENGLISH

MRS. JEWELL

Margins and Spacing

1. Leave one-inch margins on all sides of the paper.

2. Indent the first line of each paragraph five spaces from the left margin.

3. Indent set-off quotations (those of more than four lines) ten spaces from the left.

Do not indent these long quotations ten spaces from the right.

4. The entire paper - including the heading and the title on the first page, the body of the

paper, quotations, and the Works Cited list - should be double-spaced.

Heading and Title

5. One inch from the top of the first page and flush with the left margin, type you name,

the teacher's name, the course name, and the date on separate lines. Below the

heading, double space, and center the title on the page. Do not underline the title, put

it in quotation marks, or use all capital letters.

Page Numbers, etc.

6. Number all pages in the upper right-hand corner, 1/2 inch from the top of the paper,

except the first page. The second page should begin with the number 2. Ask me

for details on how to set this up on your computer. Starting with the second page you

should begin typing on line seven. The Works Cited list should be the last page of

your paper. The title goes on line seven.

Parenthetical Documentation

7. As you cite information within your paper, you will put the author's last name and the

page number in parenthesis: (Smith 33). If you mention the author's name in the

sentence, put only the page reference in parenthesis: (33).

8. If your source has two authors, list both names in parenthesis: (Smith and Brown 58).

9. If your source has more than three authors, list the first author's name followed by

et. al and the page number: (Baker et al. 108).

10. Put parenthesis after quotation marks followed by a period: "... he was a down-to-

earth man" (Smith 28). If you are paraphrasing you will put the parenthesis at the

end of the paragraph: ... he was a simple man (Smith 28). Notice there are no

quotation marks.

Works Cited Page

11. Double-space between the title and the first entry of your Works Cited list. Double-

space each entry, and double-space between the entries.

12. Begin the first line of each entry at the left margin; indent all subsequent lines five

spaces.

13. Arrange all entries alphabetically by the author or editor's last name. If no author is

given, use the first word of the title. Do not alphabetize by the words, a, an, or the.

Additional information can be found in the MLA Handbook, Writer’s Craft, or online.

If you have additional questions about this paper, please see me.