MLA Style is a set of guidelines for writing, formatting research papers and assignments, and referencing sources. When citing in MLA, you need to cite all the sources that you have used within the body of your work (in-text citation), and in the Works Cited list at the end of your essay or assignment. Seneca Libraries citation support and resources are based on the latest edition of the MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers (9th ed.).
Academic Integrity Badges: For information and questions about earning badges, please see Academic Integrity: Student Resources, or contact academicintegrity@senecapolytechnic.ca.
Citation Generators: Please be aware that citation generators often provide incorrect results. If you choose to use a citation generator, take the time to make the necessary corrections using the examples on the library citation guides. For more information, please see this FAQ.
Attend a live citation workshop for an overview of how and why to follow citation rules in order to avoid plagiarism. After the presentation there will be a question and answer session where you can ask your citation question. (Note: We encourage students to join before the workshop start time as a courtesy to other attendees)
Can't attend a workshop? Here is a short video APA & MLA for your convenience, or view the presentation slides: APA & MLA
Note: To edit the templates in Google Docs, upload them into your Google Drive and open as a Google doc.
Margins: Add 1 inch margins on all sides.
Header: Add your last name followed by the page number at the top right corner of the page. See the Sample Papers tab for examples.
Line Spacing: Double-space your text.
Cover Page: Unless specified by your instructor, do no t include a separate title page. See the Sample Papers tab for examples.
Paragraph Alignment & Indentation: Indent the first line of each paragraph by 0.5 inch. Align your paragraphs to the left margin.
Recommended Fonts: Unless specified by your instructor, MLA recommends any easily readable typeface set between 11 and 13 points. When choosing the font type, ensure that it's easy to distinguish between regular and italicized text.
Work with Teaching English as a Second Language certified tutors who can help with your writing, sentence structure, grammar, reading comprehension or oral communication skills regardless of your first language.
Attend the Learning Centres' writing workshops, which focus on grammar, essay writing or other specific writing skills. The Learning Centres also offer reading workshops that focus on areas such as identifying main ideas.
Chat with us! We're happy to point you to specific citation examples & templates and provide instructions for building citations. Please note that while we offer citation guidance, we do not edit or verify the accuracy of your citations.
Note: This citation guide is based on the MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers (9th ed.). The contents are accurate to the best of our knowledge. Some examples illustrate Seneca Libraries' recommendations and should be viewed as modifications to the official MLA guidelines.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. It is used/adapted with the permission of Seneca Libraries. For information please contact citation@senecapolytechnic.ca. When copying this guide, please retain this box.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.