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19 October 2018
Center the Title, Do Not Bold or Underline
This is a template for formatting a research paper in MLA format. It was created by Elaine Roberson of the St. Johns County School District. This research paper was produced in Microsoft Word. It has one inch margins and is double-spaced throughout. The font is 12 point Times New Roman. This includes the title (see above). You may use a different font but it should be very easy to read and always 12 point. Each page should have your last name and page number at the top that is right justified. Hit the enter key only once at the end of each paragraph. You are welcome to save this document to your computer and use it as a template. You can get more information about how to write a research paper in MLA format by going to Our user id is Timberlin and the password is xxxxx. Click on the student database and search for, “Writing skills.” Now click on the “Writing Skills” link. Scroll down the left side and click on “Writing your research paper” for help. Also try for more information.
Please remember to use in text citations for your paper (Roberson 26). Using citations within a research paper is very important, but it can be confusing. Notice my previous citation. Roberson is the last name of the author of a book and 26 is the page number where I got the information. “If you quote something word for word, remember to put it in quotations” (Roberson 32). If you have more than one author, write the names with commas (Moore,
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Reynolds, and Rue 82). But what about citing web pages? Because there are no page numbers on a web page you can use the author’s last name in parenthesis and nothing else (Dieckman). If you can’t find an author’s name or need help, go to Our user id is Timberlin and the password is xxxxx. Click on the student database and search for “Writing skills.” Now click on “Writing skills.” Scroll down the left side and choose “Writing your research paper.” You could also visit for more help.
After the last paragraph of your research paper, hit the return/enter button until you get to a new page. This will be your Works Cited page. The Works Cited page will still have the one inch margins all the way around and have a heading of last name and page number. This page will also be double-spaced. Items in a Works Cited page should be alphabetized by the first word of each entry. This is usually the author’s last name or title of work. Each entry will use a hanging indent, in which lines after the first line indent by half an inch. I have an example of a Works Cited page below. However, I highly recommend using an online citation builder. Go to Our user id is Timberlin and the password is xxxxx. Click on the student database and this time look on the home page under “Research Tools.” Click on “Citation Builder.” Plug in your references and Citation Builder will create a citation in MLA format. Then simply highlight the entry, copy it, and paste it to your Works Cited page. Again, don’t forget to put your entries is alphabetical order! Another good citation builder is For examples of citations go to Our user id is Timberlin and the password is xxxxx. Click on the student database and search for the entry,
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“Writing skills.” Scroll down the left side and click on “Writing your research paper.” Purdue University also has a guide found at
I hope this information helps you to create a research paper in MLA format. Don’t forget to go to the links I have provided. I think you will find them very useful. Good luck on writing your first research paper. I know you will give it your best effort and do a wonderful job.
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Works Cited
Dieckman, Andrea. My Excellent Web Page of How to Write a Research Paper. Media Magic, 2013. Web. 27 February 2013.
Moore, Frances, et al. The Big Book of Research: Learning to Write Well. Philidelphia, PA: Penguin, 2011. Print.
Purdue’s OWL Family of Sites. The Writing Lab and OWL at Purdue and Purdue U, 2008. Web. 23 Apr. 2012.
Roberson, Elaine. Pretend Book of How to Research a Topic.New York, New York: Random House, 2012. Print.
"Writing skills." World Book Student. World Book, 2013. Web. 24 Feb. 2013.