When conducting research in an English Language Arts class, it is tradition to use MLA style for formatting and citing information you find. Here are my favorite resources to figure out how to do this:
- MLA Citation Style — color coded, easy to see the parts
- MLA Formatting and Style Guide – The OWL at Purdue — popular citation guide
- Citation Machine — automatic citation
Remember, most database articles create the citation for you. Ask your librarian which databases are available and how to access them. The librarian may even demonstrate searching in the database if you ask nicely!
Works Cited page. When creating your Works Cited page, make sure the formatting is correct, including:
- Center Works Cited in the top-center of the page (for the title of the page).
- Double space the whole page.
(Edit > Select All, Format > Paragraph > Line Spacing = Double) - Alphabetize each citation by the first work in each citation (usually the author’s last name).
- Do not push Enter anywhere in each citation (each one is a “paragraph”).
- Set the citations to hanging indent.
(Select from the first to the last citation, Format > Paragraph > Indentation > Special = Hanging) - If you end up with a blue underline when you type a URL (web address), first click Edit > Undo, then keep going. If you forget to do this, to remove a hyperlink (blue underline), right click on the link, select “Remove Hyperlink,” and put back the left and right angle brackets at the beginning and end of the link (< and >).