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MLA 9th

This Research Guide lists examples of how to cite sources according to the MLA Handbook, 9th edition.

Know the Correct Way to Set Up and Type My Paper?

  • No separate title page (unless your instructor requires it).
  • No extra line spacing between paragraphs, after the title, etc. The paper should be double-spaced throughout, including the citations on the Works Cited page.
  • Only one space after end punctuation (such as periods). This is for the text of the paper as well as the citations.
  • A last name/page number on the first page as well as all subsequent pages, including the Works Cited page (unless your instructor has told you otherwise).
  • A standard, easily readable font in which italics are easy to distinguish from regular type. (Times New Roman is not required, but is one example of an acceptable font.) Font size may be set to an 11, 12, or 13 point size, unless your instructor requires something different.

Capitalize My Titles?

  • No matter what, capitalize the first word and last word of a title or subtitle.
  • Capitalize both words in a hyphenated construction:
    •  “Healthcare Provision to a Spanish-Speaking Population”
  • Even “little” words are capitalized if they are nouns, pronouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, or subordinating conjunctions (or if they are the first word or last word of a title or subtitle):
    •  “Ten Things That Prove I Am Not So Bad”
    • Dance As If No One Is Watching
  • Do not capitalize coordinating conjunctions, articles, or the “to” in infinitives (unless they are the first word or last word of a title or subtitle):
    •  One and One Make Two
    •  “The Best Things Are the Simplest Things”
    • How to Cite Your Sources
  • Do not capitalize prepositions, no matter how long they are (unless they are the first word or last word of a title or subtitle):
    • Two against the World
    •  “Pregnancy Symptoms You Shouldn’t Worry About”
    • Trying to Be Still: On My Learning to Live between a Rock and a Hard Place

Write My Page-Number Ranges?

MLA style uses the “two digit” system for rendering a range of page numbers above nine, which means that there are always at least two digits, but initial digits that repeat unnecessarily are dropped.

Include all necessary digits:

  • 11-18
  • 94-125
  • 499-507
  • 978-1009
  • 1874-2017

Omit unnecessary initial digits:

  • 105-07 (for pages 105-107)
  • 675-87 (for pages 675-687)
  • 1006-08 (for pages 1006-1008)
  • 1486-89 (for pages 1486-1489)
  • 1502-607 (for pages 1502-1607)