Standard Format for an MLA-Style Research Report
A contemporary method of documentation is appropriate for reports that contain information from only a few sources (Harcourt 448). The MLA-style (Modern Language Association of America) report that is illustrated here is a method that can be used. There are several key differences between this style and the formats introduced in previous lessons. An MLA-style report has one-inch side, top, and bottom margins. The entire report is double-spaced, including quotations, documentation, and the space below the title.
No title page is used. Information normally found on the title page (writer’s name, teacher’s name, course title, and date) is keyed on the first page beginning one inch from the top margin starting at the left margin.
Page numbers for all pages (including the first) are keyed at the right margin one-half inch from the top edge of the paper. The writer’s last name precedes the page number.
Another difference is the way that long quotations are keyed in the MLA style. In the MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers. Gibaldi provides these guides for keying long quotations:
If a quotation runs to more than four typed lines, set it off…by beginning a new line, indenting one inch (or ten spaces if you are using a typewriter) from the left margin, and typing it double-spaced, without adding quotation marks. A colon generally introduces a quotation displayed in this way, though sometimes the context may require a different mark of punctuation, or none at all. If you quote only a single