Research Paper Guidelines:
Sources (10+ sources)
Properly formatted in MLA (9th edition)
Types of source material (a variety of mediums)
1. Non-fiction books
2. Reference books
3. Magazines
4. Newspapers
5. Journals
7. Government publications (.gov)
8. Interviews
9. Audio or video tapes (You must be able to provide a full MLA citation for these sources: director, title, publication info/hosting website (youtube, etc.), date produced/uploaded, and URL
10. Internet sites that are authored, updated, and have an address (.edu or .org)
An outline that has gone through three revisions ~ preliminary, draft, and revised
Actual text of research paper
A. Approximately 10- 15 pages of text (no cover page, MLA heading)
1.Type your paper on a computer and print it out on standard, white 8.5 x 11-inch paper.
2. Double-space the text of your paper and use a legible font (e.g. Times New Roman). Whatever font you choose, MLA recommends that the regular and italics type styles contrast enough that they are each distinct from one another. The font size should be 12 pt.
3. Leave only one space after periods or other punctuation marks (unless otherwise prompted by your instructor).
4. Set the margins of your document to 1 inch on all sides.
5. Indent the first line of each paragraph one half-inch from the left margin. MLA recommends that you use the “Tab” key as opposed to pushing the space bar five times.
6. Create a header that numbers all pages consecutively in the upper right-hand corner, one-half inch from the top and flush with the right margin. (Note: Your instructor may ask that you omit the number on your first page. Always follow your instructor’s guidelines.)
B. One line over a half on first and last page constitutes a full page
C. Penalty of 10 points for each page short AND each page too long
D. Citations
Parenthetical format (Author’s last name, page number) No footnotes, endnotes, sub or superscript
No less than 10 citations
No more than 45 citations
All citations SANDWICHED with author’s (that’s you!) voice/explanation
E. MLA works cited page
F. Final outline (reflecting organization of finished document)
