Creating Successful MLA Style Research Papers

It is accurate to state that essentially all college level courses require that the student complete a writing assignment, ordinarily taking the shape of a research paper. A student is required to explore a research question associated with the course content.

A research paper can have a variety of distinct purposes. You may be asked to delve into a variety of diverse issues. Not confined to one are of exploration, a research paper can explore anything from a scientific hypothesis to a social science question.

As always, the essential first step to creating any type of successful research paper is to make sure you know exactly what is expected of your paper by the professor. Foremost it is vital to have a clear understanding part of how your paper is to be formatted.

The MLA Style

One possible format your paper may be required to take is the MLA Style Manual and Guide to Scholarly Publishing. The third edition of The MLA Style Manual was published in 2008. Extensively used as an academic style guide in the United States, Canada, and other countries, it sets out writing and documentation guidelines for writing research papers in the English, modern languages, literature, cultural and media courses.

Knowing what your research paper is to cover and that a MLA style will be compulsory, begin defining a good topic that meets the assignment requirements, just as you would for any research paper. List everything you already know about your topic, including questions to be addressed in your research.

With a clear research question, and the primary and secondary resources to support your thesis question, put forward your argument clearly and creatively. This is where the MLA style guide is needed to successfully format your paper.

  • Some Basic MLA Characteristics
  • An assignment written in MLA style must follow the MLA paper format. This means adherence to specific guidelines
  • Margin and spacing rules
  • Size and type of font
  • Type of header that must be evident on every page
  • Endnotes rather than in-text citations
  • Works Cited page rather than a Reference List

MLA paper format guidelines strive to create a uniform paper setup that makes research papers clear and comprehensible. Make use of writing assistance and tools specific to MLA formatting that are easily accessible on most college websites. With knowledge of the MLA style all that is left is to write well!