MLA Format Example: Sample Paper, Heading & Works Cited
An MLA format example is easier to follow than a list of rules. This page walks through a single short paper in MLA 9th edition — the first-page heading, the running header, the page-setup specs, in-text citations in context, and a complete Works Cited page — so you can see every piece in one place. For the full rulebook behind these examples, see the MLA citation guide.
The shortest version: one-inch margins, double-spaced throughout, a four-line heading flush left, a centered plain title, a
Lastname #running header, author–page citations in the body, and an alphabetized Works Cited page with hanging indents.
MLA format at a glance
Every MLA paper shares the same page setup. Match these specs before you write a word and the formatting marks take care of themselves.
| Element | MLA 9 specification |
|---|---|
| Margins | 1 inch on all four sides |
| Font | Readable font with clear italics; Times New Roman 12 pt is conventional |
| Line spacing | Double-spaced throughout — heading, body, block quotes, Works Cited |
| Paragraph indent | First line indented 0.5 inch |
| Running header | Last name + page number, top right, 0.5 inch from top |
| Title | Centered, plain text — no bold, italics, underline, or quotation marks |
| Alignment | Left-aligned body with a ragged (unjustified) right margin |
MLA does not use a title page by default. The identifying information goes in the heading on page one instead.
First-page heading and running header
The top of page one carries two things: the running header in the upper-right corner and the four-line heading flush against the left margin. The heading lists your name, your instructor, the course, and the date — with the date in day-month-year order. The title is centered on the next line, in the same plain font as everything else.
Reyes 1
Maria Reyes
Professor Adler
English 102
27 June 2026
Working Memory and the Limits of the Reading Brain
Reading comprehension has long been treated as a vocabulary
problem, but a growing body of research points instead to working
memory as the limiting factor...
Notice what is not there: no bold title, no extra blank lines between the heading and the title, and no period after the title. The running header (Reyes 1) repeats on every page with the page number advancing automatically. For a line-by-line breakdown of the first-page heading, see the dedicated MLA format heading guide.
In-text citations in context
MLA’s in-text citation is author–page — surname and page number, no comma between them and no year. The parenthetical points the reader to the matching Works Cited entry. Here is how the three most common cases read inside real sentences.
One author, parenthetical: Working memory operates “less like a storage bin and more like a workspace” (Chen 47).
One author, narrative: Chen argues that working memory behaves less like a storage bin than like a workspace (47).
Three or more authors: A recent sleep-and-learning study found the same pattern in adolescents (Goldstein et al. 88).
The surname in the parenthetical always matches the first surname in the Works Cited entry. For a source with no page numbers — most web pages — use a paragraph number (par. 4) or a timestamp, or just the surname when no locator exists.
Sample Works Cited page
The Works Cited page starts on a new sheet. Center the words Works Cited at the top — plain, not bolded — then list entries alphabetically by the first author’s surname. Double-space the whole page and give each entry a half-inch hanging indent: the first line flush left, every continuation line indented.
| Source type | Works Cited entry |
|---|---|
| Book (single author) | Chen, Margaret S. The Architecture of Working Memory. Cambridge University Press, 2021. |
| Chapter in edited book | Lin, David K., and Hannah J. Patel. “Cross-Modal Attention in Early Development.” Handbook of Developmental Cognition, edited by Rachel T. Morrison, Routledge, 2022, pp. 142–168. |
| Journal article with DOI | Goldstein, Aaron, et al. “Sleep Consolidation Effects on Procedural Learning in Adolescents.” Journal of Cognitive Development, vol. 19, no. 2, 2024, pp. 87–104. https://doi.org/10.1037/cogdev0000412. |
| Website article | Alvarez, Sofia. “How Working Memory Predicts Reading Comprehension.” Psychology Today, 12 Mar. 2023, www.psychologytoday.com/intl/blog/working-memory-reading-comprehension. Accessed 20 May 2026. |
| Government report | United States, Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences. Reading Proficiency and Learning Loss in U.S. Fourth-Graders, 2019–2022. National Center for Education Statistics, 2023, nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2023145. |
A few details worth copying. Book and journal titles are italicized; article and chapter titles take quotation marks. Three-author sources collapse to the first author plus et al. — the same shortening you saw in the in-text example. The website entry adds an access date because the page can change after you read it; the journal article omits one because its publication date is fixed. The DOI keeps its https://doi.org/ prefix, while the plain URLs drop the https://. Capitalization is title case everywhere — one of the cleanest contrasts with APA.
Next steps
This example covers the layout most assignments need: heading, header, page specs, citations, and Works Cited. For the edge cases — multiple works by one author, block quotes, missing dates, databases as a second container, and the full nine core elements — work through the complete MLA citation guide. When you are ready to build your own entries, the citation generator assembles the punctuation, italics, and hanging indents automatically; the examples above show the logic underneath.