How To Write A Dissertation In The MLA Format: Composing The Works Cited Page


The MLA format is one of the most challenging frameworks in academic papers. There are several academicians who find it difficult to frame the paper under the strict guidelines of the MLA format. The difficulty is all the more prominently experienced with the citations part of the paper.

As it is required, you will need to cite all the references from where you have picked up your resources for the paper. Most scholars presume that there is a set of strict guidelines that need to be followed. However, it often turns out that there not so many rigid rules in the game. Here are some that form the base.

Keep a note of all your references

It is only given that you will refer to many works and books by eminent people while composing your dissertation. You may not be particularly conscious in noting down all the references that you use. But it is very important that you keep a note of all the resources that you use.

Mark the lines that you incorporate

While reading from a boom, you may want to use a line from the flow and utilize it in the dissertation. While you might think that you remember the lines. But at the end of the day, the book is a two hundred pages long piece of text and it takes a good one-two years to complete the paper.

If you merely leave it unmarked, there are high chances that you will miss the plot while creating the citations page at the end of the project.

Learn the format well

Citing references in the MLA format is a whole lot different from citing them in any other format. To cite a book in the MLA format, there are a few neat rules that you will need to note. One of the first among them is the one that concerns the placement of the first name and the surname. Note that in the MLA format:

  • There has be a uniform one-inch margin on all three sides
  • The surname is followed by a comma, followed by the middle name, followed by the initial of the first name
  • There is a double space between the “Works Cited” title and the first citation
  • The name of the book needs to be underlined
  • Follow double-space throughout the page, also in the annotations
  • The header of the page shall include the last name and page number
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