What is mla format on google docs

Are you trying to complete a paper for a submission and you’re having trouble getting all the formatting rules down to a tee?

Do you not know how to apply MLA format to Google Docs?

If that’s the case, it’s no surprise.

As simplified as Google Docs is as a word processor, formatting after specific rules and criteria can sometimes be difficult. And with something as important as an MLA format on official essays and papers, it’s the last thing anyone wants to deal with.

Fortunately, what the app lacks in some areas, it makes up for in others. Working off an MLA format is easy in Google Docs because it’s available as a template in the app’s gallery. Therefore, you can start working on a new document with all the rules applied on every page.

In this article, you’ll learn how to find the template, start a new document based on it, and ensure that your paper meets academic formatting standards.

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What Is MLA formatting in Google Docs?

MLA formatting is a specific format developed by the Modern Language Association. Its purpose is to make papers and assignments easier to read. The association designed it for scholars, students, and researchers in literature fields, yet more fields have adopted the format for its uniformity and ease of reading a document.

In Google Docs, this type of formatting can be configured manually or applied as a standard template, the latter being the easier and recommended route.

Why use MLA formatting in Google Docs?

As mentioned, the main purpose of MLA formatting is making a document easier to read, due to its spacing rules. It’s also important if you want to make in-text citations. For academic essays or research papers it’s a universally accepted standard format. If you don’t use it, your document might not meet the submission requirements.

It’s also important to use the MLA formatting template to properly highlight the author, date, field of study or topic, as well as the advisor on the paper, on the first page.

How to apply MLA format to Google Docs

Formatting your document with MLA rules by hand can be tedious, especially if you don’t have your cheat sheet with all the specifics on hand. Yet with Google Docs you can easily apply this format to a new document by using the template gallery.

First bring up Google Docs and click on the ‘File’ button. Then start a new document from a template.

Scroll down until you reach the Education section. Click on the MLA report as shown in the above picture. Your template should look like this:

You can then delete the template text and start typing in your document and Google Docs will stick to the MLA formatting rules.

If you do want to manually input formatting rules, here are the things you have to keep in mind:

• 1” margins from bottom, top, and sides
• Start paragraphs with an indent of half an inch
• Times New Roman 12pt is the preferred font and size
• Double space the document
• Leave only one space after punctuation marks
• The header should contain author name, instructor name, course number, and date each on its own line with double spacing in between
• Don’t underline or bold the title
• Title should be centered and capitalized
• Use italics for titles of sources
• The running head should contain the author’s last name and page number
• The running head should be placed one inch from the top and one inch from the right
• If you want to manually add headers, you can do it from the Insert menu.

Yet making small adjustments to formatting in Google Docs can still be time-consuming and unintuitive. That’s why starting a new document from the MLA format template is the best way to go when writing an academic research paper or essay.

Conclusion

As you can see, there’s really nothing to it when it comes to using MLA formatting in Google Docs. The app does the bulk of the work for you. All you have to do is type in your text, save, and upload or print the document.

The template gallery has plenty of examples for other formats too, hence the reason why the app is so simplified in terms of custom formatting options. Its overall design works to your advantage as it allows you to save time on detailed configurations.

Kevin J. Kessler is a published author of five fantasy novels, a professional wrestler, and a puppeteer (not all at the same time). Kevin is a content writer at Codeless.