How to Make MLA Format Heading and Header in WPS Office (Step-by-Step)

If you're using WPS Office and finding it challenging to grasp MLA formatting, fear not! There's a simple hack that can save you time and effort. By following just a few simple steps, you can streamline the process and ensure your document meets the MLA guidelines without the hassle of manual formatting. In this article, we'll guide you through the steps to how to make MLA format heading and header in WPS Office, allowing you to focus more on your content and less on formatting intricacies.

What Is MLA Format?

MLA format, crafted by the Modern Language Association (MLA), stands as a guiding beacon for scholars navigating the intricacies of humanities and liberal arts research and writing. It's more than just a set of rules; it's a roadmap ensuring consistency and clarity in academic discourse. Unlike its counterparts, such as Chicago or APA format, MLA finds its niche in the realms of languages, philosophy, and the arts, providing a structured approach to manuscript formatting, citation practices, and the creation of Works Cited pages.

In the realm of academia, especially within humanities courses, the likelihood of encountering MLA format looms large. It serves as a universal language, uniting researchers, students, and scholars under its standardized guidelines. While its roots may lie in literature and language studies, its influence extends far beyond, embraced by diverse academic disciplines seeking coherence in presentation.

Transitioning to the practical realm, the creation of an MLA heading demands attention to detail. Let's take a look at the key information that needs to be included as a header before proceeding with your work:

• Your complete name

• The name of your instructor

• The course title and its corresponding number

• The submission date

Following these details, MLA formatting diverges from other formats, and adhering to these guidelines is of utmost importance. Let's explore the specific formatting requirements of MLA:

• Margins set to one inch

• Lines spaced at double intervals

• Text aligned to the left

• Font size standardized to 12 points, and Times New Roman as the default font.

How to Add MLA Format Heading and Header in WPS Office

Consistency in citation style is crucial in academic writing. It's more effective to adhere to a single citation style rather than using various styles interchangeably. Inconsistency can cause confusion for readers as they rely on a consistent format to accurately interpret citations.

If you're using a writing application such as WPS Writer or MS Word, there isn't a direct method for adding an MLA heading to your document. To insert an MLA heading, it's important to understand the MLA format.

Let's have a look at the information required for an MLA format:

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Before we enter the information, let's ensure the important formatting of our document is set up correctly.

Step 1: Open create a new blank document in WPS Writer to format it into MLA Format.

Step 2: To set up the margins, visit the Page Layout tab, and ensure that the margins are set to 1 inch in the ribbon.

Step 3: Next, let's set the line spacing. Go to the Home tab and click on the "Line Spacing" icon.

Step 4: Now, in the Line Spacing options, click on "2" to set the document to double spacing.

Step 5: Then, change the Font to Times New Roman and the Font size to "12" in the Home ribbon.

Step 6: Last but not least, ensure the text is left-aligned by clicking on the "Align Text Left" icon in the Home ribbon.

Step 7: Now, enter the MLA Header information in the correct format.

Step 8: Make sure to enter the Submission Date in the correct format; Day Month Year.

Adding a MLA running Head to your documents on WPS Writer

MLA headers are added, but some people also prefer adding a running header to their document, and this process with WPS Writer is really easy.

Step 1: Go to the "Insert" tab and click on "Header and Footer" in the ribbon menu.

Step 2: To insert the page number, click on the "Page Number" icon in the Header & Footer section of the ribbon menu.

Step 3: Select the "Header right" option to position your page number on the top right of the page as a header.

Step 4: In a running head, the last name appears right before the page number, so type in your Last name.

Step 5: The formatting of the running head should match the rest of the MLA-formatted document. Therefore, we will also set the font of our running head to Times New Roman and the font size to 12.

Step 6: To format the page number separately, click on it and select the page number to adjust its font and font size.

Step 7: In MLA formatting, the header's margin at the top should be set to 1/2 inch. To change the header top margin, go to the Header/Footer tab and enter "0.5" in the Header Height field.

Step 8: If there is additional space between the page number and the last name, you can reduce this space by moving the page number closer to the last name.

Step 9: Finally, review your document to ensure that your MLA-formatted running head is correctly set up in WPS Writer.

Bonus: How to Generate MLA Format Online for Free

Understanding and being consistent with writing your references in MLA format can be a bit confusing, and honestly, there's no need to stress about it when we have tools that can do this work for us. If you're looking to generate MLA formatted references for your headers in Word documents, the Scribbr tool can be a great resource to use.

Let's take a look at how we can generate references in MLA format using Scribbr.

Step 1: Open a browser and navigate to the Scribbr Citation Generator Tool webpage.

Step 2: Scribbr Citation Tools can be used to generate references in several different formats. Let's select MLA in the "Citation Style" field.

Step 3: Next, go to the "Cite" field, and enter the title, URL, DOI, ISBN, or relevant keyword of the work you wish to cite.

Step 4: Simply click on the "Cite" button to generate your MLA Format citation of the work you entered.

Step 5: You will now be redirected to a new page where you can view your citation. To copy the citation, simply click on "Copy to Clipboard".

Step 6: To take it a step further, Scribbr also provides a Citation Checker tool. By using this tool, users can check their previous citations for accuracy and consistency.

FAQs

1. Does MLA format have a running header?

Certainly! In MLA Style, a running header is a consistent feature found on every page of your paper. It typically consists of your last name followed by the page number, such as "Ash 5". This running header is positioned in the upper right corner of each page for clarity and uniformity.

2. How to do the header in MLA format on Google Docs?

To add MLA Format to Google Docs, simply follow these steps to set up your document:

Step 1: Open Google Docs in your browser and navigate to the "File" menu in the Menu toolbar.

Step 2: Click on "Page Setup" in the File menu. This will allow us to make changes to the page margins.

Step 3: In the Page Setup window, set all the page margins to 1 inch.

Step 4: Next, change the font and font size to Times New Roman and 12 in the Toolbar.

Step 5: In the Toolbar, click on the "Line Spacing" icon and set the line spacing to "Double".

Step 6: Your document is now prepared with MLA formatting. Insert your MLA Header and type in your work.

3. What are the key components and placement of the MLA header and running head in a research paper?

• In MLA format, the header is present solely on the first page, while the running head spans the entirety of the document.

• The header should feature the student's full name, professor's name, course title and number, and submission date.

• It is located in the top-left corner of the page.

4. What distinguishes an MLA header from a running head?

An MLA header comprises the student’s name, professor’s name, course name and number, and submission date. Conversely, a running head features the student’s last name and the page number.

Streamlining MLA Formatting With WPS Office

MLA formatting is incredibly simple, particularly when it comes to how to make MLA format heading and header in WPS Office. The steps for setting headers remain largely consistent across all office suites. So, if you're already familiar with MLA formatting in one office suite, you can easily apply the same knowledge to others. WPS Office is an excellent choice for academic purposes, offering AI capabilities that enable efficient reading and extraction of specific information from your PDFs. If you haven't already downloaded WPS Office, now is the time to do so.