MLA heading: how to format it, with example

MLA style does not use a title page unless your instructor asks for one. Instead, your identifying details go in a short heading at the top of the first page. It takes a minute to set up, and it is the first thing your teacher sees, so it is worth getting exactly right. These rules follow MLA 9, the current edition of the MLA Handbook.

What goes in an MLA heading?

Type these four items on separate lines, flush with the left margin, at the top of the first page (inside the normal one-inch margin):

1. Your full name.
2. Your instructor's name, written the way your instructor prefers, such as Professor Okafor or Dr. Okafor.
3. The course name and number, such as English 101 or Biology 210, with a section number if your school uses them.
4. The date, written day month year with no commas: 7 November 2026.

Use the date you hand the paper in, which is usually the due date. Each item gets its own line, and the lines are double-spaced like the rest of the paper. Do not add labels such as "Name:" or "Class:" in front of them.

MLA heading example

On the real page, "Morales 1" sits alone in the top right corner, the four heading lines sit at the left margin, the title is centered, and the first paragraph starts with a half-inch indent. Everything is double-spaced, with no extra blank lines between the heading, the title and the text.

The header: last name and page number

• Put your last name, a space and the page number in the top right corner of every page: Morales 1, Morales 2, and so on.
• Place it half an inch from the top of the page, lined up with the right margin.
• Use your word processor's header tool and automatic page numbers, so the numbers update as you edit.
• Do not add p., Page, a comma or any other mark. Just the name, a space and the number.
• Include the header on the first page too, unless your instructor tells you to leave it off.

How to format the title

• Center the title on the line after the date. Do not skip extra lines before or after it.
• Use title case: capitalize the first and last words and all major words, such as nouns, verbs, adjectives and adverbs.
• Do not bold, underline or enlarge the title, and do not put it in quotation marks.
• Do not end the title with a period. A question mark is fine if the title asks a question.
• If your title includes the title of another work, style that work as you would anywhere else: italics for a book, as in Grief and Gardening in The Lantern Field, and quotation marks for a poem or article.

A good title does more than name the assignment. "Essay 2" or "Research Paper" tells the reader nothing, while "Why Our Town Needs a Late-Night Bus" states the topic and hints at the argument. If you are stuck, write the title last, after your thesis statement is final.

Spacing, margins and font

Do you need a title page in MLA?

Usually not. An MLA paper puts the heading and title on the first page of text. If your instructor does want a title page, follow the instructions you are given, because MLA does not set a single standard layout for one. When you use a title page, you normally leave the four-line heading off the first page of text, but ask if the instructions do not say.

How to write the date

MLA's own examples write the date in the heading as day month year, with the month spelled out and no commas: 7 November 2026. Avoid numbers alone, such as 11/7/2026, because readers in different countries read them differently. MLA also accepts the American order (November 7, 2026) if you use that order everywhere in the paper. Day month year is the safer choice, since it matches the dates in your Works Cited list, where months are shortened (7 Nov. 2026).

Group papers and other special cases

• Group project: list every writer's full name at the top, each on its own line, followed by the instructor, the course and the date. Ask your instructor what to put in the header, since a row of last names may not fit.
• Instructor with no stated preference: use the name exactly as it appears on the syllabus.
• Outline or appendix attached: the heading appears only on the first page of the paper itself, not on every section.
• Revised drafts: update the date each time you submit a new version.

Common MLA heading mistakes

• Typing the heading inside the header area, so it repeats on every page.
• Single-spacing the heading or adding blank lines between its lines.
• Bolding, underlining or enlarging the title.
• Writing the date as 11/7/26 or putting a comma after the day.
• Typing page numbers by hand, so they go wrong after edits.
• Using a title page and a full heading when only one was required.
• Putting the title in quotation marks or ending it with a period.
• Misspelling the instructor's name, which is easy to avoid and noticed every time.

MLA heading template

With the first page set up, the other MLA pieces follow the same habits: double spacing, one-inch margins and the running header. See MLA in-text citations for citing sources in your paragraphs and the Works Cited guide for the last page.