Although students may feel intimidated by the requirement to strictly follow any specific style, including MLA, the truth is that MLA style really is not that complicated. Following are a few quick tips we suggest at proofreadingpal.com for properly formatting an MLA document:

Students often cringe at the challenge of writing a good thesis proposal, uncertain of how to select an appropriate topic (one broad enough to include supportive research, yet specific in theme) and create a polished, professional document. At proofreadingpal.com, we regularly edit thesis proposals of all shapes and sizes. Some papers require only minor polishing and helpful suggestions for clarification where needed, but other papers require a great deal of work in all areas—grammar and punctuation, sentence structure, document organization, and style formatting.

I’ve edited many books, short stories, and even papers by authors who seemingly believed that ambiguous, dramatic, and descriptive words (and even repetition) somehow increased their document’s level of professionalism. Perhaps they were attempting to make the scene come alive for the reader or evoke a sense of rambling thought—very noble intentions indeed. Regardless, unnecessary wordiness and redundancy are generally considered unacceptable in professional writing.

Unfortunately, we see many misguided essays here at ProofreadingPal on a daily basis. And one of the fundamental suggestions we always offer to those clients is to “be yourself when you write.”

The MLA currently claims about 30,000 members in about 100 countries. Although founded in the United States in 1883 and headquartered in New York City, the MLA’s membership and influence extend worldwide