Traditional MLA style required numbered footnotes or endnotes (the preference already in the 1980s was for endnotes rather than footnotes) with separate sections at the end of the paper for Notes and the Bibliography, each of which presented essentially the same information in different formats.

The MLA no longer recommends this format, having changed to an in-text (parenthetical) citation style which is equally clear, quicker and less complicated for students to produce, and more suitable to modern word-processing and possible modulation of electronic formatting.

However, some teachers still require the traditional format. These three examples from the September 1983 edition of the MLA Handbook illustrate a sample first page of a research paper and sample first pages of the Notes and Bibliography pages for that paper. Note that "typewriter technology" standards have been used when specifiying indentations, book titles, and other formatting features. Note also that the U.S. edition of this book assumed an 8.5x11-inch page size instead of the taller (but less wide) European A-4 size.

Sample Research Paper First Page

Sample First Page of Endnotes

Sample First Page of Bibliography