MLA is a set of guidelines for academic writing such as research papers. It provides rules for formatting papers, citing sources, and creating a works cited page. MLA is used in high school, college, and professional academic writing to avoid plagiarism and create a uniform presentation. Papers formatted in MLA style include basic formatting like 1-inch margins, the author's name and class on the first page, and a works cited page listing all sources cited alphabetically by the author's last name.