If a source does not have an author, begin the MLA Works Cited entry with the title of the source. Use an abbreviated version of the title in your MLA in-text citation. If a source does not have a page number, you can use another locator, such as a chapter number or timestamp for a video or audio source, to identify the relevant passage in your in-text citation. If the, when writing and editing an abstract for a research article, several different verb tenses can be used. The tense you should use depends largely on the subject of your sentence. As a general rule: any statement of general fact must be written in the present tense. Previous research should be mentioned and explained in the past tense. Font size: Margins: Paragraphs: All paragraphs must be indented. Spacing: All text in your article should be double-spaced. Typical MLA-style articles have two sections: Main body. Mentioned works. See the boxes below for how each part should be formatted. Using the “I” in academic writing. Traditionally, some fields have disapproved of the use of the first person singular in an academic essay and others have encouraged this use, and both disapproval and encouragement persist today and there are good reasons for both positions , see “Should I”. I recommend you not look at the question.