Learn the Standard Essay Format

Learn the Standard Essay Format: MLA, APA, Chicago Styles

Learn the Standard Essay Format such as MLA, APA, Chicago Styles. Being able to write an essay is a vital part of any student’s education. However, it’s not just about linearly listing ideas. A lot of institutions will require a certain format that your paper must follow; prime examples would be one of a basic essay format like MLA, the APA, and the Chicago formats. This article will explain the differences between the MLA format, the APA format, and the Chicago format. The application of these could range from high school to college essays, and they stand as the standard of college essay formatting. Assignmentshero — essay service will help to make a difference! What is an Essay Format: Structure

Be it an academic, informative or a specific extended essay – structure is essential. For example, the IB extended essay has very strict requirements that are followed by an assigned academic style of writing (primarily MLA, APA, or Chicago):

• Title Page
• Abstract: comprised of 3 paragraphs, totaling about 300 words, with 100 words in each.

• Paragraph 1: must include a research question, thesis, and outline of the essay’s importance.
• Paragraph 2: Key resources, scope and limits of research, etc.
• Paragraph 3: Conclusion that you’ve already reached in your essay.

• Table of Contents (with page numbers)

• Research question
• Thesis
• Introduction
• Arguments
• Sub-headings
• Conclusion
• Appendix
• Works cited (bibliography)

• Introduction

• The research question is required

• Body
• Conclusion
• Bibliography (Works Cited)

This outline format for an extended essay is a great example to follow when writing a research essay, and sustaining a proper research essay format – especially if it is based on the MLA guidelines. It is vital to remember that the student must keep track of their resources to apply them to each step outlined above easily.

How to Write an Standard Essay Format  in MLA Format

To write an essay in MLA format, one must follow a basic set of guidelines and instructions. This is a step by step from our business essay writing service:

• Font: 12pt Times New Roman
• Spacing:

• Double spaced everywhere
• No extra spaces, especially between paragraphs

• Heading: Example of the heading on the first page of the essay (upper left corner)

• Your name (John Smith)
• Teacher’s / Professor’s name (Margot Robbie)
• The class (Depends on course/class)
• Date (20 April 2017)

• Margins: One-inch margin on the top, bottom, left and right.
• Page Numbers: Last name and page number must be put on every page of the essay as a “header”. Otherwise, it would go in place of the text.
• Title: There needs to be a proper essay title format, centered and above the first line of the essay of the same font and size as the essay itself.
• Indentation: Just press tab (1/2 inch, just in case)
• Align: Align to the left-hand side, and make sure it is aligned evenly.

Standard Essay Format (MLA vs. APA)

Before we move on to the APA essay format, it is important to distinguish the two types of formatting. Let’s go through the similarities first:

• The formatting styles are similar: spacing, citation, indentation.
• All of the information that is used within the essay must be present within the works cited page (in APA, that’s called a reference page)
• Both use the parenthetical citations within the body of the paper, usually to show a certain quote or calculation.
• Citations are listed alphabetically on the works cited / reference page.

What you need to know about the differences is not extensive, thankfully:

• MLA style is mostly used in humanities, while APA style is focused more on social sciences. The list of sources has a different name (works cited – MLA / references – APA)
• Works cited differ on the way they display the name of the original content (MLA -> Yorke, Thom / APA -> Yorke T.)
• When using an in-text citation, and the author’s name is listed within the sentence, place the page number found at the end: “Yorke believes that Creep was Radiohead’s worst song. (4).” APA, on the other hand, requires that a year is to be inserted: “According to Yorke (2013), Creep was a mess.”

Alright, let’s carry over to the APA style specifics.

How to Write a Standard Essay Format in APA Format

The APA scheme is one of the most common college essay formats, so being familiar with its requirements is crucial. In a basic APA format structure, we can apply a similar list of guidelines as we did in the MLA section:

• Font: 12pt Times New Roman
• Spacing: Double-space that bad boy.
• Margins: One Inch margins on all sides.
• Page Numbers: Insert a header at the top left of every page that includes a shortened title of your essay, below 50 characters including punctuation. Slap a number in there too (top right corner).
• Title Page: Title of the paper, author’s name, institutional affiliation. Additional information may be required, such as course title, instructor name and date.
• Headings: All headings should be written in bold and titlecase. Different heading levels have different additional criteria to apply.

Note that some teachers and professors may request deviations from some of the chaChicago Style

The usage of Chicago style is prevalent in academic writing that focuses on the source of origin. This means that precise citations and footnotes are key to a successful paper.

Chicago Style Essay Format

The same bullet point structure can be applied to the Chicago essay format.

• Title Page

• Chicago style title page is all about spacing.
• Down the page should be the title, with regular text. If longer than one line, double-spaced.
• Next, in the very middle, center your full name.
• Down the page – course number, instructor’s name and the date in separate double-spaced lines.

• Margins: Use one-inch margins apart from the right side.
• Spacing

• Double spaced everywhere.
• No extra spaces, especially between paragraphs.

• Font: Times New Roman is the best choice (12pt)
• Page Numbers

• Last name, page number in the heading of every page on the top right
• Do not number the title page. The first page of the text should start with a 2.

• Footnotes: The Chicago format requires footnotes on paraphrased or quoted passages.
• Bibliography: The bibliography is very similar to that of MLA. Gather the proper information and input it into a specialized citation site.

Final Draft

Before handing in the final draft, go over it at least one more time, focusing on smaller mistakes like grammar and punctuation. Make sure that what you wrote follows proper essay structure. If you need a second pair of eyes, get help from our economic essay writing service.

hat the APA format originally requires, such as those listed above.