Posted on September 9, 2024

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

Being a student, you have to handle a lot of writing assignments, follow various academic writing standards, and hand in your papers on time. Of course, writing assignments takes a lot of time and effort. On the one hand, students have to research topics profoundly and compose their papers on a research basis. On the other hand, students have to pay close attention to instructors’ requirements and academic standards.

TFor some students, it is no problem to research different issues because they usually choose the ones that interest them, but it could be a real trouble to meet all the formatting requirements. They often question how to write a book title in an essay, cite sources correctly, and write an essay in a particular formatting style.

With modern technologies, students have a lot of tools that can assist them in meeting academic writing requirements. A student may entrust their assignment to an essay writing service and get a professional writer who will complete a customized paper for them or use free online tools like citation generators or an AI checker essay. These can help the student meet certain needs, like creating citations, a reference list for a college paper, and checking a paper for plagiarism and AI-generated content.

In this article, we will cover one of the trickiest issues every student faces in college: What is an essay format? How to use formatting styles, and what are their requirements?

Essay formats and their particularities: APA, MLA, Chicago

There are three frequently used formatting styles that you may need to follow when working on your academic paper. These are APA, MLA, and Chicago. Let’s take a look at each format essay and figure out how to apply every alternative in your papers. 

APA essay format

APA style is a standard essay format for social sciences such as psychology, education, and sociology. It provides clarity, precision, and the importance of data and research. If you need a detailed guide on how to write an essay in APA format, the “Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association” is what you need. It provides comprehensive rules for formatting college papers, citing sources, and structuring your content.

Here are the key requirements for the APA essay format that you have to follow in your writing:

  • Font: 12-point Times New Roman
  • Spacing: Double-spaced
  • Margins: 1 inch on all sides
  • Header: Title with a page number on the right
  • Title page: Topic of the paper, author’s name, institution affiliation, course number and name, instructor’s name, due date
  • Abstract: A brief summary (about 150-250 words)
  • Main body: Introduction, Method, Results, Discussion
  • In-text citations: Author’s last name, year, p. page number. Example: Johnson, 2018, p. 111
  • References page: The “References” title centered at the top of the page, with entries in alphabetical order by author’s last name, double-spaced, with a hanging indent

MLA (Modern Language Association) essay format

MLA essay formatting is usually used in the humanities. Students are mostly assigned to use this formatting style when working on papers in language disciplines or literature. The MLA style provides the authorship of sources, facilitating clarity and consistency in citation and documentation. The MLA style is perfectly detailed in the MLA Handbook. There, you can find guidelines on how to format papers, cite sources properly, and omit any sign of plagiarism.

If you are searching for guidelines on how to write a diagnostic essay or any other college paper in the MLA formatting style, here are the instructions to follow:

  • Font: 12-point Times New Roman
  • Spacing: Double-spaced
  • Margins: 1 inch on all sides
  • Header: Last name and page number in the top right corner
  • Title: Centered, standard capitalization, NOT bolded or underlined
  • Title Page: Not typically required
  • The first page: Student’s name, instructor’s name, course, date
  • In-Text Citations: (Author’s Last Name Page Number) Example: (Smith 123)
  • References page: The “Works Cited” title centered at the top of the page, with entries in alphabetical order by author’s last name, double-spaced, with a hanging indent

Chicago essay format

Chicago formatting is widely used for college papers in various disciplines, like history, the arts, sciences, etc. Consult The Chicago Manual of Style if you need detailed instructions on how to use this formatting style in writing. The Chicago formatting style offers two central documentation systems. The first one is Notes and Bibliography, which is commonly used in the humanities. The second one is Author-Date, which is preferred in the sciences and social sciences. The Notes and Bibliography system is well-known for its detailed footnotes or endnotes and comprehensive bibliography.

If you have no idea how to write an argumentative essay using the Chicago formatting style, here are the guidelines to follow:

  • Font: 12-point Times New Roman
  • Spacing: Double-spaced
  • Margins: 1 inch on all sides
  • Header: Page number in the top right corner
  • Title page: Topic of the paper, author’s name, course information, date
  • Main body: Typically divided into sections as needed
  • Footnotes/Endnotes: Superscript number in the text, with corresponding note at the bottom of the page or end of the paper. Example: Smith argues that this was not the case.¹ Corresponding footnote: ¹ John Smith, Title of Book (Publisher, Year), page number.
  • Bibliography page: The “Bibliography” title centered at the top of the page, with entries in alphabetical order by author’s last name, single-spaced within entries, double-spaced between entries, with a hanging indent.

The checklist to make sure you have met all essay format requirements

When your paper is complete, it is very important to make sure you have done everything properly. Grab this checklist and make sure you have formatted your essay correctly and haven’t missed anything important.

Margins and spacing
Does your paper have 1-inch margins on all sides?Is the entire paper double-spaced?
Font
Is the paper written in Times New Roman, a 12-point font for the entire text?
Headers and page numbers
(MLA): Are there your last name and page number in the top right corner of each page of your paper?(APA): Are there the title of your paper and the page number on the right?(Chicago): Is there a page number in the top right corner of each page of your paper?
Title page
(MLA): Are your name, instructor’s name, course, and date on the first page? Is the topic of your paper centered?(APA): Does your title page include the title of the paper, your name, institution affiliation, course number and name, instructor’s name, and due date?(Chicago): Does your title page include the title of the paper, your name, course information, and the date?
In-text citations
(MLA): Are there the author’s last name and page number in parentheses after quotations or paraphrased text (e.g., (Miller 111))?(APA): Are there the author’s last name, year of publication, and page number in parentheses after quotations or paraphrased text (e.g., (Miller, 2000, p. 111))?(Chicago): Are there superscript numbers in the text and corresponding footnotes or endnotes with citations?
References page
(MLA): Is your references page titled “Works Cited,” centered at the top of a new page, with entries in alphabetical order, double-spaced, and with a hanging indent?(APA): Is your references page titled “References,” centered at the top of a new page, with entries in alphabetical order, double-spaced, and with a hanging indent?(Chicago): Is your references page titled “Bibliography,” centered at the top of a new page, with entries in alphabetical order, single-spaced within entries, double-spaced between entries, and with a hanging indent?
Quotations and paraphrasing
Have you correctly formatted quotations, using quotation marks for direct quotes and proper in-text citations for both direct quotes and paraphrased information?
Accuracy
Do all citations in the text correspond to entries in your Works Cited/References/Bibliography page? Are all the entries appropriately formatted?
Section headings (if applicable)
(APA): Have you used proper headings and subheadings to organize your paper according to APA guidelines (centered, bolded headings for main sections)?(Chicago): If using subheadings, are they consistent and properly formatted?

The last step is, of course, to proofread your essay and ensure that it meets all your instructor’s requirements. If you have checked it thoroughly, then you are ready to hand it in. 

Format essay: Other formatting styles you may have to follow in academic writing

Of course, there are other formatting styles than APA, MLA, and Chicago. Let’s take a quick look at other essay formats you can face when working on a college paper. 

  • Harvard. This is a basic essay format for social sciences. It uses an author-date citation system similar to APA but has some formatting differences.
  • Turabian. This is a simplified version of the Chicago style. It is well-known for being required for writing academic papers, theses, and dissertations.
  • IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers). This particular formatting style is used predominantly in technical fields like engineering and computer science. This formatting style uses a numerical citation system. 
  • AMA (American Medical Association). This formatting style is often used in medical and health-related fields. It uses a numerical citation system with superscript numbers.
  • Vancouver. This formatting style is usually used in biomedical and physical sciences. It includes a numerical citation system with citations in parentheses.
  • CSE (Council of Science Editors). This formatting style can often be met in natural sciences. It offers three systems: Citation-Sequence, Name-Year, and Citation-Name.
  • ASA (American Sociological Association). ASA formatting style is primarily used in sociology. It has a lot of similarities with the APA formatting style but has specific differences for sociological research. 
  • APSA (American Political Science Association). As can be comprehended from the name of the formatting style, it is often used in political science papers. This formatting style is based on the Chicago style but has some specific guidelines for political science.

Students face many issues on their way to getting a degree, and writing college papers takes a great deal of effort and time. Some learners have no idea how to write a narrative essay, spending hours searching for reliable information to help them handle the task. Others do not have enough experience in different formatting styles and seek assistance from various sources. And, of course, every college learner wants to research the topic to the fullest in order to get a good mark. 

We hope this article will come in handy when you need to write a college essay using a specific formatting style, and you will succeed.

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30 thoughts on “Learn the Standard Essay Format: MLA, APA, Chicago Styles”

  2. Alice

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    The experts of Essayshark consulted me on the right way to format a quote by an unknown author in a Chicago essay format. Thanks!!!!!!

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    1. EssayShark

      Here’s the example of how to cite books in an APA-formatted article: Plath, S. (2000). The unabridged journals. K. V. Kukil (Ed.). New York, NY: Anchor.

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  16. NatalieTH

    I have a question related to APA essay format. Does referencing to the source in parentheses require a comma after the last name?

    Reply ↓
    1. EssayShark

      Yes, it does. Just like in the example we provided in this guide: “In our postfactual era, many members of the public fear that the findings of science are not real (Schmidt & Oh, 2016).”

      Reply ↓

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