A title or cover page is exactly what you’d imagine—it’s the very front page of your academic essay or paper, which includes important information about your work. The function of a title or cover page is that it allows the reader to identify your work at a glance, but it can also help your assignments to look neater and more professionally put-together. Additionally, it provides a handy buffer against any finger smudges and will protect your work from whatever might be lurking at the bottom of your school bag!
Title or cover pages are common in work that’s formatted using the APA style rules, although you may also need to include them when following other popular formatting styles such as MLA or Chicago. If you’re unsure as to whether you need to create a title page, check with your teacher, tutor, or college advisor.
Failing to include a title page if required could give a negative first impression to whoever is reading your work. It could even cause you to lose marks for presentation, so don’t be tempted to skip this simple formatting task that should only take a few minutes to complete.
How to Make an APA Title Page
If you’ve been instructed to use APA style formatting then it’s likely that your tutor is expecting to see a title page including the following information:
- Title of the paper
- Author name
- Author institution i.e. the name of your school, college or university
- Running head i.e. an abridged title that features at the top left of every page
For example:
- Title: Does The Internet Encourage Individualization?
- Author: Roxanne Wells
- Institution: The University of Derby
- Running Head: Internet And Individualization
The above information should be centered (with the exception of the running head) and double-spaced, in Times New Roman font, size 12. See an APA example below:
How to Make an MLA Title Page
Title or cover pages are less common when following the MLA style of formatting. Instead, your tutor might prefer you to include a header with the required information at the top left of the first page of your assignment. These usually look like this:
- Author name
- Tutor/Professor name
- Course name and number
- Due date of the paper
For example:
- Author: Roxanne Wells
- Tutor/Professor Name: Professor Dale
- Course: Sociology 100
- Due Date: 1 May 2018
The above header should sit under a one-inch top margin, to the left of the page. It should be double-spaced and in a legible font (Times New Roman is a safe choice), size 12. The title of your essay should follow, centered, with the body of your work commencing underneath. In addition, every page should have a right-aligned header with the author’s last name and the page number.
See an MLA example below:
If you do need to make up a cover page, however, you would set out the above information, plus the title/subtitle of your assignment and the name of your institution, centered and presented over a full page.
When it comes to creating a correctly formatted and professional-looking title page, we’ve got you covered!