Quick Navigation through the Essay Cover Page:
In the MLA format, a cover page is typically optional; this style prefers writing a paper’s basic information at the top of the first page of writing. Usually, a cover page is required in MLA only when there are multiple authors, although individual assignments may still request them even with only one author.
On an MLA cover page, all the information except for the title goes in the upper-left corner, flush with the one-inch page margins from the top and left side. All lines are double-spaced.
The student title page includes the paper title, author names (the byline), author affiliation, course number and name for which the paper is being submitted, instructor name, assignment due date, and page number, as shown in this example.
How to Write an Essay Cover Page
As a rule, MLA does not require a cover page, so do not create one unless specifically asked by your instructor. Instead, MLA recommends to include some essential information on the first page of your paper, in the left upper corner:
MLA Style specifies guidelines for formatting manuscripts and citing research in writing. MLA Style also provides writers with a system for referencing their sources through parenthetical citation in their essays and Works Cited pages.
Four or five double-spaced lines below the date, write the title of the paper. The title should be centered and in standard format (no bold or italics). As with the APA cover page format, use the standard rules for title capitalization.
APA is the most widespread format used in most colleges and universities as a default set of rules, regardless of the discipline. A good cover page in APA should contain:
How to Create a Title Page in APA Format, With Examples
Now, every time you open a new doc, formatting is already optimized, and you have fewer things to format. With that out of the way, let's see how the layouts for the cover page look like in major academic styles.
How to Make a Cover Page: Templates for Different Essay Formats
Learn how to set up the title page of an APA Style student paper and professional paper, including the page header, title, author name and affiliation, course information, and author note.
How to Make a Cover Page for an Essay Properly
MLA does not have a prescribed system of headings for books (for more information on headings, please see page 146 in the MLA Style Manual and Guide to Scholarly Publishing, 3rd edition). If you are only using one level of headings, meaning that all of the sections are distinct and parallel and have no additional sections that fit within them, MLA recommends that these sections resemble one another grammatically. For instance, if your headings are typically short phrases, make all of the headings short phrases (and not, for example, full sentences). Otherwise, the formatting is up to you. It should, however, be consistent throughout the document.
APA Guide: 7th Edition : Title Page
Please note that your cover pages should be formatted the same way as the rest of your essay. Luckily, there is an overlap in the requirements for all three major academic styles. To save yourself oodles of time, format a template Microsoft Word opens by default to meet those requirements:
APA Title Page (7th edition) | Template for Students & Professionals
The manual is flexible on the matter of cover pages and says that you can either create a title page or just include a title on your text's first page – whichever is more appropriate or is required by your instructor. Here is how to make a cover page for an essay, according to Turabian Style Guidelines:
How to Create an APA Style Title Page (7th edition: 2021
Note: APA 7 provides slightly different directions for formatting the title pages of professional papers (e.g., those intended for scholarly publication) and student papers (e.g., those turned in for credit in a high school or college course).