Learn How to Create an Essay Format with Examples

The key to writing an incredible essay is to follow the proper format. An essay format is basically how the text is organized to conform to academic standards. The format helps you organize and arrange your essay.

There are several ways to format your essay, and each essay requires a different formatting style. There are various formatting styles, i.e., APA, MLA, Chicago, etc.

Learn to format your essay in this guide. Follow the instructions given below to format your paper correctly.

Let’s start reading!

What is an Essay Format?

An essay format is a set of guidelines that tells the writer how to arrange or organize the essay information. Following those instructions will help you keep your thoughts organized and get your essay structured well.

Getting the essay format right is one of the most challenging things in essay writing. The formatting guidelines tell you in what font style and font size you have to write your essay. It covers the outline, basic essay structure, title page, citation, etc.

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Standard Essay Format Guidelines

Here are standard essay format guidelines that almost every formatting style follows:

• Font Style: Times New Roman
• Font Size: 12pt
• Alignment: Left Aligned
• Spacing: Double Spaced
• Margin: 1-inch margin all around
• Page Size: Essays are printed on the A4 size paper
• Indentation: All paragraphs should be indented half an inch/ 5 spaces
• Page Number: Incorporate page number in the header

Essay Outline Format

The standard essay outline is the same for all types of essays. It has a beginning, a mid, and an end. The typical outline for an essay is as follow:

1. Introduction

1. Hook statement
2. Brief background information
3. Thesis statement

2. Body

1. Topic sentence
2. Supporting evidence
3. Transition statement

3. Conclusion

1. Restate the thesis statement
2. Summarize the essay
3. Concluding sentence

This essay outline works for all types of essays. However, the content or information they contain is different.

Different Essay Writing Format

There are several essay writing formats used in academic essay writing. The commonly used formats include:

• MLA Style
• APA Style

Each formatting style has its particular requirements. Below are the detailed guidelines for each of the formatting styles.

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MLA Essay Format

MLA formatting style specifies guidelines for English essays, manuscripts, and research papers. Below are the MLA format style guidelines:

General Guidelines:

• Font Size: 12pts
• Font Style: Times New Roman
• Margins: 1-inch on all sides of the page
• Page Numbering: Incorporate in the header, upper right-hand corner
• Spacing: Double spacing
• Indentation: The first line of every paragraph indented 1 tab/half inch/5 spaces. Quotations are indented 2 tabs or 10 spaces.
• Citation Style: Parenthetical citation, i.e. (author’s name)

Guidelines for a Title Page:

• Title Page: It contains your name, instructor’s name, course name, and date.
• Spacing: Double spaced
• Alignment: Center-aligned

Guidelines for Works Cited Page:

• Title: Center aligned “Work cited”
• Spacing: Double spacing
• Indentation: half-inch from the left margin
• Author Name: Reversed, i.e. (last name, first name)
• Sorting: Alphabetized by the author’s name

Here is a sample of MLA style guidelines for writing a research paper and all types of essays. Download this and check it out to get the complete instructions of the MLA formatting style.

APA Essay Format

APA style is the most widely used formatting style for academic essays and research papers. Below are APA style-specific guidelines:

General Guidelines:

• Font Size: 12pts
• Font Style: Times New Roman
• Margins: 1-inch on all sides of the page
• Page Numbering: Incorporate in the header, upper right-hand corner
• Spacing: Double spacing between paragraphs and two spaces after the end of the lines.
• Indentation: 1 tab or half-inch or 5 spaces.
• Citation Style: In-text citation style, i.e. (author’s name, publication year)
• Running Head: Title of the essay, and it should be in the upper left-hand corner.

Guidelines for a Title Page:

• Title Page: It contains your name, instructor’s name, and title, each on a separate line
• Text Placement: In the middle of the page
• Spacing: Double spaced
• Alignment: Center-aligned
• Title: Typed in title case

Guidelines for Citation Page:

• Title: Center aligned “Reference.”
• Spacing: Double-spaced all reference entries with one double space separating each entry.
• Indentation: half-inch from the left margin
• Author Name: Reversed, i.e. (last name, first name)
• Sorting: Alphabetical order by the author’s name

Here is a sample APA essay format for your convenience. If you need to structure an essay according to APA style, use this guide.

Essay Format Example

Below are some examples of different types of essay formats. Download them and use them while writing your essays.

Follow these guidelines for writing all of your academic essays. And if you need help, hire one of our professional writers at EssayWritingService.college. We are a top-ranked essay writing service that you can rely on for buying your essays and papers.

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