MLA & APA Title Page Generator

How Does It Work?

If you’re wondering why you should trust the mechanism, the answer is simple: it is automatic. No human factor can interfere with your front page’s excellence. Our cover page maker cannot omit a mistake, as it relies on different formatting rules and follows them to the dot.

That’s how it works:

1. The tool lets you pick a style. Each paper should be done according to one of the style guides required by the institution, tutor, conference, etc. Our generator was programmed to contain information about a variety of most common formatting rules. It places the data where it’s supposed to locate according to the academic style. You won’t have to worry about it yourself.
2. The tool hints you what to write. In case you don’t have your title, running head, and so on figured out already, the cover page maker will guide you. You don’t have to wonder what to type as it provides you with blank spaces to fill in.
3. The tool corrects your mistakes. You may have formulated your research paper title too long or forgot about capitalization. The generator will indicate how many words or symbols should be in each field. And of course, it will make the letters capital when it’s needed.
4. The tool saves time. The most apparent advantage of the automatic generator is its speed. In mere seconds, the cover page maker will distribute the information and add stylistic features, according to the built-in templates.

Now when you need your Harvard, APA7, or MLA format cover page created, you’ll understand how the mechanism works.

Cover Page Styles: What You Need to Know

Cover pages, also known as title pages, present academic works to the viewer, listing the essential information. Their purpose is always the same, yet the format and sometimes even content differ slightly.

In the following sections, we’ll elaborate on everything you need to know about the formatting styles so that you won’t get confused. Then it’ll be much less complicated to understand how to make a cover page in APA7, MLA, or any other format.

APA Style

American Psychological Association (APA for short) is an organization that created parameters for preparing academic works to be published. It was soon expanded, becoming a collection of rules. Today, numerous institutions follow the APA style guidelines in its 7th edition. Naturally, it is widely used in papers on social sciences, psychology, and education.

The basic things you should learn about the APA7 format:

1. Front page. According to the manual, every academic writing piece has to include a cover page in APA format. The running head is not required though your professor may ask for one. The title should appear in the center of the upper half, in bold. The page has to contain the writer’s name, institutional affiliations, number, and the course. It should end with the paper’s due date.
2. Abstract. Following a cover page, a summary of the work usually appears, though not in APA7. The style doesn’t require it, but your professor may ask for one nonetheless. Then, you should state your thesis, list your goals, methods, and results here.
3. Body. Depending on the paper’s length and status, its central part can be divided into sections with headings or not. The work’s title should be centered on the page, between the page number and the introduction. Some tutors also ask for an outline to be written before the body.
4. References. It’s the concluding part of most papers done in APA7 style that don’t include an appendix. Here, the author must reference the sources they cited in the text in alphabetic order.

The formatting can be difficult to grasp from the first reading, but it becomes apparent when you look at examples. To create a cover page, you can use our generator without checking the guide.

MLA Style

MLA style, created by the Modern Language Association, was initially used in academic works in literature and languages. With time, it became a format for a variety of papers in different fields. All the information about it can be found in the MLA Handbook (sometimes known as Manual), in its eighth edition.

You should know the following about the style:

1. Front Page. The format doesn’t require a cover page, letting the writers confine themselves with a heading. There you have to list your and your instructor’s names, the course, the current date, and your title. Yet your tutor can ask you to provide a cover page, which is usually the case when there are multiple authors.
2. Abstract. Similar to the MLA format cover page, the style doesn’t make the summary necessary. When you’re required to write one, you should briefly list your objectives, methods, findings, and conclusions. Make in within 150-250 word limit.
3. Body. Your text should be double-spaced, in Times New Roman, 12pts font. You should include in-text citations if you want your paper to be credible. There can be headings and subheadings, but the style manual doesn’t require them. In case your tutor or institution does, write them in the title case.
4. Works Cited. In the section, the author lists books and articles they cited in the body. If you have any endnotes, present them before the Works Cited part.

To see for yourself how it works, consider an example of the text in MLA format.

Chicago Style

The Chicago Manual of Style (CMOS) is a handbook that presents formatting rules for various writers, from researchers to copywriters. Turabian is its version, which is mostly applied to the student papers, yet it has many similarities with the general Chicago style.

There are two types of documentation that you should be aware of:

• The notes & bibliography system, mostly used in literature, arts, and history. It differs from the other one by the presentation of in-text citations in footnotes. Cited sources are usually gathered in the bibliography as well. The system allows the author to use various sources, even the unusual ones.
• The author-date system, preferred in social, natural, and physical sciences. It’s concise and straightforward, with the sources being cited in parenthetical citations in the text. The references list appears at the end of the document.

Among the essential features of the style, we listed those that are common for both these types:

1. Front Page. The front page with the necessary information about the author and the work isn’t required. Generally, writers add it at the top, before the title and introduction. Similar to the MLA style, your instructor can request you to provide one.
2. Abstract. Including a brief summary (150-250 words) before an introduction is allowed upon request from your tutor or institution. Start with a statement of your arguments and list all the objectives, methods, and results that you have. Don’t forget to add your conclusions.
3. Body. You’re allowed to use a few levels of headings in your paper, but you have to make them distinctive via the use of bold and italic fonts. In the body, use words for numbers lower than 100, not digits. The double-spaced text in Times New Roman, 12pts font is a given but negotiable.
4. Reference page. Though the naming of the section differs between the systems, it serves the same purpose: it displays the sources cited in the text. It should be included at the end of the academic paper and list reference entries in alphabetical order. “Bibliography” in the notes and bibliography system and “References” in the author-date system vary in their features and presentation.

Harvard Style

The Harvard style of referencing is another example of the author-date system. Created in the university of the same name in the 1880s, it hasn’t changed much over the years. It’s widely used by college students in their academic works.

The fundamental information about the Harvard style is as follows:

1. Front page. The most noticeable part of the cover is the title, which is centered in the middle of the page and typed in capital letters. The author’s name is placed directly under it, three lines down. Then the course, the professor’s name, the affiliation should appear, as well the location and the due date.
2. Abstract. Such papers as theses and dissertations should include a summary before the introduction. The abstract should be no more than 400 words, displayed on a separate page. The author should elaborate on the problem, methods, and procedures. The key results should also be included. Besides, the page should be titled “Abstract” and have the author’s name (right corner), the advisor’s name (left corner), and the number.
3. Body. A few fonts are accepted according to the style manual, though Times New Roman and Arial are preferred. The one chosen by the author should remain the same everywhere, from headings to footnotes. The body should be double spaced, with at least 1 inch for all the margins.
4. Reference list. Each source cited in the body of work should be included at the end of the paper. The entries should appear in alphabetic order and correspond to the in-text references. The author should place the list on a separate page.

MLA vs. APA Format Cover Page

Now that you’ve learned what each formatting style requires and looks like, let’s compare the covers of the two most popular ones. As we’ve mentioned before, not every MLA work needs a front page. Yet if your instructor asks for one, or when multiple authors worked on the paper, you have to make one, according to the rules. In the table, we’ll compare the APA7 and standard MLA heading.

For starters, both MLA and APA7 student cover pages have to be double spaced, in 12pst Times New Roman. They have to include the papers’ essential information, such as the author’s and tutor’s names, the course, and the title.

Yet, there are some significant differences:

Thanks for checking out the article! Return to the cover page maker when you need one for your research paper. Share it with other students who may look for such help.

Updated: Apr 5th, 2024

References

1. Chicago Style, General Format: Purdue Online Writing Lab, College of Liberal Arts, Purdue University
2. MLA versus APA Format: The University of Arizona
3. Title Page Differences in MLA and APA Format: Rebekah Richards, Pen and the Pad
4. Student Title Page Guide (7th Edition): St. Louis University, Psychology Department
5. MLA Style: Modern Language Association
6. Harvard Referencing: Subject and Research Guides at Macquarie University
7. Style Guide, Substantive Writing with a Lot of Style: Webinfo, George Mason University