Observing the Proper Essay Writing Format

      
       It is important for students to remember that some teachers place a particularly high importance in checking the format of an essay, almost as important as the content itself. The student will need essay writing tips not only on what the essay should contain and how the ideas and sentences will be organised. There should also be essay writing tips on how to correctly format an essay.

       If the tutor or the university itself has set an essay writing format, this is what you will follow. However, if none is given, below are several essay writing tips for arranging the format:

• Whilst the topic of an essay serves as its title, the title section also has several additional parts. You can do one of two things for the title: write it at the top of the first page of the essay, or use a separate title page which should be the first page of the paper. The title should be horizontally centred and placed at around the top third of the page. If you are not instructed to use a title page, you may identify the paper as yours by placing your name, the course name, the tutor's name and the date the paper is due at the upper left hand corner of the first page. Below that is the essay title on the centre.

• As for the essay text itself, the opening paragraph begins by placing one line space after the title. Paragraphs are separated by an indentation of five spaces (a tab). The standard margins are 1” on the top and bottom and 1.25” on the left and right margins. It is customary to use double space as it gives room for the tutor to encircle or underline errors or add symbols connecting their comments to the text. The text is aligned to the left unless the tutor says otherwise. The standard font is “Times New Roman” size 12.

• If you opt to use page numbers, do not put a number in the title page. Page 1 starts at the first page of the text. The number may be placed at the bottom centre or in the upper right hand corner of the page. Page numbers should contain numbers only.

• If you borrowed ideas, quotes or phrases from another source, you should cite them appropriately. A separate section for this should be created on a separate page after the conclusion. The citation style depends on your field of study or university. Each source should also be arranged according to its classification (e.g. citing a book is different from citing a journal or a a newspaper article).