Making covers is not a particularly difficult task, but it does require you to follow specific guidelines depending on the style that the teacher indicates. The three main guides are the APA style (from the American Psychological Association), the MLA style (from the Modern Languages Association), and the Chicago style. Check with the teacher if you are not sure what their preference is. However, he considers that, generally, the APA style is used in science, the MLA in humanities and the Chicago in religious writing.
Steps
Method 1 of 3: Make an APA Style Cover
Step 1. Position the title away from the top edge of the page
Use the Enter key to move the title several spaces lower. You should move about 1/3 of the page forward.
- If the title is long enough or separated by a colon, you can spread it over two lines.
- Eliminate extra words and abbreviations. In APA style, you need to be as precise as possible.
- Use capital letters for the title. This involves capitalizing important words, such as nouns, verbs, adverbs, and adjectives, but not others, such as articles, prepositions, and conjunctions. Basically, you shouldn't capitalize short words unless they are at the beginning of the title or after a punctuation mark. Remember that the rules may vary depending on the language.
Step 2. Put your name under the title
Press the Enter key once and type your name. Use your full first name, middle initial, and your last or last name. Do not put academic titles, such as "Dr.".
- If more than one person wrote the work, include the names of all authors.
- If they are two names, separate them with the conjunction "and". If there are three or more, use commas and place a "and" between the last two names.
Step 3. Enter the name of the institution
Institution is called the university or other organization with which you are affiliated. Basically, it serves to indicate to the reader where most of the research was done.
- If there is more than one author affiliated with the same institution, put the name of the institution after the list of authors.
- If there is more than one author and each one is affiliated with a different institution, separate the authors and place the name of the institution or university under the corresponding author.
Step 4. Use double spacing on the cover page
Select the text. In the "Paragraph" menu, found in the "Start" tab of the Microsoft Word program, select the line spacing button and choose "2". This way, the text will be double spaced.
Step 5. Center the text
Select the text on the page. At the top of the screen, click the button to center the “Paragraph” menu text. Doing so will move the text to the center of the screen.
Step 6. Add a header
A header sits at the top of the page and appears throughout the entire job. On the first page, the heading should be “Heading: KEYWORDS OF THE TITLE”. In this case, all letters in the title must be capitalized.
- Remember that the heading is not the full title. Rather, it is two or three keywords. It should generally be less than 50 characters.
- Use the program to add the page number in the upper right corner of the page. Just add the number, no additional words like “page” or “page”.
- In most newer copywriting programs, this is added simply by double-clicking in the header area at the top of the page. This cannot be viewed before selecting it. But it is not complicated; just double-click near the top and the header section will appear.
- Likewise, you will have to select the option "Different first page" at the top of the screen, since in the rest of the document you will have to omit "Heading:" and place only the title of the work in capital letters.
Step 7. Format the rest of the page appropriately
Use Times New Roman font in size 12. Also, make sure that all the margins on the page are 2.5 cm (1 inch).
Method 2 of 3: Make a Cover with MLA Style
Step 1. Skip the cover page unless specifically requested by the teacher
The MLA style does not require you to put up a cover. Therefore, unless you are specifically asked to add one, you can simply center the title on the first page and add the rest of the text below.
- If you are going to apply this suggestion, be sure to put your name, the teacher's name, the course and the date in the upper left corner. Double-space the title and additional information.
- You should also put a right-aligned page header. This should include your last name and page number on the same line.
Step 2. Jump a few spaces down
In this case, the idea is also to advance about 1/3 of the page. Write the title of the job there. Put it on a single line, even if it has a subtitle separated by a semicolon. If it is too long to fit on a single line, divide it at the semicolon. Capitalize the most important words in the title.
Step 3. Put your name under the title
Skip a line (leave one line blank) and type "by." Below that, write your name.
- If the work has two authors, separate the names with a "and".
- If the work has more than two authors, separate the names with commas and place a “and” between the last two.
Step 4. Scroll to the bottom of the page
This will have 3 lines and the last one should be just above the margin. On the top line, put the name of the class or course. Underneath, write the teacher's name. Finally, put the date.
Step 5. Center the text
Select the text on the page. Click the button to center the text in the “Paragraph” menu.
Step 6. Finish formatting the page
The cover page, like the rest of the work, should have 2.5 cm (1 inch) margins on all 4 sides. Also, you must have a readable font, such as Times New Roman, in size 12.
Method 3 of 3: Make a Chicago Style Cover
Step 1. Place the title about 1/3 the height of the page
Press Enter until it goes down about 1/3 the size of the page. Capitalize the title and try to keep it all on one line, unless it has a subtitle. In that case, put the subtitle below and remember that the title should have a colon at the end.
Step 2. Continue down the page
Move the cursor at least four or five lines lower. The next section of the cover should start near the middle of the page or even lower.
Step 3. Write your name, class or course information, and the date
First, put your name. Hit the Enter key and add your class name. Finally, write the date below.
- Fill in the full date. Write the name of the month and put the day and year in numeric format.
- Here's an example: February 1, 2013.
Step 4. Center the text
Select the text on the page. Go to the "Paragraph" menu and choose the center button.
Step 5. Complete the formatting of the rest of the text
Use margins between 2.5 and 3.8 cm (1.5 inches) for all pages of the job. Make sure to choose a readable font. The Chicago style recommends using Times New Roman or Palatino in size 12, although you can use up to a size 10.