HOW TO MAKE A COVER SHEET? (EXAMPLES AND RULES) - CULTURE VOCABULARY

Learning how to make a good presentation sheet is important because it is the first impression that the report or work you want to present will make. They are usually strictly enforced and any deviation is penalized with the qualification of the work.

It is known as a cover sheet or cover to the main face or frontispiece of something, be it a CD, a video game or a brochure. According to the area that is approached, it can contain different elements and formats.

In printed materials such as newspapers and magazines, the cover is the first page that is presented and it includes the identification of the material, the number, volume, date and the titles of the most important news, accompanied by images that illustrate said information.

Books also usually have a cover that is presented in the front and contains the title and author's name.

The web pages, on the other hand, have the home page as their cover, in which the necessary information must be displayed so that the visitor can easily access the different sections, links and other content.

In reference to written works, such as articles, reports, research projects or doctoral theses, the cover sheet is a key element.

Therefore, you have to be very careful with the data that is presented. They should include enough information but should not be overloaded with words. They have to be organized and collect essential information.

The rules on how to present a project, for the most part, coincide in terms of the format and content that the presentation sheets should have. Next, we will see the most used styles.

Rules to make a correct presentation sheet

1- The ISO 690: 2010 (E) standard

These rules apply to any discipline. To prepare the presentation sheet it is important to know that it is the presentation of the work, thesis or document, so you must be cautious in its design. When applying these rules, the presentation sheet must contain:

Title.
Full names and surnames of the author or authors.
Type of work: thesis, report, monograph, etc.
End or objective of the work.
The name of the advisor or tutor of the work and their academic title.
City and year of presentation.

2- The APA style

The American Psychological Association (APA) style is more common among those works that deal with the social sciences. A presentation sheet made under the APA style must contain the following:

Title of the work (Report, thesis, research) in capital letters.
The full name of the author in capital letters.
Name of the advisor or tutor.
The name of the university in capital letters.
The faculty to which it belongs.
The career you study.
City.
The year of submission of the work.

In the case of a student article or research paper, the APA format must include the following:

At the top of the sheet, in the space for the heading, a concise version of the title of the work in capital letters and the number 1 to the right.
The title of the work centered, at the top of the sheet, without using underlining, bold or a font size that is too large.
Below the title, approximately in the middle of the page, the name of the student and the name of the educational institution, both centered.
Below the above, you must include the course and section, teacher's name, and due date. This information should be located at the bottom of the sheet.

3- The MLA style guide

A cover sheet according to the MLA (Modern Language Association) format must comply with the following standards:

It must be double-spaced and the letters centered.
Include the name of the university or institution at the top of the sheet.
The title and subtitle (if any) are written at a distance of approximately one third of the size (height) of the page.
The name of the student, name of the course and section, name of the professor and delivery date are located at the bottom of the sheet.

4- The Vancouver style

It is used mainly in biomedicine, for articles, theses and scientific research projects. The presentation sheet under these lines must contain:

Title of the work, for which a limit of eight words is established and if it is not possible to comply with this rule, it is necessary to include a subtitle to complement it. It is desirable that question marks or exclamation marks, or abbreviations, are not included. If it is a postgraduate work, the English translation must be included.
Year of realization.
Names and surnames of the author.
Type of job. It must be indicated what is the intention with which it is carried out.
Name of the advisor or tutor.
Titles of the advisor or tutor.
University or educational institution.
Name of the faculty.
City.

5- ICONTEC Standards

They can be used for any type of work, regardless of the study area or how deep they are.

The presentation sheets that follow the guidelines of the Colombian Institute of Technical Standards and Certification include:

The job title.
Subtitle (if it exists).
Full names and surnames of the author or authors.
Type of work carried out (if it is a monograph, work, report, thesis, among others).
The name and academic title or position held by the tutor or job advisor.
Name of the Institution.
Faculty or department.
Year of realization.

This information should be located on the sheet as indicated in the following figure:

Each institution, professor or advisor will indicate the rules that must be followed to present the work or report.

These rules for making presentation sheets are part of many others that define the formats to be used in the other parts that make up the written work; such as page numbering, margins, bibliography, verbatim citations, etc.

References

Cogollo M., Z. (2008). Structure and rules for the Presentation of graduate and research projects. Vancouver style. Cartagena, University of Cartagena.
Definition of Cover. Recovered from: definicion.de.
Guide for the presentation of thesis, degree works and research in ICONTEC Standards. Recovered from: repository.eafit.edu.co.
How to do a Title Page in MLA Format. Recovered from: wikihow.com.
Style Rules. Recovered from: radiobuap.com.
Cover with APA standards. Recovered from: normasapa.com.
Suttleworth, M. Explorable: APA Title Page. Recovered from: explorable.com.
Vancouver style. Recovered from: umanitoba.ca.
MLA Format Cover Page. Recovered from: academictips.org.

HOW TO MAKE A COVER SHEET? (EXAMPLES AND RULES) - CULTURE VOCABULARY - 2025