Chicago style of documentation is used mainly for recording the scholarly findings in researches done in the subject of History. Each documentation style has its own specifications regarding the various parts of the research paper structure. These are to be followed strictly while writing a research paper unless your guidelines specify alterations in the style rules. The Chicago style offers its own style of preparing the research paper title page.
First and foremost, study your guidelines to see if there are any specifications regarding any changes to be made in the rules which apply to the style. If there are none, you may do as instructed by the style manual for Chicago style of documentation. The title page of a Chicago style research paper is expected to contain the title of the research paper, the name of the writer, the course for which the research paper is being written, the name of the instructor and the date, respectively.
On a Chicago style research paper title page, the title of the assignment will be placed in the middle of the top half of the sheet. Or to put it in a simpler way, it will be placed at the end of the top quarter of the page. Unlike APA research papers where the title is placed in the center of the page, in a Chicago style research paper, it is the name of the writer which would be placed at the center of the sheet. The name of the course, the name of the instructor and the date of submission will be placed at the bottom of the page. All the details are to be centrally aligned in a Chicago style title page.
Please note that the page number is absent from the title page. But that does not mean it doesn’t count as a page. Even though you do not mark the number on the first page, you are supposed to consider the title page while marking the number on the pages before and after it. Do not accidentally leave it out. Do not mark the number on the title page by mistake either. These small specifications are used to distinguish one style from another. So it is important to stick to each one of the given instructions.
The details provided on the research paper title pages are almost the same in all the documentation styles. But the order in which it is placed, the margin space, the gap between the details etc changes from style to style. The criteria is to adhere completely to the specific instructions in the guidelines first and then to the rules given in the style manual. Always keep the style manual of the style asked for, in handy, while preparing your research paper.
Do not make any mistakes on the title page as it will leave a very negative impression about your research paper. Mistakes on a simple document like a research paper title page will be judged as lack of commitment. Hence if you have any doubt about any of the components of the title page of your research paper, clarify it with your instructor before proceeding with it.
