CSE Format Guide
Follow these CSE (8th edition) paper formatting rules to ensure your document meets the required standards. This guide covers font, margins, spacing, title page, headers, and references formatting.
Paper Formatting
Below are the core formatting requirements for papers written in CSE (8th edition) style.
- Font
- 12 pt Times New Roman or Arial
- Font Size
- 12 pt
- Margins
- 1 inch on all sides
- Spacing
- Double-spaced for body text
- Title Page
- Separate title page with title, author names, institutional affiliation, running head, and word count
- Headers / Page Numbers
- Running head (shortened title) in the upper-left; page numbers in the upper-right
References Formatting
Your references must follow these rules to be correctly formatted in CSE style:
- Title the page "References" (Citation-Sequence/Citation-Name) or "References" (Name-Year)
- Citation-Sequence: number in order of first appearance in text
- Citation-Name: number alphabetically by first author's last name
- Name-Year: list alphabetically without numbers
- Abbreviate journal names (no periods in abbreviations)
- List all authors — do not use et al. in the reference list (only in-text for Name-Year with 3+ authors)
- Include location of publisher and total page count for books
Generate CSE Citations Automatically
Let CitationEasy handle the formatting. Paste a DOI, URL, or ISBN and get a perfectly formatted CSE citation in seconds.
Cite in CSE Now →Frequently Asked Questions
- What font and size should I use for CSE format?
- CSE (8th edition) requires 12 pt Times New Roman or Arial. The standard font size is 12 pt.
- What are the margin requirements for CSE?
- CSE papers require 1 inch on all sides. This applies to the top, bottom, left, and right margins of every page.
- Does CSE require a title page?
- Separate title page with title, author names, institutional affiliation, running head, and word count