What FormattingNerd Checks

No mystery about what you're paying for. Chuck runs 103 checks across five styles. The report is always free; the $3 fix corrects every issue it safely can and reformats your whole reference list. Here's the full list.

Jump to: APA 7 · MLA 9 · Chicago · Harvard · IEEE

APA (7th edition) (24 checks)

Page formatting · 12 checks

1-inch margins — Use 1-inch (2.54 cm) margins on every side.
Approved font and size — Use an APA-approved font, such as 12-pt Times New Roman or 11-pt Calibri.
Double spacing — Double-space the entire document.
No extra space between paragraphs — Don't add blank space before or after paragraphs.
First-line paragraph indent — Indent the first line of every body paragraph by 0.5 inch.
Left-aligned body text — Body text is aligned to the left (flush left), not justified.
Page numbers — A page number appears on every page.
No running head (student paper) — Student papers don't include a running head — just the page number.
Title page — Your first page should have a bold, centered title, then your name, course, instructor, and due date — centered and double-spaced.
Heading formatting — APA headings: Level 1 centered bold, Level 2 bold, Level 3 bold italic.
Long quotations — Long quotations should be set as block quotes.
No extra blank lines — Use line spacing, not empty paragraphs, to space your text.

References · 12 checks

References present — Your paper includes a section titled "References".
References heading is bold and centered — The "References" heading is bold and centered.
References starts on a new page — The references begins on its own page.
Hanging indent on each entry — Every entry uses a 0.5-inch hanging indent.
Double-spaced entries — The list is double-spaced, like the rest of the paper.
Alphabetical order — Entries are listed alphabetically by the author's last name.
Each entry has a year — Every reference includes a publication year, e.g. (2020), or (n.d.).
Entries end with a period — Each reference ends with a full stop (except after a URL or DOI).
No “Retrieved from” — Don’t write “Retrieved from” before a URL.
DOIs use the https://doi.org form — Write DOIs as https://doi.org/10.xxxx, not “doi:” or dx.doi.org.
No bullets or numbers on entries — The reference list is alphabetical — not a bulleted or numbered list.
No duplicate entries — Each source appears in the list only once.

MLA (9th edition) (22 checks)

Page formatting · 11 checks

1-inch margins — Use 1-inch (2.54 cm) margins on every side.
Readable 12-point font — Use a readable font (such as Times New Roman) at 12 pt.
Double spacing — Double-space the entire document.
No extra space between paragraphs — Don't add blank space before or after paragraphs.
First-line paragraph indent — Indent the first line of every body paragraph by 0.5 inch.
Left-aligned body text — Body text is aligned to the left (flush left), not justified.
Page numbers — A page number appears on every page.
Last name + page number — MLA puts your last name and the page number in the top-right corner of every page.
Centered title — MLA papers put a centered title above the body (no separate title page), with your name, instructor, course, and date in the top-left of the first page.
Long quotations — Long quotations should be set as block quotes.
No extra blank lines — Use line spacing, not empty paragraphs, to space your text.

Works Cited · 11 checks

Works Cited present — Your paper includes a section titled "Works Cited".
Works Cited heading is centered — The "Works Cited" heading is centered and not bold.
Works Cited starts on a new page — The works cited begins on its own page.
Hanging indent on each entry — Every entry uses a 0.5-inch hanging indent.
Double-spaced entries — The list is double-spaced, like the rest of the paper.
Alphabetical order — Entries are listed alphabetically by the author's last name.
Entries end with a period — Each reference ends with a full stop (except after a URL or DOI).
No “Retrieved from” — Don’t write “Retrieved from” before a URL.
DOIs use the https://doi.org form — Write DOIs as https://doi.org/10.xxxx, not “doi:” or dx.doi.org.
No bullets or numbers on entries — The reference list is alphabetical — not a bulleted or numbered list.
No duplicate entries — Each source appears in the list only once.

Chicago / Turabian (9th ed., notes-bibliography) (20 checks)

Page formatting · 10 checks

1-inch margins — Use 1-inch (2.54 cm) margins on every side.
Readable 12-point font — Use a readable font (such as Times New Roman) at 12 pt.
Double spacing — Double-space the entire document.
No extra space between paragraphs — Don't add blank space before or after paragraphs.
First-line paragraph indent — Indent the first line of every body paragraph by 0.5 inch.
Left-aligned body text — Body text is aligned to the left (flush left), not justified.
Page numbers — A page number appears on every page.
Title page — Your title page should have a centered title, with your name, course, and date below it.
Long quotations — Long quotations should be set as block quotes.
No extra blank lines — Use line spacing, not empty paragraphs, to space your text.

Bibliography · 10 checks

Bibliography present — Your paper includes a section titled "Bibliography".
Bibliography heading is centered — The "Bibliography" heading is centered.
Bibliography starts on a new page — The bibliography begins on its own page.
Hanging indent on each entry — Every entry uses a 0.5-inch hanging indent.
Alphabetical order — Entries are listed alphabetically by the author's last name.
Entries end with a period — Each reference ends with a full stop (except after a URL or DOI).
No “Retrieved from” — Don’t write “Retrieved from” before a URL.
DOIs use the https://doi.org form — Write DOIs as https://doi.org/10.xxxx, not “doi:” or dx.doi.org.
No bullets or numbers on entries — The reference list is alphabetical — not a bulleted or numbered list.
No duplicate entries — Each source appears in the list only once.

Harvard (Cite Them Right) (21 checks)

Page formatting · 10 checks

1-inch margins — Use 1-inch (2.54 cm) margins on every side.
Readable 12-point font — Use a readable font (such as Times New Roman or Arial) at 12 pt.
Double spacing — Double-space the entire document.
No extra space between paragraphs — Don't add blank space before or after paragraphs.
First-line paragraph indent — Indent the first line of every body paragraph by 0.5 inch.
Left-aligned body text — Body text is aligned to the left (flush left), not justified.
Page numbers — A page number appears on every page.
Title — Put a centered title at the top of your first page (or on a title page if your course requires one).
Long quotations — Long quotations should be set as block quotes.
No extra blank lines — Use line spacing, not empty paragraphs, to space your text.

Reference list · 11 checks

Reference list present — Your paper includes a section titled "Reference list".
Reference list starts on a new page — The reference list begins on its own page.
Hanging indent on each entry — Every entry uses a 0.5-inch hanging indent.
Double-spaced entries — The list is double-spaced, like the rest of the paper.
Alphabetical order — Entries are listed alphabetically by the author's last name.
Each entry has a year — Every reference includes a publication year, e.g. (2020) or (no date).
Entries end with a period — Each reference ends with a full stop (except after a URL or DOI).
No “Retrieved from” — Don’t write “Retrieved from” before a URL.
DOIs use the https://doi.org form — Write DOIs as https://doi.org/10.xxxx, not “doi:” or dx.doi.org.
No bullets or numbers on entries — The reference list is alphabetical — not a bulleted or numbered list.
No duplicate entries — Each source appears in the list only once.

IEEE (16 checks)

Page formatting · 8 checks

1-inch margins — Use 1-inch (2.54 cm) margins on every side.
Times New Roman font — IEEE uses Times New Roman (10 pt in the template; 12 pt is common for coursework).
No extra space between paragraphs — Don't add blank space before or after paragraphs.
First-line paragraph indent — Indent the first line of every body paragraph by 0.5 inch.
Page numbers — A page number appears on every page.
Title — Put a centered title at the top of your paper, with your name and affiliation below it.
Long quotations — Long quotations should be set as block quotes.
No extra blank lines — Use line spacing, not empty paragraphs, to space your text.

References · 8 checks

References present — Your paper includes a section titled "References".
Numbered references in citation order — References are numbered [1], [2], … in the order they're first cited.
Hanging indent on each entry — Every entry uses a 0.5-inch hanging indent.
Entries end with a period — Each reference ends with a full stop (except after a URL or DOI).
No “Retrieved from” — Don’t write “Retrieved from” before a URL.
DOIs use the https://doi.org form — Write DOIs as https://doi.org/10.xxxx, not “doi:” or dx.doi.org.
Author initials before surname — IEEE writes authors as “J. K. Author”, not “Author, J. K.”
No duplicate entries — Each source appears in the list only once.

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Some items (like rewriting a long quotation) Chuck flags for you to handle, rather than changing your words — your report marks which are auto-fixed and which to check yourself.