What Format Should You Use for a Philosophy Paper? As a service we can attest that most students use the APA guidelines as their philosophy essay format. However, your school has the final say in what format you should stick to. Sometimes, you can be asked to use a different college philosophy essay format, like MLA or Chicago. But if you're the one to choose the guidelines and don't know which one would be a good philosophy argumentative essay format, let's break down the most popular ones . APA, MLA, and Chicago share some characteristics: Font: Time New Roman, 12 pt Line spacing: double Margins: 1" (left and right) Page number: in the header But here's how they differ: APA: A title page required Sources list: 'References' page MLA: No title page required Sources list: 'Works cited' page Chicago: A title page required Sources list: 'Bibliography' page Footnotes and endnotes are required for citations Source: