The safest fonts for a research paper are Times New Roman 12 point, Calibri 11 point, or Arial 11 point. APA 7 officially accepts all three plus Georgia 11 and Lucida Sans Unicode 10. MLA 9 requires a readable font at 11 or 12 point, with Times New Roman 12 as the de facto standard. Chicago defaults to Times New Roman 12. If you are unsure, Times New Roman 12 is the universal safe pick.
PaperDraft is a writing assistant, not a paper generator — the draft is your starting point, not your submission. You are responsible for editing, verifying sources, and following your school's academic integrity policy.
Font choice is a formatting decision, not a creative one. The goal is readability and style-guide compliance, and the penalty for getting it wrong is usually a small rubric deduction for formatting. Once you pick one, stay consistent across the entire document including headings, captions, and references.
Accepted fonts by style
| Style | Recommended | Size | Also accepted | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | APA 7 | Times New Roman, Calibri, Arial | 12, 11, 11 | Georgia 11, Lucida Sans Unicode 10, Computer Modern 10 | | MLA 9 | Times New Roman | 11 or 12 | Any legible font; serif preferred | | Chicago | Times New Roman | 12 | Any readable serif at 10 to 12 pt | | Harvard | Times New Roman or Arial | 11 or 12 | Follow institutional rubric | | IEEE | Times New Roman | 10 (body) | Specific template overrides |
APA 7 specifically expanded allowed fonts in the 2019 update to improve accessibility. Calibri 11 (the Word default) and Arial 11 are now fully acceptable for APA. MLA 9 is more flexible but still expects a conventional body font.
Why the specific sizes
Font size is tied to line spacing and page count. A 10-page paper at Times New Roman 12 with 2.0 spacing holds about 2,500 words. Switching to Arial 11 bumps you to about 2,800 words on the same page count. Professors calibrate page-based assignments assuming the standard pairing, so bumping to a larger font to fill pages is a known trick — and graders check.
For details on how spacing interacts with font, see our note on double spacing a research paper.
Fonts to avoid
Do not use any of these for the body of a research paper:
- Comic Sans, Papyrus, Impact — decorative; never appropriate.
- Courier, Courier New — fixed width; looks like a code sample, not a paper. Only acceptable for quoted code.
- Verdana, Tahoma — designed for screens; too wide for print and flagged in APA as non-standard.
- Book Antiqua, Bookman Old Style — acceptable in rare disciplines but will surprise most graders.
- Custom display fonts — anything that looks handwritten, stylized, or branded.
Stick to the accepted list.
Consistency across the paper
Once you pick a font, use it everywhere:
- Body paragraphs
- Headings (same font, usually bold for H1 or H2)
- Title on the title page
- Page numbers and running head
- References or Works Cited
- Footnotes and endnotes
- Captions for tables and figures
The one acceptable variation is headings: APA 7 allows heading levels to use the same font family with bold or italic styling. MLA 9 keeps headings in the same font and size as the body.
What about headings and title?
APA 7 title page: title is centered, bold, in the same font as the body. MLA 9 does not use a separate title page by default — the title appears on page 1, centered, in the same body font with no bold or italics. Chicago title page: title in the same font as the body, usually centered and with slightly larger size permitted.
For concrete examples of titles that work (and ones that do not), see our note on research paper title examples.
What if the course rubric specifies a different font?
Follow the rubric. A professor requiring Garamond 12 or Arial 12 overrides the style default. If the rubric is silent, fall back to Times New Roman 12 — no grader has ever marked it as wrong.
For a full pass on formatting decisions (margins, spacing, headings, title page), see our research paper guide. If you are still unsure about length and how font choice interacts with page count, our answer on how long a research paper should be covers the math.
When you are ready to start drafting with correct font, spacing, and margins already set, you can generate a structured outline on our research paper page and build from there.
Frequently asked questions
Is Times New Roman 12 still the standard?
For MLA and Chicago, yes. For APA 7 it is one of several accepted options but still the most common. It is never wrong.
Can I use Calibri for a research paper?
Yes for APA 7 (Calibri 11 is officially accepted). MLA and Chicago traditionally prefer a serif like Times New Roman, so for those styles default to TNR unless the rubric allows otherwise.
What font size is standard?
12 point for Times New Roman. 11 point for Calibri, Arial, and Georgia. Never smaller than 10 point for body text.
Should headings be a different font from the body?
No. Headings use the same font family. You can vary bold, italic, and size per the style guide, but the font itself stays consistent.