Serif fonts have these extra strokes sans serif fonts do not. Serifs are the tiny strokes at the end of a letter’s main strokes. So which fonts are “easily readable” and have “clearly” contrasting italics? And what exactly is a “standard” size?įor academic papers, an “easily readable typeface” means a serif font, and a “standard” type size is between 10 and 12 point. Times New Roman) in which the regular style contrasts clearly with the italic, and set it to a standard size (e.g. (See: Document Format.) But their advice on font selection is less precise: “Always choose an easily readable typeface (e.g. The Modern Language Association (MLA) provides explicit, specific recommendations for the margins and spacing of academic papers.