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HOWTOFormatpapersinstandardacademicformat(usingMicrosoftWord)|DigitalWriting101

DigitalWriting101
HOWTOFormatpapersinstandardacademicformat(usingMicrosoftWord)
CATEGORIES:TECHTIPS

OVERVIEW
ThisguideexplainshowtoformatyourdocumentsinMicrosoftWordsothattheyfollowthestandardrulesforformattingacademic
papersasdescribedinmostMLAandAPAstylebooksforundergraduatewriting.Theserulesapplytomostofthepapersyouwillsubmitin
yourcollegeclasses,butinsomecasesyourprofessorswillwantyoutofollowspecicguidelinesthatmaydierfromthosebelow.Always
clarifywithyourprofessorwhichsetofguidelinesheorshewantsyoutofollowbeforeyousubmitapaper.
Usingstandardformattingforacademicpapersshowsthatyouunderstandthecustomsoftheuniversitycommunityandthereforehelps
toboostyourowncredibility.Usingunusualorhighlydistinctiveformatting,ontheotherhand,suggeststhatyourpreviousschoolingdid
notadequatelyprepareyouforuniversitywork.Considertheimpactofunusualformatting:notonlydoesitcallattentiontoyourpaperina
waythatmightnotbepositive,professorsmightalsoseeitasasignthatyouretryingtoarticiallyinatepagelength.
Note:TheseinstructionsapplytoallversionsofWordforMacandforthe2003versionofWordforWindows.Ihaventyetupdatedthemto
includeinstructionsforthe2007versionofWordforWindows,butthetoolsshouldneverthelessbeeasytondifyoulookaroundonthe
toolbaratthetop.
Contents
1OVERVIEW
2DOCUMENTMARGINS
3INDENTATION
4FONT
5ALIGNMENT
6FIRSTPAGEFORMAT
6.1Heading
6.2Title
6.3SampleFirstPage
7PAGENUMBERS
8SPACING
8.1DocumentSpacing
8.2ParagraphSpacing
9CREATENEWPAGE
10BLOCKEDQUOTATIONS
11RESOURCES

DOCUMENTMARGINS
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Rule:Paperssubmittedforrevieworgradingshouldhave1marginsallaround.ThisshouldbethedefaultforWord,butifyourdefault
settingistohaveleftandrightmarginsof1.25,changeyourdefault.Pagelengthrequirementsarebasedon1margins.
Instructions:GototheFormatmenu,dragdowntoDocument,changethemargins,andtheclickontheDefaultbuttonandacceptthe
changetotheNormaltemplate.Makesureyouleavetheguttersetto0oryoullmessupyourdocumentformatting.

INDENTATION
Rule:Therstlineofeachparagraphshouldbeautomaticallyindented.
Instructions:ThisshouldbethedefaultforWord,butifnot,youmightwanttochangeyourNormalstyle,asdescribedabove.Tochange
theindentationformatforadocument,chooseSelectAllfromtheEditmenu.ThengototheFormatmenu,dragdowntoParagraph,look
undertheSpecialdropdownmenuintheIndentationsection,andselectFirstLine.Thissettingautomaticallyindentstherstlineofa
newparagraphsothatyoudonthavetodoitmanually.

FONT
Rule:Collegepapersshouldbeinastandardacademicfont:eitherTimesNewRomanorCambria,in12ptsize.(Ifyousubmitapaperin
anotherfont,IwillchangeitontheleIdownload.)
Instructions:TimesNewRomanorCambria12ptshouldbethedefaultforWord,butifyoursisdierentthenchangeyourdefault.Gotothe
Formatmenu,dragdowntoStyle,makesureNormalisselectedfromthelistofstyles,andclickmodify.Choosethecorrectfontand
sizefromtheFormattingmenu.ClickOKtomakethechangetoyourdefaultsettings.

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ALIGNMENT
Rule:Thetextofyourpapershouldbeleftaligned,NOTjustied,asjustiedtextishardtoreadifithasntbeenprofessionallytypeset.The
defaultinWordisleftalignment,sodontchangeit.

FIRSTPAGEFORMAT
Heading
Rule:Intheupperleftcorneroftherstpageofyourdocument,typeyourname,thedate,thecoursenumberandsection(ortopic),and
theversionofthepaper(suchasPaper1SecondDraft),eachonaseparateline.Besuretochangethedateandpaperversionwhenyou
submitrevisionsandnalversions.Seethesamplebelow.
DONOTusetheheadersfeaturefromtheheader/footermenutocreatethisfullheadingasthatwillmakeitappearoneverypage,which
isnotcustomaryinacademicwriting.AlsodoNOTuseatitlepageunlesstheassignmentspecicallyasksforone.

Title
Rule:Skipalineaftertheheadingandcenteranoriginaltitlethatconveysthetopicofyourpaper.Donotuseunderliningoritalicsinthe
heading(unlessyourereferringtothetitleofabookorperiodical).DonotuseboldtextorALLCAPS.

SampleFirstPage

PAGENUMBERS
Rule:Allpapersshouldhaveautomaticallyinsertedpagenumbersthatshowintheupperrightcorneronallpagesexcepttherst.Donot
insertthesepagenumbersbyhand.Instead,useWordsHeader/Footertool.
FordocumentsfollowingMLAformat,putyourlastnameandpagenumberintheupperrightcorner.FordocumentsfollowingAPA
format,putashortversionofyourtitle(insteadofyourlastname)andthepagenumberintheupperrightcorner.

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Instructions:GototheViewmenuandchooseHeaderandFooter.Youllseeaheaderboxappearatthetopandafooterboxatthe
bottom.Clickintheheaderbox,typeyourlastname(ortitle),makeitaligntotheright,andthenselectPageNumbersfromtheInsert
menu.
Whenyourenished,clickontheClosetabundertheHeaderview.Eachpageofyourdocumentshouldnowdisplayapagenumberat
theupperrightthatupdatesautomaticallywhenyoumakechangestothedocument.Itwillappearasgrayedouttextunlessyouactivethe
HeaderandFootertooltomakechanges.

Tochangethesettingsothatpagenumbersdonotdisplayontherstpage,gototheFormatmen,dragdowntoDocument,andclickon
theLayoutbutton.ThenchecktheboxnexttoDierentFirstPage.ClickOK.Ifnecessary,removetheheaderthatappearsontherst
pageandinsertaheaderonthesecondpage,whichwillautomaticallyappearonallsubsequentpagesaswell.

SPACING
DocumentSpacing
Rule:Theentirepapershouldbedoublespaced,includingtheheadingandbibliography.
Instructions:ChooseSelectAllfromtheEditmenu,gototheFormatmenuanddragdowntoParagraph,andchoosedoublefromthe
linespacingmenuintheSpacingsection.Oryoucanusethesekeyboardshortcuts.OnaMac,useCmdAtoselectallandCmd2to
doublespace.OnaPC,useCtrlAtoselectallandCtrl2todoublespace.

ParagraphSpacing
Rule:Papersshouldhavenoextraspacingafterparagraphs.ThisshouldbethedefaultforWord,butifyourdefaultsettingistohave10pt
spacingafterparagraphs,changeyourdefault.
Instructions:GototheFormatmenu,dragdowntoStyle,makesureNormalisselectedfromthelistofstyles,andclickmodify.Inthe
lowerleftcorner,selectthedropdownmenuthatstartswithFormatanddragdowntoParagraph.Intheparagraphsettingsmenuthat
popsup,changethesettingsforSpacingAfterto0pt.

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CREATENEWPAGE
Insteadofusingalotofreturnsbeforestartingyourbibliography,createanewpageforitfollowingtheseinstructions.
GototheInsertmenu,dragdowntoBreak,andthendragovertoPageBreak.

BLOCKEDQUOTATIONS
Rule:Ifaquotationwillexceedfourlineswithinaparagraph,youshouldseparateitoutbyblockingandindentingit.Aswithanyquotation,
ablockedquotationshouldbeclearlyintroducedbythesentencethatleadsuptoitanditshouldalsobeproperlycited,buttherulesfor
blockedquotationsaresomewhatdierent.Theblockingtaketheplaceofquotationmarks,andunlikeinaregularinparagraphquotation,
theparentheticalcitationgoesoutsideofthenalperiodinsteadofinsideofit(giventhattheblockedquotemightcontainseveral
sentences.)
Instructions:Typethequotationinitsownparagraph,withoutquotationmarks,andremovetheindentfromtherstline.Typethesource
inparenthesesafterthelastperiodofthelastsentence.Withyourcursor,selectthequotation,fromtherstwordtotheendofthe
parentheticalcitation,andclicktheIncreaseIndentbuttonfromtheParagraphFormattingmenu.

RESOURCES
MLAFormattingGuidelinesforCollegePapers
APAFormattingGuidelinesforCollegePapers

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