Formatting Academic Papers: Guidelines for Microsoft Word, Lecture notes of Technical Writing

Download Formatting Academic Papers: Guidelines for Microsoft Word and more Lecture notes Technical Writing in PDF only on Docsity! Formatting an Academic Paper This handout will provide guidance in formatting an academic paper: how to set up document margins, indentations, font, alignment, page numbers, and document and paragraph spacing in Microsoft Word (Note: this is a guide for standard setup. If a student writer’s professor gives specific instruction for an academic paper format, follow the instructed guidelines on the assignment’s rubric). Document Margins Final papers should have 1” margins on all sides. This can be changed by going to the “Layout” tab and changing the Top, Bottom, Left, and Right margins to 1”, or by going to Format > Document in the menu bar and changing the margins there. Make sure the gutter is set to 0”. Indentations The first line of every new paragraph should automatically indent. If this is not the default setting, change the indentation format for a document by clicking Format > Paragraph in the menu bar. Look under the “Special” drop-down menu in the Indentation section, and select “First Line.” This setting automatically indents the first line so that student writers don’t have to do it manually. Font Academic papers should be written in an academic font: either Times New Roman or Cambria. All papers should also be written with 12-point font. (Note: Times New Roman and Cambria are the default fonts for Microsoft Word, and 12-point font is also the default setting for font size). Alignment The text of your paper should be left aligned, NOT justified, as justified text is hard to read if it hasn’t been professionally typeset. The default in Word is left alignment so don’t change it.