Research Paper Word-Formatting Tips

  Before you start typing the paper itself, set your margins to 1" all around:

Go to File/Page Set-up
Use the arrows to set the four margins to 1".
Leave the gutter position alone.
Under Apply To, select whole document.
Then click default to make a permanent change or OK to apply to just this paper.

  Before you start typing the research paper itself, set the spacing to double:

Format
Paragraph
Line spacing
Double
OK

Before you start typing the paper itself, insert your running head:

View
Header and footer
In the box provided, type your last name and a space
Right-justify
Hit the # button on the header toolbar to insert a page number
Close the Toolbar

As you type your paper, use word wrap around except where you hit enter to make a new paragraph.

To indent a quotation of more than 4 lines, first type the quotation.  Then:
After the colon that introduces the quote, hit the enter key once.
Backspace to left-align.
Select the text of the long quotation and the parenthetical reference.
On the formatting bar, click the indent button twice.
YES, tab will work, but it doesn't "hold" the formatting well.

 Your Works Cited page is the last numbered page of your paper.  Center the title at the top of the page,  and then:

Hit the enter key once and change back to left justification.
Type all of your entries using the word wrap around feature except where you change from one entry to another
When you finish, select all of the items together.
Click Format/Paragraph.
In the paragraph dialog box, under Indentation, select Special/Hanging.
Click OK.

©Flo Walsh 2007