Embedded Files
General Formatting
General Formatting
Margins and Text Formatting
Margins and Text Formatting
Margins
Margins should be one inch at the top and bottom and on both sides of the text.
Text Formatting
Choose an easily readable typeface (Times New Roman is just one example) between 11 and 13 points. Use the same typeface and type size throughout the research project.
Double-space the entire research paper, including quotations, notes, and the works cited.
Indent the first line of a paragraph half an inch from the left margin. Ident block quotations half an inch as well.
Turn off the automatic hyphenation feature in your word processing program. It is unnecessary to divide words at the ends of lines in a manuscript.
Leave one space after a period or other concluding punctuation marks.
Heading & Title
Heading & Title
Heading
One inch from the top of the first page and flush with the left margin, type:
Your name
Your instructor's name
Course name and number
Date
Each should be listed on separate double-spaced lines.
Title
On a new double-spaced line, center the title. Do not italicize or underline your title, put it in quotation marks or boldface, or type it in all capital letters. Do not use a period after your title or any heading in the paper.
Begin your text on a new double-spaced line after the title, indenting the first line of the paragraph half an inch from the left margin.
Running Head and Page Numbers
Running Head and Page Numbers
Running Head
The running head includes your surname, followed by a space, before the page number. If a project has several authors and all authors' surnames do not fit in a running head, include only the page number. The running head should appear on every page.
Page Numbers
Number all pages consecutively throughout the research paper in the upper right-hand corner, half an inch from the top and flush with the right margin.
Do not use the abbreviation "p." before the page number or add a period, a hyphen, or any other mark or symbol.
Formatting Your Works Cited
Formatting Your Works Cited
The works cited is found at the end of research papers and other research projects, such as a slideshow/PowerPoint. It is the place where you will provide full citations to all the sources used in your research. The remaining portion of this will focus on on how the works cited is formatted for research papers.
The works cited should be put on a new page at the end of your paper.
The words Work Cited should be centered at the top of the page, 1 inch from the top.
If you only have one source to cite, make sure not to use the plural form of "works" but use "Work Cited" instead.
Each source in your works cited should align with the the left margin on the first line. If it requires more than one line, the subsequent lines should have a 1/2 inch indent (5 spaces) or a hanging indent applied.
💡 You can get step-by-step for both Google Docs and Microsoft Word in the HJF FAQ.
Example of Hanging Indent
Alphabetize by Author
Alphabetize by Author
Sources are put in letter-by-letter alphabetization, meaning you skip the spaces in names and use the next letter instead. Accents and special characters are ignored.
Here are a few examples of more complicated orders.
Example 01
Descartes, Rene
De Sica, Vittorio
Example 02
MacDonald, George
McCullers, Carson
Example 03
Morris, Robert
Morris, William
Morrison, Toni
Example 04
Saint-Exupéry, Antoine de
St. Denis, Ruth
Alphabetizing by Title
Alphabetizing by Title
You only alphabetize a source in your works cited by title in two situations:
No author is named at the start of the entry
The source's author appears at the start of more than one entry.
Alphabetize titles letter by letter, ignoring any initial A, An, or The or the equivalent in other languages. If the title begins with a numeral, alphabetize the title as if the numeral were spelled out.
Formatting Tables
Formatting Tables
Place the table as close as possible to the part of the text to which it relates.
A table is usually labeled Table, given an arabic numeral, and titled. Type both the label and title flush on separate lines above the table, and capitalize them as titles.
Place the source of the table and any notes in a caption immediately below the table. Designate notes to the table with lowercase letters rather than with numerals. Double-space throughout; use dividing lines as needed.
If the caption of the table provides complete information about the source and the source is not cited in the text, no entry is needed for the source in the works cited list.
Formatting Illustrations
Formatting Illustrations
Illustrations may include any type of illustrative visual material, such as:
Photographs
Maps
Line drawings
Graphs
Charts
Place the illustration as close as possible to the parts of the text to which it relates.
Illustrations should be labeled Figure (usually abbreviated Fig.), assigned an arabic numeral, and given a caption.
A label and caption ordinarily appear directly below the illustration. If the caption of the illustration provides complete information about the source and the source is not cited in the text, no entry is needed for the source in the works cited list.
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