Document Formatting
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Report—a one-page or multi-page document
used to summarize research or findings
Two of the common formatting guidelines are
MLA and APA.
◦ MLA (Modern Language Association)—formatting
guidelines often used by the liberal arts and
humanities
◦ APA (American Psychological Association)—
formatting guidelines often used by the social
sciences
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The font should be
10 – 12 point
standard font.
Highlight your
document and set
everything to double
spacing. (Home tab,
Paragraph)
The first line of each
paragraph is
indented.
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A header should go on every page, including page 1.
 The header should be on the right.
 It should contain the author’s last name and page number.
The first page heading should include the author’s name, the
instructor’s name, the course name, and the date as shown.
 Do not put this in the header since it goes on the first page
only.
The title is centered on the line above the body of the report.
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The references page in MLA
style should be titled Works
Cited.
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It should begin on a new page.
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This page is double spaced.
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Use a hanging indent for the
entries.
If you need help with your
citations, go to
http://citationmachine.net/.
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The margins of an APA paper are 1 inch on all sides.
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The preferred fonts are Times New Roman and Arial.
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The font size should be 10-12 point.
◦ In Times New Roman, 12 point is generally preferred.
◦ In Arial, 11 point is preferred.
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The entire document is double spaced.
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An APA style paper begins with a
title page.
The title page includes the name
of the paper, the author’s name,
and the name of the school.
It should be double spaced and
centered horizontally and
vertically.
It should be in title case.
◦ Title case is like the title of a book,
where every important word is
capitalized.
◦ Words like and, of, and in are in
lowercase except when they as the
first word of the title.
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The header includes the name of
the paper and the page number.
There should be 5 spaces
between the title and the page
number.
The header should be on right
justified.
It starts on the first page and
continues through the References
page.
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An abstract is a single paragraph that
summarizes briefly the content of
your paper.
An abstract is required in an APA
Paper.
◦ The word Abstract is centered as the title on
the very first line (so that it is exactly 1 inch
from the top of the paper).
◦ The word Abstract should begin with a
capital letter. Do NOT use all caps, italics,
underlined, bold, or quotation marks.
◦ Double space after the body before
beginning the paragraph.
◦ It is on a separate page from the title page
and the body.
◦ The first line of the paragraph is NOT
indented. This is true for the abstract only.
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The body of the paper starts on a
separate page.
The title begins on the very first line so
that it is exactly 1 inch from the top of
the paper.
The title should be in title case and
should be exactly the same as the title
on the cover page. Do NOT use all
caps, italics, underlined, bold, or
quotation marks.
The body begins a double space below
the title.
The first line of each paragraph is
indented.
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The sources page is called References.
It should be on a new page with
References as the title. It should begin
with a capital letter. It should NOT be
in all caps, italics, bold, underlined, or
in quotation marks.
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It double spaced.
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Use a hanging indent for the sources.
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All sources used should be listed in
alphabetical order.
The header should continue on this
page.
If you need help with your citations, go
to http://citationmachine.net/.