Formatting for Written Assignments

Dennis Bratcher

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In most cases the way a written assignment is formatted is not critical and is certainly not part of the grade. However, a standard format facilitates reading and grading when there are large numbers of papers. The following are guidelines for formatting written assignments.

The internal document formatting should be as follows:

Margins: 1" all around

Font: Times Roman or equivalent
(never use a script or fancy font; web fonts such as Trebuchet are not appropriate for hard copy text).

Size: 12 pt., no larger.

Spacing: double or 1.5 (except bibliographies or outlines). Do not add extra spacing for headings.

Paragraph: left align, first line indent .5"

Footnotes: same page (no endnotes), single spaced.

Footnotes Font: same face as body, no smaller than 10 pt.

Quotes: for quotes of more than five lines, standard blockquote (block indent), single spaced.

Bibliography: standard hanging indent, single spaced.

Outlines: single spaced, standard indents.

Page Numbers: in header (as below), same font face as body, no smaller than 10 pt.

In addition, there should be a header on all pages except the first, formatted as: Space from edge: .5". The header should contain "[student’s name]" aligned left margin and "[automatic page number]" aligned right margin.

-Dennis Bratcher, Copyright © 2006, Dennis Bratcher - All Rights Reserved
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