Formatting as Academic Paper QuicklyYou have written your paper, added your references/works cited in the order you found them (make sure you have all the necessary information for your citations), added the information for your title page and it is now time to format your paper.

Title Page

1. Check the requirements for the formatting style you have been told to use (APA, MLA, Chicago, etc.).  In most instances information has to be centered on its own page.

2. To centre vertically and place the information on a separate page, highlight your title information.

3. Click the Layout tab, then on Margins4. Select Custom Margins from the drop-down menu

5. In the pop-up window, change the Apply to: to Selected Text6. Change the Page > Vertical Alignment to Centre7. Click OK

8. Now to centre horizontally, select the text9. Open the Home tab10. Select Centre in the Paragraph tools

Adding Running Headers & Page Numbers

Title/Cover pages may not require page numbers, but almost all require a running header. This means that the header for you cover page needs to be set separately.

1. Go to the Insert tab2. Click on Header, then select the first header option

3. To set the title page header for different content, make sure the Different First Page is ticked

4. Add your running header

5. Move down in your paper to the first page of the body6. Click in the Header on this page7. In the Header Design tab, click Page Number8. Select Top of the Page from the drop-down menu, then the third option that displays to

place the page number on the right side of the header9. The page number should default to 2, but if it doesn’t, you will need to use the Format

Page Number option in the Page Number drop-down menu

10. To add a running header to the remainder of your paper, place the cursor to the right of the page number, then press Enter

11. Type your running header12. Open the Home tab, then select the Left option in the paragraph tools

Placing References / Works Cited on a Separate Page

The References / Work Cited page needs to start on its own page, there is a simple way to do this.

1. Place the cursor at the front of the References title2. Open the Insert tab, then select Page Break

Centring the References / Works Cited Title1. Click on the title2. Go to the Home tab3. Select the Centre icon in the paragraph tools

Indenting Paragraphs & CitationsIn most formatting styles, paragraph bodies and citations need to be indented. Word does this using a ruler:

1. To indent the paragraphs in the body of your paper, select the entire body of the paper2. Click on and drag the top triangle (pointing down) to the right

3. To get this

4. To add hanging indents to your citations, select the entire list of citations5. Click on and drag the bottom triangle (pointing up) to the right

6. To get this:

Sorting Citations AlphabeticallyRegardless of which formatting style you have been told to use, the citation list must be sorted alphabetically. This can be done very easily and quickly.

1. Select all your citations2. Open the Home tab3. Click on the A/Z sort

4. Make sure Paragraphs and No Header Row are selected in the pop-up window5. Click Ok

Adding Italics and/or Underlines to CitationsOption 1:

1. Press the CTRL key, then use the cursor to select the text to be italicized or underlined2. Open the Home tab3. Click on the I or U in the Font tools

Option 2:

1. Add the underline or italics to the first set of text to be changed2. Click in the middle of the changed text3. Open the Home tab4. Double-click on the Format Painter5. Now paint all the text to be changed (Note, if you didn’t double-click on the format

Painter, the paint brush will disappear after you paint the first set of text)