Order of Sections
- Heading
- Title
- Introduction/Thesis
- Body (includes tables, figures, and illustrations)
- Conclusion
- Works Cited (starts on new page)
Paper Size, Margins, & Page Numbers
- Use letter-sized (8.5 x 11 inch) paper.
- 1-inch margins at the top, bottom, and both sides.
- Indent first line of each paragraph 1/2 inch from left margin.
- In the upper right-hand corner of the margin, insert page numbers and add your last name (ex. Smith 1).
Text Format
- Use easy-to-read font so that regular and italicized text is easy to distinguish (ex. Times New Roman, Arial, Calibri).
- Use a standard size (ex. Times New Roman 12, Arial 11, Calibri 11 or 12).
- Left-align text and start paragraphs with a half-inch indent. Do not justify text.
- Turn off automatic hyphenation.
- Double-space everything.
- Leave one space after concluding punctuation marks, not two.
Heading & Title
- At the top left of the page, type your name, instructor's name, course number, and date.
- Double-space everything.
- Include any information your instructor requires.
- Center title. Do not italicize, underline, or bold. No quotation marks, all caps, or periods.
- Capitalize the first word, principle words, and each part of a hyphenated word. Do not capitalize articles (a, an, the), prepositions, conjunctions, and to-infinitives.
Tables, Figures, & Illustrations
- Put them close to the related text and align them on the left.
- Above tables: capitalize the title of the table like other titles and number it (ex. Table 1).
- Below the table: give the source of the table and any notes with lower-case letters. Double-space it and use dividing lines.
- Below a figure or illustration: label it as "Figure" or "Fig." and number it (ex. Figure 1).
Quotations (p. 75-76, 81)
- Short quotations (less than four lines) or those without special emphasis are included in the text with quotation marks
- Longer quotations (four lines or more) or those with special emphasis are indented 1/2 inch from left margin and double-spaced with no quotation marks.
- Use an ellipsis with spaces ( . . . ) when omitting sections from a quote. When the ellipsis is at the end of a sentence, use four periods ( . . . . ).
- For poetry, use slashes (/) to show line breaks and double slashes (//) for stanza breaks and keep all punctuation as it appears in the poem.
- Cite your quotes using in-text citation.
Works Cited List (p. 102)
Begin your Works Cited list on a separate page and put the entries in alphabetical order. Double-space and give entries a hanging indent (i.e the first line is on the left margin and the following lines are indented a half inch from the left).
Annotated Bibliography
Double-space the entire bibliography. Give each entry a hanging indent. In the following annotation, indent the entire paragraph a half inch from the left margin and give the first line of each paragraph a half inch indent.
Check with your professor for the length of the annotation and which elements you should evaluate.
