COMPUTER FORMAT AND MANUSCRIPT FORM

required for Dr. Mercer’s classes

Revised 8-14-11

Unless I tell you otherwise, do all out-of-class assignments on computer, using the following format.

1. Font: Use Times New Roman 12.

2. Line spacing: Double-space your entire paper. Do NOT leave additional spaces between the lines of the heading, before or after the title (if the paper has a title), or between paragraphs. If you are using Word 2007, change the default settings to remove the extra space after each paragraph. Select “Page Layout” and then “Spacing,” change the “After” setting from 10 pt. to 0 pt., and make this your new default setting. Do NOT single-space within indented quotations or within entries on a works-cited page (if you are writing a research paper).

· Exception: To save space, my study guides are single-spaced. Retain single-spacing when you print (or, in ITV classes, electronically submit) your study guides.

· Exception: Single-space when you fill out an “Extra-Credit Submission Form.”

3. Alignment of text (justification of margins): “Align text left” (use left justification).

4. Margins: Use one (1)-inch margins on all four sides of the page. If you are using Word 2003 (or an earlier version of Word), change the default left and right margins from 1.25 inches to one (1) inch.

· Exception: For out-of-class essay exams, you may reduce your margins to one-half (0.5) inch if necessary to squeeze your paper onto the maximum number of pages allowed.

5. Heading: In the upper left of the first page, use the standard four (4)-line MLA heading: your first and last name, the instructor’s title and last name (for example, “Dr. Mercer”), the course prefix and number (for example, “ENGL 3413”), and the due date (for example, “25 January 2011”).

· Exception: The heading is optional for study guides, but be sure to identify your name somewhere at the top of the first page.

· Exception: For essay exams or any other assignments I tell you are to be graded blindly (without my knowledge of the students’ identities), omit the four (4)-line heading.

6. Page header: In the upper right of each page, beginning with page 1, insert as a header your last name followed by one space and the page number.

· Exception: For essay exams or any other assignments I tell you are to be graded blindly, use a nine (9)-digit SSN instead of your last name. To protect the privacy of your SSN, you may change any of the digits except the last four (4).

7. Title: If the instructions for the assignment require a title or if you wish to give your paper a title,

· use a title that clearly and specifically reflects the content of the paper, usually repeating key words from the thesis.

· do NOT underline or italicize your title or place it in quotation marks.

· do NOT use a title that is a grammatically complete sentence.

· center the title at the top of the first page of the essay, underneath the heading (if the paper has a heading).

· capitalize the first letter of the first word, the last word, and all other words in your title EXCEPT for articles (a, an, the), prepositions (throughout, between, to, for, in), coordinate conjunctions (and, but, or), and to when used with infinitives.

8. Paragraph indentation: Indent each paragraph one-half (0.5) inch (about seven [7] characters in Times New Roman 12) from the left margin.