Paper Format

These guidelines are the default settings for papers turned in at TSAS. Your teacher may alter these or add to them for specific assignments.

Properly formatted paper

Quick guidelines:

• First Page Header
  • Your full name
  • Name of class
  • Name of assignment
  • Date turned in (not the day you started it)
  • See Essay Header for document heading
• Title
  • Centered
  • Should be original and creative
  • Should follow text formatting; do not increase the font size, underline, or emphasize
  • No spaces before or after
• Text
  • Times New Roman or Arial
  • 12pt
• Margins
  • One inch all around
  • Two inches for block quotations
• Paragraph
  • No space before or after
  • Indent 1/2 inch
  • Double-spaced

To Make Sure

(In Microsoft Word) after you finish your paper, save it, hit ctrl+A, right click the text, then hit "Paragraph." The line spacing option should say "double", and the spacing before and after should read "0". Hit "OK," then (with the text still highlighted) check the text size and font boxes to ensure they read "12" and "Times New Roman," (or "Arial") respectively. If not, or if they’re blank, fix them.

Proper settings in Word '07