This document provides an overview of the key elements and formatting for a research paper using MLA style, including: 1) Parenthetical citations, content notes, and a Works Cited page for citing sources. 2) Common Word styles and formatting options like line spacing, paragraph spacing, headers/footers, and alignment. 3) Tools for citations, footnotes/endnotes, page breaks, and formatting text like indents.

1. Project 2

2. The Paper
 Research Paper – document used to communicate the
results of research findings
 Two main types of research papers – the information is
the same in each, the format is different
 Modern Language Association (MLA)
 American Psychological Association (APA)
 This chapter covers MLA style which is also the style
used here – Wilmington High School

3. MLA Style Formatting
 Parenthetical References – this means sources are
noted with in the body of paper, not at bottom of page
or at end of paper
 Content Notes – these are used to elaborate on points
within paper or to direct reader to notes about a
source: uses a superscript font to identify
 Works Cited page – list of sources at end of paper

4. Styles
 Word offers users a variety of different styles or
formatting characteristics
 The default style in word is called Normal which used
11 pt Calibri font
Styles group on Home
Ribbon

5. Line & Paragraph Spacing
 Line Spacing – the amount of vertical space between
lines of text within a paragraph
 Paragraph Spacing – the amount of space above and
below a paragraph
 By default word places 10 pts of space after each
paragraph (this is why there looks like there is an extra
space in between lines)
Line Spacing
Paragraph Spacing

6. Header / Footer
 Header – text and graphics that print at the top of each
page
 Footer – text and graphics that print at the bottom of
each page
Header section of page

7. Header vs. Heading
 A header goes at the top of a page and repeats on every
page or every other page
 A heading is placed at the top of the first page

8. Alignment
 3 main types of alignment Alignment
buttons on
 Left Aligned (default) (CTRL+L)
home Ribbon
 Center Aligned (CTRL+E)
 Right Aligned (CTRL+R)

9. AutoCorrect
 Word autocorrect corrects many common
typing, spelling, grammar, and capitalization errors as
you type
 If a word is corrected automatically a small blue box
appears:
 This box is the options button which gives the user
options on how to handle the correction

10. Citations
 Citations are the in-text references that MLA style uses
for sources. The full source would then be at the end of
the paper on the page called Works Cited
 The citation buttons are located on the reference
ribbon in citations and bibliography grouping

11. Footnotes / Endnotes
 Footnotes are notes placed at the bottom of a page
 Endnotes are notes placed at the end of a document
 Footnotes and endnotes contain information that
detail points discussed in the paper
 A note reference mark is used to signal the presence of
a footnote or endnote
 A superscript is used as the mark (ex: 1)

12. Page Breaks
 Soft page break – a page break that is inserted
automatically by Word when one page has been filled
 Sometimes called automatic page break
 Causes repagination – Word decides what lines go on
what page
 Hard Page Break – a page break that has been forced
into the document by the user
 Sometimes called a manual page break
 Button is located on the insert ribbon in the pages group

13. Work Cited
 MLA style used a work cited page to list the sources
that are directly referenced in the paper
 This is a separate page from the paper itself
 APA uses bibliography – not work cited

14. Indents
 Regular indent – hit tab, insertion point moves .5
inches
 Used at the beginning of most paragraphs in formal
writing
 Hanging Indent – the first line of a paragraph hangs to
the left of the rest of the paragraph.
Ex:

15. Indents Continued
 Hanging indents are set on the horizontal ruler bar
First Line Indent – by setting this to a given measurement every line will be
indented when the user hits enter
The hanging indent marker is the triangle pointing up.
Click and drag to set at a given measurement
The box below is the left indent and will
move when the hanging indent is set

16. Odds and Ends
 Proofreading – looking for grammatical and spelling
errors
 Clipboard – temporary storage that holds 24 items
copied from any office program
 Copying – the process of placing items on the Office
clipboard, leaving the item in the original document
 Cutting – removes item from document and places it
on clipboard
 Pasting – process of copying an item from the
clipboard into the destination document

17. More Odds and Ends
 Synonym – a word similar in meaning to the current
word being used
 Ex: like / enjoy
 Thesaurus – a book of synonums

18. That’s It
 Definitions and concepts are at a minimum in this
chapter
 Please remember to read between each step as you are
completing the walk through