General Document Guidelines

1. Margins: One inch on all sides (top, bottom, left, right)
2. Font Size and Type: 12-pt. Times New Roman font
3. Line Spacing: Double-space throughout the paper, including the title page, abstract, body of the document, references, appendixes, footnotes, tables, and figures.
4. Spacing after Punctuation: Space once after commas, colons, and semicolons within sentences. Insert two spaces after punctuation marks that end sentences.
5. Alignment: Flush left (creating uneven right margin)
6. Paragraph Indentation: 5-7 spaces
7. Pagination: The page number appears one inch from the right edge of the paper on the first line of every page.
8. Running Head: The running head is a short title that appears at the top of the pages of a paper or published article. The running head is typed flush left at the top of all pages. The running head should not exceed 50 characters, including punctuation and spacing. Using most word processors, the running head and page number can be inserted into a header, which then automatically appears on all pages.
9. Active voice: As a general rule, use the active voice rather than the passive voice. For example, use "We predicted that ..." rather than "It was predicted that ..."
10. Order of Pages: Title Page, Abstract, Body, References, Footnotes, Tables, Figures, Appendixes