Library: Writing Guide: Formatting

Formatting Basics

Presentation matters. Like it or not, everyone tends to take information more or less seriously depending on how it is formatted and presented. In graduate school, one of the aspects of a well-written paper is proper formatting and style. Unless your instructor tells you otherwise, there are four very basic formatting rules you should always follow when writing a paper to be submitted via Word or PDF format:

Type your assignments out in black, 12-point Times New Roman font, with footnotes in 10-point Times New Roman font. Calibri font is also acceptable.
Use double spacing: double spacing makes papers easier to read and gives space for the grader to insert notes.
For your typical course paper, keep 1 inch margins on all sides of the paper, one inch being the default margins in Microsoft Word, Google Docs, and Apple Pages. When writing your thesis or dissertation, your left margin will instead be 1.5 inches to make room for the binding.
Include page numbers, but do not include a page number on any title page.

For all other formatting issues, refer to The Chicago Manual of Style or Turabian's A Manual for Writers of Research Papers, Theses, and Dissertations. You can also make use of the paper templates to the right, which have been pre-formatted to fit our house rules.

Paper Templates

Download and Save As the following templates to help make sure you are formatting your papers correctly!

Parts of a Typical Class Paper

Unless your instructor tells you otherwise, they will consider a well-written paper to include the following parts:

A title: Ideally, your paper’s title is something original that tells the reader what the paper is about, like, “Constructive Theology in the Black Lives Matter Era” instead of just “Assignment #2.”
An introduction paragraph: An introduction is a paragraph (at least 3 sentences but up to a page) setting up your argument or arguments. A good introduction explains a problem or issue that you will address in your thesis statement and essay body. Common ways of doing this include recapping a very brief history of the problem or recounting an anecdote that illustrates the problem.
A thesis statement: Your introduction MUST include a thesis statement, a statement summarizing the argument that you will go into in the body of your essay. Typically, the thesis statement is the last sentence of the introduction; ending your introduction with your thesis makes it easier for your instructor to find, which they will appreciate when they are grading many papers. For papers of twenty pages or less, you should be able to summarize your arguments into a one-sentence thesis statement. Consider reviewing the arguments you make in the paper’s body when you are almost done and then re-writing your thesis statement so that your thesis represents your paper.
A body containing cited evidence: Your paper’s body is composed of the paragraphs between the introduction and conclusion where you make your argument. Each of the paragraphs in the body should focus on an argument in support of your thesis or an aspect of the argument that you made in your thesis. Good arguments are supported by evidence, so in arguing for your thesis, you MUST provide evidence in the form of facts, quotes, paraphrases, and/or data that you have found in sources. You MUST cite the facts, quotes, paraphrases, and data according to Chicago/Turabian style. In most good papers, every paragraph in the body contains at least one piece of evidence, and therefore at least one citation.
A conclusion paragraph: Usually, a conclusion includes a summary of your argument(s). You could also consider mentioning future areas that need to be studied for this topic.
A bibliography: A bibliography is an alphabetical list of all the sources that you cited in your paper and that you used to write your paper, following Chicago Manual of Style/Turabian rules.

If you are writing an MAR or DMin thesis, then your work will require other parts. See our Thesis Guide for more information.