
However, for your references in the list of references, ensure they are left-aligned and formatted with a hanging indent. You can set automatic indentation in a word document and ensure that there are no spaces between paragraphs and that the entire paragraph is left-aligned. Ensure that you press one-tab space in the next line where you are about to begin a new paragraph so that you make a 0.5” indentation. You should indent the first lines of the introduction and conclusion paragraphs. When writing an essay in APA format, ensure that you indent the lines of all the paragraphs in your essay or paper except for the abstract that is not indented.

Everything in the paper is left-aligned and not justified. The works cited page is left-aligned but set in a hanging indent of 0.5 inches. You can indent the paragraphs by pressing the tab key or setting the indentation from the word processor you are using. Besides, you should also indent the block quotes 0.5 inches and not include quotation marks. When writing a paper in MLA format, you should indent each paragraph in the essay or research paper. Whenever you doubt the style requirements, check out the style guides available online to proceed with writing when you are sure about what to include and what not to include. Most social sciences, such as criminology, will use Harvard and APA formatting styles. Humanities such as religious studies, history, arts, and literature will use the Chicago style. If you are a nursing student, you will write most papers in APA, ASA, Harvard, or AMA formatting style.

The formatting styles depend on the subject.įor instance, most English papers are written in MLA, APA, Harvard, and Chicago. It is a requirement to stick to a specific formatting and citation style when writing a specific paper. In high school, college, or university, essays and other academic assignments and homework are written following academic writing conventions.
#Indenting paragraphs how to#
Related reading: How to write good paragraphs in an essay. Having answered the most pertinent question, let us have an overview of what this means for the formatting styles such as MLA, APA, Chicago, or Harvard formatting. Again, this special formatting technique for the abstract helps to distinguish it from the rest of the paper. Instead, when writing an abstract, left-align the entire paragraph so there is no indent. When writing a long research paper or essay that needs an abstract, ensure that you indent the paragraphs of the paper but not the abstract. Using the tab key is far much accurate because it sets the cursor at the exact place where you need to type your first sentence in the paragraph. To indent in a word document, use the tab key or press the space bar five times. Ensure that each of the first lines for every new paragraph you are writing is indented 0.5 inches from the left margin. This applies to the APA, MLA, Chicago, and Harvard writing formats.

You should indent every paragraph when writing an essay, research paper, term paper, thesis, or dissertation. Should you indent every paragraph in your essay or research paper? You should always indent your topic sentences, conclusion paragraphs, and the first sentence of the introduction paragraph. Indenting your paragraph helps in organization and distinguishing a paragraph from the next. In academic writing, which is usually done on Microsoft Word, indentation means formatting the paragraphs so that the first sentence is slightly pushed forward, leaving a space between the margin and the first word. Apart from setting up the right 1-inch margins around the paper, setting the paper in double or single-spacing, having page numbers, and titling your work, you need to ensure that you indent it appropriately. Often, indenting the paragraphs is an ingredient to paper formatting that most students either ignore or are unaware of. You can only achieve good academic writing when you adhere to the correct formatting style of a paper. Writing an essay, research paper, and assignments involves coordinating many things simultaneously.
