Module 2: Using Word, Excel, and PowerPoint for Academic Coursework

Tips for Using Styles in Academic Projects

Styles allow users to apply the same collection of formatting details to many individual elements in a document. This helps to produce a unified look and makes it easier to format according to specific guidelines.

Equally important, styles can be used to quickly change the formatting of many elements by simply redefining the style. And, formatting headings with styles allows users to quickly generate a Table of Contents (or an outline) for a document.

Styles Provided by Word

The Normal stylesheet provided by Word supplies predefined styles that may be similar to these:

Style	Definition
Heading 1	Arial, 16 points, Bold, Left justified, Single spaced, space before 12 points, space after 3 points
*Heading 2*	Arial, 14 points, Bold, Italic, Left justified, Single spaced, space before 12 points, space after 3 points
Heading 3	Arial, 13 points, Bold, Left justified, Single spaced, space before 12 points, space after 3 points
Normal	Times New Roman, 12 points, Left justified, Single spaced, no first line indent, 0 space before, 0 space after

Style Redefined to Meet APA Guidelines

Using Format/Styles and Formatting, the user can change the definitions of these existing styles so that they match the APA guidelines:

Style	Definition
Heading 1	Times New Roman, 12 points, Center justified, Double spaced, 0 space before, 0 space after
Heading 2	Times New Roman, 12 points, Underlined, Center justified, Double spaced, 0 space before, 0 space after
Heading 3	Times New Roman, 12 points, Underlined, Left justified, Double spaced, 0 space before, 0 space after
Normal	Times New Roman, 12 points, Left justified, Double spaced, .5 inch (1.27 cm) first line indent, 0 space before, 0 space after

Saving a Style

If you redefine styles in a particular document that was based upon the Normal stylesheet, you may be asked if you wish to update the stylesheet when you save the file. This may not be possible if you are working on a computer in a lab. Also, if you are working on your own computer, you may not want to change the styles in the Normal stylesheet. However, any formatting you have defined within a particular document will be saved with the document.

If you want to save a set of styles and use them again for other documents, you can create a Template. (For more on creating and using templates, read the Help provided with Word.)