University of Phoenix Formatting Standards for Written ...



University of Phoenix Formatting Standards for Written Assignments

Hello and welcome to the University of Phoenix!

The University of Phoenix has adopted The Little, Brown Compact Handbook (The LBCH) as the official style guide for students in the following programs:

• Undergraduate business

• Graduate business

• Information systems and technology

• General and professional studies

The LBCH is a comprehensive style guide that provides helpful information on the writing process, clarity and style, research and documentation, and writing mechanics. It also contains detailed instructions for both APA and MLA source documentation and format.

Check with your instructor to determine whether you should use either MLA or APA style for citing your sources and formatting your written assignments in the above programs. (Note: students in the helping professions and the doctoral programs are required to use APA style.)

If you are writing a formal research paper for a course, it is important that you follow either APA or MLA carefully. On the other hand, you will write many papers during your UOP experience that are short and do not contain references or citations. The purpose of this brief document is to clarify and summarize the general formatting standards that are acceptable for both types of written assignments at the University of Phoenix. You should be able to find answers to many of your formatting questions in these few pages. If your questions are not answered here, look in The LBCH.

Prepared by the Faculty of the College of General and Professional Studies

Table of Contents

General Information

Paper

Font Style and Size

Margins

Assignment Identification

Title Page

Abstract and Table of Contents

Page Numbers

Page Headers

Text

Characteristics

Spacing

Paragraph Indents

Punctuation

Spacing After Punctuation

Hyphens and Dashes

Formatting Standards

General Information

Paper

Use 8 1/2" x 11" white bond paper of at least twenty-pound weight. Use the same type of paper throughout the assignment and print on only one side of each sheet.

Font Style and Size

Use a conventional serif or sans serif typeface (such as Times New Roman, Courier, or Arial) with 12-point type that is dark, clear, and readable.

Margins

Use a 1-inch or 1 1/2-inch margin on the left and 1-inch margins on the other sides. Use

the flush-left style and leave the right margin uneven, or ragged.

Assignment Identification

Title Page

MLA

Do not use a title page. Give your name, your instructor’s name, the course title, and the

date the assignment is turned in, on separate lines in the upper left of the first page, one

inch from the top and left of the paper. Double-space between all lines of this

identification. (See sample in The LBCH.)

Double-space after the identification and center the title of your assignment. Double-space after the title. If the title runs two lines, center both lines and double space between them. Use capital and small letters for the title, capitalizing according to the guidelines in The LBCH. Do not type the title in all capital letters, underline it, or enclose it in quotation marks.

APA

Use a title page. On the title page, include the full title of your assignment, your name, the course title, the instructor’s name, and the date the assignment is turned in. (See sample in The LBCH.) The title should summarize the main topic of your assignment and be a maximum of ten to twelve words. You may use a centered layout for the title page that uses the entire page or an abbreviated, centered layout in which all title page information appears on the top half of the page. (See samples in The LBCH.) You do not need to place a running head on the title page.

Abstract and Table of Contents

Assignments that have fewer than eight pages do not require an abstract or table of contents. This guideline applies to papers in both APA and MLA format.

Page Numbers

Begin numbering your assignment on the title page for APA style and the first page for MLA style. Number consecutively through the end of the assignment. Use Arabic numerals (1, 2, 3) and do not add periods, parentheses, hyphens, or the abbreviation “p.” Align the page number with the right margin and position it about half an inch from the top of the page. You may include your last name in front of the page number if you choose.

Text

Spacing

Double space throughout your assignment, including short quotations and the list of works cited or reference list (if applicable). Do not insert extra spaces between paragraphs. Single spacing may be used for tables or lists. Triple spacing may be used after chapter titles, before major subheadings, and before and after tables or lists in the text.

Paragraph Indents

Indent the first line of every paragraph five to seven spaces or one-half inch. The default

setting on the tab key is acceptable.

Punctuation

Spacing After Punctuation

You may use one or two spaces after a period, a colon, a question mark, or an

exclamation mark. Use only one space after a comma or a semicolon. Do not space after

internal periods in abbreviations or around colons in ratios.

Hyphens and Dashes

Hyphens: Use no space before or after a hyphen.

Dashes: Type as two hyphens with no space before or after the hyphens or use the longer

dash symbol in your word processing program symbol list with no space before

or after the symbol.

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