Formatting - A writing process

In the formatting stage, the writer adjusts the visual presentation of a document, usually in a manner consistent with the guidelines of a style manual. Formatting ensures that the features of the document are consistent in appearance, purpose, and order.

Example

The Hunter College Reading/Writing Center provides an example of a research paper formatted in MLA style. The example illustrates a number of formatting elements:

double spacing of all text
identification information (heading) flush left
writer’s first and last name given first
teacher’s title and last name given second
name of course given third
date given fourth
title centered (same double spacing)
initial caps for the title
same font size and font style for title
formal language (no slang or colloquialism)

Achieving consistency

Formatting a document or text is usually easier to do throughout the writing process than it is after one has completed the writing task. Formatting the new document in its required style from the beginning of the writing process saves the writer the time and trouble of making an already written document fit those requirements later.

Style manuals

Style manuals (also called style guides) offer prescriptive guidelines for presenting information in a consistent, uniform manner. They specify standards for a number of important elements, including:

grammar, mechanics, and composition
width of margins
type and location of page numbers
position and identification of charts, graphs, and figures
line spacing
punctuation
citation formatting
ordering and numbering of appendices

Nothing is apparently exempt from the rules and regulations of style manuals or style handbooks — including debatable issues among teachers and publishers of grammar texts, such as the presence or the lack of a comma in front of a coordinating conjunction in a series. That which might seem trivial to others is essential to the publishers and users of style manuals or style handbooks.

Commonly used style manuals include:

The Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association: Usually referred to simply as APA, this manual is commonly used for publishing academic texts and professional articles in journals. The Online Writing Lab (OWL) at Purdue University provides an APA Formatting and Style Guide, and more details about the manual itself are available at the APA website.
MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers: Published by the Modern Language Association of America, the MLA handbook is commonly used in English courses. More details about the Handbook are available at the MLA website, and the OWL at Purdue Univeristy provides an MLA 2009 Formatting and Style Guide.
The Chicago Manual of Style: A general style guide, the Chicago Manual provides the standards used in most print publications published in the United States. The Manual is available online by subscription at the Chicago Manual of Style website, and the OWL at Purdue University provides a guide to formatting in Chicago style.
Kate Turabian’s A Manual for Writers of Research Papers, Theses, and Dissertations: Typically referred to simply as “Turabian,” the style prescribed by this manual is generally the same as the style put forth in The Chicago Manual of Style. But while the Chicago Manual focuses on publishing broadly, Turabian’s focuses specifically on student papers. More details can be found on the Turabian website, and formatting information can be found on the OWL at Purdue University’s guide to formatting in Chicago style.

Most English teachers today typically use the MLA Handbook, which is in its seventh edition as of March 2009. Turabian was once a favorite of English teachers but is less used by many English students today. The APA style manual is increasingly used by students in all subjects or disciplines, especially when preparing and publishing academic theses and dissertations, possibly because the APA style is reportedly used most frequently by academic publishers of texts and periodicals.

The requirements of these style manuals may be supplemented or amended by instructions published by colleges and universities, by schools or departments within a college or university, or by a classroom teacher or instructor. The classroom teacher’s style requirements supersede all other style requirements — even commercially published ones — except when one is formatting a thesis or dissertation according to college or university academic degree requirements, or preparing a document for a publication that requires a specific style or style manual. Many colleges and universities even include style tutorials and programs on their schools’ web sites for student and public use.