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Word 2002: Creating a Research Paper
1. Describe the MLA Documentation Style For Research Papers.
Project 2 focuses on the creation of a research paper following the MLA documentation style. The two most used documentation styles are MLA and APA. The APA style is used in the social sciences; MLA style is the standard in the humanities. The MLA style is characterized by the parenthetical citation as shown in Figure 2-1.
The author's last name is followed by the page number(s) of the information referenced in the document. Other characteristics of the MLA style include page headers containing the author's last name followed by page number, parenthetical citations, explanatory notes, superscripted note reference marks, and works cited pages. These are all demonstrated in Figure 2-1.
The More About box entitled Citing Sources on page WD 2.06 emphasizes the guiding principle for citations. If the information is factual and commonly known, the a citation is unnecessary. In the More About box entitle Titles of Works, guidance is given regarding underlining titles of works. Because hyperlinks are distinguished by underlining, titles of works can be differentiated by using italics. Check with your instructor for final approval on this optional way of handling titles.
Should you or your teacher prefers APA document style, a quick overview can be found in the More About box on APA Style page WD 2.06. More information about the MLA and APA guidelines can be found at Word 2002 More About Web page at http://scsite.com/wd2002/more.htm
The standard margin settings in Word are 1.25 inches for the left and right margins and 1 inch for the top and bottom margins. However, some documentation styles, such as MLA, require a one-inch setting for all margins. So, it is very likely that you will change your document settings. As shown in Figures 2-2 and 2-3, you can select File on the Menu bar and then select Page Setup to enter new margin settings.
These new settings can be entered by typing in the numbers or clicking on the text box up /down arrows. A Preview area in the dialog box allows you to see the impact of these changes only after pressing ENTER or TAB or by clicking elsewhere.
The Page Setup dialog box also allows you to set page orientation from the default Portrait (document displays taller rather than wider) to Landscape (document displays wider rather than taller). Notice the Apply to: list box. You can leave the setting at Whole document. Thus, a change in margins will impact the entire document. If you select the This Point Forward option, a section break is placed in the document so that the new margins you set will not affect the margins up to the section break. If you are printing both sides of a page and binding the document, choose Gutter and define the amount of space to add to the binding edge so that there is sufficient room for a binding.
In Print Layout view, both horizontal and vertical rules appear on the screen. You can change the current settings (which are shaded in gray) by dragging the boundary. Hold down the ALT key while doing so to see the numeric settings.
3. Adjust Line Spacing in a Document
MLA documentation requires double-spacing for a document. Before typing a document, you can click the Line Spacing button arrow on the Formatting toolbar and select from a number of options as shown in Figure 2-6. Additional line spacing options are available under the More in the Line Spacing list. Notice in Figure 2-7 that after selecting double-spacing, the end mark is one blank line below the insertion point.
Besides using the Line Spacing button, other ways to select line spacing are available in Word. As pointed out in the Other Ways box page WD 2.11, you may select Format in the menu bar and click Paragraph to display the dialog box. The line spacing is available under the Indents and Spacing tab. Other options are also listed.
To change line spacing in a paragraph, make sure the insertion point is in the paragraph before using one of the options described above. If you decide to change spacing for an entire existing document, use the Select All option under Edit in the menu bar and then follow the steps for setting line spacing.
4. Use a Header to Number Pages of a Document
Headers and footers are features provided by Word so that you can automatically insert text at the top or bottom of every page in a document. While you can insert page numbers by selecting Insert in the menu bar and clicking Page Numbers, this method does not permit insertion of text as well. To comply with MLA style documentation, then, you must create a header that allows you to type your name to the left of the page number.
When you select View, Header and Footer in the menu bar, Word switches from normal view to print layout view with the Header and Footer floating toolbar open. Once entered, headers and footers are barely visible in light gray text. After typing a last name, click the Insert Page Number button on the Header and Footer toolbar as shown in Figure 2-12.
Other insertion options on the toolbar include inserting a total number of pages, inserting the current date and inserting the current time. If you have a cover sheet and do not want the first page numbered, click View Header and Footer. Click the Page Setup button as shown in Figure 2-14, then click the Different first page check box.
The header and footer will disappear from page one. Footers are especially effective for showing page numbers, dates and times. On the Header and Footer toolbar, click on the Switch Between Header and Footer button to move to the footer.You enter information into a footer the same way as you enter information into a header. Once finished, click the Close button on the Header and Footer toolbar to return to the document.
5. Enter Text Using Click and Type
Click and Type is a quick formatting feature available in Print Layout View. To determine which formatting Click and Type will apply when you double-click, watch the Click and Type pointer. As you move the pointer into a specific formatting area, the pointer shape indicates which formatting will be applied: a left, center, or right-aligned tab stop; a left indent; or left or right text wrapping. For example, if you move your cursor to the center of the page, the pointer shape changes into the center icon , thus indicating that the item will be centered.
If you want to determine which formatting Click and Type has applied to an existing item, you can use the Formatting toolbar to view the alignment settings. You can also use the horizontal ruler to view the indents and tab stops. To see the tab characters in the document, turn on the formatting marks.
Notice the right-align icon appears when you move your cursor to that location in the header, as shown in Figure 2-10. To activate the feature, just double-click at a location--in this case at the right edge of the header box--to right-align a name.
6. Apply Formatting Using Shortcut Keys
Word has shortcut keys which you can use to speed up your formatting. By using the keyboard to, for instance, bold or underline text, your hands remain on the keyboard to continue typing. The entire list of shortcut keys can be found in Word Help. It might be helpful to print out the list for quick reference.
Tables 2-1 and 2-2 show the shortcut keys for formatting characters and formatting paragraphs. You can create your own shortcut keys in Word by assigning shortcut keys to commands that do not already have them. You can also return to the default shortcut key settings at any time.
Besides commands and styles, shortcut keys can be assigned to a macro, font, AutoText entry, or a commonly used symbol. On the Tools menu, click Customize and then click Keyboard to begin the process of creating your own shortcuts..
You can format paragraphs with several types of indents--a first line indent, a left indent, a right indent and a hanging indent. In this section, you are setting a first line indent to comply with MLA style which requires the first line of each paragraph in the paper to be indented by one-half inch.
If the horizontal ruler is not displaying on your window while following the steps for setting indents, click View on the menu bar and select Ruler. On the ruler, the first-line indent marker appears as a triangle. Dragging on the marker will reset the default setting. Notice the vertical dotted line in Figure 2-19 which appears on the screen as a visual aid as you drag the marker.
The paragraph mark also appears wherever the first-line indent is set as shown in Figure 2-20. Once the first-line indent is set, as you type other paragraphs, the indent remains in effect. Thus the impact of pressing the ENTER key for a new paragraph is clearly shown in Figure 2-21.
When using Click and Type to insert text in subsequent paragraphs, the first-line indent formatting is automatically applied to paragraphs. You can also set indents through the Format, Paragraph, Indents and Spacing tab on the menu bar. Right-clicking on a paragraph will display a shortcut menu which gives you access to the Paragraph dialog box as well. One of the quickest ways to indent is to press the TAB key at the beginning of a paragraph.
8. Use Word's AutoCorrect Feature
Word provides a predefined list of common typing, spelling, grammar and capitalization errors. It quickly makes the change and allows you to continue entering text. If AutoCorrect is not working for you, perhaps it has not been set. Select Tools, AutoCorrect to display the AutoCorrect dialog box and make sure the Replace text as you type check box is selected.
You can build this feature to reflect your own tendencies. For instance, you can add entries to the AutoCorrect feature while spell checking. Just right-click the flagged word and point to AutoCorrect. Click the correction you want added to the AutoCorrect list. If this does not work for you, perhaps the feature is not turned on. Choose Tools, AutoCorrect in the menu bar and make sure the Automatically use suggestions from the spelling checker box is selected.
You can add your own corrections to the AutoCorrect list. Look at Figures 2-26 and 2-27 for the menu choices and dialog box settings to add the misspelling of software and its correct version. Suppose AutoCorrect automatically corrects capitalization when you would prefer not to. As noted in this section, if you typed WD. any text following will be capitalized due to the period. You can set exceptions through the Exceptions button under the AutoCorrect tab in the dialog box as shown in Figure 2-27.
You can also use AutoCorrect to save typing. For instance, if you type the name of a company often, set up a shorthand version of the name in the Replace text box shown in Figure 2-27. Type the full company name in the With text box. Then, when you type the shorthand and press the Spacebar, Word expands the name.
9. Add a Footnote to a Research Paper
When you wish to elaborate on a point in your research paper, footnotes or explanatory notes can be inserted. Although footnotes can be used for references, both the MLA and APA styles suggest citing sources by using parentheses in the text. The steps for creating footnotes are shown in Figures 2-29 through 2-32.
Before doing so, make sure your insertion point is positioned at the point at which you want the superscript to appear. When the Insert button is clicked as shown in Figure 2-20, a note pane appears at the bottom of the window. Notice the superscripted reference marks appear both in the document window and in the note text area. Your footnote is not limited in length or formatting.
Some research paper styles require endnotes instead of footnotes. Endnotes appear at the end of the document instead of at the foot of the page. You insert endnotes by selecting Endnotes instead of Footnotes in the Footnote and Endnote dialog box as shown in Figure 2-20.
Word allows you to define styles (a grouping of formats) and apply them to any text in your document. For example, as shown in Figure 2-34, a style has been defined for footnote text. It is Times New Roman font, 10 pt. size, single-spaced and left alignment. In this section, you follow steps to modify the style to first-line indent, double-spacing and 12-point font size. By changing the style, rather than each individual footnote, every footnote entered thereafter will adhere to the modified style.
You can modify a style in the Style dialog box after clicking the Modify button as shown in Figure 2-34. After selecting the Footnote Text style in the Style list box as shown in Figure 2-35, the style settings will appear and you can edit the existing formatting. Additional options such as indenting, can be accessed by clicking the Format button shown in Figure 2-36 and making the indent change as shown in Figure 2-37.
After closing the note pane, your screen will appear as the document window in Figure 2-40 with the note reference mark appearing. A Screen Tip containing the footnote displays when you point to the note reference mark. To view the note text, you must switch to print layout view or print preview. Learn how to convert footnotes to endnotes by reading the More About box on Notes page WD 2.32.
To edit a note in the note pane, double-click on the note reference mark (pointed to in Figure 2-40) or click View in the menu bar and select Footnotes. To delete a note, select the note reference mark and click the Cut button on the Standard toolbar. Other ways are detailed on page WD 2.31. To move a note, delete it by using the Cut button, then click at the new location and click the Paste button. Notes are automatically renumbered when notes are moved or deleted.
11. Count the Words in a Document
Word Count is a handy feature when you are limited to a specific number of words. It will count words, pages, characters, paragraphs and lines and also give you the option to recount as you type. Select Tools in the Menu bar as shown in Figure 2-41.
Clicking on Word Count activates the dialog box which displays the relevant statistics. You can exclude footnotes and endnotes from the count by deselecting the check box appearing in Figure 2-42. The Show Toolbar button is also available in the Word Count dialog box to display the Word Count toolbar, a floating toolbar. Floating toolbars can be moved by clicking on the title bar and dragging it to a new location.
12. Insert a Manual Page Break
Manual page breaks force a new page into a document. By pressing CTRL + ENTER, you can create a page break. It will display as a horizontal dotted line with the words Page Break as shown in Figure 2-45. Another way to insert a manual page break is by selecting Insert on the Menu bar and click Break, Page Break. Notice in Figure 2-45, the insertion point is now on page 3 of the research paper, below the manual page break.
You can remove a page break by selecting it and then pressing the DEL or by clicking the Cut button on the Standard toolbar. While Word does adjust the automatic page breaks that follow a manual page breaks, it never moves or changes manual page breaks.
Word provides several kinds of paragraph indents that apply to different tasks. A first-line indent automatically indents the first line of a paragraph. In this section, you are introduced to the hanging indent, in which everything but the first line is indented. For Works Cited pages, this is the proper paragraph indent to use.
In Figure 2-47, you are shown the hanging indent marker, which is the bottom triangle on the horizontal ruler (If the horizontal ruler is not displaying, click View in the Menu bar and select Ruler). By clicking and dragging on the Hanging Indent marker to the right, the Left Indent marker moves also. Notice in Figure 2-48 that the First Line Indent marker remains at the left margin. In that way, only the subsequent lines in the paragraph are indented.
You may set indents through the menu. Select Format on the Menu bar and click Paragraph. By clicking the Indents and Spacing tab, you can set the hanging indent. If you decide to restore the paragraphs to the default setting, press CTRL-Q to remove special paragraph formatting.
As you type in Word, word wrap automatically indents the second line of the paragraph. When you press ENTER after typing a paragraph, the insertion point moves to the left margin. Note this is consistent with Word's practice of carrying forward the paragraph formatting from one paragraph to the next paragraph. Note the placement of the insertion point after pressing the ENTER key in the Works Cited page in Figure 2-49.
14. Insert a Symbol Automatically
AutoCorrect has been introduced in a previous project as a handy self-correcting feature for commonly misspelled words. AutoCorrect also has the capability of inserting symbols based upon the letters and special characters typed in a document. Table 2-3 displays the characters typed and the resulting symbol that is automatically inserted in a document.
Besides typing in special characters to trigger the insertion, you can insert symbols through the Menu bar. Select Insert on the Menu bar and click on Symbol. Under the Special Characters tab is a list of characters available for insertion.
Figures 2-50 and 2-51 show the insertion of a registered trademark symbol on the Works Cited page. After typing (r), Word converts the characters to the registered trademark symbol as pointed out in Figure 2-51.
A hyperlink is a quick way to move from one location in a document to another location either in the same document, another document or a Web page. The simplest way to insert hyperlinks in a document is to type the address of the destination and press the ENTER or SPACEBAR keys on the keyboard. The resulting hyperlink displays in a Word document as blue and underlined by default. You can tell when you are pointing to a link because your cursor changes to a hand with a pointing finger.
Figure 2-52 shows the address being typed. Figure 2-53 shows the effect of pressing the ENTER key. The address is now changed to "hot" text or a hyperlink that allows you to jump to that location. The Other Ways box on page WD 2.40 lists the alternative methods to creating hyperlinks in a document. Whichever method you choose, hyperlinks is a powerful feature that can enhance your document by providing direct access to sources.
The http in the hyperlink address stands for hypertext transfer protocol, which is the communication standard used for Web documents. www.scsite.com is the domain name or address of the server that contains the documents. Be very careful in typing the hyperlink. The forward slash is used, not the backslash. Also use lowercase letters, unless the address calls for a capital letter.
In Word, you can sort, or arrange, paragraphs in alphabetic, numeric or date order based on the first character in each paragraph. In Figure 2-54, all the paragraphs are selected and then Table is selected in the Menu bar. The Sort Text dialog box appears after clicking Sort and the default settings of Text and Ascending order appear. Figure 2-55 shows the Sort Text dialog box with the default settings.
If you sort a text field in ascending order, you will see paragraphs displayed in alphabetical order. If you sort the number field in ascending order, your paragraphs will display from the smallest number to the largest. Date fields will display from the earliest date to the latest date. Sorting in descending order, means the text field will be ordered from Z to A, the number field from largest number to smallest number and the date field from most recent to the earliest date. You can reverse sorts by clicking the Undo button on the Standard toolbar.
17. Go to a Specific Location in a Document
Once you create a document of some size, you will need to move your insertion point from one location to another. Word displays the scroll buttons to assist you in that task. It also provides the Select Browse Object menu to give you options for searching by objects.
Once you select a command, the buttons above and below the Select Browse button will change to assist you in rapidly moving from heading to heading, footnote to footnote, and page to page among many options. For instance, when you select Browse by Footnote, the buttons display Previous Footnote and Next Footnote. The Find and Go To functions, while available under Edit on the Menu bar, can also be found in this menu.
Word provides various options for moving text. One option is to select the text and then use drag-and-drop editing to move text to another location. Figure 2-60 shows the sentence moving selected. In Table 2-4, various techniques for selecting different items (for instance, character(s), line(s), sentence ) are identified.
Review these techniques to become more proficient at selecting items with the mouse. In Figure 2-61, the CTRL key has been pressed and the insertion point changes to a dotted insertion point. After dropping to the new location as shown in Figure 2-62, the mouse button is released. After clicking outside the selected text, the Paste Options button automatically displays. Please note this: if you hold down the CTRL key while dragging an item, the item is copied instead of just moved.
You may often realize that you need to find specific text, either for editing or to replace with other text. The process begins by pressing CTRL + HOME to go to the top of your document. Double-clicking anywhere to the left of the status indicators on the status bar activates the Find and replace dialog box. In Figure 2-65, you are shown the replacement of World Wide Web with web.
If you click Replace All, word makes the replacement without pausing. If you click Find Next, Word pauses and lets you decide whether to replace. It is safest to confirm each replacement one by one rather than selecting replace all. When Word has completed the search and replace, a dialog box will appear as shown in Figure 2-66 verifying the replacements.
If you decide to undo a replace, if you clicked the Replace button, Word will undo the previous replace only. If you clicked the Replace All button, Word will undo all the replacements made. You may decide to only search for text, rather than replace it. The Find feature through the Select Browse Object button is useful for that purpose. Remember, this button is located on the vertical scroll bar. Just click to open the menu and click Find to begin the process.
You can do some creative searching with the Find and replace feature. It allows you to replace formatting so that you can replace one font with another or bold, italicized text with normal text. You can also find and replace paragraph marks, page breaks and tabs. To find formatting use the Format button in the Find dialog box. To find a special character, use the Special button. This feature also allows you to search for singular and plural noun forms, all adjective forms and all tenses of a root verb. In the Other Ways box on page WD 2.49, optional methods to Find and replace are identified.
20. Use the Paste Option Button
After dragging and dropping to move text, you click to deselect the text. This activates the Paste Options button. Once the Paste Options button is clicked, the Paste Options menu is shown (see Figure 2-64). A list of possible formatting options is displayed. You can either pick one of the options or press the ESCAPE key to remove the Paste Options menu.
21. Understand How Smart Tags Work
The Paste Options and AutoCorrect Options buttons are both examples of smart tags. The smart tag indicator for AutoCorrect Options is a small blue box. The smart tag indicator for Smart Tag Actions is a purple dotted line as shown in Figure 2-15. Point to the smart tag indicator and the smart tag button will appear. Smart tags perform actions that you would normally have another program do. For instance, you can add a person's name from your document directly to Outlook without leaving Word. In the menu is an option to Add to Contacts. If chosen, you are connected to the Contacts dialog box in Outlook.
The Smart Tag Actions menu varies depending on what is entered into a document. If you are entering a date, the menu includes commands to permit you to schedule a meeting in Outlook's Calendar or to display your Outlook Calendar. You can read more about the customized menu choices in the More About box on page WD 2.48. To turn off Smart tags, select Tools in the menu, click AutoCorrect Options, click the Smart Tags tab and then clear the check box next to Label text with smart tags. Table 2-5 identifies the smart tags in Word.
When typing a paper, you may often decide that the word you are using has been overused or is inappropriate in the current context. Word provides a thesaurus which allows you to look up synonyms and antonyms to assist you in your writing.
To open the thesaurus, right click anywhere in the word and select Synonyms in the shortcut menu. A synonyms list will offer appropriate replacements. As an option, you can select Thesaurus for additional assistance. The Other Ways box on page WD 2.50 identifies other ways to access this feature.
23. Check Spelling and Grammar at Once
Previously in Project 1, you were introduced to the spell checker feature in which you check spelling as you enter text. You can also check the entire document at once for spelling and grammar errors. Press CTRL + HOME to go to the top of your document. Point to the Spelling and Grammar button on the Standard toolbar. As shown in Figure 2-69, Word may find a proper name which it flags because it is not listed in the dictionary.
Click Ignore All so that name is not referred to again. Figure 2-70 shows Word finding a misspelling. It will display optional spellings. Select the appropriate one and click the Change button. Figure 2-71 page shows Word finding a misspelling on the Works Cited page. Click Ignore Once to ignore this word and complete the Spelling and Grammar check.
Once the document is reviewed and changes made, the green and red wavy underlines should disappear and the red X on the Spelling and Grammar status icon should display a red check mark. The Other Ways box page 2.52 has alternate ways to activate the Spelling and Grammar check.
24. Display the Web Page Associated With a Hyperlink
In Project 1, one of the works is a hyperlink. To display the web page represented by that hyperlink, you point to the hyperlink. Notice the Screen Tip appears as shown in Figure 2-72.
Hold the CTRL key and click on the hyperlink to jump to that page in the web. If your browser is not opened, Word will connect you to it and the page will display. Click the Close button as shown in Figure 2-73 to return to your document.
25. E-mail a Copy of a Document
In Project 1, you are asked to email a copy of your research paper. Click the email button on the Standard toolbar. Fill in the To: box, the Subject: box and the Introduction: box as shown in Figure 2-74.
Click the Send a Copy button as shown in the same figure. This document will be emailed to the individual identified in the To: box. You might decide to write a note to your teacher and then send the paper as an attachment. To do so, click File on the Menu bar, point to Send To, click Mail Recipient (as Attachment). Your teacher will click on the attachment to view the paper. To cancel e-mail, click the E-mail button again.
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