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MS Word 2007 Formatting Guidelines for

Thesis/Dissertation
The following guidelines apply to both theses and dissertations. Please refer to the
respective manuals for individual guidelines. The 6th Edition Master's Thesis Guide
(Oct 2008) and the Ed.D. Dissertation Manual (also known as Ed.D. in Educational
Leadership Student Handbook) are available online.
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Table of Contents
1. How to Enable/ Disable Formatting Marks …………………………………………………………………………………3
2. How to Save Your Changes ………………………………………………………………………………………………………...4
3. How to Set Margins …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………...5
4. How to Double Space Your Document ……………………………………………………………………………………….7
5. How to Adjust First-Line Indent ………………………………………………………………………………………………….8
6. How to Add a Hanging Indent …………………………………………………………………………………………………..10
7. How to Insert Page and Section Breaks …………………………………………………………………………………….12
8. How to Insert/ Modify Page Numbers in Your Front Matter …………………………………………………….14
9. How to Insert/ Modify Page Numbers in Your Document Text …………………………………………………17
10. How to Hide Page Number on Back Flyleaf ………………………………………………………………………………20
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How to Enable or Disable 3. Within the Paragraph group, click on the

Paragraph symbol. This will turn on the
Formatting Marks formatting marks function.

Viewing formatting marks within your paper

allows you to verify that the number of tabs,
spaces and paragraph markers are correct.

1. To do this, make sure you are in the Home

tab.

4. To turn off this function, simply press the

Paragraph symbol again.

2. Within the Home tab, click on the

Paragraph group.
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How to Save Your Changes
1. You will need to save your changes often.
To do this, click on the Windows symbol in
the upper left-hand corner.
3. If you choose Save As, be sure to select
Word Document in the next window beside
Save As.

2. Click on Save if you have already named

your document or Save As if you want to
name or re-name your document.
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How to Set the Margins 3. After clicking on Margins, click on Custom

Margins at the bottom.
1. Click on the Page Layout tab.

2. Within the Page Setup group, click on

Margins.

4. In the Page Setup window under the

Margins tab are four margins: top, bottom,
left and right. Below is what Page Setup
may look like with a default installation of
Microsoft Word.
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5. The margins for a WCU thesis should look 7. Click once on the OK button to accept the
like the image below. Use the small up and changes.
down arrows to the right of Top, Bottom,
Left, and Right to change your margin
values, or simply type the margin values into
the correct boxes to match the image below.

NOTE: Margin guidelines for dissertations are

available in the Ed.D. Dissertation Manual
(Ed.D. in Educational Leadership Student
Handbook), Appendix E: Dissertation Check
Sheet.

6. At the bottom of the Margins tab, under the

Preview section, select Whole Document
from the Apply to: drop-down menu.
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How to Double Space the

Document
1. If you are just starting your document,
please proceed to step 3.

2. If your document is already typed, hold

down the control (or command if you’re on
a Mac) button on the keyboard and type A.
This will Select All text within your
document.

3. Under the Home tab, in the Paragraph

group, click on the Line Spacing icon.

4. Then click on 2.0.

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How to Adjust First-Line 5. Under the Spacing section in the After

drop-down menu, the Word 2007 default is
Indents 10 pts.

1. Open your document if it is not already

open.

2. If you already have text and want to apply

first line indents to every paragraph of your
paper: Hold down the Control button on
your keyboard and type A. This will Select
All your text.

3. Then click on the small arrow beside

Paragraph in the Home tab.

4. The Indents and Spacing tab should

automatically pop up. In the Indentation
section, choose First Line under the Special
drop-down menu. Make sure By: is 0.5.
6. Click on the down arrow beside After: until
it reaches 0 pt.
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7. To make these changes permanent in your

document, click on Default.

2. Click inside the paragraph you want to

change.

3. Then click and hold the top half of the

“hourglass” symbol and drag it to the
desired point on the ruler. NOTE: Do not
click and drag the entire hourglass. The top
half of the hourglass will change the first
8. Click „Yes’ on the pop-up window.
line only.
9. Click on OK to save your changes.

To change the first-line indent of one specific

paragraph:

1. Open the View tab and click on Ruler inside

the Show/Hide group.
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How to Add a Hanging Indent

1. Open your document if it is not already
open.
2. Enable your formatting marks (see How to
Enable or Disable Formatting Marks).
6. Click on OK to save your changes.
To add a hanging indent to one specific
paragraph:
1. Open the View tab and click on Ruler inside
the Show/Hide group.

3. Make sure your bibliographic entries do not

have any forced returns and indents but are
formatted as double-spaced block
paragraphs without extra space between
entries. Highlight all entries.

4. Then click on the small arrow beside the

Paragraph group in the Home tab.

5. The Indents and Spacing tab should 2. Click inside the paragraph you want to
automatically pop up. Then, under the change.
Special drop-down box, click on Hanging.
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3. Select the text you want to change.

4. Then click and hold the bottom half of

the “hourglass” symbol and drag it to
the desired point on the ruler. NOTE:
Do not click on the square underneath
the bottom hour glass, or you will affect
your first line as well. The bottom half
of the hour glass will change all lines
except the first line.
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How to Insert Page and Section

Breaks
The Graduate School suggests that you create
the sections of your thesis/dissertation as
separate documents. Before you add your page
numbers, however, you must combine your
separate sections into one Word document by
cutting and pasting the text together. Once you
have done this, you will need to make various
section and page breaks. The following table
shows the various sections within your “Front
Matter” and the type of break you need to insert.

To add a Next Page Section Break:

1. Enable your formatting marks.

2. Place your cursor after the last character on

your Approval Sheet.

The Front Flyleaf and the Approval Sheet will

not be numbered. The Title Page is the first
numbered page, but the number is not visible.

The first section break will come at the end of

the Approval Sheet.

To add a regular Page Break:

If you want to add a page break but want to keep

the formatting the same as the previous pages,
3. Under the Page Layout tab, click on the
you will need to add a regular page break.
small arrow beside Breaks.
1. Enable your formatting marks (see page 2).

2. Place your cursor at the point in the page

where you would like to add a page break.

3. Under the Insert tab, click on Page Break.

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4. Select Next Page from the drop-down menu

under Section Breaks.

A section break allows you to make changes to

the format of the upcoming section, such as
changing the page numbers.
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How to Insert/Modify Page 4. Click on Edit Footer from the drop-down

menu.
Numbers in Your Front Matter
Make sure your Next Page Section Breaks
match the table on page 10.

To add page numbers to the “Front Matter,”

pages prior to the body of your document:

1. Open your document.

2. Make sure you have added a Next Page

Section Break at the end of your Approval
Sheet. This will allow you to start
numbering on the Title Page.

3. Go to the Title Page. Under the Insert tab,

click on the Footer icon in the Header &
Footer group.

5. This will open a footer section on your Title

Page, as well as open the Design
Contextual Menu.
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6. Remaining on the Title Page, click 10. Return to the Page Number drop-down
Different First Page and make sure Link to menu and select Format Page Number.
Previous is NOT highlighted.

7. Go to the next page.

11. Select the lower-case Roman numerals from
8. Click inside the Footer to open the Design the Number Format box.
Contextual Menu. Select Page Number.

9. From the Page Number drop-down menu,

choose Bottom of Page and then Plain
Number 2.

12. Select Start At: and make sure the number

in the list box is a Roman numeral 1 (i).
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13. Click the OK button.

14. A small Roman numeral 2 (ii) should appear

in the center of the Footer.

15. Check to make sure the font size is 12 and

the font is consistent with your text font.

16. Remember to save your changes!

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How to Insert/Modify Page 3. Click on Edit Header from the drop-down

menu.
Numbers in the Body of Your
Document
At this point, your thesis/dissertation should be
in one document, and if your guidelines require,
you should have added the lowercase Roman
numeral page numbers to the “Front Matter” per
the instructions in the previous section.

REMINDER: Make sure there is a Next Page

Section Break on the last page of the “Front
Matter,” typically your Abstract. If this Section
Break is not present, changing from Roman
numerals to Arabic numerals will be impossible.

1. Move to the first page of the body of your

document. This may be the Introduction or
Chapter 1.

2. Under the Insert tab, click on the Header

icon in the Header & Footer group.

4. This will open a header section on your Title

Page, as well as open the Design
Contextual Menu.

If your guidelines do not require the first page of

your body text to start with 1, skip to step 7.
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9. Return to the Page Number drop-down

5. Remaining on the first page of your body menu and select Format Page Number.
text, click Different First Page and make
sure Link to Previous is NOT highlighted.

10. Select 1, 2, 3… from the Number Format

6. Go to the next page.
drop-down menu.

7. Click inside the Header to open the Design

Contextual Menu. Select Page Number.

8. From the Page Number drop-down menu,

choose Top of Page and then Plain
Number 3.
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11. If you are not starting at page 1, select found under the Home tab under the Font
Continue from previous section under group.
Page numbering.

15. Move to the header of the next page to

ensure that your page numbering continues
through to the end of your appendices.

16. Remember to save your changes!

12. If you are starting at page one, select Start

At: and make sure to select the number one
(1) from the drop-down menu.

13. Click once on the OK button.

14. Make sure the page numbers are at a 12-

point font size and that the font is consistent
with your text font. These functions can be
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How to Hide the Page 4. Click on the OK button.

Number on the Back Flyleaf 5. Under the Design section, make sure Link to
Previous is NOT highlighted.
NOTE: If you have added the Back Flyleaf
at the end of your document, be sure that the
previous page has a Next Page Section
Break at the end.

1. Click on the header on the Back Flyleaf.

2. Under the Page Layout section, click on the

6. Highlight the page number on the Back
small arrow next to the Page Setup tab.
Flyleaf page.

7. Hit the Delete key on the keyboard once.

8. Remember to save your changes!

3. On the pop-up window, check the box next to

Different first page.