Basic Writing Guidelines
1. Default Page Length and Formats
Page length: 275 words (Unless stated otherwise)
Font and Font Size: Times New Roman, 12point
Margins: 1” (inch) Margins all round
Line Spacing: Double-space (Unless otherwise specified)
Paragraph Spacing: Double-space, 0pt after every paragraph
Paragraph Indents: First Line Indent (Unless its MLA, which we will cover
later)
Word Per Paragraph: 100-125 Words
Microsoft Word (.doc/docx) file type
Text Alignment: left alignment of the text
2. Referencing Requirements
Sources (bibliography/references/works cited) on a separate page
Paper should strictly follow citation style (MLA, APA, Harvard, Chicago)
determined by the Customer
All MLA and APA references should be in HANGING INDENT and in
ALPHABETICAL order.
Order number is used for file name (i.e. 1000232.doc)
Separate Title and Reference Pages (For APA, and Harvard). For MLA, NO
title page, but separate reference pages
Adhere to the number of references required
All references must not be older than 5 years, unless otherwise specified.
3. Always Use Academic Prose:
Always apply the following requirements to your writings:
Do not use contractions such as “I’m, I’ll, we’ll, we’d”, and others alike.
Do not use first-person pronouns such as "I" "me" "my."
Do not use second-person pronouns such as "you" "your" "yours."
Do not engage in personal stories, meaning stories of your own life experiences,
or the experiences of friends, family, and so on.
Do not begin sentences with conjunctions: but, and, or, nor, for, so, yet.
Do not pose any questions in any assignments. This means, quite literally, not to
use questions. Write sentences in the form of statements instead.
Do not quote the bible or allude to religion in any way.
Avoid any form of direct address to the reader, such as "think about the fact
that . . ."
Avoid too casual of a prose style, such as sentences that begin with words like
"well, sure, now, yes, no."
Do not use phrases such as, "a lot," "lots" or "lots of," which can usually be
replaced with one of the following words: many, most, much, often.
Do not use exclamation points, for they are usually unnecessary.
Periods and commas should be inside of quotation marks, but other forms of
punctuation go outside of quotation marks.
Do not use the word "okay" when words like "acceptable" are applicable instead.
Do not use the word "nowadays," "nowadays," or any slight variation thereof.
4. Difference Between Academic And Ordinary Writing
For example, compare the following two paragraphs: although the ideas expressed
in the paragraphs are the same, one presents them in a much more formal,
academic way.
Example 1 (Academic) Example 2 (Ordinary)
Capital is a complex notion. Capital is a difficult thing to
There are many definitions of the understand. We can explain it in
word itself, and capital as different ways, and in
applied in accounting can be accounting, we can look at it
viewed conceptually from a from different angles.
number of standpoints; that is, Accountants talk about legal
there is legal capital, financial capital, financial capital and
capital and physical capital. The physical capital. How we apply
application of financial and financial and physical concepts
physical concepts of capital is of capital is not easy because
not straightforward as there are people in business use it
various permutations of these differently...
concepts applied in the business
environment...
