Need To Comply?

Given the ubiquity of word-processing and desktop publishing software, publishers have shifted many aspects of document design to the author. For example, universities have guidelines for dissertations; journals have guidelines for articles. These guidelines typically specify

page size and margins;
paragraph alignment, indentation, and spacing;
font type and size; and
heading and subheading levels.

Manually formatting each section, page, paragraph, or heading to conform with the required guidelines is time-consuming and subject to human error. However, settings such as typography and layout can be implemented in a template.

Formatting Services

If you need assistance formatting your document according to a specific set of graduate school guidelines, submission guidelines, or organizational standards, I can create a custom template for you based on those guidelines.

A template functions like a cascading style sheet. Once created, the template is applied to your document, ensuring that it conforms to the required format in a consistent manner.

Contact me for a free consultation. We can discuss your format requirements as well as rates and turnaround time.

Format Settings

Based on the guidelines provided, I define settings for each functional unit of a document. For example, I set the size and orientation of each section as well as the font type and size of each heading.

Functional Unit	Format Settings
Document	Front matter Back matter
Sections	Page orientation, size, & margins Headers, footers, & page numbers Pagination
Paragraphs	Alignment, indentation, & spacing Body text Lists & tables
Cross-references	Table of Contents [TOC] Lists of Tables/Figures Headings Captions
Style	Style guidelines [APA, MLA, ...] Graduate school guidelines Publisher specifications

The table below shows the format settings I define, organized by functional unit.

Formatting Rates

My formatting rate is based on word count. This approach allows me to provide an up-front estimate based on your actual text. To generate the word count for a document in Word, select Tools | Word Count.

File Format

I format using Microsoft Word, so any of the following file formats are acceptable:

Microsoft Word 2003/2007 [.doc]
Microsoft Word 2010 [.docx]
Rich Text File [.rtf]

Formatting Process

Based on the guidelines you provide, I create a Word template. A template consists of a pre-defined layout and a set of style codes that encode format requirements. Once the template is created, I attach it to your document.

Upon request, I can send the template and a list of shortcuts to you. You can either create a new document from the template or attach it to any pre-existing document.