Formal presentations should include only a few spaces of indentation, while casual content can use more indentation spaces. The number of indentation spaces varies depending on the style of writing. Writers should double space content that includes tables, headings, quotations, and references. Writers should manually set the reference position for indents to. APA recommends using hanging indentation for reference lists. Hanging indentation places the first line of a paragraph to the left of where the next line starts. APA requires most paragraphs to adhere to first line indentation.
First line indentation begins to the right of where the next line begins. APA StyleĪPA style identifies two types of indentation: First line and hanging.
But using the tab key for indentation can cause problems with some e-book software programs that do not recognize the tab key as a form of indentation. You hit the tab key between three and seven times to provide the proper space between the first line and the left margin. Chicago recommends that writers indent the first line of a new paragraph by hitting the tab key.
The Chicago Manual of Style requires all text to be double-spaced, including the notes and bibliography sections. But make sure you follow the same style guide throughout your document Chicago style, APA style, and Harvard style all differ in their approaches to indentation. When in doubt, refer to a style guide to answer a question about formatting and sourcing content. Should you indent paragraphs as you type or simply skip spaces? What the Style Guides Have to Say But the debate continues over which indentation method works best. They help present content in a logical fashion. Indentations signal to the reader that she is about to dive into another topic or start a new section of a novel. Indentation, the much-maligned formatting technique, provides readers with a sense of continuity. Don’t believe that this could possibly make a difference? According to some research, if the Federal government decided to change its preferred font from Times New Roman to Garamond on all printed documents, it could save around $400 million! Formatting involves making decisions about font type and size, and even about the space between lines. The first thing a reader may notice when she accesses one of your web, ebook, or print pages is the look of the content.