Formatting Guidelines

(1) Use MS Word® or a compatible document application for all work except for extensive
calculations.
(2) 12-point font; Times New Roman; Single Spacing; Justified – Main Text
(3) Page numbers must appear on the bottom of each submitted page
(4) All work must look neat and readable, and must pass spelling and grammatical error checks
(5) Use a computer to generate all plots and essentially all diagrams.
(6) Each table, and figure/plot must have a number (e.g. “Table 1: …”), and a descriptive
caption (more on this below).
(7) Complete numerical results require correct signs, correct units, and the correct number
of significant digits, in addition to the correct numerical value.

(8) Use super- and subscripting for quantities and chemical formulas, e.g., 1.15×105 instead
of 115000 or 115,000 or 1.15x10(5) or 1.15*10^5 or 1.15e5, and CO2 instead of CO2.

(9) Use an equation editor for equations and use the display form rather than the linear form. The
MS Word equation editor is OK, but MathType works much better.

(10) Give proper citations for all sources used. This includes equations, conversations with
the instructor, TA, or classmates (“name, personal communication”), and Internet sources.
Cite Internet or print sources as recommended by the American Chemical Society’s ACS Style
Guide. NOTE: If you access a source via the Internet that actually exists in print (e.g.,
accessing the CRC Handbook online edition), you must cite the print version.

Wr
Title Page Format:

Title of Experiment

Name: XXXXXXXXXX
Group Members: XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Table of Contents
Objective and Background
Results and Discussion
Conclusion
Any Other Subheadings Maybe Included as Needed
Plots:
The most important heuristic for presenting technical information in a plot:

Maximize each plot's information-to-ink ratio – if you don't NEED

to use a box, line, color, or shading to communicate something
important about the data, or to make the plot easy on the reader’s
eyes, then DON'T use them!
(did I NEED to put the above material in a box?)

Additional requirements for plots:

 Plot dependent variables on the vertical (y) axis and the independent variable (time, or
the variable that you controlled) on the horizontal (x) axis. Pick the appropriate
independent variable.
 Use point markers to show data points when plotting calculated or measured data. When
showing a single dependent variable, you should try to plot only points, rather than points
connected by a line. Only two reasons justify using lines to connect calculated or measured
data:
o 1) to draw the eye through sharp transitions of data, or
o 2) to distinguish multiple data sets on a single set of axes. Use straight lines
(never smoothed lines) to connect data points.
 Add trend lines to a plot of data only if you are making an explicit comparison of your
data to a model.
 Plot only a line (i.e., no point markers) when plotting a continuous function from
an equation/model.
 Label each axis of a plot with the quantity displayed, including its units. If practical, you
should use the name of the quantity rather than a symbol or abbreviation (e.g., use
Volume, not V).
 Do NOT put a title on the plot itself; all of your plots will have captions below them.
 Choose the scale of a plot to make all important behavior clear. If you must plot items
of very different orders of magnitude on the same axes, consider multiplying (or
dividing) the values of one or more of the data sets by some factor of ten, in order to
have the plots display well on a single set of axes. Clearly indicate that you’ve done this,
either in your caption or legend.
 Clearly show the value of the plot origin (intersection point of axes). If practical, the
origin of the plot should represent the zero values of dependent and independent
variables, unless that would obscure the plot's behavior (see the previous bullet item).
 Select and show scale divisions on each axis. Choose the number of divisions so as to
have the tick marks at 'natural' values (multiples of 2, 4, 5, or 10 units), and so that no
more than 6 divisions appear on an axis (4 or 5 divisions works best).
 Avoid gridlines. Only use them if absolutely necessary to help the viewer understand
your results, or if you expect users to need to read precise values from your plot.
 Avoid color or shades of gray on plots. Nearly all plots should be able to be presented
appear clearly and readably if printed in black on white (for hard copy, please try to
PRINT them in black and white, as noted above). Do not color or shade a plot's
background.
 When you need to distinguish multiple lines from each other, try differing styles of
black line (dashed, dotted) and/or differing point symbols for each variable. Solid point
markers usually look good (circles, triangles, squares), unless they overlay each other;
then hollow symbols work better. Adjust the size of the point symbols so that they stand
out a bit from the line without overwhelming the sense of empty space. Adjust the
thickness of the plot lines to make them visible but not too strong.
 Plots, tables and figures must have descriptive captions, including a Table or Figure
number. Do not put a title on top of or within a plot, use a caption. Use your word
processor to generate caption text, just below the figure (and make sure to leave space
between the figure caption and subsequent text). If displaying more than one plot on the
same axes, you need to give a concise description identifying the various plots. Do this
in the caption, or in a formatted legend.
 Your caption must start with a Figure number and must describe the figure concisely.
For example, use the caption “Figure 4: Headspace pressure as a function of the internal
tank temperature for three tank geometries: cubical (x), spherical (o), and cylindrical (*)"
rather than “P vs. T”. The caption must give the dependent variable(s) first. You may
use a legend to identify your variables, but the legend can’t replace a descriptive caption.
 If you use a legend, put it inside the main plot area in a blank region. Format the legend
to make it clear and informative, and so that no box appears around it. Select a font size
and style large enough to read without distracting from the plot.
 Format the axis labels (and scale numbers, if necessary). You may need several iterations
to find choices that clarify the meaning of your plot. Avoid long strings of zeros – e.g., if
you have data in millions of pounds, choose your axis units as “millions of lbs” or “lb ×
106” rather than having numbers on your axis such as “8,000,000.”
 Save the plot in your plotting software and copy it into your MS-Word® document.
Check that the copying process does not cause you to lose your formatting. Try to have
your insertion point either directly after the text paragraph where you mention the plot
(“…as shown in Figure 3…”) or if it will not fit on the page, insert it at the top of the
next page. Make sure your caption appears directly below your plot, leaving space
between the caption and the continuation of the text.
Readability studies show that using approximately one-third to one-half of a portrait-
oriented (8.5 × 11-inch) page makes a good plot size for most purposes. If you select a plot
after you've copied it into your Word® file, you can usually change its size by dragging
on the 'handles' on its sides and corners. If you right-click (Control-click under MacOS)
on the plot within Word®, you will have some options under "Format Picture" regarding
size and layout, and other options under "Edit Picture" including cropping away excess
 white space. Be careful that any test appearing within your plot is still at least 10-point in
size once shrunk to fit your page.
 If you use a copy of a figure from another source, make sure that it meets the pris
above. Give such a figure a proper Figure number and caption of your own (remove the
figure number and caption from the figure’s source) and put a citation number at the end
of the caption. Figures from web pages often have colorful backgrounds that will appear
dark when printed in black-and white. It is very often necessary to re-draw figures taken
from Internet sources – redraw the plot based on the original (your caption would then end
with “redrawn from [#]” or “based on [#]”.

An example comparing the “MS-Excel® default” plot and a properly formatted plot of the
same data appears in Appendix A of this document.
Tables:

Table formatting:
 Unless specifically instructed otherwise, include EITHER a table OR a plot of the same
data in the same document – not BOTH. An exception to this occurs when you show a plot
in the body of the work, but present original data in an appendix. A well-formatted plot
almost always communicates better than a table.
 Choose a font size no smaller than 10 point for entries in your tables.
 Tables must appear on a single page whenever possible. Ideally, the table will appear in
portrait orientation. If too many columns prevent using portrait orientation, print tables in
landscape. If a table takes up more than a full page, include a caption at the top of each
subsequent page, stating “Table X, continued,” and repeat the column headings at the top
of each continuing page. Good examples of large multi-page tables can be found in the
CRC handbook or in Perry’s
 In general, use spacing before and after table rows similar to the paragraph spacing in your
main text. Do not use bordering lines between columns or rows.

An example comparing “MS-Excel® default” and a properly formatted table of the same data
appears in Appendix B of this document.

You face a LOT of formatting when constructing a table or plot. Plan for enough time

to do it
Brief Review of Citation Formatting
An area that often confuses students is the proper use of the published (and unpublished!) work of
others. It should be obvious that any ideas, words, pictures, figures, obtained on the internet, or
any other hard copy or electronic medium are NOT YOURS, so you must use proper citation.
Proper citation of someone else’s work includes all three of these:
1. either enclosure of the directly quoted work within quotation marks or proper
paraphrasing (Improper paraphrasing – changing only word or sentence order and/or a few
rewordings – is not proper paraphrasing, and is considered plagiarism!); AND
2. an in-line citation number (use ACS style); AND
3. a proper endnote reference (linked to the citation number) For more detail, see the ACS
Style Manual1).

ACS-style citations of journal articles use the following format:

Author's last name comma first initial period space Title of article with no quotations period
space italicized abbreviation for journal title (period only if journal title ends with
abbreviation) space year bolded comma space volume number italicized comma space pages
period.

The title of the article can help in locating the article but may be omitted by some journals.

If a cited work has multiple authors, separate their names with a semi-colon.
Example:
Burrows, V.; Chabal, Y.; Higashi, G.; Raghavachari, K; Christman, S. Infrared spectroscopy of
Si (111) surfaces after HF treatment: Hydrogen termination and surface morphology.
Appl.Phys.Lett. 1988, 53, 998-1000.
(also acceptable: Burrows, V.; Chabal, Y; Higashi, G.; Raghavachari, K; Christman, S.
Appl.Phys.Lett. 1988, 53, 998-1000. )
Appendix A: Examples of Plot Formatting
An example of a poorly formatted plot using Excel defaults:

An example of a well-formatted plot, following the instructions in this document

 Appendix B: Examples of Table Formatting

An example of a poorly formatted table

Table 1: Air Emissions of Selected toxic Chemicals

in Arizona
Year Benzene Acetaldehyde Trichloroethylene

1988 151 128,779

1989 1,028 110,649

1990 14,723 155,900

1991 15,280 130,400

1992 17,440 142,800

1993 354 125,960

1994 255 89,138 128,129

1995 180 72,890 137,181

1996 59,610 60,022

1997 64,251 41,691

1998 25,412 33,566

1999 2,304
An example of a well-formatted table

Table 1: Yearly air emissions of toxics in Arizona (data

from USEPA Toxics Release Inventory2)

Year Benzene Acetaldehyde Trichloroethylene

1988 151 128,779

1989 1,028 110,649

1990 14,723 155,900

1991 15,280 130,400

1992 17,440 142,800

1993 354 125,960

1994 255 89,138 128,129

1995 180 72,890 137,181

1996 59,610 60,022

1997 64,251 41,691

1998 25,412 33,566

1999 2,304