MSc Project Management

Unit: unit title

Title: Format guide for course assignments

Student Number: 1234567

Date: 14 September 2001

Contents

1 Introduction to the style guide .................................................................................................... 1

2 Mandatory formatting................................................................................................................... 1
3 Suggested formatting .................................................................................................................... 1
3.1 Headings (this is a sub-heading)......................................................................................... 2
3.1.1 This is a sub-sub-heading ............................................................................................... 2
4 Figures and Tables ........................................................................................................................ 2
4.1 Figures.................................................................................................................................... 2
4.2 Tables ..................................................................................................................................... 2
5 Landscape pages ............................................................................................................................ 3
6 Styles in Word ................................................................................................................................ 3
6.1 Changing the default Normal font .................................................................................... 4
6.2 Using this document as a template for your assignments .............................................. 5

References

Appendices

Appendix A: Text styles in this document

1 Introduction to the style guide

This is a style guide for MSc Project Management assignments. It specifies some mandatory
formatting requirements and also gives some non-obligatory guidance.

2 Mandatory formatting

You must comply with the following:

• Minimum 12pt font for the body of the text

• Minimum line spacing of 1.3
• Minimum margins - Top 2cm, Bottom 2cm, Left 2.5cm, Right 2.5cm
• Student number and Page numbers in the footer of body of the document
• Cover page with name of the unit, title of the assignment, student number
• Contents list
• References in Harvard APA style (version 6)
• Do not put your name on the document

3 Suggested formatting
The suggestions in the remainder of this guide are not obligatory. However, a benefit of using
the standard format for course assignments is that it removes a source of variation that could
influence the marker.

You are free to choose the fonts you use in the document. This is Garamond which is a serif
font that is easy to read. An alternative is Times New Roman. Garamond is a vertically
compressed font and will give more lines per page.

This paragraph is in Calibri 12pt font which is a sans serif font. Sans serif fonts are used on
web-pages but are considered by some not to be as pleasant to read on paper as serif
fonts. Other san serif fonts are Verdana, Tahoma and Arial.

If you want to change the default font then see the later section on ‘Styles in Word’

This document is using the minimum line spacing of 1.3. Do not use line spacing of more
than 1.5.

Include space between each paragraph. In this document the spacing is 10pt. The first line of
a paragraph should not be indented. This document has margins of Top 2cm, Bottom 2cm,

Footer is your Student Number (10pt Font) 1

Left 2.5cm, Right 3.5cm. The wide margin on the right provides space for notes and
comments by the marker.

3.1 Headings (this is a sub-heading)

Use numbered headings. The main heading is Arial 14pt Arial, Bold. There is no need to start
a main section on a new page, but include some space above the main heading. In this
document there is 30pt spacing above a main heading.

The sub-headings and sub-sub-headings are Arial 12pt, Bold.

3.1.1 This is a sub-sub-heading

Avoid using more than three levels of numbered headings. If you need a further level of
heading then use italicised text, as shown on the next line.

Fourth level of heading

The Footer is 10pt font. Put your student number on the left, and the page numbers at the
bottom right.

4 Figures and Tables

4.1 Figures

Diagrams and figures should be included in the text as close as possible to where they are
mentioned in the main text. They should be numbered (e.g. Figure 1). Centre the figures and
the figure title.

Figure 1: Projects in the Environment (11 pt font, centred)

4.2 Tables

Tables should be numbered consecutively. The table heading should be placed above the table.
Avoid having tables split across more than one page.

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Table 1: Marking guidance for Masters level (11pt font, left aligned)

Mark Description
Range
70+ Excellent work - able to express an original reasoned argument in a lucid manner by
reviewing & critiquing a wide range of material. Original, critical thinking based on
outstanding insight, knowledge & understanding of material. Material contributes to
current understanding & is of potentially publishable quality in terms of presentation
and content. Wide reaching research showing breadth & depth of sources
60-69 Clear, balanced coherent critical & rigorous analysis of the subject matter. Detailed
understanding of knowledge & theory expressed with clarity
Extensive use of relevant & current literature to view topic in perspective, analyse
context & develop new explanations and theories
50-59 Detailed review and grasp of pertinent issues & a critical contextual overview of the
literature. Thorough knowledge of theory and methods & uses this to underpin
arguments and conclusions. Confidence in understanding and using literature
40-49 Demonstrates grasp of key concepts & an ability to develop & support an argument in
a predominately descriptive way with valid conclusions draw from the research.
Familiarity with key literature which is cited and presented according to convention.
Logical & clear structure, well organised with good use of language and supporting
material
30-39 FAIL Some knowledge of relevant concepts & literature but significant gaps in
understanding and/or knowledge. Little attempt at evaluation, conclusions vague,
ambiguous & not based on researched material. Limited or inappropriate research.
Deficits in length, structure, presentation &/or prose

5 Landscape pages
If you want to have a landscape page within the document you will need to master ‘Section
breaks’. A word document is a sequence of sections, and each section can have its own
orientation, margins, footer, header, page numbers. This document has three sections: the font
cover is a section, the contents page is a second section, and the remainder of the document is
the third section. If you switch to ‘Draft’ view (in the ‘View’ ribbon) you will be able to see the
section divisions.

To create a landscape page, you need to insert two ‘Next page’ section breaks. To do this go
to the ‘Page Layout’ ribbon and look at the ‘Page Setup’ controls. You can then alter the layout
of the pages between the two section breaks.

6 Styles in Word

In Microsoft Word text formatting is controlled by styles. It can take time to master the use of
styles but it is worthwhile. If you press Alt+Ctrl+Shift+S the style palette will appear. It is
easy to change the style of text by highlighting the text and selecting the style.

Figures 2 & 3 show the ‘before’ and ‘after’ of changing the style of a paragraph.

Footer is your Student Number (10pt Font) 3

 Figure 2: Screenshot showing the Style Palette

Figure 3: Screenshot of changing the Style of a paragraph

6.1 Changing the default Normal font

If you do not want to use Garamond as the font, you should Modify the Normal style. Press
Alt+Ctrl+Shift+S to bring up the style palette. Select the Normal font. Click on the down-
arrow and then select Modify from the menu. A dialogue box will appear. Change the font
from Garamond to whatever font you want. When you click OK the whole document will
change to your new font.

Footer is your Student Number (10pt Font) 4

 Figure 4: Screenshot of changing the Style of a paragraph

6.2 Using this document as a template for your assignments

You can download a blank version of this guide from PEP unit in Moodle. You can then use
it for your assignments. It has the styles ready to use.

The table of contents is automatically generated by Word. To refresh the contents list, select
the ‘References’ ribbon and select ‘Update Table’ from the ‘Table of Contents’ area.

Appendices do not appear automatically in the table of contents. If you have included
Appendices, you will need to manually type each appendix title at the bottom of the table of
contents.

Figure 5: Updating the table of contents

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References
References use the ‘Reference’ style. This in 11pt font. Left justified. The first line can be ‘Hanging’ by
0.6cm which makes it easier to find a reference in the list.

You MUST use APA version 7 format for all references. The university library website has instructions
on APA.

Sequence the references alphabetically by the first author. If there are two or more articles by the same
author, sequence them by date of publication.

Footer is your Student Number (10pt Font) 6

Appendix A: Text styles in this guide

The Appendices are at the end of the document, after the references. The Styles that have
been set up in this document are listed in Figure A.1.

Figure A.1: Styles in this document

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