TABLE OF CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION...... 1

Chapter

  1. CHAPTER TITLE ...... 2

Subheading ......

Subheading ......

  1. CHAPTER TITLE ......

SUMMARY ......

BIBLIOGRAPHY ......

INTRODUCTION

Learning how to write and format a good paper is important for West Coast students. Thoroughly understanding a subject helps a person communicate that understanding to others. In the Bible Department much of that communication comes in the form of a written paper. The purpose of the West Coast Paper Template is to provide a fairly simple means to properly format a research paper. This template uses Word’s “Styles” to properly format the various portions of the paper.

Most students will find it useful to print this Sample Paper and have it handy when writing their own papers. Open the Paper Template (found on the and do a “Save As” onto your own computer. When you begin your paper, do another “Save As” with an appropriate name for the specific paper. That way, if something happens to the formatting, you have a backup of the Template.

If you plan to use the Table of Contents and have chapters, then the first page of the body of the paper will include the heading “Introduction.” If you do not use the Table of Contents and the paper is not long enough for chapters, or if your professor tells you not to use chapters, then delete the word “Introduction” above and begin the first line of the paper two inches from the top of the page. The top and left side rulers are turned on and off by clicking on the small box at the top of the scroll bar on the right.

The purpose of the introduction is to describe the problem, question, or theme of the paper, explain what the writer is planning to accomplish in the paper, indicate any specific limitations on the part of the writer, and outline how the author plans to accomplish his task. The theme of the paper should be clearly stated, and the means for examining that theme should be included.

TheBible Department at West Coast Baptist College use A Manual for Writers by Kate L. Turabian as its standard.[1] Turabian is the standard form for theological writing; therefore, West Coast encourages its theologicalstudents to learn its intricacies. A practical and helpful guide to Turabian is Nancy Vyhmeister’s Quality Research Papers.[2]Most college students will find Vyhmeister to be a sufficient guide; seminary students may need to consult Turabian. It is the purpose of this sample paper to demonstrate the proper use of the more common features of the Turabian form by explaining margins, headings, indentations, footnotes, and bibliographical entries. This Sample Paper should be used alongside the Paper Template. The Template has all the necessary styles for the typical college or seminary paper; the Sample Paper will identify which style should be used for the various elements of the paper. Styles are found on “Home” ribbon. You may find it useful to click the small arrow to the right of the word “Styles” in the Style section; this will open a list of styles in a separate window. This window can be moved to a convenient place on your screen.

Margins

The margins of a paper allow for sufficient white space, both for esthetic appeal and to allow the reader to make notes. This class willuse a left margin of 1½ inches and a margin of one inch on the top, bottom and right. On the first page of any major section (such as chapter, bibliography, addendum, etc.), the top margin will be two inches.Page numbers are placed at the bottom of all pages, just inside the one-inch margin, and are centered. The first page of the body of the paper is page 1. Preliminary pages are not numbered, unless the Table of Contents is more than one page or there are additional preliminary pages; this usually only happens in a dissertation or thesis. See Vyhmeister for specific information on formatting for these pages, if necessary.

In a short paper, the title page and table of contents may be omitted. The student’s name, name of the course, instructor’s name, and date should be placed on four separate lines, double-spaced, flush with the left margin, and beginning one inch from the top. The title of the paper should be placed two lines below the date, in all capital letters and centered on the page.Other than the difference in the preliminary information, the remainder of the paper is identical to the standard form.

Headings

Headings are an important part of any paper. They assist the reader because they demonstrate the major topicsand subtopics; they should also show a logical flow for these ideas. Major headings such as the first page of a chapter, the beginning of the bibliography, and appendices are centered at the top of the page two inches from the top of the paper and are typed in all capital letters. Use Style “M – Heading Chap.” In a short paper there are generally no chapter headings. To use chapter headings in the Template, insert a Page Break (“Ctrl-Enter”) and then “Enter.” Type the chapter title and then select style M – Heading Chap. The spacing from the top margin for the style M – Heading Chap does not work correctly if this process is not followed. You can always correct the spacing manually.

Addendix D in Vyhmeister shows the proper form for headings. Within a chapter (or within an entire paper, if the paper does not have chapters), there are five levels of headings which may be used. Most of the papers done for class will not need to be divided into chapters, but should have some of these five levels. Papers of less than five or six pages generally do not need any headings.

There are two common requirements for all levels of these headings. First, two blank lines precede all these headings, with the heading on the third line below the text above it. One blank line follows the heading. These headings can never be the final line on a page; force the heading onto the next page, if necessary. Second, a heading longer than 48 characters is set in two or more lines, in inverted pyramid style.

The first-level heading is centered and bold; use style M – Heading 1. This section of the sample paper begins with a first-level heading called “Headings.”A second-level heading is centered, but not bold. Use style M – Heading 2.

Third-Level Heading, Flush with Left

Margin and Bold

A third-level heading is placed at the left margin and bolded. Use style M – Heading 3.A fourth-level heading is identical to the third-level, but without the bolding. Use style M – Heading 4.If the heading is longer than 48 characters, it is set in two lines, single-spaced, and inverted pyramid form.

Fifth-level heading. The fifth-level subheading is the paragraph heading. Use style M – Heading 5. You will have to manually bold the heading itself, but the style will add the needed additional blank line before the heading.

The writer does not have to use all five heading styles, but the ordermay never be changed. The usual college or seminary paper would usually use only two or three heading styles. The use of more levels of headings would probably be more confusing than helpful in a paper shorter than a thesis or dissertation.

There should never be only one of any level of heading in a paper. Since the purpose of headings is to divide the paper logically, a single heading cannot exist; it takes at least two sub-headings under each heading to “divide” each section. Having a single heading would be equivalent to having only one sub-point in an outline.

Citations

Footnotes are used either to identify the source of the material in the paper or to add information that is helpful, but not necessary to the flow of the paper itself. A footnote begins at the bottom of the page on which it is referenced, but can run over to the bottom of the next page if the note is more than three lines long. For classes with Bro. Lester, he does not accept endnotes (you should check with other professors about their preferences). A two-inch long line one line below the body of the paper separates footnotes from the body. The footnotes begin on the second line below the rule.

The latest editions of Turabian and Vhymeister changed the footnote format. The old format used a superscript number both in the body of the paper and before the footnote. The new format uses a superscript number in the body, but places the number in the footnote in normal font size, followed by a period and a space. This is a problem with Word, because in Word whatever is used in the body must be used in the footnote. There are two ways to fix this problem. One is to insert the footnote in the usual way (Ctrl-Alt-F or the “Insert Footnote” icon in the References ribbon), highlight the number in the footnote, click off the superscript and manually add the period. Do not delete the footnote number; that will delete the automatic numbering. The footnote number will not automatically change if an earlier footnote is added or deleted. The easy way to correctly insert a footnote is to use a macro that is imbedded in the Template. To insert a footnote with the proper numbering format, type “Alt” “i” “n” “n”.

When referring to the same book a second time, the footnote reference should be shortened to the author’s last name, a short title (which is optional, but should be included if there is the potential for confusion or if there is more than one work by the same author), and the page number(s).[3] When a note makes reference to a book that was cited in the previous footnote, the term “Ibid.” may be used.[4]Footnotes are numbered consecutively within a chapter. If the paper does not have chapters, footnote numbers run consecutively throughout the entire paper.

Chapter 10 of Quality Research Papers shows what information needs to be included and in what form for the variety of possible sources. Chapter 3 gives information on the proper form for the bibliography and footnotes for websites.

Bibliographies consist of the books, articles and other sources used in the research of the paper. A true bibliography may contain material that does not appear directly in the paper, but was useful for the author’s further understanding of the topic in general. Some professors will require a Works Cited instead of a Bibliography. This contains only those works that are found in the footnotes of the paper. Ask your professor which he prefers. The bibliography is found at the end of the paper. The heading Bibliography is located two inches from the top margin and centered on the page; use style M –Heading Chap. Be sure to add a page break on the page before the bibliography; see page 4.

See Appendix C of Quality Research Papers for a list of common abbreviations for the more popular journals and book series. These should be used in footnotes and the bibliography. If you desire to use an abbreviation for a work not in Appendix C, be sure to identify the series or journal completely the first time in the paper and place the abbreviation which will be used in the rest of the paper in parenthesis following the name of the article or journal.

Indentations

Normal Paragraphs are indented .5 inches. The style M – Body Text has the normal paragraph indentation. Block quotations have a special format.

Longer quotations – usually two sentences on eight lines or more – are typed as “block quotations.” These quotations are single spaced and indented from each margin. The old rule was to indent half as much as the regular paragraph, the new rule is to indent the same as paragraph. . . . You may also make the quotation one point smaller than the body text (11 instead of 12 point, for example).[5]

If the original material in a block quotation has multiple paragraphs, the quotation must reflect that. Paragraph indentation in the original text should be indicated by a .25 inch indention within the block quotation. The style is M – Block Quotation.If the block quotation is not an independent paragraph, then the style should be M – Block Quotation Nodent. This eliminates the indentation on the first line.If anything is added to the quotation, set the addition in brackets [this would be added material]. If the block quotation contains its own quotation, the latter should be placed in quotation marks.

Summary

It is the hope of the Bible Department that this Format Guide will make the mechanics of your papers easier and at the same time introduce you to the common standard for theological writing. Please feel free to ask your professor for help in using this template or contact the Academic Dean for assistance.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Turabian, Kate L. A Manualfor Writers of Term Papers, Theses, and Dissertations. 7th ed. Edited by Wayne C. Booth, Gregory G. Colomb, and Joseph M. Williams. Chicago: University of Chicago, 2007.

Vyhmeister, Nancy Jean. Quality Research Papers. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2001.

1

[1]. Kate L. Turabian, A Manual for Writers of Term Papers, Theses, and Dissertations, 7th ed., ed. Wayne C. Booth, Gregory G. Colomb, and Joseph M. Williams (Chicago: University of Chicago, 1996). Usually page number(s) would be included after the publication data. See later footnotes. Since this reference is to the entire book, no page numbers are noted.

[2]. Nancy Jean Vyhmeister, Quality Research Papers (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2001).

[3]. Turabian, Manual, 248-49.

[4]. Ibid., 159. The page number is not required if the page numbers are identical to the pages in the previous footnote. “Ibid.” cannot be used to refer to any source except the one in the immediately preceding footnote. Care must be taken when using a word processor that automatically places the footnotes in the paper. It is very easy to add a footnote between an original citation and a following “Ibid.” which would result in the last footnote referring to the wrong source. For that reason some writers never use “Ibid.,” but always refer to the author and title of the book.

[5]. Vyhmeister, 128.