In this second session, we will look in more detail at page layout. There are a number of document settings that are required as part of the the University's Thesis Regulations (RDPD 3). The first concerns page margins, which in the Regulations are defined as follows: 'to allow for printing, where requested by the examiners, the margin on the left-hand side of the page shall be not less than 40mm. Other margins shall be not less than 15mm'. Ideally, you should set the page margins before you write a document, so that you are used to the layout and print preview, but you can adjust margins in an existing document.
Open the file 'bard_thesis.docx'. On the toolbar, click on 'Layout' then 'Margins' and select 'Custom Margins'. Change the dimensions of the margins as follows:
- Top: 1.5 cm
- Bottom: 1.5 cm
- Left: 4 cm
- Right: 1.5 cm
Now, click on the 'Multiple Pages' option. If you are printing your document double-sided, then select 'Mirror Margins'. Click on 'OK' to save the new settings. You will notice that the text on page 1 has moved to the right. If you have mirrored the margins, page 2 will have text that has moved to the left. This allows for the 'gutter', which is the extra space on a page that allows for binding.
Although headers and footers are not specifically mentioned in the Regulations, pagination is: 'page numbers shall be visibly clear of the text'. Inserting a page number is very simple in Word. From the toolbar, just click on 'Insert' then in the 'Header & Footer' section, select 'Page Number' to reveal some options. In most cases, page numbers will be positioned on the bottom right of the page, but you can choose another location.
However, if you have mirrored the margins, then the page number might end up in the gutter. Ideally, this needs to be on the outer edge. one way to do this is select 'Different Odd & Even Pages' in the toolbar and to manually adjust the number positions.
Next, click on 'Footer' and select 'Edit Footer'. On page 1 (the odd footer), ensure that the page number is aligned to the right margin. On page 2 (the even footer), click on 'Insert' and 'Page Number' again and ensure that this is aligned to the left margin. Click on 'Close Header & Footer' to view the document. All of the page numbers should now be aligned to the outer edge, avoiding the gutter (inner edge) of each page.
Please note that the default style for page numbers is Calibri (Body) 12 point. If you would like to change this to match the font of the document text, right click on the page number on page 1 and select a new font. Repeat this process for page 2. The changes will be applied to the whole document.
In Session 1, we saw how Word creates sections using headings, and we can use headings to structure the whole of a document. There are other ways to do this using section breaks. They are a useful way of telling Word to treat parts of your document in different ways. Just as we have seen with the creation of odd and even page numbers, section breaks can be used to create rules for other aspects of the page layout. As we have seen in the example above, we use the page footer to add in text, like pagination, but also other information such as the document title. This could be added to the header and would display on every page in the document. You can try this by clicking on 'Insert' then 'Header' and typing a title into the document, such as 'Academic Writers' Groups'. If you have mirrored your margins, then try to use the alignment method above to ensure these display on the outer edge of the page.
Displaying a document title is useful, but what if we wanted to display the name of the chapter or section of the document in the header instead? This is where section breaks come in. If we have a document that has multiple sections and subsections - like a thesis - then we need to define the sections first, and then create different headers that follow each section.
In the following example, we will focus on three sections in the example thesis. First, scroll down to page 3 and place the cursor just before the heading 'Literature Review'. Now click on 'Layout' in the toolbar, then 'Breaks', and select 'Next Page' under 'Section Breaks'. This will move the text onto the following page. To help you see where the section breaks are located, click on the paragraph mark (pilcrow) icon in the toolbar and scroll back up to page 3, and you should see a line called 'Section Break'.
Scroll back up to page 1 and in the header, delete any text you have already added and type in 'Introduction'. Align the text to the outer edge of the page if necessary and repeat on page 2 by clicking on 'Next' in the header and footer 'Navigation' section. Click through to the header on page 4 and change the text to 'Literature Review'. Ensure that the 'Link to Previous' button in the toolbar is not selected.
Next, scroll down to the end of page 5 and put the cursor just before the heading 'Research Methodology'. Insert another section break using the procedure above. On page 6, edit the header text again, but this time with 'Research Methodology' and check that the 'Link to Previous' button is not selected.
Finally, scroll down to page 7 and place the cursor just before the 'Results' heading. Insert another section break and update the header here as well. Repeat this process for the next section on page 8, calling this 'Results'. Insert a final section at the heading 'Bibliography' on page 9, and call the header on page 10 'Bibliography'. We now have a document with five sections: pages 1-3, 4-5, 6-7, 8-9 and 10, and headers that relate to each of these sections.
Section breaks are also useful for changing other features of pages in a document. For example, you might need to change the orientation of a page from portait (the default) to landscape. This might be required if a diagram or table is much wider than the portrait layout will allow. We can add a new section break at any point in the document, but to make this simple, we can add one at the end of page 10. Place the cursor at the end of the final line of text on page 10 and insert a section break. With the 'Layout' tab on the toolbar still open, click on 'Orientation' and 'Landscape'. This should change page 11 to landscape without affecting the rest of the document. To revert back to portrait on the following page, insert a new section break a few lines down the page. On the new page 12, change the orientation back to portrait. Notice that a change in orientation will only apply to a single page or set of pages belonging to the same section. If a new section break is not inserted, the landscape orientation will affect all of the following pages.
If you have mirrored the margins in your document, you are likely to want to print a document on both sides of the paper. This can be done easily from the 'File' tab then clicking 'Print', and then selecting 'Print on Both Sides' if this feature is available on your printer. If you have landscape pages in your document, it is worth checking how the page number or any headers are displayed. By default, these will display at the top and bottom of the page, but a landscape page is normally bound in portrait orientation, meaning that these will appear at 90 degrees to the rest of the headers and footers.
Tables are useful for summarising research data. There are two main types of table in Microsoft Word: those which are created within the file itself and those which are linked to Microsoft Excel, and are embedded within the Word file. In this exercise, we will just focus on the first kind. The Excel spreadsheets are more complex, but details can be found on the Microsoft Support pages.
To insert a new table, click on 'Insert' on the toolbar, then 'Table' to define the number of cells (rows and columns) you require. In this exercise, we will choose 6 columns and four rows. You will notice that the 'Table Design' tab is automatically selected in the toolbar, which allows you to adjust the appearance of the table and the text within it.
When designing your table, please consult the RDPD 3 Regulations, which state the following:
if there are relatively few tables, each shall appear as near as possible to the first reference to it in the text. If there are frequent references to tables, or if there are many tables, they may be collected together at the end of the text, possibly as an appendix; each table shall, if possible, appear complete on one page. A table shall be neither spaced out to fill the available space nor reduced to fit a small space. Tables shall normally be in the same orientation as the main text; each table shall have a number and title, which may appear above or beneath the table, provided there is a consistent choice throughout the thesis. The number shall precede the title. The title shall describe the content of the table. If a table occupies more than one page, its number shall be given on each page; the character size used in tables shall be large enough to allow the table to be reproduced without risk to legibility. The presentation of a series of tables shall be consistent in character size, use of space and other typographic treatment.
Word is not an ideal application for image management, but many dissertations or thesis have - at the very least - diagrams and charts that support the content of the text, illustrate processes or summarise findings. In this section, we will treat all of these as images based on their existence as image files. In the RDPD 3, these are known as 'illustrations' and referred to as 'figures'.
good quality, high resolution illustrations and diagrams should be used; an illustration should normally appear near the first reference made to it in the text. The desirability of grouping illustrations at the end of the main body of the thesis should be considered if they need to be compared with one another, are referred to frequently in the text, or need to be separate because of their nature, e.g. their size or method of production; every illustration, including appendices and additional material, shall be included in the list of illustrations with page numbers or other identification; each label within an illustration shall be either so positioned that the part it applies to cannot be confused with any other or linked to the part by a thin line. The lettering shall be large enough and clear enough to remain legible if the illustration is reproduced. A legend shall accompany each illustration.
In this example, we will use two example illustrations, which are the portable network graphics (.png) files 'Picture1.png' and 'Picture2.png', which can be downloaded from the GitHub repository. We will add these two files into our document. On page 4 of the document, place the cursor at the start of the first paragraph under the 'Different Types of Academic Writers' Groups' heading. On From the toolbar, click on 'Insert' then 'Pictures', then choose 'This Device' and navigate to the folder containing 'Picture1.png'.
You should now see a diagram in the text with a small icon on the edge. Clicking on this will provide several Layout Options. Ensure that this is set to 'Square with Text Wrapping'. This will allow the text to sit around the image if it is moved or resized. If you would prefer to fix the image's position on the page, this will create an 'object anchor' that will mean that it does not move as text is added to the page.
Repeat this procedure to add 'Picture2.png' to page 5, just above the heading 'Challenges and Opportunities' and anchor this in place.
Any illustrations in a dissertation or thesis require captions, which provides a short description and information where it came from. By default all illustrations in Word are called 'figures', and each time a caption is added, it will be numbered in sequence, starting with 'Figure 1'. To insert a caption, right click on the first illustration on page 4 and click on 'Insert Caption'. In the caption field type '- Diagram showing the main stakeholders in writers' groups. Created by the author, 2023' and then click 'OK' to save. Now, navigate to page 5 and add the following caption: '- Diagram showing the three main writing contexts. Created by the author, 2023' and save the caption. You should now see that both illustrations have descriptions. In Session 3, we will explore how using captions can help with generating a list of illustrations.
You can also apply captions to other objects, such as a table. By selecting the table that we have inserted into the example thesis document and right-clicking, you will see the 'Insert Caption' option. To list this as a table rather than as an illustration, click on 'Label' and select 'Table'.
In Session 1, we considered versioning of files. In this final section, we look in more detail at tracking these within a file. By default, Word will not track in-line edits unless this feature is switched on. To do this, click on the 'Review' tab in the toolbar, then click on the 'Track Changes' icon. If you would like to track changes made by other people, such as your supervisor, then select 'For Everyone'. The adjacent panel provides options for viewing these tracked changes. For example, 'All Markup' will allow you to see the original text and the new text at the same time. To try this out, on page 1, delete the first word in the first paragraph ('Academic') and replace this with 'Scholarly'. You should see a call-out bubble appear in the margin and the text will appear in a different colour. It will also display the author of this change.
All tracked changes in a document are provisional, which means that they need to be accepted or rejected. This is best done when you have completed all of the changes in the file and are ready to respond to these. You might find the 'Reviewing Pane' option helpful for providing a list of all of the revisions to the document. To accept or reject changes, click on the down arrow under the 'Accept' or 'Reject' icon. You can either respond to all of the revisions, or just the one you have selected and you can also switch off the Track Changes option at this point.