Lay-out
A well-organised layout clarifies the structure of your text. You have a lot of freedom when designing your report, but the layout should never distract from the content.
And you also need to make sure:
- The layout is uniform. You use one font for the main text (not Comic Sans). You can use another font for chapter titles if you wish. Make sure that you are consistent in leaving blank lines between sections, paragraphs and images.
- The layout serves a purpose. The reader should be able to spot chapter titles, section titles and subheadings based on the layout. Use different font sizes, and use boldface, italics and underlining.
- Put figures, etc. on a separate line instead of next to the text.
- Align the text to the left and right margins (justify).
- Use a footer to include, for example, the author’s name or the title of the report.
- Do not submit a Word file to a lecturer but a PDF file (unless otherwise specified in the study guide). Then you can be sure that the images stay in the right place.