Academic documents in Word: citations, references (APA/Harvard), footnotes, captions and formatting a project

Research proposals, projects, theses, reports and assignments at college and university follow strict formatting rules: title pages, preliminary pages, chapters, citations, reference lists, footnotes, figure captions, page numbering and plagiarism checks. Word has tools that automate most of this. This unit shows how to format a complete academic document professionally and ethically.

Typical structure of a research project

Always follow your institution's guidelines, which override general advice (fonts, spacing, margins, citation style).

Typical requirements: Times New Roman 12 pt, 1.5 or double line spacing, margins of about 2.5–3 cm (larger left margin for binding), justified or left-aligned text, roman numerals for preliminary pages and arabic numbers from Chapter 1.

Citing sources and avoiding plagiarism

Citing means acknowledging the sources of ideas, data, quotations and images you use.

Why:

• Honesty: presenting others' work as yours is plagiarism, a serious academic offence (can lead to failing or discontinuation).
• Credibility: shows your work is based on evidence.
• Traceability: readers can find your sources.

What needs citing: direct quotes, paraphrased ideas, statistics, theories, images, tables and diagrams from others. Common knowledge (e.g. "Nairobi is the capital of Kenya") doesn't.

Paraphrasing properly

Rewrite the idea in your own words and structure, then cite. Changing a few words is still plagiarism.

AI tools and academic integrity

Using AI to write sections you submit as your own work is generally treated as academic misconduct unless your institution explicitly allows it (and requires disclosure). AI can also invent fake references ("hallucinated" citations). If allowed, use AI for brainstorming or checking grammar, verify every fact and source yourself, and disclose use as your institution requires.

Plagiarism checkers

Institutions use tools like Turnitin to compare your work against published sources and other submissions. A similarity score isn't automatically "plagiarism" (quotes and references match too), but large unreferenced matches are a problem.

Citation styles: APA and Harvard basics

APA (7th edition) in-text citations

• Paraphrase: (Wanjiru, 2023) or Wanjiru (2023) found that...
• Two authors: (Otieno & Kamau, 2022)
• Three or more authors: (Mwangi et al., 2021)
• Direct quote with page: (Wanjiru, 2023, p. 45)
• Organisation: (Kenya National Bureau of Statistics [KNBS], 2024), then (KNBS, 2024)

APA reference list examples

Book:
Wanjiru, M. (2023). Digital entrepreneurship in East Africa. Nairobi University Press.

Journal article:
Otieno, P., & Kamau, J. (2022). Mobile money adoption among small traders in Kisumu.
    African Journal of Business Studies, 14(2), 45–62. https://doi.org/10.xxxx/xxxxx

Report by an organisation:
Kenya National Bureau of Statistics. (2024). Economic survey 2024. KNBS.

Web page:
Communications Authority of Kenya. (2025, March 10). Sector statistics report.
    https://www.ca.go.ke/...

Rules: alphabetical by author surname; hanging indent (first line at the margin, following lines indented); italicise book and journal titles as the style requires; include DOIs or URLs for online sources.

Harvard (author-date)

Similar to APA; details vary by institution:

• In-text: (Wanjiru 2023) or (Wanjiru 2023, p. 45)
• Reference: Wanjiru, M. (2023) Digital entrepreneurship in East Africa. Nairobi: Nairobi University Press.

Other styles: MLA (humanities), Chicago (history, uses footnotes), IEEE (engineering, numbered [1]).

Word's citation tools

References tab → Citations & Bibliography:

1. Style: choose APA (7th, if available), Harvard, MLA, Chicago, IEEE.
2. Insert Citation → Add New Source: choose type (book, journal article, website, report) and fill fields (author, title, year, publisher, URL).
3. Word inserts the in-text citation in the chosen style.
4. Reuse sources: Insert Citation shows your saved sources.
5. Manage Sources: edit or add details.
6. Bibliography → References/Works Cited: generates the list automatically at the cursor; update it when you add citations (click the list → Update Citations and Bibliography).

Check generated references carefully against your institution's style guide: Word's styles don't always match the latest editions exactly.

Reference managers (recommended for big projects)

Zotero (free) and Mendeley (free) collect sources from browsers and PDFs, store them in libraries, and insert citations and bibliographies into Word/Google Docs via plugins. They save huge time for theses and journal articles.

Footnotes and endnotes

• Footnote: a note at the bottom of the page; endnote: at the end of the document/chapter.
• References → Insert Footnote (Ctrl+Alt+F) / Insert Endnote (Ctrl+Alt+D).
• Numbers update automatically when you add or delete notes.
• Use for explanations, definitions or (in Chicago style) citations.

Captions, lists and cross-references

• Right-click a table or figure → Insert Caption:
• Tables: caption above ("Table 4.1: Respondents by age").
• Figures: caption below ("Figure 4.2: Monthly sales trend").
• Include chapter numbers in captions: Caption → Numbering → Include chapter number (requires numbered Heading 1).
• References → Insert Table of Figures: generate the List of Tables and List of Figures.
• References → Cross-reference: "as shown in Table 4.1" stays correct if numbers change; update with F9.
• Always cite sources for figures/tables you didn't create ("Source: KNBS (2024)").

Page setup and numbering

1. Layout → Margins → Custom: e.g. left 3.5 cm (binding), others 2.5 cm (follow your guidelines).
2. Line spacing: select all → 1.5 or 2.0 as required.
3. Section breaks (Layout → Breaks → Next Page) after the title page and after preliminary pages.
4. Page numbers: roman (i, ii) for preliminaries, arabic (1, 2) from Chapter 1, unlinked footers (see the Styles and table of contents lesson).
5. Headings with styles and an automatic table of contents.
6. Each chapter starting on a new page: Heading 1 style → Paragraph → Line and Page Breaks → Page break before.

Final checks before submission

• [ ] Follows the institution's guidelines (fonts, spacing, margins, structure)
• [ ] Table of contents, lists of tables/figures updated (Ctrl+A, then F9)
• [ ] Every in-text citation appears in the references, and vice versa
• [ ] Reference list in the correct style, alphabetical, hanging indents
• [ ] Captions numbered correctly; sources cited for borrowed figures/tables
• [ ] Page numbering correct in each section
• [ ] Spelling and grammar checked (set the correct English variant); consistent tense and terminology
• [ ] Abstract within word limit
• [ ] Plagiarism/similarity check if required
• [ ] Exported to PDF (File → Save As → PDF, with "Create bookmarks using headings" option) and opened to verify

Practice tasks

1. Set up a project template with a title page, declaration, abstract, table of contents and five chapter headings.
2. Add five sources (book, journal article, report, website, thesis) with Word's citation tool in APA style and generate a reference list.
3. Insert two tables and two figures with captions, then generate lists of tables and figures.
4. Add a footnote and a cross-reference.
5. Set roman numerals for preliminary pages and arabic numbers from Chapter 1.

Summary

• Academic documents follow a standard structure and your institution's specific guidelines.
• Cite all borrowed ideas, data, quotes and images; paraphrase properly; plagiarism (including misuse of AI) is serious.
• APA/Harvard use author–date citations and alphabetical reference lists with hanging indents.
• Word's Citations & Bibliography tools and reference managers (Zotero, Mendeley) automate citations.
• Use footnotes/endnotes, captions, lists of figures/tables and cross-references.
• Set margins, spacing, section breaks and page numbering correctly; check everything and submit as PDF.