How to do a Hanging Indent on Google Docs?-
4 Easy Ways
Are you writing a dissertation or a thesis? Or are you writing a research article? Then citing the sources is very important. By citing the sources you give credit to the original ideas. This is nothing but a part of maintaining academic integrity. That is where the hanging indent is used.
Managing citations is easier with different tools. Let us take a quick look and understand the citation. What is a citation?
The citation refers to giving credit to the scholars whom you have referred to as sources. Why is it important? Here are the reasons.
● Give credit to the scholars
● Avoid plagiarism by attributing the quotes or ideas to the source
● A proof of your depth of research
● Helps the readers for further reading
● Reference for further research
What does improper citation lead to?
If you fail to cite sources properly, you end up with plagiarism Plagiarism tarnishes your integrity be it personal or academic As it is academic misconduct it can lead to disciplinary actions as well.
What to cite?
You should cite all kinds of things you did not create yourself or that are not your own thoughts It can be books, articles from a magazine or newspaper, websites, blogs, tweets, speeches, interviews, ads, videos, and whatnot!
Did you know? You should check against self-plagiarism. If you quote your own thoughts but from another documented source, you should cite it.
What is a hanging indent?
Hanging indents are used in citing the bibliography Various citation styles such as MLA, APA, Chicago, and others advocate hanging indents In a hanging indent, the second and the subsequent lines are indented with five spaces. Hence it is also called second line indent. Some address it as a reverse indent too. In short, the first line is aligned with the left margin. All other lines are indented ½ inch.
This helps the readers to differentiate between the breaks easily. Hence, the citations can be identified as separate. This allows the reader to skim through the bibliography.
Let us take an example.
In a regular paragraph, you can see the common indent ie. the first line is moved half-inch to the right. You can do this by hitting on the tab once. The following lines will align to the left margin.
However, in a citation, you use a hanging indent The first line aligns to the left margins whereas the following lines are moved half-inch to the right
How to do a Hanging Indent On Google Docs Manually?
You can create a hanging indent manually You should simply hit on the space bar 5 times or hit the tab once However, it is tedious to manually apply indents for long citation lists Hence, applications such as Google Docs have created indentation features Whether you are using the app on a computer, mobile, or tablet, you can access this feature
How to do a Hanging Indent On Google Docs with format option?
Steps
1: Highlight or select the citation(s) to insert the indent Ensure single line spacing in case of multiple entries
2: In the menu bar, click on Format.
3: In the drop-down menu select Align and indent.
4: Now select the indentation options.
5: In the dialog box, under the Special heading, select Hanging.
6: Click on Apply.
This is how to do a Hanging Indent on Google Docs.
How to do a Hanging Indent On Google Docs using a ruler?
Steps
1: Select the paragraph for indentation
2: On the ruler, move the left indent marker according to the requirement
3: Move the first line back to the margin.
How to Insert a Hanging Indent On Google Docs? (Using the keyboard shortcuts)
You can create a hanging indent using a keyboard shortcut too. Place the cursor where you wish to create the indent. Press Shift + Enter and then press Tab. For Mac users, use Shift+ Return followed by Tab.
Let’s take a quick recap on How to do a Hanging Indent on Google Docs.
1. Create indent manually by hitting space or tab button
2. Enter hanging indent using the format option
3. Enter hanging indent using a ruler
4 Keyboard shortcut to create a hanging indent
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