If you are writing an academic paper using APA, MLA, or Chicago formatting styles, you will eventually reach the most tedious part of the entire project: the bibliography. Academic style guides require that every entry in a Works Cited or References page be formatted with a “hanging indent.”
Unlike a standard paragraph (where only the first line is indented), a hanging indent pushes the second and all subsequent lines of a paragraph inward, leaving the first line flush with the left margin. This format makes it incredibly easy for a reader to quickly scan down the left side of the page to find an author’s last name.
The most common mistake students make is attempting to create a hanging indent manually by pressing “Enter” at the end of the first line and mashing the “Tab” key. This destroys the document’s formatting; if you change the font size or add a single word later, the entire bibliography will break. Microsoft Word has a built-in tool that handles hanging indents automatically.
How to Create a Hanging Indent (The Right Way)
Before you begin, ensure you have typed out your full citation normally, without using the Tab or Space keys to create fake indents.
- Open your document in Microsoft Word.
- Highlight the text you want to format. (If you want to format your entire Works Cited page, click and drag to highlight all the citations).
- Look at the Ribbon at the top of the screen and click on the Home tab.
- Find the section of the ribbon labelled Paragraph. In the bottom-right corner of this specific section, you will see a tiny icon that looks like an arrow pointing diagonally downward. Click this icon to open the full Paragraph Settings window.
- Look at the middle section of this window, labelled Indentation.
- Find the drop-down menu labelled Special: (it is usually set to “(none)”).
- Click the drop-down menu and select Hanging.
- By default, Word sets the indent measurement to 0.5 inches, which is exactly what all major academic style guides require. Do not change the “By:” measurement.
- Click OK at the bottom of the window.
Your citations will instantly snap into the correct format. From now on, you can edit the text, change the font size, or add new words, and Word will automatically push the correct lines inward to maintain the perfect hanging indent.
The Keyboard Shortcut Method
If you are writing a massive bibliography and do not want to constantly open the Paragraph Settings window, you can use a hidden keyboard shortcut to instantly apply a hanging indent to whatever paragraph your cursor is currently resting on.
- On Windows: Place your cursor inside the citation and press Ctrl + T.
- On Mac: Place your cursor inside the citation and press Command + T.
If you press the shortcut multiple times, the indent will move further and further to the right. To undo the hanging indent and pull the text back to the left margin, press Ctrl + Shift + T (or Command + Shift + T on a Mac).