Microsoft Word Basics
Text Styles in Word
Writing Equations in Word
Referencing in Word

Microsoft Word Basics

Microsoft Word is a piece of software you should become particularly familiar with as you progress here at NMITE. Here we will cover some of its most basic features.

Below are some resources that can take you through some of the most basic features, namely: shortcuts, lists, tables, and labels and captions.

Resources

ASK Word Shortcuts Poster

How To Create a Multilevel List in Word (That Actually Works) | Jason Morrell

Using Tables in Word | GCFLearnFree.org

Labelling and Captioning Pictures in Word | Leon Renner

15 Microsoft Word Tips and Tricks That Will Help Any User | Business Insider

Text Styles in Word

Text styles is a very helpful tool for formatting your document in Word. They can allow you to, for example:

Have consistently formatted titles, headings and text
Create an automatically updating table of contents
Easily update formatting throughout the document
Navigate your document according to headings

Being familiar with text styles in Word will become more important as you develop your skills in technical writing, for which your work will need to meet a professional visual standard.

Take a look at our resources to learn how to use text styles in Word.

Resources

NMITE Essay Guide and Styles Template

How to Use Styles in Microsoft Word | Kevin Stratvert

Deep Dive Into Microsoft Word Styles (Expert Secrets Revealed!) | Jason Morrell

Customize or create new styles - Microsoft Support

Writing Equations in Word

Using the equation editor in word (and other equation editors such as LaTeX) is an underappreciated skill for engineers and scientists. When referring to equations in professional/technical writing, you should refrain from photos/scans of handwritten work.

Writing equations in Word might seem quite cumbersome at first, especially if you only know how to write them using the 'Equation' tab. You don't need to use this tab for every single function, operator, Greek letter etc. that you use in the Word equation editor. Instead, you can use Unicode!

Let's put this into practice. Open an equation in Word by clicking [Insert], [Equation] or use the shortcut 'alt+='. In the pop-up, try typing the following, which should yield results as shown below. <sp.> indicates 'press space'.

'\pi<sp.>' $LaTeX: \Longrightarrow\pi$

'a/b<sp.>' $LaTeX: \Longrightarrow\frac{a}{b}$

'3^(x+2)<sp.>' $LaTeX: \Longrightarrow3^{x+2}$

'\sqrt(b^2-c^2)<sp.>' $LaTeX: \Longrightarrow\sqrt{b^2-c^2}$

Hopefully it is evident from these examples that, with practice, using Unicode shortcuts is helpful for writing equations far faster than using the 'Equation' tab and even writing out equations by hand and scanning them! Once you've had some practice, it becomes quite intuitive. An ASK resource for some of the most useful shortcuts is linked here and in the resources.

Resources

How to Use the Equation Editor Properly | Bertie Knight

ASK Resource - MS Word Equation Editor Shortcuts

Complete Reference on Word Equation Editor Shortcuts | pickupbrain.com

Referencing in Word

Word has a useful in-built function for adding citations and references to your work. If you are unfamiliar with referencing, take a look at our resources on it here. Take a look at our resources to learn how to use the in-built referencing function in Word. Remember here at NMITE we use Harvard Referencing.

Once you start to do large written project work, you may need to install referencing software, which can work with Word. The software can automate the process of manually filling in the features of your references. The most common referencing software include:

Mendeley
Endnote
Paperpile

Resources

Harvard Referencing in Word | germcelvaney

Add Citations in a Word Document | Microsoft Support

How to use Mendeley Desktop, Web Importer & MS Word Plugin (Full Tutorial) | Grad Coach