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To
Justify or Not to Justify
I recently received
an e-mail from someone curious about the rules for justifying
reports.
Justification
relates to the alignment of text. When the text is aligned
at both margins of a document, it is called "fully justified."
When it is aligned only on the left margin, it is said to
have a "ragged right" margin. (This is the way this
message is written.)
It is
surprising how people and organizations differ as to what
is considered acceptable. There is really no right or wrong
answer. My own preference is to use the ragged right margin
style if the text runs more than four inches across. Most
readers seem to prefer it. It provides readers who skim with
a place for their eyes to hook before moving onto the next
line. They don’t tend to skip as many lines.
On the other hand,
some writers feel that a fully justified report appears more
attractive and looks highly professional.
By the
way, whether you are using either style, I recommend using
1-inch margins on both sides if the report is unbound or stapled
at the top right. If the report is bound, use a 1.5-inch left
margin and a 1-inch margin on the right.
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