Here's a word of warning that many people will just ignore. Don't copy and paste from Microsoft Word. Not only will you copy and paste your words, but also a ton of code you don't need. In fact, the code from Word may break your site. Fortunately, there's a handy little button in the article edit pane that will help. (must have JCE editor installed)

To copy and paste from word to your Joomla article:

1. Copy the text from word.
2. click the "Paste from Word." button. Depending on which version of JCE editor you have, the button might be in a slightly different place. Basically poke the button with the blue "W." If you mouse over the buttons, you will get tool tips that name each button.
   
   
3. The paste window will appear. There's even handy instructions telling you how to paste. Hint: hold your Control keyboard button down while pressing the letter "v."
   
   
   
   
4. You may have some cleanup to do, depending on what you want to do with your text. The most common problem are returns showing up in the wrong place or not at all. The text edit buttons function about like any other. Highlight the word(s) and then click the Bold, or Italics or Underline button, etc.