How to select an appropriate format of writing for a college research paper


Writing research papers is one thing but presenting them in a particular format is another. Both aspects of the research paper are important. If you write poorly you will not expect to receive a distinction. But if you write well and deliver the paper in a lousy format, again the score you receive will not be as good as it could be. So we have two important factors in the situation.

  • Researching the topic and writing well is the first step.
  • Choosing the correct format and following it to the letter is the second step.

Now in many cases your teacher or professor will have a particular preference for a format for your research paper. It might be the MLA format of the APA format or something else again. Sometimes your teacher will allow you to choose the type of format you would use. If that's the case, make sure it is appropriate to the material you have written. Make sure that you are absolutely clear in the setup and layout of your research paper. If you're following one of the traditional formats then again you must have a strong working knowledge of what is required.

The appropriate format you would use will always take into account the needs of the reader. You know the topic well. You have written the research paper. But put yourself in the shoes of the examiner or the teacher or the person who gets to read your research paper. Make their job as easy as possible. Allow the layout to facilitate the reading. If the format you use hinders the reading, it irritates the reader and helps make the score you receive come under pressure to move downwards. You don't want that. You want the best possible mark you can get. To do that you need to research the topic well and write well but above all else you need to present the research paper in a user friendly way.

One of the best aspects of word processing software today is that it enables you to very simply present the text in a readable way. Things like margins, spacing between lines, spacing between the end of one sentence and the beginning of the next and the choice of font and the size of font can all be preselected using the software and locked into position. Once locked into position you need not worry about them again. It's a template you easily call up and into which you place your text. This software will even have the ability to check your spelling and grammar. Take full advantage of the capabilities of the software. The way you present your college research paper must be user-friendly for the reader.




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