Literature Research Paper Format
In crafting your research paper proposal dont forget that your content must be placed into the proper framework. According to the experts from service there are basic styles that you can follow to ensure consistency in formatting and proper citing of quoted or referenced material. Your professor has most likely specified the style that your paper should adhere to. Two common research paper formats are MLA (Modern Language Association) and APA (American Psychological Association). Lets review the basic rules of each:
- APA Research Paper Format
An APA research paper begins with a cover page containing your title, your name and the name of the educational institution. The second page is designated for an abstract an overview of the research paper in one paragraph. The content of your essay begins on the following page.
Basic formatting rules for the APA research paper specify 1-inch margins on the top, bottom, left and right sides of the page, use of a standard, readable font (such as Times New Roman) in 12-point type, double-spaced. A header at the top of each page should include the first two or three words of the title followed by five spaces and then the page number at the right.
As in any paper, citation giving proper credit to quoted or paraphrased material is paramount. APA calls for in-text citations to include the authors name, year of publication and page number. The full reference then follows in an APA Bibliography included with your essay. Here is an example:
The corresponding reference in the bibliography:
Hugo, V. (1982). Les Miserables. London, England: Penguin Books Ltd.
Read:
- MLA Research Paper Format
The MLA research paper has some similarities with APA it also makes use of 1-inch margins around the page and 12-point, double-spaced type. However, there is no type of cover page or title page to be used, but instead the first page of the essay contains a title block.
The title block is at the top left of the first page and contains the following lines (double-spaced): your name, the professors name, title of the course and the date. Following these lines, the title of your essay is centered on the page directly preceding your introductory paragraph. At the top right of each page include your last name followed by the page number.
An MLA research paper contains in-text citations for quoted or paraphrased material, and the full reference follows in a listing titled MLA Works Cited. In the body of your essay, the reference is to include the authors name and the page number. Here is our previous example as an MLA citation:
The in-text citation:
What is reported of men, whether it be true or false, may play as large a part in their lives, and above all in their destiny, as the things they do (Hugo 19).
And the corresponding reference in the works cited:
Hugo, Victor. Les Miserables. London: Penguin Books Ltd., 1982. Print.
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