PREPARING YOUR FINAL DRAFT

After you have revised your paper and compiled a list of references or works cited, you are ready to prepare the final draft. Following are some guidelines to help you format, edit, and proofread your final paper. For an example of an essay in MLA style, see “Do Animals Have Emotions” by Nicholas Destino. For an example of an essay in APA style, see“Schizophrenia: Definition and Treatment” by Sonia Gomez.

FORMATTING YOUR PAPER

Academic papers should follow a standard format and meet the expectations of the genre in which you are writing. For example, if you are writing a research report for a psychology class using APA style, you will need to include a title page, an abstract, and headings for each of your main sections. If you are writing a research paper for a literature class using MLA style, in contrast, no title page or abstract is required, and headings are used only in lengthy essays.

For college papers, the following guidelines are recommended by the Modern Language Association (MLA). If your instructor suggests or requires a different format, be sure to follow it. If your instructor does not recommend a format, these guidelines would likely be acceptable.

  1. Paper. Use 8½- by 11-inch white paper. Use a paper clip; do not staple or use a binder.
  2. Your name and course information. Do not use a title page unless your instructor requests one. Instead, position your name at the left margin one inch from the top of the page. Underneath it, on separate lines, list your instructor’s name, your course name and number, and the date.
  3. Title. Place the title two lines below the date, and center it. Capitalize the first word and all other important words (all except articles, coordinating conjunctions, and prepositions). Do not underline or italicize your title or put quotation marks around it. Start your paper one line space below the title.
  4. Margins, spacing, and indentation. Use one-inch margins. Double-space between all lines of your paper (including your name and course information, your title, block quotations, and works-cited entries). Indent the first line of each paragraph half an inch, and use a hanging indent (first line flush left, subsequent lines indented half an inch) in the list of works cited.
  5. Numbering of pages. Number all pages using arabic numerals (1, 2, 3) in the upper-right corner. Place the numbers one-half inch below the top of the paper. (If your instructor requests a title page, do not number it and do not count it in your numbering.) Precede each page number with your last name, leaving a space between your name and the number.
  6. Headings. The MLA does not provide any guidelines for using headings. However, the system recommended by the American Psychological Association (APA) should work for most papers. Main headings should be centered, and the first letter of key words should be capitalized. Subheadings should begin at the left margin, with important words capitalized.
  7. Visuals. If you include tables and figures (graphs, charts, maps, photographs, and drawings) in your paper, label each table or figure with an arabic numeral (Table 1, Table 2; Fig. 1, Fig. 2) and give it a title. Place the table number and title on separate lines above the table. Give each figure a number and title and place the figure number and title below the figure.

EDITING AND PROOFREADING YOUR PAPER

As a final step, edit and proofread your revised paper for errors in grammar, spelling, punctuation, mechanics, and documentation style. (For more on editing and proofreading, see Chapter 10.) As you edit and proofread, check for the types of errors you commonly make, and watch for these ten common problems.

  1. Long, cumbersome sentences: Try splitting them into separate sentences.
  2. Incomplete sentences: Correct sentence fragments (a group of words that cannot stand alone as a sentence because it is missing a subject, a complete verb, or both), comma splices (two or more independent clauses linked by a comma but without a coordinating conjunction), and run-on (or fused) sentences (two or more independent clauses joined without a punctuation mark or coordinating conjunction).
  3. Verb problems: Avoid tense shifts (shifting from present to past or future tense) throughout your paper unless there is a good reason to do so. Also, make sure the subjects and verbs in all your sentences agree in person (first: I, we; second: you; third: he/she/it/they) and number (singular/plural). Be particularly careful when words come between the subject and verb.
  4. Wordiness: Avoid wordy expressions (at this particular point in time rather than simply now), redundancy (dashing quickly), intensifiers (such as very or really), and weak verb-noun combinations (wrote a draft rather than drafted).
  5. Inappropriate tone/level of diction: Avoid slang, abbreviations, and emoticons (    image). Aim for a clear and direct tone, and use words with appropriate connotations.
  6. Incorrect in-text citations: Make sure you punctuate and format them to conform to MLA style or that of another system of documentation.
  7. Inaccurate direct quotations: Check quotations carefully against the original source for accuracy, and double-check your use of quotation marks, capital letters, commas, and ellipses.
  8. Plagiarism: Avoid plagiarism by carefully quoting, paraphrasing, and summarizing the ideas of others, and citing your sources for all ideas and opinions and all facts except those that are common knowledge.
  9. Incorrect formatting: Check that you have formatted your paper according to the style you need to follow. For MLA style, make sure margins are set at one inch; paragraphs are indented half an inch and block quotations an inch; the title is centered; and the whole paper, including name and course information, block quotations, and works-cited entries, is double spaced. Works-cited entries should also be set using a hanging indent.
  10. Incomplete list of works cited/references: Make sure all sources cited in your paper are included in the list in alphabetical order.

Research Project in Progress 9

Edit and proofread your paper, paying particular attention to the questions in the preceding list.