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Research Paper Format for College Students – How Do I Actually Do It?

Research paper writing is more detailed and technical than writing than any other kind of essay writing, including an argumentative essay, narrative essay or even a personal essay. However, there are certain similarities in writing an essay and writing a research paper. Both essay and research papers have respective formats that need to be followed. It is the choice of the topics that decides which formats to be used. Most commonly used formats, which are in use today, are MLA style and APA style. It is recommended that you choose MLA style research paper format for topics related to humanities, while on the other hand you should use APA style for social sciences. Some companies that provide essay writing services are of the opinion that it would be best on the part of the writer to decide which essay format to choose for the selected subject topic and also which college research paper format suits their requirement. There are certain common elements of format structure that are used for preparing research paper like a title page, dedication and preface page, contents page, outline, reference page/bibliography, etc. that come in all essays.

Research Paper Format Sample

Deciding upon a research paper format is the first step in preparing your research paper. As the term suggests, the format of the research paper refers to how you will map your entire research essay paper before you actually get started on writing the fair or final copy. By knowing the format, you basically plot every page of your research paper, making a note of the headings, the subheading, etc. that you want to insert in your essay, in a way that helps present your ideas better. You might be interested in a quote dealing with how to make your essay longer on different topics.

APA Style Research Paper Format

Here is how you go about deciding the format for a research paper:

Step 1: choose a statement for the research paper, jotting down your reason for choosing it, and why you believe it to be true or false, whether you support it or not, etc.
Step 2: use an organized numbering system to start penning down the way you wish to structure your research paper. You even include sub-points here. This means that you will use more than one numbering format in your research paper outline. Roman numbers are usually used for major points (I, II, etc.), with alphabets for sub-points (a, b, etc.).
Step 3: Once you have listed the main headings and all the sub-points under them, start adding the details under each of the major sections of the research paper. Elaborate the sub-points, further numbering them, if need be.

Research Paper Format Template

An outline for your research essay paper helps you organize your thoughts, alerting you about points you may have overlooked in the research paper format in the first place. Actually looking at the content would mean that you will have a chance to see whether or not you have sufficient proof for your research paper writing. It also helps you decide on a format that will help present your research paper in a more positive light. You can also get research essay help online.