Essay writing is a skill that keeps on getting better
with every effort one puts in it. However, apart from just the writing skills,
there is one more thing that makes your essay looks professional and
academically brilliant- with how you format it. The essay format is fundamental
in any writing field, whether one is a student or writes professionally. How
one structure, their essays makes the difference.
There is a standard essay format that is followed
universally. Unless otherwise specified, the student must follow this
format:
1: The page margins are 1 inch on each side.
2: Specific line spacings are provided to the students.
(single-spaced, double spaced.)
3: Page headers should always be included in essays.
Whether the header content would be on the left or right side, gets provided by
the course leader.
4: There are specific fonts required, but the major ones
that are universally used are Times New Roman or Arial, with the font size
being 12 mostly.
The easiest way to structure an essay is to divide it
into multiple parts: the abstract, introduction, research methodologies, and
conclusion. The abstract includes fundamental research in a gist. The reader
gets to know the study's general topic, how many subjects took part in it, what
methodologies were used, and if the result supports the argument.
The introduction consists of all the critical arguments
and research from credible sources to support the student's topic. Here, brief
information about the subject is given and why one chose to work on the said
topic.
If the essay requires, then the research methodology part
includes all the other supporting arguments and literature reviews from
reliable sources. It helps make your writing more credible.
Some important tips are given below to understand how one
can write better essays.
1: Understand the topic- Usually, while writing essays,
topics are given. But if you have the opportunity to pick a topic for yourself-
choose something that you have a keen interest in.
Do as much reading as you can on the given topic to
understand what it talks about and the arguments you can form from the content
you have read.
2: Brainstorm- It is also called the pre-writing part
where one jots down the essential points that crossed their minds. While
writing a formal essay, they can refer to the vital ideas and references to
support their topic more without getting side-tracked by other things.
3: Writing without editing- While having a grammatically
right and eloquent sounding essay is something that everyone wants, it is
essential to know that no first draft is ever going to sound brilliant. The
most important part is to write and let all the thoughts out, and once that is done-
sit down to edit!
4: Don't keep things for the next day- Essay writing can
be stressful if one isn't prepared correctly. It becomes crucial for the
student not to procrastinate to not end up in the vicious cycle of rushing
through the essays.
Writing is always fun when the outline and format are
prepared already!
We
often believed that if we use content from someone else's journal and
paraphrase it, it will pass easily through the plagiarism checker tool.
However, taking someone else's content without providing the well-deserved
credits to the author- is considered cheating. Many institutes have strict laws
made for this. The papers get cancelled, and the students get expulsed for this
behaviour. The degrees of strictness vary.
Not
just students, but also the people who write professionally, are on the higher
risk of losing more than only the grades if they plagiarise. Their entire
career, the reputation, is harmed.
Although,
grammar checker works the best when one wants to know their grammatical errors.
When it comes to writing professionally, overlooking grammatical errors is
something that one can't do. The entire essay can go from looking professional
to amateur just because of the grammar alone. There are multiple tools out
there that make our working life a little easier; the user should also note
that unethically using these tools can cause more harm than required. For
example, using paraphrasing tool to make someone else's work pass as yours, is
an unethical example of using the paraphrasing tool.
1:
Plagiarism checker works by identifying the similar texts available on the web
and compares them to the file or text submitted.
2: It
then shows the similar texts found in one's work that are available elsewhere
on the web too.
3:
Plagiarism checker analyses works of other authors to verify the content that
is submitted and checks how much of the work is taken from others. It then
generates a report to show if the work has been appropriately cited or not, and
how much of the work is produced by one's idea.
4:
Grammar checker is a program that checks all the grammatical errors in the text
or file that is submitted. It works by highlighting the text that has a
grammatical error in it. It also provides with suggestions of the words and
punctuation marks that one can use instead.
5: When
there is a time limit, and one does not have the chance of going over their
reports to check errors, grammar checker comes handy and makes it convenient
for the user to find out all the mistakes in a short amount of time.
Plagiarism
Checker and Grammar Checker, do they work?
Both
these tools are used to enhance the quality of the work that one is submitting.
With plagiarism checker, one can easily find out the content that is not
appropriately cited or is stolen from other authors. Grammar checker, on the
other hand, finds out all the grammatical errors present in a report.
It is
essential to use both these tools as they are easy to use and understand-
making it convenient for the user to find out their mistakes in a short time.
With the time constraints on academic writers or students, it becomes hard to
keep track of all the errors in a document.
Every
student faces the crisis of submitting a plagiarism-free essay or assignment.
How can one take content from the internet to support their arguments without
it coming under the plagiarism check?
Here,
the paraphrase tool comes in to help! One might wonder what a paraphrase tool
is and how it functions. Here's how it works!
A
paraphrase tool helps the students to save time by paraphrasing the entire
sentences. That way, the student won't have to spend time finding synonyms
before running it through a plagiarism checker tool—the paraphrase tool
functions in an easy-to-understand manner. The contents copied are pasted in a
box, and after waiting for a few minutes, the paraphrased sentence will show
up. That makes it easier for the student to not stress over deadlines and also,
they're able to get rid of any plagiarism effortlessly.
No
person in this world hasn't faced difficulties while submitting essays or
articles. It isn't easy to find similar words; in other cases, the words don't
flow as effortlessly as possible. All of these blocks become a reason to stress
when the deadline approaches. Frequently, people get stuck in their paper's
initial parts as they don't understand how to start it. In such cases, the
paraphrase tool works incredibly to give you a little push to begin your
writing process. Sometimes we know what to write, but to present it eloquently is
a task that not everyone can complete.
For
example, if one already has a bit of a text that they want to rewrite;
paraphrase tool helps find the appropriate synonyms and rewrite the text
better. It also allows one to make a good impression in the professional or
academic line of work, or even if they want to create content for their blogs
or websites, paraphrase tool works as a gift!
Helps
in saving time and effort
Paraphrasing
tool is similar to a thesaurus- but better. Sometimes it is hard to find new
ways to say the identical thing every day, especially if it is a professional
or academic setting. People often struggle with brainstorming better ways to
put their words out for others to read elegantly. The paraphrase tool here
comes to help, as it efficiently paraphrases the content and replaces repeated
words with their appropriate synonyms. It takes ages to look up synonyms
whereas paraphrase tool gets the job done in just a few seconds. It helps you
to use the saved time efficiently.
Free
and easy to use
Paraphrase
tools that are available online are free to use and are easy to understand. One
has to copy the text from elsewhere and paste in the box given. In a matter of
a few seconds, the new text becomes available for the student to use.
How to use citations?
There are multiple ways to cite a paper, and different
universities require different formats. MLA, or Modern Language Association
Citing is used in literature, psychology, sociology as well as linguistics. MLA
citing is considered to be the easiest formats out of the rest. Bibliography in
this format is the easiest as well. However, every student has struggled with
this format before, no matter how bright they have been.
A general format guide of MLA has been given below:
1: The paper should be typed, not hand written.
2: Title page is not required in MLA unless it’s
specifically asked for.
3: Arial and Times New Roman are the acceptable formats.
The text should be double spaced.
4: The font size should be 12.
5: Margins should only be of 1 inch on all sides, and
only one space should be left after using any punctuation marks unless it is
specified in other way.
6: The header must have the number of all pages on the
upper right-hand side, unless told otherwise.
7: The header on the upper right hand should include your
last name with a space and page number in the end.
8: Use italics to show titles of longer sources, or if
one needs to specify or put emphasis on a certain statement.
9: Title of the page should be in the centre.
10: If there are footnotes or endnotes, they should be
included in a separate page. This section can remain unformatted and titled as
“Notes”.
What is a research paper outline?
It is easier to write a research paper when one has all
the important components listed down. Research paper outline is nothing but
simply a way to organise your thoughts and work into a simple format, so that
the research paper can be easy to work with. It is convenient to stay focused
while expanding the points with a research paper outline. Students usually face
a lot of stress while writing papers, but once a general outline of how the
paper will flow is made, it gets easier for the students to stay focused and
stress free.
Research paper outline is a plan for the upcoming research.
It includes the following parts:
1: Title
2: Topic/Statement
3: Important points that support your
thesis/statement/topic
4: Supporting researches for all the points.
5: Conclusion
Most of the important components of a research paper
always get included in the research paper outline, which makes it easier for
the student to stay focused on the task, and it is easier to move forward into
the paper with this method. Each point is then explained thoroughly and all the
supporting researches are included in the hypothesis, which makes the paper
more reliable and academically brilliant.
How to write a research paper.
Research paper writing becomes easier
with an outline, here we are going to explain citation with MLA citation
format.
The research paper outline consists of the following
sections:
1: Abstract
2: Introduction
3: Body
a)
Literature review
b)
Research Methods
c)
Analysis
d)
Results
e)
Perspective
4: Conclusion
5: Bibliography
An abstract is a brief summary of the paper. It shows the
basic information about the topic, the research done, the methods used. It
gives the reader an insight about the topic, the subjects, methodology used, in
the briefest way ever. The summary is not more than 150-200 words.
The introduction part is the most important section of
the paper as it gives the reader an idea about what the research is about. It
makes the reader curious about the content. Here, the students explain some
major points, general information related to the thesis. The introduction can
range anywhere from 600-900 words but not limited to. The aim of the research
comes in the introduction.
The body of the essay comprises of multiple headings and
subheadings, explaining the entire process of the research as thoroughly as it
can. Here, all the researches are listed to support your hypothesis and make
the research paper more credible.
In this section of the paper, it is to be made sure that
review of literature is included so that the reader knows where you got your
supporting argument from.
Analysis, or data analysis is a section where your
results and other variables are presented. Present your results in a precise
manner and let your audience know if the results bring a change in your topic
or support the hypothesis that you suggested. Make sure that in this section
one also notes down the setbacks they had to face during the research work.
The end part of the paper is the conclusion where the
student lets the reader know about the whole work at a glance. The conclusion
talks about the result that was found and the insights that the results give.
Here, the thesis statement is mentioned again. Sometimes a conclusion can also
be a means to a whole new research!
Example of Template of MLA Citing
While making a research paper outline, it is always the
best to outline it already in the format it is required. The name of the
student, professor, course, and date are noted on the first page. The header
should have your last name and number in the upper right corner. Italics are
used when highlighting important points of the thesis, or writing a
heading/subheading.
To have a good research paper, especially when one is
doing MLA citing, it is necessary that the references are formatted in the
required citation type. MLA format does not require a title page, only include
it if the professor specifically asks for it.
Last but not the least, it is very important for the
student to go through the guidelines a few times before submitting the paper.
Re-checking and editing are very important parts of the paper as grammatical
errors or formatting errors can make or break your paper. Therefore, always
ensure to go through the paper a few more times before submitting.
