How to finish off the academic paper?
We have already mentioned that Proofreading and Editing is an integral part of writing academic work. Remember that it is better to check and proofread your written text twice before sending it to your professor. That is why it is important to consider issues that are related to the editing process after the text is written.
- HOW TO EDIT YOUR PAPER?
Editing in our case serves two purposes:
-Make the text satisfy the contextual, formatting and stylistic requirements of a specific academic institution;
-Make your written text unique to avoid issues with plagiarism.
There are a number of standard methods of text editing, which was copied from other books.
Firstly, quite often students use books and articles that were written improperly from the point of view of today's comprehension of writing style. It is referred to old sources. Thus, using old methods in a new way, you can transform the text beyond recognition.
Secondly, the technique of changing the structure of the text is very effective. If you rearrange the already existing parts of the text in accordance with a different structure, that is similar to your writing style, and if you swap smaller excerpts (for example, paragraphs) into these parts, the text will be totally different. Do not forget express thoughts in your own words.
The last method is to rewrite all phrases in the text. You can reword each sentence or replace certain words with their synonyms to avoid plagiarism. Pay attention to introduction and conclusion. It is better to work on these parts thoroughly. Of course, research paper editor will cope with this task much better than a university student who is struggling with his thesis paper, dissertation or research paper.
A word count is one of the most serious problems for those who write academic papers. It only seems that is it easy to write a research paper, essay or dissertation. In fact, an academic paper is just a torture for your mind and heart, which is absolutely useless for you and which you are forced to write during the studying process. Therefore, each extra page written on your own will become something like another year in prison very soon.
There are standard methods that can greatly reduce your suffering on this issue. We are talking about overblowing a story without changing its content. In order to do this, use more opening sentences, replace some words with their equivalents and change the sentence structure making it more complex. Remember, do it using your head! Otherwise, your text will be full of abstruse phrases and complex sentences.
Besides, one should never forget about footnotes, which are favorite among teachers and professors and can significantly increase the word count. The essential point of editing an academic paper is to bring it into line with the so-called academic style. Academic style - is a special way of presenting the text material that is most appropriate for writing scientific and research papers.
This style is determined by the following norms:
- The sentences should be more long and complex;
-An author should use technical words and terms as often as possible;
-Parenthetical words should be used in the text on a more frequent basis, for example “apparently, it seems that, in our opinion, as far as one knows, by all accounts, supposedly, obviously, evidently, etc.”
- An author should not use pronouns “I, my”. Use First Person Plural while writing an academic paper.
Narration in academic style does not cause censures, and allows you to fill rather large amounts of text with complex phrases and increase the number of words. Editing of the style also includes a change of tone and idea of the text. In some cases, even if you almost do not change the initial text, but use it from your own new perspective, your job can be highly graded and appreciated, even if there is a similarity with the original text.
In conclusion, let’s review questions concerning technical side of editing.
Traditional ways of creating papers typed on a computer or written by hand. Nowadays, students almost do not write research papers and even essays by hand. They got used to typed versions. Some instructors accept handwritten versions, but most of them read only typewritten copies. It is advisable to save copies of all the paper works that you have written. It might be useful for you later on. There are people who are ready to pay money for an academic work in order to get higher grade and avoid sleepless nights spent on scientific research.
Of course, the computer is the best tool to work with your text. There are a lot of text editors (for example, Microsoft word spell check) that help you to check the spelling at the moment of writing. But do not reply only on automatic spelling checkers. The best way to proofread your text is to apply to research paper editor. Thus, you can take an advantage of using a professional aid and save your time.
2. FORMATTING AND HOW TO DO IT RIGHT?
The text must be formatted in accordance with the requirements of a specific academic institution. Proper formatting is very necessary in academic writing as it significantly increases your chances of getting a high score. Educational and Scientific institutions have their own formatting requirements for students. However, there are general requirements that are registered in the following referencing styles: APA, MLA, Harvard, Chicago, etc.
3. GENERAL REQUIREMENTS
All academic papers are printed and formatted according to the chosen Referencing style. Usually, dissertations and thesis papers are written in Harvard referencing style.
Is necessary to bear in mind that the even the smallest mistakes in formatting can play a significant role. In particular, tutors hate typos and punctuation errors. When writing an academic paper one should take into account some of the technical details of the paper formatting, such as rules of citation and referencing, rules for usage of spreadsheets, tables (charts, diagrams), rules for the use of numerals, the rules of word clippings and so on.
Using quotations, please, keep the following rules:
1.An in-text citation is used in quotation marks and follows the exact grammatical form of the given source, preserving the characteristics of the author's writing. Scientific terms are not enclosed in quotation marks, except for cases of polemics. Thus, we use the phrase “so-called in such cases.
2. The citation should be complete, without random reductions of quoted fragments and without changing the meaning. Skipping words, sentences, paragraphs when quoting is allowed only if it does not distort the main idea. It is denoted by an ellipsis.
3. Each citation should be followed by a reference and correspond to the bibliography at the end of the paper. It must be formatted in accordance with requirements of bibliographic standards and referencing styles.
Basically, it is better not to overwhelm your text with tables, charts, graphs and other illustrations. Thus, you will be able to explain it textually and increase your word count. If you still have spreadsheets in your paper, they should be formatted and enumerated. Same rules are applied to schemes and diagrams. It is also important to know how to use numerals in academic texts. The cardinal numerals should be spelled, for example “nine years”, “four pages”, but not “9 years”, “4 pages”. Multiple cardinal numbers are written in numbers, for example “100 years”, “in 1999 (year)”.
There are three main ways to use contractions in academic texts:
1) only first letter of the word is left;
2) only first two letters of the word are left;
3) ending and suffix are dropped;
The structure of the paper should be clear and reasonable, so that the reader could see the logic to and problem statement. While writing, try not to contradict yourself and don’t make harsh statements, avoid gross grammatical or punctuation errors. Every new chapter starts from the new page. The same rule applies to other basic structural parts of the work: the table of contents, introduction, conclusion, list of literature, appendixes. Very strongly affect the impression of the work quality of the paper and printing.
4. COVER PAGE
All academic papers should start with a cover page. Cover pages differ by the style of references that is required by a professor. The title page should contain the name of the academic institution, course number, name and initials of the teacher, the student's name and surname, the group number, the date of writing of this work.
5. OUTLINE
Cover page is usually followed by an outline. Outline is a short plan of the paper. An academic paper should consist of introductions, main body and conclusion. The main body is usually divided into two or three parts. The text should correspond to the outline by its content and structure.
6. INTRODUCTION
Students should be very attentive while writing an introductory part of the paper. There are a few points that should be considered in the introduction:
1) Definition of the topic of your paper work;
2) The reasons for choosing this topic and its relevance and importance to the modern science and practice;
3) Literature review on this topic;
4) Problem statement and main ideas;
5) Defining of the purpose of the research and its chronological frames.
6) Definition of the main methods that were used in this paper.
7. CONCLUSION
In academic writing, a conclusion is one of the most important components of a well written paper. In conclusion, an author should state his final idea and evaluate the research as well as summarize the whole work. First of all, a conclusion must be convincing and full of meaning.
Once you have written your essay or research paper, revise the full text from the very first sentence to the end. It will help you to avoid any mistakes in punctuation, sentence structure, grammar and word order. In case if you are short of time, fins a reliable research paper editor or custom writing company (we have already discussed and shared a few advices on this topic: How to choose online essay editor?, Online paper editing: students’ choice, Improve your dissertation using online editing services). It will guarantee you more free time and better chances to get a high grade. Your writing will be thoroughly checked and proofread by a paper editor, who has skills and experience in academic writing.