In order to write a successful paper and get a high grade for it, you should not only state your opinions on the desired topic, but should also format it properly.
Formatting plays a big role in the grading of a paper as it is much easier to grademark papers with the same or at least similar format. The most common paper formatting styles are MLA and APA.
MLA, short for “Modern Language Association”.
The main characteristics of this style are:
- author’s name and page number on every page;
- if there are more then one author, only last names. And the works cited page and footnotes or endnotes are supposed to be alphabetically organized and Titles underlined after the main body of the writing on a separate page. Use an easy to read font and double spaced interval.
Also APA style formatting – American Psychological Association – is a widely used format for writing reports, researches, mainly used for theses and manuscripts.
According to the APA manual- there are 5 levels of Headings:
- Level 5: CENTERED UPPERCASE HEADING
- Level 4: Italicized, lowercase paragraph ending with a period.
- Level 3: Left aligned, Italicized, Uppercase and Lowercase Side Heading
- Level 2: Center aligned, Italicized, Uppercase and Lowercase Heading
- Level 1: Center aligned Uppercase and Lowercase Heading
In case of usage of only one type of headings you are supposed to use level 1 headings.
In case of usage of 2 types of headings you use levels 1 and 3.
In case of usage of 3 different types of headings, you use 1, 3, 4 levels
In case of usage of 4 types of headings, you use 1, 2, 3, 4 levels.
And in case of usage of 5 different headings, you use 1, 2, 3, 4, 5.
The reference list.
The APA style guide obliges you to state bibliographies and other lists of names ordered by surname, and prefixes included. For electronic references, articles online and websites for example, the APA style sets ground rules: The first is to direct readers specifically to the source material and then – provide good references.
In more detailed help you can use “The MLA style Manual”, and/or “The Publication manual of the American Psychological Association”.
Good luck in formatting your paper.