Papers, Portfolios, and Polish

Towards the end of the semester, many students are required to write papers, or revise one or more for their portfolio or final drafts. Moreover, some will also have to write a reflection on how their writing has improved over the course of the semester, including details about it, such as strengths, weaknesses, and more. If one isn't sure just how to go about this, start by looking at instructor comments on papers written over the course of the semester. This will often show one one's strengths and weaknesses, just as one can compare an essay written at the beginning of the semester to one written towards the end, and discover the improvement in the writing.

I personally find it easiest, once I have been given my topic, or have chosen my topic, to begin by putting my thoughts on the subject in the document, as well as my sources, and important information from those sources. Then, I start adding supporting information, rearranging my thoughts and paragraphs, and maybe a bit of the formatting I hope to use for the final draft. From there on, I generally only have to continue polishing the paper until, if ever, I am satisfied with the results. I would also make sure that my reference page is nearing completion, and add in most of the formatting at this point. Always go with a cover page—the more "professional", the better. This usually, if not always, has to have your name, the professor's name, the class, and the date. For inspiration, I usually look at what Word gives me as the "basic" options for cover pages or Google professional cover pages, and either adapt or create a similar cover page for my paper. Of course, you can edit the colors, fonts, pictures, sizes, and shapes of the elements available to make a fabulous cover page. Just don't go overboard! You're aiming for more than just the name and title on the page, but not going so far as to cover the page with pictures and shapes. There are some good examples here: Cover Page Examples. One of these cover pages will definitely help your paper stand out among the crowd.

Once you have your cover page, I like to add page numbers and a table of contents if the paper is longer and has headings. (By the way, if you are exploring different aspects of a topic, add headings; it looks better, more professional, and is a good organizing tactic.) Word may try to start your page numbers on the cover page, so you need to add a section break to start the numbering on the next page. If you want to add numbering "i, ii, iii..." to your table of contents and other pages that precede your paper and continue with "1, 2, 3..." when the paper commences, you will need to add another section break in between the two areas, and make sure that the header and footer do not continue from the previous section. The numbering is also highly editable: coloring, font, background, shape. Do make sure that you start it at "1" from the first page of the section, though, or it may include prior pages in the count. The table of contents can be automatically inserted when using Word, and you can update it to include headings (levels 1-3) and page numbers that are added after the table is inserted. (As a side note, the page numbers you add will be used when creating the table of contents.) This is much easier than manually creating your own.

As for your reference page and in-text citations, these are mandatory if you cite any sources. Plagiarism is classified as cheating, even if you just forgot to include the source, and will result in a failing grade on the paper. Word will automatically create a citation for you in the correct format if you fill in the necessary information. (Some of the formats are not to the latest standards, but they are very similar, and professors usually do not care if there is a slight discrepancy in the format.) It includes the main two, APA and MLA, but also includes several other lesser-known formats as well. Although these formats are all supposed to be different, the main difference is the citations; the actual paper itself is usually one-inch margins, single- or double-spaced (depending on the professor, and whether this is a professional report), 12-point font, Times New Roman.

If you get to submit both a rough and a final draft, definitely get your professor's feedback and incorporate it in the paper. This will make your paper better, and professors do appreciate those students who take their advice and instruction when writing their papers. (They also appreciate a professional-appearing document.)