So How Do You End Up Being Late?

Why does writing an academic paper fill many students with dread? My observation following my exposure to the most common (and even the most uncommon) problems in the course of my work where I review thousands of papers is quite simple. The fear stems from not knowing much about the technical aspects of writing a paper. There are multitudes of references on formatting bibliographic entries, using search engines, creating outlines, and using word processors, among other things. STEP 1. Begin early. If you are currently busy and thinking there will be more time later, you might do better to think again. The future may only seem in order because it is yet to arrive. When it does, it will be as chaotic as the current situation is. So how do you end up being late? It all happens a day at a time. It is impossible to know when you will have a clear chunk of time later, so proceed to the next step as soon as a paper is assigned.

Not doing so immediately lands authors, and yourself, on the road to being late-and it all happens a little as each day passes. STEP 2. Create a budget of pages. Let us assume that the assignment is a descriptive essay or, alternatively, a common “compare/contrast” paper. Next, create a header including page numbers, and footers with file name and path. Form a first page with name and title lines, and insert a page break to create a second page. Finally, label the second page as the “Bibliography.” Note that there are no entries to be typed into the Bibliography at this stage, but citations will be added as quotes/references are typed in while the paper is written. Therefore, the paper now has pages: a start page with paper title, plus a blank Bibliography page. The bibliography documents whole books/articles. Notes (these may be footnotes at the bottom of each page, or endnotes at the end of the research) link quoted phrases/sentences/concepts in the paper to a specific page in the bibliography.

STEP 8. Type in the marked quotations, ensuring each has a comment regarding its relation to the research statement. At this point in the paper, only typing is required. Transfer/type in all quotes that have been marked in the sources into the Bibliography page. Ensure that each entry is indented half an inch from the margin, and the entries are listed in alphabetical order. As each entry is typed in, form the citation footnote for the entry. These footnotes should be page specific to the reference being cited. Using this method, a credible citation list is created with minimized ambiguity, addressing imprecise citations that may be suspect. As this step is largely mechanical, it may be started, paused, and re-initiated. With this stage, two significant aspects of the paper are remembered: the bulk of the paper is built with academically sound content and it completes the bibliography as well. Once this step is completed, roughly 80% of the paper is also completed, given that proper care and attention have been placed in selecting the passages that are typed in. STEP 9. Develop the thoughts of the content, ensuring each is supported by quotes.

Insert several blanks at the beginning of the paper before the first quote that will be used, and begin the draft of the paper’s content. Note that this starting point will ultimately fall into the middle part of the paper, but writing begins here because it is the most significant content of the paper. Next, introduce another point, and then cut and paste quotations from the list completed in Step 8. Explore (by adding supporting sentences), support (by citing/quoting the author/s of the reference), or simply elaborate on the idea. Following this, cite two or more powerful quotations from the completed list in Step 8, citing different sources, and finally restating and summing up the idea with one’s original thoughts on the matter. This pattern of writing should be followed until all the concepts of the core statement are addressed. A nearly finished paper will emerge from this step. STEP 10. Write the Introduction and Conclusion of the research paper. In the example used, the Introduction would discuss details about Freedom Park and Liberation Field. This section does not form the heart of the paper, but ensure that quotes are still used to anchor the content to facts from the resources. Make the conclusion concise and succinct. STEP 11. Write the Abstract of the research paper. STEP 12. Have the paper go through a final English review by a professional editor. This step presents the final opportunity to find any spelling, grammar, or comprehension lapses in the paper that has just been drafted.