The midterms can be painful, especially if any course grade weights more than 50 points, as it usually does. Here one needs all the efforts in the world to get it at any cost. How to make sure that you have your research on point if you have never heard of Harvard citation style, referencing or case studies?
We offer you a 5-step checklist to help you create a term paper.
Stay Relevant
Do you know why 60 % of term papers never go higher than E? The answer is strikingly obvious: because they don’t explore the issues they were supposed to. In other words: they are not relevant to a topic, this pisses off those who check it, and rightly so.
How to make sure you are on the same page with the theme?
Write a clear thesis statement and check if each paragraph has something to do with it. Sometimes other ideas may sway the writer away so be alert to see if you are still heading in the right direction.
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Just Research It!
As an academic community believes, you need to familiarize with the topic prior to starting with your paper. Is it really that important?
Yes, and there are two reasons for it. First, you’ll get to know all ins and outs of the subject so you can fill in the blank gaps. Second, you’ll find the works for a reference list that you will need anyway.
The best advice one could give is to look for the information at different scholar hubs, college or university libraries, and specialized journals. Focus on the works that have been published many times in various media or have a lot of references. No strings attached against Wiki but it’s just not an option for some serious scholarly work.
KISS 2.0: Keep It Structured and Specific
Intro, body with several paragraphs, conclusion, bibliography/reference list, appendices — this is the alphabet any type of writing should start with. Free college essays form is applicable in case this was a requirement, otherwise, you risk to get -15-30 points of the overall score. Why is it so important? A well-structured piece is not only easy to read, but it also leads you logically from the beginning till the end.
Here’s the sauce.
Write out the outline of your future work after you did the research and came up with the thesis statement. When you divide the main body of a text into small paragraphs that represent one idea at a time, it makes your life as a researcher easier because you have a vision of the proper content.
Format It!
Another stone the students trip often is a wrong formatting choice. You can’t do well with MLA when the professor specifically asked to do APA citation style. Or, more so, Harvard. Pay attention to it before you start the work itself: editing may take way more time than planned. So focus on formatting correctly from the very beginning.
Where to find style requirements?
Unless noted by the professor, Purdue Owl can help. It has an extensive library of guides for every citation style the subject requires, so you need just to follow the rules.
Blue Pencil Time
Now, this is important. When all the mentioned points should be checked, this one has to be double-checked. Or better, triple-checked. Meaning: revise it until it looks great. The more you edit your paper, the more mistakes you can see and correct before your professor does it.
The result? You’ll get a better grade and approval from the teacher, which is not the last thing, mind you.
How to check it all?
Start with reading it. Weirdly enough, the people tend to notice mistakes in a text when they read it out loud. After running through the piece a couple of times, you can rest assured it’s all good. Alternatively, you can switch papers with your friend, and get an honest critique of the work.
The term paper may bring a lot of confusion, particularly if one is a freshman but it shouldn’t be this way. With the five-point guide, creating a more informative, concise, and well-structured paper will no longer be torture. At least, not until the next semester.
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