Tips And Tricks On MLA Research Paper Format Outline
Whether you are writing a short or longer MLA research paper, there is always the need for you to create an outline before you start writing. The reason for this is that when you create a good outline, it makes it easier for you to keep track of those ideas you wish to incorporate you’re your academic paper. In a way, it serves as a map to ensure you end up writing a perfect academic paper. With a good outline, you are able to link up various different areas of your paper without repeating yourself.
Considering that it is not every student that understands how to create a good MLA research paper format outline, this post would help you to create an outline with little or no external help whatsoever. Here are some of the tips and tricks that would help you create an outline for your paper. They are as follows:
- Understand The Various Headings: When you are writing a longer academic paper, there is always the need to divide the content into headings and subheadings. For example, the major headings which include “Introduction”, “Methodology”, and others should be labeled with upper case roman numerals, i.e., I, II, III, IV, etc while the second subheadings should be labeled in upper case alphabets, i.e., A, B, C, D. The third subheading should be labeled numerically i.e., 1,2,3,4, etc while the next level should be done with lower case alphabets and the following one with lower case roman numerals.
- Make Use Of MS Word Office: This is an easier way to ensure that all your headings and subheadings correspond. With this, creating a table of contents when you are done writing the main body of your research paper becomes less stressful. It also makes it easier for you to make adjustments as you progress. You can also make use of OpenOffice in the absence of MS Word and it would yield almost the same result.
- Do Not Discard Older Versions: As you make changes to the outline of your paper, make sure that you retain older versions of the outline. This is so that you don’t need to start afresh if there are certain things you need to put back into the outline, especially if you find out that your paper is not heading in the direction you intended to go.
- Always Consult Your Tutor: This is called seeking professional help. Most tutors would not mind being of help to students when it comes to writing their academic papers, include research papers. If you get confused about any part of your outline, you can always show what you have done so far to your tutor in order to get expert advice from him. After all, he knows better.