Dissertation Writing Tutorial:
How to Format Your Paper
One of the most crucial stages of writing a dissertation is the formatting, which does not require extra ordinal research skills, but rather carefulness and attentiveness. Setting the right format should be the first and final stages of your PhD research. If you can't do this, you can use PhD writing service.
Decide what formatting style to use for your dissertation.
There are two basic formatting styles that set the requirements for the formats, structures, and reference citations of research works in different fields of sciences; they are APA and MLA. The first one was created by the Modern Language Association, and is used for formatting papers that investigate certain aspects of language and literature. The second one was set by the American Psychological Association, and is used in the sphere of sociological sciences. The decision of which style you will use should be made in collaboration with your advisor, who may also add some additional requirements. At this important source you will find more information and help.
Customize the word processor.
Once the formatting style is discussed and defined, it is necessary to set the font, margins, and other formal features of the style. They mostly coincide for both styles and require:
- Unified margins on all sides (1 inch each).
- 12 point Times New Roman or Courier font.
- Double spacing between lines.
- Left alignment of the text.
- 5-7 spaces for paragraph identification.
- One space after each period.
- Page numbers in the upper right hand corner of every page.
- Separate pages for every table, graph, or diagram.
It is advisable to save the settings under the name of the chosen formatting style to use them for other works in the future.
Format the structural elements
There is a set of requirements that should be followed when working on the structural elements of a research paper. The basic ones include:
- The title page should contain the full name of the author, the title of the paper, the name of the establishment that supervised the process of the dissertation writing, the running head, and an author’s note. The running head is placed in the upper left hand corner of every page. The title of the paper should be shortened if it is longer than 50 characters, including the spaces between them.
- The outline of the paper should be either a full sentence outline, a topic outline, or a subheading outline; the choice is made by the researcher. The author also decides which outline formatting style is the most suitable for the paper: alphanumeric or decimal. The pages of the outline are usually numbered with small Roman numerals: i, ii, iii, iv, v, vi. The last name of the author is placed before each of these numbers. The first part of every outline should be a thesis, which is a distilled compression of the most important information presented in the research work. In fact, it is a broadened version of an even more compressed thesis statement.
- The main body of the report should be preceded by an introduction, which should describe the purpose of the research, prove that it continues all the previous research of the issue under consideration, and formulate the hypothesis.
- The reference section should strictly adhere to the norms set in MLA and APA style guides to avoid any risks of illegal plagiarizing.
Proofreading
Proofreading and editing your dissertation is a time-consuming process that requires your maximum attention, so it is better to do it gradually and slowly. To ensure the best results, it is sensible to proofread no more than 5 pages at a time.