The acronym stands for Modern Language Association in full. It is very useful in cultural studies, literature, foreign language, comparative literature, and English studies. It gives a proper guideline for documentation and writing of research on English literature and humanities. 

Formatting the front page

The MLA rules have four essential elements to apply as you set up a research paper. Ensure that the page margin is exactly one inch on both sides. Also, double-space the lines. This setup makes your text readable and allows whoever is reading to neatly ass comments. Ensure that your document has a header and a footer. The header should have a page number and your last name. It helps the reader track the ordering of the pages and gives it an aesthetic value. Finally, the top-left corner of the first page should have your course information, such as the due date of the assignment, the name of the course, the teacher’s name, and your full name.

In-text citation

There are two sections you can include the references, and they are at the end of the page or quotes used within the paper. The citations you make within the paper using quotes is what we call in-text citation. A common use of this format is when you directly quote the source or reference the author or the title. 

You should also put down the page number and the writer’s last name and enclose it with a parenthesis after making a quote from it. If you have the author’s name within the quote, you will only need to include the page number in parenthesis. 

Detailed information

• When giving references inside your paper, it should educate the perusers about the starting point of the sources from where you are referring to your data. The reference page is known as the “Works Cited”. This page is the place where the creator offers credit to the source. Things set inside a reference include a sequence of the writer’s last name, article title, and date published.
• Electronic sources: Electronic sources use the innovator’s name and page number or zone number for in-substance references. It is just if the data does not have page or area numbers by any strategies. By at that point, you would remember the creator’s name for the part after you have alluded to the recorded data.

Choosing the right in-text citation method                

We use parenthesis in most cases for citations meaning that they need to be added at the end of the sentence. However, if one of the information that should be in the citation is already in the quoted text, you do not need to add it again in the citation. 

How to arrange in-text citation

Sometimes you might find more than one sources that you need to cite in the same text. If you do not place it correctly, you might end up confusing the readers. To avoid this, you should give the short title to identify which citation they refer to.

Conclusion

There are several formatting styles, and MLA is one of the most used. MLA is quite time-consuming, especially if you are dealing with several references. The above tips will help you find it a bit easier to cite your sources.

• Begin on a broad perspective and narrow it down

In the initial paragraph, provide a brief description of the research area and pinpoint your focus on the particular points. It will go along to ensure that your topic falls into the broader scope and hence will make your work get accessed by a large audience.

• Provide the aims and the vitality

State what you wish to achieve and what your reader should base their interest in while finding out whether you have nailed it or missed it.

• Have a thorough citation but avoid overdoing it

After narrowing down your focus to the particular topic you have, cover the latest and relevant literature in line with your research. The review of the literature should get completed but not lengthy. It would be best if you understood that you are not jotting a review. If you realize that you have stuffed your intro with many citations, review them instead of writing all of them.

• Quit providing many citations for a single point

Providing a lot of citations for a point might make the intro look vague and overly done. Your professor might also question your understanding of the concept if all you do is refer to other people’s work hence losing the originality.

• State the research question or hypothesis clearly

When researching the sciences, you can help frame your research by framing your research. For exploratory studies and formal sciences, you could state a research question. You don’t necessarily need to say a research question is an interrogative form. You can instead twist the problem in a declarative way.

• Keep it short

Avoid jotting lengthy introductions. The best target is between 500 to 1000 words. To get the most transparent guidance, consider checking the guidelines of the journal.

• Be sure to show and avoid telling

The main goal of your introduction is to tell the reader why the research is worth reading. Instead of loosely saying the topic or subject is important, show the audience why it is vital. 

• Do not provide too much detail

If you are writing a paper in a field that mostly sums up the study’s main results before telling the methods, you should keep off from stating too many detailed results. The products should get developed in the body of the paper so that the reader fully understands.

• Check the requirements of your journal

Several journals have requirements that get specific for the intro in the guidelines for the writers. For instance, you might get given a maximum word count for the project you get given.

• Last remarks

When you start jotting your project, plan for the intro first. It will guide you through the rest of the paper. You will get to provide details about your background, the aims, the research question, or the hypothesis. The introduction is an integral part of the paper as it sets the scene for all that follows through. Several authors must jot the methods, discussion, and results in completion before coming back to the article to write the introduction.

• To ensure that draft is accessible to readers
• To clarify and sharpen argument and focus
• To boost and develop ideas

Editing versus revision

Revising your written work is more than fixing errors; and it is editing. Revision gets done before editing. In general, revising your essay involves seeing it from the eyes of your target readers who cannot read the writer’s mind. Moreover, not resting until you ensure you are as thorough and precise as possible. To revise, you need to think big and extrapolate. In the evidence that your reader points out an issue in, say, paragraph five, then consider checking closely paragraphs four and six to ensure that the issues pointed out in paragraph five are not there too.

Strategies for revising

• Inquire yourself about your weakest point and your strengths when it comes to writing your academic papers. Remember to be honest and truthful to yourself and purpose to improve, especially on your weaknesses.
• Develop a draft outline for your academic writing work. It means you are making a draft outline once you have finished writing your academic paper. It will assist you in viewing the structure and the flow of your paper.
• Highlight your thesis statement, then read each paragraph consecutively as you write down the sticking points from each paragraph on the side margin of each paragraph.
• Once you have your draft outline, check to see if the structure is flowing logically as you had planned. Check to see if your ideas are flowing logically. If your idea does not flow logically, consider rearranging them accordingly.
• Check to see if your paragraphs relate to your thesis statement in some way. If not, then consider incorporating necessary information that will connect your paragraphs to your thesis arguments. In case you get a paragraph that does not fit into your overall paper, consider revising the paragraph, or if it does not work, then you can delete it altogether.
• If you spot gaps in your paper’s logic, then consider adding more information by doing further research.

Highlighter strategy

Make use of highlighters or highlighter on the draft paper since it can help you visualize the location of specific information in your outline and how new information works in the writing process. To achieve this, ensure that you use highlighters with different colors to isolate different content in your paper. For example, you can decide to highlight all evidence found in the paper.

You can consider highlighting one subject using a particular color and highlighting the different subject or contrary subject with another color for comparison papers. For papers that handle multiple points, you can consider different colors to highlight each sub-points and visualize how they work together in your draft outline.

Move and rearrange using a pair of scissors: you can decide to cut your paper as per the paragraph. This way allows each paragraph to become its paper. When you do it this way, you can visualize and even physically rearrange your outline.

Rearrange the paragraphs so that you can view the best way for your organization and the construction of argument and ideas. You will be able to view how the counterarguments fit and even the flow of the academic paper.

Based on your assignment guidelines or prompt, consider coming up with a checklist for your particular literary work.

Paragraphs-based revisions

come out with practical and well-organized paragraphs, comb through each paragraph one by one and examine the following components: Length, transition, progression and logic, focus, and topic sentence. Ensure that the paragraph has a topic sentence that guides the reader on the paragraph’s main or key contents and where the paragraph is heading.

Ensure that the paragraph addresses the topic’s key concerns and does not meander to a new idea or topic. Also, make sure that your ideas and sentences progress logically. Use appropriate transition phrases or words between sentences and do not write sentences for their own sake.

For long paragraphs, consider decomposing them into small and manageable ones so that your readers can understand them.

Get your reader’s response

Allow someone else to see your work and provide you some feedback to improve your work.

If you’re struggling with coursework assignments, consider seeking help from https://mypaperdone.com/do-my-coursework to lighten your academic load.

Organizing the project

At the planning stage, you need to need to be expensive in your thinking. Attempt to be creative, and this means that you should be:

• Creatively explore mind map, dream, and play around with the ideas of what you intend to do with your thesis. It has the potential to be exciting and fun.  
• Once you begin to narrow down to a topic, consider the thesis project’s scope, feasibility, and interest level. Again, ponder on your key research question.
• Think about the type of research that will answer your research questions, such as lab work, historical, quantitative, or qualitative.
• Examine available literature to ensure that the thesis project contributes to the body of knowledge.
• Conduct a preliminary study to ascertain the feasibility of your thesis project.

Preparing your thesis proposal

A thesis proposal project is a contract between your committee and yourself to have a defendable and feasible project to finish within a reasonable period. The following is a general checklist for choosing a defensible thesis project: Familiarity with the field of study, the stages of conducting research, ability, willingness to navigate all the stages, and the motivation to stick to the project. Though conventions might be different from program to program; however, a thesis proposal should include the following:

• A title
• Review of the literature
• Statement of the problem
• Research questions
• Background study
• Research methods
• Table of contents
• Work schedule

Writing a thesis proposal

1. Consult your fellow students in the department or school for the possibility of sharing their thesis proposals. You will have the opportunity to sample the best propels in your field of research or study. If possible, peruse through the thesis proposals of fellow students who have had an opportunity to work with your committee members or supervisor.
2. Have candid discussions with your supervisor. Supervisors have a particular style or format most of the time that they anticipate their students to follow. Some might be willing to see drafts and even give valuable feedback.

Formatting your thesis 

1. You can access online the McMaster University guidelines for formatting a thesis project.
2. There exist specific requirements for dissertation format, and starting with a well-formatted document can go a long way in the final stages of your project.

The process of writing a thesis

However, currently, some departments do offer non-traditional thesis designs and formats. But, in general, you can write a sandwich thesis or a traditional thesis.

• Monograph Thesis

Standard thesis resamples a book and is like a monograph that has linked chapters such as general introduction, literature review, research methods, research findings, and conclusions. It usually identifies your contribution to the body of knowledge. In general, a master’s thesis is approximately 150 pages, while a doctoral one is approximately 300 pages long.

• Sandwich thesis: by publication

A dissertation by publication is a set of related papers submitted or accepted for publication in reputable research journals. Such papers get connected by practical or theoretical linkages that structure the research. Such a thesis will require several papers in the range of 3 to 7 papers. The traditional thesis consists of the following components.

1. The title
2. Abstract
3. Review of literature
4. Research questions or problems
5. Research methods
6. Research outcomes
7. Supporting arguments in support of the research findings
8. The conclusions and recommendations for further research

MacSphere is an internal repository; digital space for McMaster University for organizing and offering access to ongoing research in the University. MacSphere is a valuable tool for dissertation authors since they can access successful students in your study program. When you keenly follow others’ work, it can help you write specific sections and even chapters, formatting, and access some supervisors or school/department untold expectations.

Those who are writing a sandwich thesis can check in the MacSphere how such projects look like in their respective departments or schools. MacSphere comforts you that other students did succeed in the type of research they were doing.

The length of a thesis paper project

In general, doctoral students write their dissertations to a maximum of approximately 300 pages long, while a Master’s dissertation should not exceed 200 pages.