Structure of different academic works
Academic paper writing is a very painstaking task as most of the papers have a variety of peculiarities that differ them from others. One of such features is a paper structure. It is of utmost importance to have a well-structured and efficient paper to achieve academic success but sometimes it turns out to be a huge difficulty. Of course, there are papers like case study or laboratory report that have a standard structure and you should not think twice how to organise the material and conclusions drawn. However, there are many academic papers which have a very vague structure and writers can change it according to the topic or other circumstances.
It is great when a university or college takes care of its students and offers additional materials that shed light on the structure of different academic papers, but it happens not always. That is why it is important to learn the basics of paper structuring to be able to write a custom essay writing or any other paper type.
How can you understand what structure a future paper will have? There are several things to consider:
• The assignment. There is information about a topic and sometimes type of paper;
• The subject matter. It may hint on the chronological, location or process structure;
• Its interpretation. You may need to contrast, offer a problem and find a solution to it, provide an argument and evidence etc.;
• Examples of other students. Some papers of former students can be called almost perfect, so they can serve as a good example to follow.
Planning a paper structure
If you get lost in the numerous paper structures and wish to find a better strategy to structure academic papers, consider the following writing tips.
1. Take notes when you read all the sources
It will help to structure ideas into groups and plan in what part of the paper they will be most precious. These strategies must be distinguished by colors to add notes to them. You can also distribute these notes into several piles to understand how they fit one or another part of the paper.
2. Use an outline form for planning the structure
You may not be absolutely confident that an outline looks perfect from the very beginning, but it will show what directions you should take. An outline can be of different forms including mind maps, flowcharts and diagram trees. Exclude ideas that have nothing to do with your paper.
3. Think about a number of paragraphs
As soon as you count the average number of paragraphs you need to compose topic headings for each of them. That will help in building an outline and being aware of what must be written.
4. Consider several structures to find the best one
It is not always right to adhere to the only paper structure you have come up with. Think of several structures and when you start writing you will make a choice in favor of the most suitable one.
When you prepare tables, charts, plans and fill them with necessary information you will easily support your arguments with evidence and get a convincing and quality content.
How to make structure clear to the reader
Writing papers it is very important to pay attention to logical and clear manner of presenting content. That can be achieved by the structure that can be easily seen by the reader and there are several ways how to do that:
• Focus on the paper structure at the end of the introduction;
• If it is possible and admit table, mark every section with a hearing or sub-heading;
• Start each paragraph with a topic sentence that will show the main idea of the whole paragraph;
• Connect sentences using introductory words, conjunctions and linking words. The beginning of every new sentences must be logically connected with the ending of the previous one;
• Every paragraph must consist of three constituent parts: a topic sentence, body and concluding sentence.
That will allow making your paper structure perfect and ease the process of writing.
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