Common Essay/Research Paper Mistakes
MLA Format
1. MLA Heading is: First Last
Teacher’s Name
Class, Period
Day Month Year
2. Needs your last name with the page number in the upper right-hand corner
3. Should have a creative and original title
4. Uses 12-point font (Arial, Times New Roman, Calibri) with 1 inch margins and double-spaced.
Intro. Paragraphs
5. Your intro should go from a general topic to a specific thesis or position. Then the rest of your paper should work to prove that thesis.
Citations: In-text (Parenthetical Citations) and Works Cited
6. Be sure you can find all sources in parenthetical citations in works cited list from paper.
a. Source should be in parenthetical citation by the 1st thing listed in the works cited list. This will usually be the author’s last name OR the title of the article.
b. Any source not used in final research paper does not appear in works cited.
7. You cite EVERYTHING that isn’t your idea and CITE AS YOU WRITE. Letting citations go until after your paper is written makes it hard to figure out what and where you need to cite. If you don’t know how to cite something, leave yourself notes like this:
a. D’Brickashaw Ferguson said, “When I hit, I hit hard” (ESPN source…find out how to cite).
i. Doing it this way makes it hard for you to forget to cite it and reminds you to look up how to cite your source or ask a teacher. Highlighting also works really well because it sticks out.
8. What do you cite? You need to put an in-text citation in your paper and also have it in your works cited list:
a. A direct quote—If the words are exactly from a source, you NEED to put these words in quotation marks!
b. Something you paraphrase
c. An idea
d. Any statistic, numbers, dates, etc.
*To save yourselves BIG POINTS and much aggravation, check your rough draft’s originality report when you submit it. There you can see EXACTLY what turnitin.com flags as plagiarized in case you forgot to cite something.
9. The Works Cited list needs
a. to be in alphabetical order by the first item that appears in the citation.
b. to have a hanging indent and be double spaced. A works cited should look like this…
"Blueprint Lays Out Clear Path for Climate Action." Environmental Defense Fund. Environmental Defense Fund, 8 May 2007. Web. 24 May 2009.
Clinton, Bill. Interview by Andrew C. Revkin. “Clinton on Climate Change.” New York Times. New York Times, May 2007. Web. 25 May 2009.
Grammar
10. Your subject and pronouns need to agree in number. For example:
a. WRONG—A juvenile should be charged for their crimes as adults.
b. CORRECT— Either one of the following
i. A juvenile should be charged for his/her crimes as an adult.
1. This is correct because all nouns and pronouns referring to the juvenile are singular because we’re talking about the same person.
ii. Juveniles should be charged for their crimes as adults.
1. This is correct because all nouns and pronouns referring to juveniles are plural because we’re talking about all juveniles as a collective group.
11. NO FIRST PERSON OR SECOND PERSON PRONOUNS
a. First- I, me, we, us, my, our
b. Second- You, yours
12. No contractions or slang in formal papers. You are writing to an educated audience, so write like you are talking to a college professor. You want to sound smart.
13. As lame as it sounds, TAKE YOUR PAPER IN AN EMPTY ROOM AND READ IT ALOUD. You will catch many errors you won’t catch by reading it silently at your desk. You’ll notice when things don’t sound right.
Content
14. It is better to over-explain something than under-explain. People have to understand what you’re talking about to determine whether or not they believe you. Always ask yourself “So what?” meaning what does your evidence/quote prove or show? Why is it important to proving the thesis?
Numbers
15. Spell out numbers under 10.
16. Don’t start a sentence with a number.
17. If you have numbers in your paper, you will almost always have to cite a source. Statistics ALWAYS need to be cited.
Miscellaneous
18. When referring to a person for the first time when writing (not in citations), refer to him/her by both first and last name. Every time after that, refer to that person by last name only.
19. Don’t use vague language. Words like “stuff” and “things” won’t fly.
20. Speaking of not flying, don’t use slang or informal language in any formal paper.
Transitions
21. Do not use any of the following transitions.
a. To start off
b. First, Second, Third, etc.
c. Be sure you know what your transition means. If it’s not appropriate to use that word, it’s going to sound weird.