An important aspect of your personal development is writing. You may also find it necessary as you grow in your career to publish your work for others to read either from a peer-review perspective or perhaps just to provide for general knowledge you would like others to have access to about your topic. Your writing style will evolve and improve becoming more professional and effective as you gain more experience writing.

Manuscripts submitted for publication generally specify how your paper should be organized, formatted, and written. The format of your paper may vary depending on the type of paper you are writing. For example, purely scientific papers may require you to include experiments you performed and require how the experiments were conducted. Engineering papers may require specifics about the technical engineering behind your topic. Become familiar with the formats typically used in your field and make them a part of your writing style. Those instructions supersede what is here but the following guidelines are typically those most frequently used.

Making a paper readable:

· Use a 12-point standard font such as Times, Geneva, Bookman, Helvetica

· Journal papers usually require text to be double spaced on 8 1/2" x 11" paper with 1 inch margins, single sided. Other publications may require the page contain two columns, single spaced on 8 1/2” x 11” paper with 1 inch margins.

· Number pages consecutively, centered at the bottom of the page – the Footer.

· Start each new section on a new page. In double columned papers, double space between the sections.

· Do not submit a paper with pages out of order.

· Research papers are not accepted if your work is incomplete and/or unreadable.

· Never submit a paper that has not been thoroughly proof read. Use Spell Check, if available. Microsoft Word provides a Proof Reading Option that provides a “readability” and “level” for a paper. Use this feature to evaluate these factors.

Tables, Figures, Pictures, etc.:

· Do not divide a table, figure, picture, etc. between pages. Tables, figures, pictures, etc., should be limited to a single page. Be sure all tables, figures, pictures, etc., are captioned, usually below the table, figure, picture, etc. Microsoft Word allows for Tables, and Figures, etc., to be referenced and automatically numbered in your paper. Become familiar with this feature.

· Refer to each figure as "Figure 1," "Figure 2," etc., in your text. Do not miss the reference.

· Tables must be numbered the same as figures and should also be referenced in your text.

· In some cases, you may want to place figures and tables, properly numbered in order at the end of the paper

· If you prefer, you may place your figures and tables appropriately within the text of your results section.

· Either place figures and tables within the text of the result, or include them in the back of the paper (following Literature Cited) – do one or the other

Table of content:

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After cover page

Writing Your Paper:

· Use normal prose and grammar including articles ("a", "the," etc.) Do not short cut wording.

· Use proper punctuation and spelling.

· Keep your paper focused on your research topic.

· Use paragraphs to separate the important points of your paper (except for the abstract).

· Indent the first line of each paragraph.

· Present your points in logical order. You are telling a story.

· Use present tense to report well accepted facts – for example, “In fact,”

· Avoid informal wording, don't address the reader directly, and don't use jargon, slang terms, or superlatives.

· Avoid using “I”. A much better word is “we”.

· Don’t over use tables, figures, pictures, graphs, etc., to fill up your paper. Use only those that are necessary and contribute to your paper. Another words, don’t fill up space.

· Text should complement and be near any figures, tables, graphs, etc. and should not repeat the same information.

Use a title that means/tells something about your paper. Include the subject name(s) and name(s) of all authors, and date submitted.

The Abstract is a brief summary of your paper. It sometimes called an “Executive Summary” or some other kind of reference. The summary should be about one hundred fifty to two hundred words or less. The abstract should be a concise one/two paragraph that describes your completed work or work in progress. Readers should be able to read the abstract in a minute or less and obtain the rationale behind your work, general approach to the problem, relative paper objectives and results, and important conclusions.

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Double-space your text.

Set page margins at 1 inch

Write the word “Abstract” at the top of the page, centered and in a bold font.

Don’t indent the first line.

Keep your abstract under 250 words

Key Points on Writing an Abstract

The abstract comes first in your paper. Use complete sentences and proper grammar, punctuation, and spelling and do not sacrifice readability for brevity. A sentence can serve multiple purposes and thus shorten what you write. The more you write, the better you will become. Read other scholarly published works to see how others write. Try to follow the guidelines when writing the abstract:

· The purpose of your paper.

· A brief description of the problem – why you’re writing this paper.

· A one/two concise paragraph.

· An abstract usually stands on its own. It should not refer to any other part of the paper.

· Limit background information to a sentence or two and only if absolutely necessary

· An abstract must be consistent and reflect what your paper is about.

Your introductions should not exceed two double spaced pages. The introduction should be maximum 2 paragraphs in length. Its purpose is to introduce the rationale for your work. It justifies and defends your work placing your work in a theoretical context. It should recognize the problem document your goals and objectives, and plan to meet your goals and objective while describing the overall organization of your paper.

Key Points on writing the introduction

Paragraphs separate major points in a paper. Your paper should approach writing the Introduction using the following guidelines:

· Use proper grammar, punctuation, and spelling

· Provide a broad context describing the importance (significance) of your work.

· Highlight and defend your solution approach.

· Conclude the Introduction with a description of the overall organization of your paper listing and describing in a sentence or two each section of your paper.

· Reference and properly cite all background material in the past tense.

· Avoid plagiarism.

· Again, each paragraph should reference a major point in your paper. Keep your ideas organized.

· Always, pay attention to spelling, clarity and appropriateness of sentences and phrases.

A section should contain the material relevant to what you are trying to explain. For example, you wrote an Introduction. You may want to clarify and include a section that provides “Background” information to lay the foundation for your result/conclusion. Keep each section of your paper as concise as is possible. There are no limits to the number if section in your paper. A reasonable rule of thumb is three to five including the Introduction. People will selectively read the material presented. Your paper again is telling a story and you should do your best to make the reading interesting.

Each section should be easy to read. Sections may contain sub-sections. These should be used to differentiate major points within a section.

Avoid using long run-on type sentences, readers will lose interest. You do not have to provide a step-by-step procedure for what you are proposing or studying, only write enough to inform the reader. Only write enough so that the reader will understand what the paper is about. This would be different if you were writing a procedure for people to follow and replicate your work.

· Describe sub-sections only if your work is so complicated that it makes the paper easier to read and understand.

· Use normal prose in every section of the paper. Avoid informal lists.

· Avoid writing information that is irrelevant to a third party.

This section presents and illustrates your findings. This section should completely and objectively report the results of your work., and save all interpretation for the discussion.

You should clearly distinguish material that would normally be included in a research article from material that would not be published. The overall content should:

· Summarize your findings in text using figures and other illustrations them if appropriate and necessary to convey your findings/results.

· Clearly describe the results of your work.

· Reinforce relevant findings and results.

· Keep everything in a logical order.

This section contains the list of referenced used to compile your paper.

End of your paper

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