School work can bring the best and the worst out of a person. Since it is already hard why make it harder on yourself when you can make it easier by just following the requirements. For instance, the professor usually gives you the major assignments for the entire semester and one of them is a research paper. There will be times when the professor will give you the research paper format to go with the assigned research paper. But there are times when the professor will let you decide for yourself on what format to use. When that happens, all you need to do is check out the previous research papers done similar to your topic and check the format used. Always start early, preferably as soon as the teacher assigns you your topic. Cramming is never recommended for research papers.
What’s great about having a format is you will be guided accordingly. You will have guidelines and rules to follow from the Cover Page to the Bibliography. Even your index cards, your notes, and your outline should be in the same format as your research paper. This will actually help you in doing your research paper. It will make it easier on you because your research paper will follow naturally.
So now that you have done your research paper according to the format assigned, it is always wise to proofread your work. You do not want to get minus points just because you misspelled a word wrong or assembled the sentence incorrectly. Last but not the least, cite your sources.
If you are finding it difficult to follow through, always ask your teacher for advise on how to proceed. More often than not, they will be get you back on track because they definitely understand how hard it is to write a research paper.