How to format a research paper without losing your mind? Quick tips from survivors 📚

rebel_research

New member
help! writing my first serious research paper and the formatting is killing me slowly... my citations are a mess, margins look weird, and i swear the header keeps moving by itself 😫 anyone got tips on how to not lose it completely?
 
Former writing center tutor here! Quick formatting checklist that saved many students:

1. General Layout:

1-inch margins all around
Double spacing
12pt Times New Roman (usually)
Page numbers in header
Running head if required


2. SAVE YOUR DOCUMENT EVERY 5 MINUTES! Nothing worse than losing formatting 💀
 
Listen, APA used to make me cry too. Here's what helped:

Use citation manager (Zotero saved my life!)
Keep track of DOIs
Create reference list AS YOU GO
Double-check in-text citations immediately
 
Some MS Word tricks that'll save your sanity:

Use Styles for headings
Set up automatic page numbers
Learn keyboard shortcuts
Create custom shortcuts for common formatting
 
Just submitted my first conference paper and those library templates literally saved my life! Was banging my head against APA guidelines for DAYS before someone mentioned them in this thread. Wanted to come back and say thanks for the advice!
 
The real glow-up is when you start customizing those templates with your own keyboard shortcuts. I've got it down to where I barely touch the mouse when formatting now
 
We've actually added more templates since this thread started! We now have discipline-specific ones for psychology, biology, engineering, and humanities. Just stop by the reference desk.
 
Don't feel bad - I've been publishing for years and only discovered these resources last semester. Academia's best-kept secrets aren't about research, they're about formatting 😅
 
Downloaded all the available templates from the library and already saved tons of time on formatting. They've changed my workflow for the better. Nice to see the academic community helping each other out with such practical solutions.
 
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