Language and Writing Center

Let's begin with an obvious point that is not stated enough – writing is hard! Everyone – from high school students, to Nobel laureates, to scholars here at CTS – struggles with writing, and that is where the Writing Center comes in.

This page includes some pointers on writing college research papers, but we encourage you to book an appointment with Peter so you can discuss your specifics needs and concerns.

Some instructors also have specific formatting requirements for their assignments. As a general rule of thumb, though, here are five solid formatting basics:

1. Type your assignments out in black, 12-point Times New Roman font. For footnotes, use a smaller 10-point font.
2. Use double spacing: This makes papers easier to read, and it provides space for instructor notes.
3. Keep one-inch margins on all sides of the paper: This is the default in Microsoft Word and Apple Pages, so you're all set! If you are preparing a thesis or dissertation, however, the margin rules will be more complex (see the templates below).
4. Include page numbers.
5. For all other formatting questions, follow Chicago (also known as Turabian) style (see the box to the right).

Research papers typically have the following parts:

• A title: Your title should indicate what the paper is about. For instance: “Analyzing Theological Developments in the Black Lives Matter Era,” rather than “Research paper.”
• An introduction paragraph: Your intro sets up your paper's arguments, and explains the problems or issues that you will address in your thesis statement and essay body. Excellent ways to do that include recapping a very brief history of the problem, or sharing an anecdote that illustrates the problem.
• A thesis statement: Your thesis summarizes the paper's argument, and is normally the last sentence of the introduction.  The thesis should be clear and direct, so the reader understands what the paper will be arguing.
• A body containing cited evidence: Your paper’s body includes paragraphs between the introduction and conclusion, which further your argument and support of your thesis. This is where you provide your evidence (in the form of facts, quotes, paraphrases, and/or data) from sources. And of course, you must cite your sources according to Chicago/Turabian style.
• A conclusion paragraph: Typically, a conclusion includes a summary of your argument(s). You could also consider mentioning future areas that need to be studied for this topic, or even surprising the reader in a fun way.
• A bibliography: A bibliography is an alphabetical list of all the sources that you cited in your paper and that you used to write your paper, following Chicago/Turabian rules.

Of course, check with your professors to ensure their writing assignments require this structure. And if there's anything you're unsure of, you can always book an appointment with Peter.

Use the 9th edition of A Manual for Writers of Term Papers, Theses, and Dissertations (Turabian) for footnote and bibliographic citations. However, you can choose another style manual after consulting with your advisor (eg. SBL). Keep in mind that you must use a selected style consistently. The Learning Commons provides access to the following style guides:

Quick Tip

Turabian is the abridged version of the Chicago Manual of Style developed for students.

_________________________________

Reference Management Tools