You have to read about the recommended structure and understand all it entails. This begins with the title page, the references and citations and the structure of the presentation which includes the headers, page numbers and text formats. Contrary to common belief, these formats are quite easy to learn, understand and implement. You are required to read about them and practice severally. Luckily there are simplified presentations to illustrate the use of these formats which include YouTube videos which are amazingly easy to understand.

Even though the APA, Chicago, MLA and others are simple, they keep on evolving. Changes are made occasionally to make them better. You have to update your knowledge on these formats to ensure that you are using the latest and most acceptable format. Fortunately, instructors and supervisors are normally quick to notice problems in the structure hence they can correct you.

Each format has its basic features that you need to pay keen attention to. They include:

Text formatting

This is important because your work has to be as clear and presentable as possible. Most of these formats use Times New Roman font size 12. The entire academic writing has to be double spaced and the first line of each paragraph indented. This is common for most formats but you have to ensure that you are using the text formatting recommended by your instructor or supervisor.

Headers and Page numbers

All the page numbers should be numbered consecutively and the headers have to appear on all pages. The header is preferably a shortened form of the title. The first page has the text “Running head:" preceding the actual header. The location of the page numbers may vary in some formats but these features are common in most research paper formats.

Citation

Referencing and citation is very critical in any research paper. All your quotes and paraphrases must be perfectly cited failure to which they will be regarded as a clear case of plagiarism. The APA, MLA, Chicago and other formats have specific formats of citing books, websites, videos and other research papers. Luckily it is very easy to cite these works from the Internet due to the cite option available. The citations are available in all the formats and all you need to do is copy and paste in your own work.

In addition, there are in-text citations that should appear next to the quote or the paraphrase. Each format has its own method of citing. Previously, these citations did not require the inclusion of page numbers; the name of the authors and year of publication was just enough. Now, page numbers have become increasingly important in in-text citations. This shows the essence of being up-to-date with current citation trends.