How to Choose an Appropriate Format of a Master's Research Paper?

Standards and requirements for the research paper for the Master’s degree may slightly differ. In order to learn some peculiar details it is best to communicate with your scientific advisor. But the general structure of such academic works is constant and in this article we will have a more detailed look at it.

First of all, it is necessary to understand the overall organizational format of your research paper. The widely accepted structure is as follows:

1. Title page (the page should be included in the page count, although no number should be placed on it);
2. Approval page (it shows that the content of your Master’s research paper was approved by the Committee);
3. Abstract (it is optional and comprises a short summary of the research paper);
4. Table of Contents;
5. List of tables with page references (optional);
6. List of figures with page references (optional);
7. Text of the research paper (your paper may contain several chapters, or it may be done in the form of continuous document without any division into chapters);
8. Appendix (an optional page which can be added in case your paper comprises some tables, pictures, graphs, etc.);
9. Bibliography (reference list of all the sources used while preparing the research paper);
10. Vita sheet (it is a page of biographical information about the author of the Master’s research paper - you).

Knowing the right structural organization of the thesis, it is also necessary to follow the requirements for the formatting of the work:

1. Fonts. Your research paper should be easy to read, and there should be no unusual fonts or italics. It is recommended to write everything in Times New Roman, Ariel or Courier font. Apart from this, the main body of the paper should be typed with 10pt or 12pt sized fonts. As for the headings and subheadings, 14pt sized fonts can be used to distinguish them from the other parts of the work. Bold or italics should be used to denote examples only.


2. Margins and indents. From all the sides, the margins should be the same size - 1 inch. The exception is only done to the table of contents, bibliography and first pages of the different chapters. They may have a bigger index. As for the indents, all the paragraphs must have a standard 5-space indent.


3. Pagination. Pages that are optional and precede the main body should have no numbers on them. As for the main body and the following pages, they must be numbered with Roman digits, located in the centre, and the pagination should be continuous.

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