Why bother to &quot;properly&quot; format a paper? Seriously...

I suspect a lot of the reasoning in arbitrary and a 'I like the way it looks'/'it's easier to read' from lecturers

however if you pursue academia and continue to write then you will be looking at journal submissions and these have to be formatted correctly, the authors don't want to waste time reformatting your work and everything in the journal needs to look the same

really, it's not a big deal and doesn't take much time

Reply 3

Marking a paper requires wide margins and space between lines for notations.

Reply 4

GiantKiwi

Original post by PQ

Marking a paper requires wide margins and space between lines for notations.

No it doesn't. Most submissions will be required to be done electronically nowadays, the lecturers can do annotation's outside of the document using Word capabilities...

Reply 5

Aladdinsaaane

1

This is a very poignant question as I am perfecting my business report which is due 9pm this evening. :colonhash:

It just seems like the formatting is oneof those things that require never ending improvement. :colonhash:

Reply 6

There are several reasons, including those mentioned by PQ.

I would add:

Students need to learn the need for and practise conforming to standards, which are are part of the wider world, in both academia and business.

The marker may have to read many such documents, fairly quickly. This is much, much easier if all the papers are produced to a similar format. It is not all about me; there is a strong element of conforming for the common good.

Think yourself lucky you are writing your document in an era of cheap computers and easy corrections. Things were much more difficult when typewriters were the state of the art, and simple corrections often involved re-typing many pages.

(edited 7 years ago)

Reply 7

Also if you give people freedom then some knobhead will submit their paper in size 8 font ALL CAPS with no margins and another will submit in size 18 yellow comic sans

Reply 8

Omar717

14

Honestly just makes it better. If you don't put stipulations then you dont know what you're going to see. Although I would say things like bibliographies are just necessary in general to list sources and add credibility.

Reply 9

If this is something you struggle with then spend an hour learning to use word styles properly (and endnote). And find the paste style button.

Reply 10

Original post by Good bloke

There are several reasons, including those mentioned by PQ.

I would add:

Students need to learn the need for and practise conforming to standards, which are are part of the wider world, in both academia and business.

The marker may have to read many such documents, fairly quickly. This is much, much easier if all the papers are produced to a similar format. It is not all about me; there is a strong element of conforming for the common good.

Think yourself lucky you are writing your document in an era of cheap computers and easy corrections. Things were much more difficult when typewriters were the state of the art, and simple corrections often involved re-typing many pages.

A little ironic to say you are conforming to the common good when all you are actually doing is making the markers job easier.

Why doesn't the marker conform to the common good and let people do what they want to?

Reply 11

Original post by PQ

If this is something you struggle with then spend an hour learning to use word styles properly (and endnote). And find the paste style button.

And, of course, check to find out whether the department has published a template document. Once the document template or set of styles is created all the formatting work is done.

Reply 12

Original post by Abdukazam

A little ironic to say you are conforming to the common good when all you are actually doing is making the markers job easier.

Why doesn't the marker conform to the common good and let people do what they want to?

Reply 13

Original post by PQ

Ok, I am being a bit of a devil's advocate, but still, notions of common good are stupid.

Reply 14

Original post by Abdukazam

A little ironic to say you are conforming to the common good when all you are actually doing is making the markers job easier.

Why doesn't the marker conform to the common good and let people do what they want to?

It is astonishing how undergraduates cannot seem to analyse problems, isn't it?

The common good includes (a) saving time in order to increase the marker's productivity and help to keep fees down and decrease turn-around time for students awaiting feedback, and (b) keeping the marker's health in good shape, without headaches caused by the sort of stylistic excesses that would be perpetrated by those who think they are cleverer than they are.

It does not include allowing idiot students to give free rein to the possibilities created by modern word processing packages in an misguided effort to impress the marker. The fact that you argue for this freedom illustrates your lack of understanding of the issues that freedom can cause.

(edited 7 years ago)

Reply 15

Original post by Abdukazam

Ok, I am being a bit of a devil's advocate, but still, notions of common good are stupid.

I agree with PQ: :facepalm:

Reply 16

Original post by Good bloke

It is astonishing how undergraduates cannot seem to analyse problems, isn't it?

The common good includes (a) saving time in order to increase the marker's productivity and help to keep fees down and decrease turn-around time for students awaiting feedback, and (b) keeping the marker's health in good shape, without headache's caused by the sort of stylistic excesses that would be perpetrated by those who think they are cleverer than they are.

It does not include allowing idiot students to give free rein to the possibilities created by modern word processing packages in an misguided effort to impress the marker. The fact that you argue for this freedom illustrates your lack of understanding of the issues that freedom can cause.

It is astonishing that graduates react with hostility to a simple question, I rather thought they would be able to entertain an idea without getting all flustered about it.

The common good interestingly is what is good for the marker, to reverse it:
(a) saving students time
(b) keeping student's health in good state.

The fact you argue for a lack of freedom demonstrates your lack of understanding of what freedom is, and given your hostility to a simple question i'm not surprised as you seem a little authoritarian.

Reply 17

Original post by Abdukazam

I rather thought they would be able to entertain an idea without getting all flustered about it.

I can assure you I am by no means flustered. I suggest you find out a little more about standards and why they are important. They are likely to play a significant role in your working life.

Reply 18

anosmianAcrimony

20

You might as well say "Why wear smart clothes and a tie to an interview?" or indeed "Why wear clothes at all, if it's warm out?" All of these seem a little bit arbitrary. It's basically about conforming to social expectations and showing the marker that you care enough about what you're doing to make it look nice.

Reply 19