A number of different formats and structures are introduced in the world of research papers so that the writers adopt every style according to the demand of the field that they are choosing to write about.

The ASA (American Sociological Association) format provides an authentic platform to the writers that are aiming to write for Sociological journals. There are specific formats available for every field that offers a room for researchers to write about it. Be it a medical paper or engineering research, a business related research or a literature based paper, every field has its own demands and rules about how to write on it. The ASA style guides the authors to write a presentable paper in the field of sociology using this particular format.

The ASA style enforces the usage of bibliographic format for the research conducted in the area of sociology in order to make the communication easier and clear. It gives the writers a clear picture about how to approach their research and helps them escape the nightmare of plagiarism.

There are a certain rules that the writer is expected to follow while writing a paper in ASA style. He should utilize a word processor, always use double spaces, the title page should be isolated from the rest and must be the starting page of your research paper. You are allowed to write an abstract for your paper on a separate sheet as well describing what your paper is focusing on and in what manner you are going to play along. It is worthwhile to observe about the fact that the starting of your text should not be followed by an ‘introduction’ heading as considered a usual thing to do when writing in most of the other formats. If your paper follows such a format that you need to incorporate different sub headings under one main heading, you need to look for the ASA rules for that matter. Top level headings should be written with caps on and are to be centralized. Sub headings should use Italics and upper and lower case both. It can be centralized or left aligned.

If you are planning to include long quotes from any other sources, you need to use it in smaller font size and with single line spacing so that it won’t mix up with your original work. However, the rule is not to use the quotation marks.

Talking about the reference list, start if off on a fresh sheet followed by the heading ‘references’. Each and every source that is being used in order to support your work should be mentioned in this list. Failure to do so may raise the issue of plagiarism in your work. An important thing to note down is that the list must be arranged alphabetically in relation with writer’s sir name. If you are using different sources of the same author, you need to compile them according to their publishing year, earliest work should come first. You are advised to use Italics for the names of the books or titles in order to distinguish them from rest of the text.

Learning to give your paper the ASA format is not a very lengthy or mind twisting formula. All it requires is a focused mind and regular practice.

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Category: Education
Keywords: term papers, essays, research papers, thesis, dissertation, book report