Question re: academic paper

[manderz]

When a professor assigns a paper of a certain length, does that specific number of pages include abstract, title page, and references? I'm in the thick of writing my very last college paper, and realized after all this time, I had NO CLUE what that really meant. I've always assumed the body of the paper itself had to be the certain number of pages, but, technically, the references, abstract, and title page are all part of an APA paper. Answers are not going to affect my paper in any way, shape, or form. I don't even attempt to go by the number, I write until I've gone through all of the information I need to, whether it's a bit over, under, or on the nose.

Thoughts?

 

[iheartscience]

I usually don't include any of that in my page count. I do cheat the page count as much as possible though-I hate long papers. If you've answered the questions, why do you have to keep writing?!! If they give me the option to use Courier font, I'm on it! Before papers were emailed I used to use 12.5 font instead of 12 font because I figured professors wouldn't know the difference.

 

[manderz]

I don't mind long papers- it's tough for me to find all my references, and to actually get going (and now that I'm working full time and going to school full time, to meet all of my obligations related to all that ) but once I get started, I'm fine. I hear you though, on the sneaky bits of trying to pass a paper for longer than it really is. I swear, I feel like half of this thing is in-text citations, anyway!

 

[dragonfly411]

Manderz - Going by what professors have expected of me in the past, the page counts would not include title page, bibliography or anything like that. They want the actual essay to be that long. I hope this helps!

 

[marymm]

From what I recall, for academic papers, page length requirements/standards refer to the pages which are Arabic-numbered - in other words, the body of the paper. The title page, abstract, biblio, index... none of those are Arabic-numbered.

 

[canuk-gal]

HI:

In my recent experience--my son writes a lot of papers in (undergrad) History and Poli Sci--those details and expectations are very carefully identified in the course outline so there is no room for outside interpretation. E.g. exactly how many words and count placed on the title page, font size, paging/spacing, word count that doesn't include footnotes and references...etc, etc.

Moreover if the instructions are not followed to the letter--students are penalized. If you are concerned I would ask the Prof. "how many "words" they expect sinces I am not familiar with "paper" length as a determinant.

cheers--Sharon

 

[TooPatient]

I've been through English 101 and Technical Writing. Both of these classes required that the body of the paper be that number of pages. Everything else was required but NOT part of the page count. Both of these writing classes required a certain page count. On most assignments we were penalized (10% or more sometimes) if we were over or under.
Chemistry and physics required formal reports. Those reports needed to be a certain number of pages but how rigid the requirement was varied by instructor. Some were very strict on page count and others just wanted us to include all of the important information without lots of excess fluff.

 

[orbaya]

I usually don't include any of that in my page count. I do cheat the page count as much as possible though-I hate long papers. If you've answered the questions, why do you have to keep writing?!! If they give me the option to use Courier font, I'm on it! Before papers were emailed I used to use 12.5 font instead of 12 font because I figured professors wouldn't know the difference.

LOL! I was a big supporter of the Courier font in college!!

 

[Circe]

It's just the body of the paper that's counted towards the required length - profs get very tetchy when students observe the letter but not the spirit by doing things like providing a paper with a scrolling Helvetica font title that covers half the first page and a final page that squeaks over by a hanging paragraph and a heavily padded bibliography.

P.S. - We can totally tell when it's 12.5 font. And when it's more than double-spaced. And when the margins are more than an inch. And when there are extraneous lines between paragraphs or after block quotations. Ad infinitum, ad nauseum. I actually make a point of telling my students so on the first day, just so as to avoid any ... misunderstandings.

 

[LibbyLA]

Courier is harder to read than proportional (non-typewriter) fonts, looks less professional.

If you can avoid it, don't use Times New Roman. It was designed for use in newspapers (narrow columns, space efficiency) so it's harder to read in full-length lines.

Don't annoy the teacher. Annoying the teacher can mean you'll be graded harder than someone who doesn't annoy the teacher. Find out what the teacher's rules are and follow them to a "T".

liz

 

[manderz]

Thanks, guys! I remember there being more strict guidelines about things at my previous college, but the one I'm currently attending is VERY different, and everything is so laid back and just.... weird.

I fully plan to make my paper meet all of the requirements, and I'm not one to typically fluff a paper to make it look longer. I'm generally wordy enough that as long as I'm prepared and have my resources all good to go, I'll at least meet the minimum length (and I'd rather it run shorter than add fluff or formatting or font changes, etc. Just seems like extra work for that one extra line or two.)

My question was based on pure curiosity, and the fact that I honestly can't remember if it's ever been clarified whether those pieces are included. It probably was early on, at my previous school, but the current college REALLY has not been specific about much of anything other than me getting my bill paid

 

[Scorpioanne]

I tell my students that the body of the paper is to be whatever the syllabus says, the other parts (title page, abstract, reference list etc.) are not included in the number. I will count pages and take a percentage of marks off if the paper is shorted by more than a page. I tell them too I will mark all they hand in just not to pad it.