Each semester, millions of college students are required to write research papers for class. Staring at a blank word processing document on your computer screen can create an uneasy feeling, especially as you wish for words to magically fill your 20-page assignment. For the majority of college students, whether you go to Harvard or to community college, this is a universal feeling. This complete guide was created just for you -- the college student. In this book, you will learn tips for formatting your research paper, as well as how to complete a cohesive, well-structured assignment for any college course. This guide will walk you through the entire process of writing a research paper, from choosing a topic, to conducting your research, to writing and editing each draft of the assignment. You will learn how to properly use the library, as well as tricks for finding relevant and credible articles, books, and online sources. This comprehensive guide then takes you a step further, with information on how to check your work for plagiarism and eliminate it from your paper altogether as you learn how to use your research as a source to support your thesis. Filled with tips for finding reputable sources and conducting research efficiently, even English majors will find this guide useful in defining a focused thesis and developing it throughout an entire paper, regardless of the required word count. Using the step-by-step instructions and writing guidelines offered in this book, you will learn how to manage your time while simultaneously mastering the basics choosing a unique topic, taking notes from your research and incorporating them into your writing, and citing sources in MLA or APA style (or styles laid out by other reference manuals). Get your creative juices flowing with our list of prompts, or compare your work or outline to samples from real research papers; then polish your paper off with grammar and style tips from professional editors. Use the checklists included in this book to make sure your paper measures up to any grading criteria, as you learn how to keep your paper consistent in style, tone, punctuation, capitalisation, verb tense, and more. The book is filled with hundreds of hints, tricks, and secrets on how to make your research paper stand out in the stack. We spent hundreds of hours interviewing successful college graduates and professors to compile the exclusive tips you need to know to get that perfect score.