Homework rant.

Grrr.

I am writing a research paper for school, and I have to write it in APA format, which is not the format I am accustomed to using. I haven't taken an english class in 4 years, and when I did, I was using the MLA method.

I'm just pissed because why does it MATTER if I don't know how to cite perfectly? Shouldn't I be graded on how well I know the material and how I present it? I understand they want to prevent plagiarism, but I can't imagine any instructor wanting to read a paper that has citations after every sentence... let alone 30 of them from my class.

I had to switch from MLA to APA format when I got to grad school and it was so hard, I had been writing in MLA format for like 6 years. I totally feel your pain, sometimes I feel like, even in grad school, the teachers just want to watch us jump through hoops. So, I jump, but not without cursing them under my breath!

That does make me feel like less of an idiot for having a hard time switching.

I don't get who made this stuff up and why its so important. If I wanted to obsess over details in writing I would have been an english major.

I know your pain.. I had to use both all thru jr high thru college... siteing sources is important to the original source.. I love the citing part of a research paper , but I am weird and love researching...

I had to switch to APA for my final and most important paper last semester after using MLA for so many years. It was a difficult transition.

I think there should be just ONE universal format for college research papers.

but then I am lazy and selfish.

Every teacher/school has a preferred format and it is easier to mark if everyone uses the same. I get my students to use Harvard style as it is clear and although there are citations in the text, they are kept short. Unfortunately plagiarism is such a univeral problem these days (I have spent up to 60 hours one weekend doing searches on a set of student papers) that professors have to take citation very seriously. The good students suffer in order to find the bad ones.

Originally Posted by jennyranson

Every teacher/school has a preferred format and it is easier to mark if everyone uses the same. I get my students to use Harvard style as it is clear and although there are citations in the text, they are kept short. Unfortunately plagiarism is such a univeral problem these days (I have spent up to 60 hours one weekend doing searches on a set of student papers) that professors have to take citation very seriously. The good students suffer in order to find the bad ones.

Click to expand...

:that:

To add too Jenny's post, most of my college professors wanted to make sure that I wasn't just making the material up, that i was actually RESEARCHING the information.

Its a pain in the butt, I know, but due to issues with plagerism, its something that has to be done. It's not fair for someone to write on a subject only to have someone else take the idea and present it as their own, opinions, research and all.

You know, I actually had a college professor go through and read all of our works cited pages for a research report we were doing. I got my initial draft back with points docked off for not putting down a period here, or two spaces here, etc. I even got a note telling me that the copy of a book I had used was the old version and to find the updated edition! But yes, I don't think its that unusual for people to have a hard time with any form of documentation, much less switching from one to the other just as you've gotten used to the first. Good luck with your paper!