In academic writing, the reader’s response to a piece of writing is crucial. In Such a
situation where the research will be published or circulated, and read by others in the
field, style sheets are equally important. Proper formatting is the hallmark of a detailoriented researcher. A writer who makes style sheet errors because he or she believes
they are “no big deal” might be surprised when evaluators question other details of the
paper, such as the data on which the conclusions are based. After all, if a writer can’t get
all the periods in the right places, how can he or she be expected to correctly calculate
an ANOVA or T-test? Finally, remember that the whole purpose of citing sources is to
give readers the information they need to locate the various sources the researcher has
used in the paper. Sometimes, a reader might simply want to read the whole source to
learn more about the subject. Other times, a reader might want to find more about the
context of the quote; perhaps to check that it really applies in the context in which researcher
is using it. In other cases, a reader might want to verify that the writer actually said
whatever is quoted them as saying. In all of these situations, the reader should be able
to find the original piece of writing based on the information researcher provides.