Like an architectural masterpiece or a well-crafted symphony, a perfect college paper is carefully constructed—rather than barfed out onto the page at 3 in the morning. Each part is meticulously selected and polished up, then assembled with the others into a coherent and convincing whole. We should know. Between us, we've read tens of thousands of college papers—some perfect, others not so perfect—from which we've gleaned our 10 best tips:

1. Decide what kind of paper you're writing .There's no one-size-fits-all in college. Some professors assign research papers, in which case you'll need to head to the library or to resources on the Internet. But other professors assign analytical papers (that is, papers in which you're asked to analyze or evaluate some object, phenomenon, or object of study), in which case you'll have to turn to your head for the answer. Still others assign a hybrid of the two. Know what type of assignment you're being asked to do before you start working on the paper.

2. Answer exactly the question(s) asked .Professors spend unbelievable amounts of time formulating the questions for the paper. Take the time to puzzle out precisely what's being asked. If there is more than one question or part asked, figure out how each question is different and what materials would be relevant to answering it.

Extra Pointer.

Pay special attention to any verbs in the paper assignment. Compare, contrast, evaluate, explain, consider, formulate a hypothesis, raise an objection, argue for, illustrate, defend, and summarize are all different tasks. Know which one(s) your professor is asking you to do.

3. Never go it alone.If at all possible, don't pick your own topic. While it might sound like a great idea to work on a topic of your own choice, it's less fun when you bomb because you picked a totally unsuitable topic. (If you're required to pick your own topic, be sure to run it by the professor before you start working.)

4. Make your paper have a point.Every paper should have a thesis—that is, a single point you're trying to prove that is expressed in a single sentence. We think that sentence should be the very first one in the paper, but since some professors would like a brief introduction or "setup" paragraph, everyone would agree that the thesis sentence should come at least by the beginning of the second paragraph. Without a thesis, a paper is just a report. And most college professors don't like reports.

5. Make your paper have direction .A good paper moves through a series of steps that are arranged in some logical order. Make sure you have a reason for arranging your points in the order that you do. And make sure that each step does some work in advancing your arguing. For each paragraph—then for each sentence within the paragraph—ask yourself: Why is this point here? How does it advance the overall argument? And if your answer is it doesn't, then take it out. Eliminating unnecessary sentences is one of the very best ways to strengthen a paper.

Bonus Tip.

Use "logical indicator" words, such as moreover, therefore, since, consequently, nevertheless, thus, then, now, first (second, third), to mark turning points in your argument. Not only will such "hinges" help your reader understand where your argument "pivots," but they will also help you think out how it's structured.

6. Write for a reasonably intelligent person (not the professor) .Many students make the mistake of picking the professor as their audience—the one who already knows the answer and for whom a code word here or there will be more than enough. Write instead for a smart enough person who has not already taken the course. Take the time to explain fully—so that one could understand what you mean just from what you say—each of your points.

Extra Pointer.

Be sure to explain any technical or unusual terms in ordinary language. Don't assume that the reader is a specialist in that field and will know what "etiological considerations" are.

7. Avoid vagueness.Many college papers suffer from being too general. They make many true claims but express them in so unspecific a way that one can't really form a firm conception of what is being claimed. Be as particular as possible. And use specific and detailed examples—often more than one—to prove your points.

Four-Star Tip.

When asked to take a position on an issue, make sure your paper reaches a definite conclusion. This doesn't mean you should ignore considerations that go against your thesis. It just means that by the end of your paper, your reader should know precisely where you stand on the issue. This is not the place to be wishy-washy and come up with the momentous result "Well, maybe yes, maybe no."

8. Choose your sources carefully.If yours is a research paper, how you pick your sources is of extreme importance. Make sure you pick scholarly sources—that is, books and articles written by experts in the field—rather than popular sources—for example, Web articles written by a 14-year-old in his basement in Brooklyn. Look to the paper assignment—and the professor or TA—for guidance about what sources to use. And don't just laundry-list sources in your footnotes or bibliography that you've never used. Rule of thumb: If you mention a source, make sure it has played some role in your argument in your paper.

Extra Pointer.

If you have a choice between (a) a reference librarian's suggesting a source and (b) a professor's suggesting a source, choose (b). Enough said.

Extra-Extra Pointer.

Generally, it's better to incorporate brief portions of quotes into your own sentences than to set off long citations in their own paragraphs. And, in order to stay out of the hoosegow, it's always good to put within quotation marks, and to footnote, any words or ideas that are not your own.

9. Deal the professor in .There's nothing professors like more than helping good students construct excellent papers. Go to office hours with specific questions and problems, and E-mail professors (as many times as is necessary or reasonable) with follow-up thoughts.

10. Review the product .Nothing upsets the professor more than spelling and grammar errors and sentences with words left out or that don't make sense. So become the prof for 15 minutes (which is about how long he or she will spend on your paper). Read your paper as if you had never seen it before, making whatever changes are needed to make it more coherent and readable. You'll be amazed how much difference a few minutes of polishing up will make in the overall impression of your paper. Not to mention the overall grade.

就像是建筑經典，抑或好似技藝高超的交響樂，一篇完美的大學論文需要精細寫成——而非早上3點的“嘔吐”之作。每一部分都需要精心挑選，認真揣摩，然后將各個部分組合，構成一個完整，有說服力的整體。在讀過成千上萬的大學論文后，我們非常清楚有些論文相當好，而有些則差強人意，從中我們提煉出了10條寫就完美論文的建議：

1.弄清楚你要寫什么樣的論文.學校里可不能“一招鮮，吃遍天”。有些教授會布置研究型論文，這需要你到圖書館或是Internet上查閱資料。而其它有些教授則可能布置分析型論文（這種論文要求你分析、評價某個物體，現象或是學習的目標），那么你就需要靠自己解決這個難題。還有些教授會在兩種作業將做個交叉。在開始寫作之前，一定要清楚作業的類型！

2.準確回答問題.教授會花上令人難以置信的時間用來構造論文的問題。所以花點時間準確理解要求事項。如果還有問題，或是部分提問，弄清楚每個問題之間的不同，以及回答問題的相關材料。

額外事項

特別要注意論文作業中的動詞。Compare（比較），對比（contrast），評價（evaluate），解釋（explain），認為（consider），證明假設（formulate a hypothesis），提出異議（raise an objection），爭辯（argue for），闡述（illustrate），辯護（defend），以及總結（summarize）都對應著各種不同的任務。明確教授想讓你做什么。

3.不要隨心所欲.即使可能，也不要自主命題。你可能會有聽起來很棒的選題，但如果選了一個非常不合適的話題讓自己大腦一團亂麻的話，事情可就變得不那么有意思了。（如果要求你自主命題，你也要在開始寫作前，以教授為準。）

4.論文要有論點.每篇論文都要有主旨，就是用一句話提出你要論證的觀點。我們認為論文最好是開門見山，首句即亮出觀點，但是，還是有些教授喜歡開始有一小段引言或是“總起”段，但大家都普遍認可主題句應該在第二段之前就應該出現了。

5.論文要有層次. 一篇好的論文應該是按預先設定好的邏輯順序層層展開。而你一定要嚴謹地安排好文章的層次結構，一定要讓論述之前的鋪墊起到作用。對于每一段，甚至是每一段中的每句話，都要問個為什么——為什么論點在這里？文中是如何發展文章論點的？如果它沒有發展文章的論點，或是在這里沒有意義，那么就應該將它拿掉。去掉不必要的句子，是緊湊論文的最佳方法。

好建議

使用“邏輯指示詞”。例如，moreover（而且）, therefore（因而）, since（因為）, consequently（于是）, nevertheless（可是）, thus（所以）, then（然后）, now（好吧（譯者注：語氣詞，表過渡））, first (second, third)（首先（其次，再次）），放在論點之中作轉折。它們不僅可以讓你的讀者將注意力放在理解你所強調、論述的對象上，而且可以幫助你組織文章。

6.寫給一個思路清晰的人（而非教授）. 許多學生都會誤將教授作為它的聽眾，要知道教授已經知道了答案，即使你的論文狗屁不通，也不會影響他的閱讀。因此，應該將你的寫作對象定位為一個沒有聽過課，但足夠聰明的人。花些時間去詳細闡述你的每一個觀點，這樣每一個人都能從你的表述中知道你想說什么。

額外事項

用平時的語言解釋每個術語或不常見的詞匯。不要假設你的讀者是某個領域的專家，這樣你就知道最需要考慮的是什么了。

7.不要含混不清.許多大學論文都太泛。他們做出正確的論斷，但就是不接下去闡述，讓讀者很難弄清他到底想說什么。盡量表述清楚，并多多使用具體、詳盡的例子來證明你的觀點。

四星級的建議

倘若需要在某個問題表明立場時，那便一定要亮出自己的結論。這并不是意味著你應當忽視掉那些和你的主旨相對立的看法，而僅僅是想要你在論文結束之前，讓讀者清楚地明白你在該問題上的立場。這可不是提出重大解決方案——“嗯，也許是吧，也許不是吧”的乏味場合。

8.認真選擇閱讀來源.如果你的是研究型論文，那么你的閱讀來源便顯得非常的重要。一定要是學術文章，那些由本領域資深專家所撰寫的專著和文章，而非大眾化的讀物（例如一個Brooklyn 14歲大的男孩子在他家地下室所寫的網絡文章）。看看論文任務，或是問問教授和助教，了解應該如何查找資料。不要只是在你的腳注或是參考文獻中列下細目清單，而事實上你 卻根本沒看過。經驗法則：如果你指出了某個出處，那么它便一定要在你文章的論點之中起到作用。

額外事項

如果非要在參考館員的建議和教授的建議之間做選擇時，一定要選擇后者。解釋得很多的了！

額外、額外的事項

一般最好是將簡短的引用包含到你的論述之中，而非大段、大段地引用。并且為了使你的文章結構分明，最好將不是自己的文字或想法用引號引起來，或是作上腳注。

9.與教授做交易.教授僅僅是想幫助自己的學生寫出優秀的論文。因此，你可以在辦公時間帶上疑難問題向他求解，并繼續用Email和他交流想法（合理而且必要的話，越多越好）。

10.檢查“產品”.沒有什么比拼寫和語法錯誤，句子缺詞、掉詞，或是狗屁不通的文章更讓教授傷心的了。所以，一定要扮上15分鐘的教授（這就是他/她會花在你文章上的時間）。要帶著從未見過文章的態度和心情閱讀自己的論文，適當修改，使文章結構更加緊湊，更具可讀性。你會驚訝地發現幾分鐘的精雕細琢讓你的論文煥然一新贏得良好的印象分，高分更是不在話下！