Make Your Essays Sound More Convincing by Learning How to Write an Appendix

Most students wonder how to write an appendix only after getting a college assignment that requires it. They feel confused and hesitant since most of them only heard this word in a medical context. Now that they have to create an appendix themselves, they need help figuring out where to start. If you’re in the same boat, relax! We’ve got your back. Each essay writer knows what components this part of a paper should have and how to compose them. You could always ask for their help and rely on them to produce ready-made work. But if you plan to do everything on your own, the tips below will be essential!
 
First, it is important to understand what is an appendix in writing? It’s a section with extra information consisting of raw data only. It shouldn’t feature personal thoughts or any analysis, only material you referenced or helped you arrive at your conclusions. This could be images, graphs, video or audio recordings, text from an interview you performed with someone, and other materials. We’ll examine it in more depth later. For now, let’s figure out why this part is important.

What Is an Appendix Purpose?

Sometimes students aren’t certain what they are asking for. For instance, they pay for research papers with appendixes, but they cannot check how well it is done since they have no idea what purpose this part even serves. We’re about to explain it! An appendix should support a writer’s points and arguments in an essay. It makes the evidence they present clearer and more comprehensive for a reader. For example, a student performed an interview with several people, asking them the same ten questions. They make references to them in their text, discussing their findings and answers they got. If some readers think this isn’t enough and they want to see just what questions a writer asked, they can scroll down to an appendix and see the list there. You could also rely on graphs and images with explanations: refer to them in an essay, and if someone feels interested, they’ll check what you meant below.

How to Structure an Appendix in 5 Steps

Now it is time to see how students can write an appendix. It’s easier than you think! This process has only five major steps. Here they are:

• Collect data. Before creating an appendix, you obviously need material to work with. Remember that this should be raw data. If you had to do calculations for your essay and reported their results in the body, provide calculations themselves here so that your audience could see how you got there. See other supplementary information, such as pics, graphs, and recordings that helped you. Once you have them all ready, put them into an appendix. This is going to be your content for it.
• Title this section. Now that you know what to put in an appendix, give its section a name. The word ‘appendix’ should appear on the top of a new page: it should start with a capital letter and have the same size as your other sections. In some particularly complex research works, you might have several types of the appendix: one is for videos, the second one is for pictures, and so on. In this case, give them numbers, such as ‘appendix 1.’
• Put your data in order. How do you write an appendix for your paper? Select a good order for all the data you have already prepared. While students are usually free to pick their preferred design, we suggest placing info in accordance with how you situated references to it in your text. If picture 1 was mentioned first, make it first in the appendix, too. Whatever you do, remember that this section should be comprehensive for your readers.
• Situate other sections properly. How to write an appendix in relation to other essay sections? There are two possibilities. Follow specific instructions from your professor: some of them have clear preferences. Or place your reference list after the conclusion and the appendix after it. This is a typical order — just make certain you start every section with a fresh page. Don’t put them into one.
• Proofread and polish. What is an appendix in an essay? A way to make your essay more persuasive means that this section must be fluent. Be sure you edit it as attentively as you can; watch out for typos in the titles and explanations. If you share an interview but your questions have numerous mistakes, it won’t look professional. You might even lose marks.

How to Format an Appendix: Tips for Each Popular Style

Every paper comes in its academic format. For instance, when students need PhD dissertation help from professional writers, they tend to order it in APA. This is the most common style for such kind of work. MLA would be more fitting if you worked on a simple narration paper. The thing is, all these styles have their unique nuances. They differ in everything, including how to set up an appendix. If you’re interested in these differences, we collected brief tips here.

APA

This academic formatting style is the best option for studying social sciences. Professors in such subjects as Sociology, Education, Psychology, and Anthropology assign them most commonly. It doesn’t mean you won’t have to format your essays in APA if you major in something else, but these fields are more common. When it comes to writing an appendix, it should follow certain rules.  Include it after a list with references. Its name should be placed in the center, in bold font, usually Times New Roman 12. If you have one appendix, differentiate between its entries via ABC format. If you have several types of supplementary content, audio files, and images, separate them and give them each an appendix accordingly.

Page numbers should be present as if a paper goes on — don’t remove them or make this space blank. In APA, they should be in the upper right corner of the page. What to include in an appendix like this? All the extra info you referenced in research. Note that the order inside the section itself has to follow the order in which you presented data in the body of your essay. Use double spacing for optimal visual presentation. By following these rules, you’ll have perfect APA-styled appendices.

MLA

MLA formatting style is popular among students studying Humanities. If your sphere of interest is English, Literature, Culture, Linguistics, or anything similar, you probably had to work with this style already, so you know its nuances. It doesn’t have a title page, mentions your name, subject and date in the left upper corner, and requires using a page number for in-text citations. How to make an appendix in MLA? Unless instructed differently, include it before your works cited list. It should take place immediately after the conclusion. Like with APA, if you use different types of content, it’s better to present them in several appendices. Each of them should have numbers — this will help your readers find them easier, without getting lost in all references you included.

Follow the order of references you left in your text. If you mentioned question 3 from an interview, start with it as you’re working on appendices. Double spacing must be present, it’s typical for this style. Proofread it carefully and watch out for the formatting of titles. Unless you reference a big collection of something, use the title in quotation marks. For huge collections with data, go with italics. Consider checking essay examples free of charge to see how this should be done professionally. We have such samples on our website, and they include papers with appendices in MLA.

Chicago

Chicago deals with Literature, Arts, and History, as well as social + natural sciences. Students hate it most because it’s extremely complex. It has a system of footnotes with endless rules regarding punctuation, capitalization, and so on. The biggest numbers of mistakes happen here: APA and MLA are easy. But how to write an appendix in Chicago? Place it before your bibliography section. Once again, it must follow a conclusion, with references only afterward. If students have a couple, they should use letters instead of numbers. It should be Appendix A, B, and as such. From simpler aspects, an order of info placement is the same as MLA and APA styles. Once they mention a fact in the body of the research paper, they must reference it in an appendix. Do the same for other facts.

Each appendix requires its unique page, so start them afresh. Keep the double formatting and the same font you used in other instances. Mostly, this would be Times New Roman 12. Professors favor it. Page numbers must be everywhere, which is another similarity with other styles we covered. Trust us, an appendix is an easy part in Chicago, unlike a bibliography and in-text citations or footnotes!

There are other styles that students might have to follow. If you wonder how to format your appendix there, look for this info online or contact us. We have writers who could do this part of assignment for you quickly and for a low price.

Pay Attention to Your Appendix and Watch How Your Paper Transforms

What is an appendix in a research paper? You know the answer now, and we hope that you won’t face a single issue when working on this paper section by following the tips we outlined above. Remember why the appendix is important: it illustrates your points better and helps push your arguments across. Collect valuable info, set it up, and reference it fluently. At the same time, mistakes and problems might occur seemingly out of nowhere — if this happens, don’t hesitate to contact us! We have a team at the ready at all times. They could help you write an essay from scratch or deal with the appendix section only — just tell us what exactly you need, and we’ll do it. Put care into your paper or let experts do this, and enjoy the academic brilliance it brings!