Chapter 58. RECOMMENDATION REPORT Basics of Recommendation Report Writing --- Why?           Starting                                         Organizing                       Revising & Editing           --- Introduction This section explains the basics of writing and revising a recommendation report--why this type of paper exists and how to start, organize, and edit it.  You may want to first see the "Introduction" before reading this page.  Be sure, before or after reading this "Basics Page," to see "Sample Papers" by students.  For more advanced information, go to "Advanced Methods."                  Why This Type of Paper?    The heart of a professional recommendation report is a series of problem-solving steps with multiple choices.  All of the steps are fully visible to others so they can see all the possibilities and how a choice was made.  It is similar to a professional proposal (see), but it shows, officially, much more of the thinking behind the choosing of the final solution. In short, a professional recommendation report allows others to see the thinking behind the decision making.  As in a proposal, a recommendation report is a critical-thinking process meant to examine and solve a problem or need.  However, the process in a recommendation report is fully shown to readers so that they can consider and even possibly participate in the process.  Whether a recommendation report is made by an individual or a group, it is meant to show supervisors and other groups a range of potential solutions and the evaluative criteria used in choosing one of them (or combining two or more of the solutions).  In this way, others can not only check the work of the report but also offer, as part of a continuing process, additional potential solutions and evaluative criteria. A professional recommendation report is an excellent writing tool--or perhaps it is better called, because of its complexity and richness, a "writing toolbox"--for expressing a need and proposing a solution.  In this regard--and to some extent in its steps--it is similar to advanced disciplinary and professional papers such as the case study and the IMRaD scientific report. --- Return to top.              How Will You Start?    The major section of WritingforCollege.org called "Starting" offers a number of useful ways to start thinking, speaking, and writing about a subject. The advice here, which follows, is for this chapter's type of paper in particular.  Because recommendation reports (hereafter called recommendations) require more thinking about the pros and cons of several different choices, they require a process of examining these choices. This process must occur before the paper is written, and in fact the final paper may even have a different order to its parts than the actual process which happens before the final writing. Here is the process of making choices: A. Describe the Problem. B. Develop Solutions. C. List Criteria. D. Apply Criteria. E. Adjust A-D; then Choose Best Solution. For example, if I had a problem with snow removal, I might have three possible solutions: (1) buy a snow blower, (2) hire someone to remove the snow, or (3) let it get packed down until it can melt in spring. The criteria or assumptions by which I will make my choice might be (a) cost, (b) convenience, (c) avoidance of lawsuits, and (d) ethical responsibilities. If I applied each of these criteria or assumptions to each solution, step by step, I would discover which solution is best. Remember, these five steps are the process you use before you write the paper. They are not the paper itself. Let us look at each of the five steps in detail, and then we will examine another example using this process. A. Describe the Problem: Write as much as you need to in order to describe fully the problem. If you do not have much of a problem, then you probably need only to write a proposal paper. However, if the problem is complex, then you probably need a recommendation report. Describe the problem in all its complexity. Rough draft: A technical writer for a large company, or a team of writers, might use twenty or thirty pages to describe their company's problem; however, let's assume for the purposes of this chapter that you are just one person in a small or medium business, and you are not a full-time technical writer. To describe your company's problem for this recommendation report, one full paragraph is a bare minimum, and you might write as much as several pages. Goal: to have about 100-300 words fully describing the problem. Less is probably too little for your readers, and more is too hard for your readers to absorb and remember. B. Develop Solutions: Use both listing and writing. List as many possible solutions as you can think of, even (and sometimes especially) some unusual, strange, or creative ones--sometimes these more unusual possibilities can help you better defines real needs and possibilities. You should write about each solution, defining and describing it in detail. Rough draft: usually one short paragraph to two long ones for each solution is sufficient. Goal: After listing a wide number of solutions, narrow your solutions to perhaps three to five best ones, each one well described by a paragraph or two as needed. C. List Criteria: What are the guidelines or assumptions that you will use to choose the best solution? The majority of business assumptions for making choices usually include such assumptions as money, time, legality and/or ethics, and consequences. Other judgment guidelines can be important, too. All of these guidelines by which you make your judgments are called "criteria" (the singular is "criterion"). It is wise to list as many as you can think of at first in order to cover all your bases. After your list is made, you can combine some criteria with each other, narrow others, and delete those that may have little value. Rough draft: though a list sometimes is enough in itself, often one to several sentences explaining each criterion is helpful. Goal: After listing a wide number of criteria, narrow them to perhaps the three to six most important, each one well defined by a sentence or more as needed. D. Apply Criteria: Apply the criteria to the solutions. Use a system: take the first solution and, in writing, apply each of the criteria in turn, stating how well or poorly (in at least one sentence each) that criterion is satisfied by the solution. Apply each criterion in turn. Then move on to the second solution and apply each criterion to it. An alternative method is to take the first criterion and apply it to all the solutions, using one or more sentences for each solution. Then move to the second criterion and apply all the solutions to it, step by step. Do this with each criterion until you are done. Rough draft: at least one paragraph per solution (or per criterion); in each paragraph, at least one sentence applying each criterion to that solution (or apply each solution to that criterion). Goal: A paragraph for your readers for each solution (or for each criterion). An alternative in some cases is a chart showing solutions on one side and criterion on the other of the vertical and horizontal listings. E. Adjust A-D and Choose Best Solution: Revise A-D first: often as we develop solutions and criteria, we discover new parts of the problem we had neglected to mention in our first draft, and likewise our solutions and criteria may develop more perfectly as we compare them to each other. We may be able to develop new ones we had not foreseen, combine others, and delete still others. When these adjustments are made, then we can choose the best solution. Occasionally, two solutions may be best. If this is so, it should be stated clearly. Once the solution is chosen, we also may wish to rough draft our recommendations for action. Rough draft: one or two paragraphs that (a) state the choice and (b) explain why it is the best. Goal: a strong, simple paragraph starting with a statement of choice followed by a description of the compelling reasons for this choice. Another paragraph also may be written making or listing recommendations. This process of problem solving may be visualized, too. Imagine, for example, that the drawing below represents a mountain. You, the problem solver, must start at the beginning and reach the other side of the mountain--the goal. Let's go through the five steps briefly.                                                     /\                                                    /  \                                                   /    \                                                 /\/      \                                                /          \/\                                               /              \/\                                            /\/                  \                                          /                      \                                       /\/                        \                                      /                            \                      BEGINNING                                GOAL A. First, describe the problem: write a detailed paragraph or two describing in detail the mountain as a problem because of your company's need to get to the other side. Be sure to describer all sides of the problem. Some problem solvers call the problem "the mess." B. Second, develop solutions: when brainstorming a list, you might suggest flying over the mountain, climbing it, digging through it, going around it, or giving up the goal. After brainstorming this list, on further reflection you might decide that flying over it is to prohibitively expensive that it is not a practical solution to consider, and giving up also is out of the question. Then you are left with three solutions. Some problem solvers call these "solution paths." Indeed, if we look at our mountain with solutions added, below, we can see that in this picture we literally have three paths. Each of these should be described in one or two short or long paragraphs: (1) climb over the mountain (2) dig through it (3) go around it C. Third, list criteria: make a list of guidelines or "judgment calls" that the company would use to consider which solution path to choose. Your list might include money, time, legal problems, ethics, labor, consequences, ecology, and many other considerations. Cull from this list the three to six most valid criteria and describe each one with at least one sentence. Here, for example, we might decide that there are only three important criteria: 1. money 2. time 3. ecology D. Fourth, apply the criteria: take each solution one at a time and apply all three criteria to it: Solution 1--climb mountain: (A) Outfitting a mountain climbing expedition and hiring a guide would be moderately expensive. (B) It would, however, be the fastest solution in terms of time. (C) Ecologically the harm would be minimal if precautions are taken. Solution 2--dig through mountain: (A) Digging would be the most expensive, but it would create a cheaper and easier route than a mountain climb for future trips to the other side of the mountain. (B) Digging also would take the most time, but once the tunnel were dug, future trips would be faster than using the other two paths. (C) Ecologically, this would do the most damage, but nothing that couldn't be remedied at a future date. Solution 3--go around mountain: (A) This is the cheapest method. (B) It is more time consuming than climbing, but less time consuming than digging. (C) Ecologically this solution path would create the least damage because a trail already exists. You also could create a chart:   money time ecology CLIMB: $$ low good DIG: $$$ hi/low okay GO AROUND: $ high good      Yet another alternative would be to take each criterion one at a time, applying it to all three solutions. Here is, for example, how the first paragraph of this method would look: Criterion 1--money: (A) Climbing entails a moderate cost to outfit an expedition and hire a guide. (B) Digging would be the most expensive in the short run, but in case multiple visits are planned, digging would be a moderately inexpensive option in the long run. (C) Going around would be the cheapest short-term option. E. Fifth, adjust A-D and choose best solution: review the information already developed, revise it, and choose the best solution. In developing the information above, we may discover that we have left out one criterion: number of trips. Our choices above seem to offer variable information because we have not yet included the number of trips we will need to take, and yet this obviously has become a consideration. For this reason, in revising A-D, we now have four criteria instead of three: 1. money 2. time 3. ecology 4. number of trips We would need also to revise Step A, our description of the problem, to include mention that we need to develop the best path for a number of future trips. We need to add this new criterion and a description of it to our list of criteria in Step C. And we need to add this new criterion to Step D, our paragraphs or charts showing the application of criteria to each solution. Now, with this new criterion added, we probably can say that even if the best short-term option is to climb the mountain if we want speed or to go around if we want to save money, the truth is that in the long run, digging will present the cheapest and fastest per-trip pathway. This is because once our tunnel is dug, the cost is relatively low and the trip time the fastest per trip over months and years of use. This, then, is the best solution path. Also be sure--as you build your paper--that you have plenty of details.  In professional writing, details may include quotations, paraphrases, personal-interview information, illustrations or images, and charts, lists, diagrams, or other statistics.  Be sure to cite and document each, even illustrations and experiential anecdotes, using in-text citation a bibliography.  --- Return to top.           What Are Some Organizing Methods?    When organizing a professional recommendation report, you may want to consider three practical matters.  Be aware of (1) the typical visual/textual design, (2) the central key to organizing this type of paper, and (3) dangers to avoid.  General principles of organization are described in detail in the "Organizing" chapter.  Specific details for this type of paper are below.   The "Introduction" has already shown you the following organization for a recommendation report:     The Visual Plan or Map Organization of a Recommendation Report Unique Title                            TYPE OF PAPER, PROBLEM, POTENTIAL SOLUTIONS, & FINAL CHOICE                           (A Parag. Summary/Abstract --and/or a Parag. on Final Recommendation--as Needed or Required)                           Section 1: Problem or Need Section 2: Possible Solutions & Evaluative Criteria Section 3: Evaluation (Application of Criteria to Solutions) Section 4: Final Choice                            (If needed: Your Credentials AND/OR  Expected Outcomes of Implementation)                           BRIEF RESTATEMENT OF PROBLEM, POTENTIAL SOLUTIONS, & FINAL CHOICE                           Bibliography [if Needed] Bitson, A.J. Book. et al. Jones, D. L. "Chart," et al. Smith, M. S. "Diagram," et al. Zamura, R.F. "Personal Interview," et al. --- Here is a more detailed view of this structure.  This view is a visual and textual plan of how a dialogic paper generally looks when it is finished.           More Detailed Visual Plan or Map Descriptive Title* by Your Name       Introduction**           Type of paper: a "recommendation report" or "analysis of solutions."  Problem or need: Summarize it (1 sent.).  Potential solutions and evaluative criteria (1-2 sent.).  Final choice: Summarize the final choice (1 sent.)  [1 par.]       Abstract/Executive Summary and/or Summary of Final Recommendation***           A brief summary/abstract of the paper, and/or a description of the final choice or recommendation, as needed or required [1-2 par.]       Problem or Need           (a) a Subtitle and, if needed, SUB-SUBTITLES, (b) a summarizing topic sentence, (c) a discussion developed using a list of problems/needs, (d) if helpful, the details supporting your ideas (such as quotations/paraphrases, graphics, statistics, etc.), and (e) a brief, concluding sentence.  [2+ par.]    Solutions and Criteria           (a) a Subtitle and, as needed, SUB-SUBTITLES, (b) a summarizing topic sentence, (c) a discussion developed explaining the possible solutions and the reasonable evaluative criteria, answering questions readers might have, (d) if helpful, the details supporting your ideas (such as quotations/paraphrases, graphics, statistics, etc.), and (e) a brief, concluding sentence.  [2+ par.]    Evaluations or Application of Criteria           (a) a Subtitle and, as needed, SUB-SUBTITLES, (b) a summarizing topic sentence, (c) a discussion developed using step by step application of the criteria to each possible solution, (d) if helpful, the details supporting your ideas (such as quotations/paraphrases, graphics, statistics, etc.), and (e) a brief, concluding sentence.  [2+ par.]    Final Choice or Final Recommendation           (a) a Subtitle and, if needed, SUB-SUBTITLES, (b) a summarizing topic sentence, (c) a discussion developed using positives, negatives, and short- and long-term results, (d) if helpful, the details supporting your ideas (such as quotations/paraphrases, graphics, statistics, etc.), and (e) a brief, concluding sentence.  [2+ par.]          Credentials and/or Expected Outcomes           If required or needed, a brief summary of your qualifications and/or a brief description of the expected outcomes or results of implementation. [1-2 par.]       Conclusion            Restate the problem or need (1 sent.), evaluative criteria (1 sent.), and final choice (1-3 sents).  Add a final positive statement about outcomes.  [1 par.]       Bibliography [if Needed] Bitson, A.J. Book. et al. Jones, D. L. "Chart," et al. Smith, M. S. "Diagram," et al. Zamura, R.F. "Personal Interview," et al. Create an alphabetized bibliography on a separate page, according to the requirements of your discipline/instructor.  Formats vary among differing disciplines.  (See the chapter the "Researching" section on "Quoting/Paraphrasing" for more detail.)       --- Keys to Organizing Your Paper The first key is to have completed your brainstorming thoroughly.  Once your brainstorming process is finished, you are ready to write the final report. The final report will be simple to write if you have brainstormed well. The second key is to understand that the order of the parts in your paper may be different from the order you used for brainstorming. Here are two common patterns for presenting your recommendation report: Executive Summary Style   Thorough Reading Style Introduction & Summary Recommendations Problem Solutions & Criteria Evaluation/Application of Criteria Summary Conclusion Introduction Problem Solutioins & Criteria Evaluation/Application of Criteria Conclusion & Recommendation As you can see, the only difference in the orders of the two styles are that the style on the left, the executive summary style, offers the summary of findings and recommendations first, while the thorough-reading style offers the summary of findings and recommendations last. To offer them first as in the executive summary style gives executives a chance to read over the results without having to deal with the details at present. To offer the summary and recommendations last assumes that most people who will read the report will want to read it from end to end. The third key lies in the clarity and organization of each body section.  Whichever method you adopt of the two organizaitonal schemes immediately above, you should use a subtitle for each section and a clear, strong topic sentence after each subtitle. In some sections, you may need sub-subtitles. Here is a further breakdown of some of the parts: Introduction: The following parts should be included very briefly if you are only introducing the paper, but at more length if you are both introducing and providing an executive summary: - statement of the paper's purpose and method - statement of the problem - summary of the solutions and criteria - statement of outcome or recommendations Conclusion: The following parts should be included very briefly if you are only concluding the paper, but at more length if you are both concluding and providing an executive summary: - statement of the paper's purpose and method - statement of the problem - summary of the solutions and criteria - statement of outcome or recommendations Problem: Describe the problem, but do not go into endless detail. A good paragraph or two should suffice. Solutions & Criteria: Be brief, but be sure each solution and criterion is clear. A list for each is sufficient in many cases with a brief sentence introducing each. Summary: Whether you place this in/with the introduction or in/with the conclusion, this is the time to choose one solution and state the reasons why it is the best solution. Recommendations: These may be brief and sometimes even are in list form. Evaluation: There are two basic methods of handling the evaluation on paper, just as there were in the rough drafting. These two methods are shown here using two criteria and two solutions; you may have more of each. Use whichever method best shows the differences and result to your readers: Criterion 1:                   Solution A:      Solution A                     Criterion 1      Solution B                     Criterion 2 Criterion 2:                   Solution B:    Solution A                       Criterion 1    Solution B                       Criterion 2 --- Dangers to Avoid                       The dangers to avoid in writing professional recommendation reports are very similar to those you should avoid in writing professional proposals.  The following dangers are also listed and described in the "Professional Proposals" chapter. One of the dangers in writing a recommendation report is to assume that you can say whatever you want in the recommendation report because the details can be changed once it is accepted.  This often can be entirely untrue.  Oftentimes, workplaces are not that flexible.  In other words, whatever you propose may come to pass exactly as you have proposed it.  For this reason, be sure that you know exactly what you are suggesting, especially in the details of the "Plan/Implementation" section.  Whatever it is, you may have to live with it for better or worse. Another danger, as stated above, is to underestimate how widely your paper may be read and how high up the chain of command it may go.  Good recommendations tend to have a life of their own, reaching a lot more readers than you might expect--even, sometimes, to subsidiaries, supervisors, and  committees entirely unrelated to the recommendation report's project.  Sometimes this happens because proud supervisors want to show others what their employees are doing, and sometimes because it is an easy way for supervisors to share current and future activities in their areas without having to write their own summaries.  In any case, it often is wise to write a recommendation report with a much larger audience in mind, vertically and horizontally, than your immediate supervisor. A third danger lies in using a boring style that leaves your readers feeling that you do not strongly support your own recommendation report.  While recommendation reports should be efficient and logical, the best recommendation reports have a tone of underlying strength and excitement.  They do not sound emotional; rather, there is a confidence and a hope in the tone that convinces the reader not only that the author knows what he or she is talking about, but also that the author really does think the recommendation report is a great idea and very much hopes it will be accepted.  Generally you should not state in your recommendation report that you are excited and that your hopes or high, for that would sound unprofessional.  However, your tone in the paper clearly should convey your strong, positive attitude. ----- As you complete your later drafts, look carefully at the visual map above and the sample papers in this chapter.  Rearrange the order of your body sections and of your paragraphs as needed.  Consider your use of major organizing devices: for example, have you placed the correct key sentences in your introduction and conclusion, and have you developed a subtitle and topic sentence at the beginning of each major body section?                                    Asterisks *, **, and *** for the organizational plan or map above (similar advice given in most chapters): *In most professions and businesses, the title is typed simply: no quotation marks, underlining, or bold marking.  It is centered, and the font size and style are those used in the rest of the paper--normally a 12-point font in a style such as Times New Roman, Garamond, or CG Times.  In a professional situation, you may use academic style or whatever is commonly acceptable in your workplace. ** In some disciplines, the "Introduction" subtitle may be optional or even forbidden.  (Most social sciences and psychology papers, for example, should not have an "Introduction" subtitle.)  ***Some professions and disciplines sometimes require a short summary, abstract, or précis (see) of a text before you begin responding to it.  Ask your instructor.  Such a summary generally should have no quotations within it and, in professional and business writing, it usually must be a summary of the contents of your paper.         ***Some instructors may allow--or even, occasionally, prefer--your paper to be completely free of subtitles.  In most professional and business situations, however, subtitles are required or encouraged.  That is because they are efficient.  Because of the expectation of efficiency, your topic sentences should be very brief, sometimes just a transition word, along with a key word from your title or your introduction's main statement of the paper's subject: for example, in a paper about a zoo, your three major topic sentences (at the beginning of each major topic section) might start with "First, the zoo...," "Second, the zoo...," and "Third, the zoo...").  (See "Topic Sentences.")  In addition, it is more efficient to add simple, short transition words than to avoid them.  Your word count may end up slightly higher, but your improved clarity will make your paper much easier to read.   For more about organizing body sections, topic sentences, and subtitles in general, please go to "Organizing College Papers."  For more about organizing paragraphs, go to the "Paragraphing" chapter. --- Return to top.        Are There Special Revising and Editing Needs? In revising a recommendation report, the focus techniques with which you started in the Introduction to this chapter also can help you finish your paper:     FOUR FOCUSES FOR REVISING: Subject, Drafts, Style, & Authenticity SUBJECT: For a recommendation report, be sure you started with a substantial set of background details; if you didn't, add what others might consider important or anything small that might possibly be relevant; then revise according to the new data.  Also be sure that you have developed a long, creative list of potential solutions, so that you have covered every reasonable (or sometimes even slight) possibility.  In addition, reconsider your cirteria: have you missed any that people automatically think of, or that your business or company must always consider?  Be sure, in addition, to introduce, explain, or connect each resource to the content of your discussion.  This means that whether you have a quotation, paraphrase, graph, image, or copy of something from the Internet, be sure you have at least a sentence before and after it showing readers its purpose or fit in the flow of your paragraph.   FIRST & SECOND DRAFTS: Have you used all of the needed steps to write and revise your drafts? Free-write: If, after reading your paper aloud, you feel there are places where the paper sounds choppy or the flow is otherwise poor, try rewriting one or more paragraphs spontaneously without looking at your original words.  (To help cure choppy sentences, see "Using Mixed-Length Sentences" in the "Editing" section.")  Imagine you are saying it aloud to a friend, instructor, or work coordinator.  Then revise and edit the new portions.  For general freewriting, see "How to Start First Drafts.")   Gather details: Have you spent too much time on general explanation and too little on details?  Details--names, dates, data, charts, lists, diagrams, illustrations, and/or quotations and paraphrase--are the proofs of a good professional paper.  They also are the first elements your readers tend to notice and the ones they will most remember, whether in the same kind of detail or with a strong sense of you having supported your points well.  If you have too many details for one section, consider dividing the section into two sections or subsections.  Instead, you might try moving some of the details to another section where they might fit as well or better.        Write for your audience: Imagine your audience as being more than your immediate supervisor or instructor.  To whom might your supervisor show this paper?  What committee(s) might see it?  A good professional paper can travel far, and it may even be the basis of legal action, good or bad, or the basis of a proposal, profits, or losses.  Have you visualized your audience?      Have you read your paper aloud as if reading to this audience?  Have you tried reading your paper aloud to a colleague, peer, friend, or family member, pretending he or she is your audience?  If you are working with others in a pair or committee, have you asked them to read, comment on, and help rewrite it?  Organize: Have you used either the organization above or a modified version of it suggested by your supervisor or instructor?  Have you carefully added and then reread each major and minor part of this organizational system?  Have you kept your introduction, conclusion, and/or a beginning summary reasonably short, moving excess discussion in them to body sections?  Do you need to reorganize the body sections for the greatest degree of logic, clarity, and audience interest?  Does each body section fulfill its purpose as expected with this type of paper as applied to your particular discipline or profession? Research: iF you need to support your points and/or others' points with research, do you have a sufficient number of high-quality sources?  Have you fully integrated them with your paper by citing and documenting them?  (In most disciplines or professions, "citing" means adding authors' names and page numbers beside quotations, paraphrases, graphic elements--e.g., pictures or charts--and anecdotes of experiences.  "Documenting" means providing a bibliography--or, if you have just a very few sources, you sometimes are allowed to provide bibliographic details in parentheses immediately after source material or in a footnote.)      If you are using non-print sources such as interviews, videos, or television, will they be considered appropriate and representative (well representing a viewpoint needed and accepted by your audience?  If you are using online sources, have you checked them carefully to verify their quality and accuracy (see "Evaluating Web Sites" in OnlineGrammar.org)? STYLE, TONE, AUDIENCE, & CRITICAL THINKING: Have you converted all parts of your writing to the appropriate style and tone?  This type of paper should use a formal professional writing style.  If your audience and purpose are of a more general nature (rather than of an academic or scholarly nature), then you may want to use a more efficient business style of writing with a mixture of medium and short sentences, and varied medium and short paragraphs.  Generally, in professional and business writing, the tone or voice in your words should show professional competence, honesty, and confidence.  Warmth may or may not be helpful, depending on your audience, but coldness, sarcasm, or emotionalism should be avoided.  To check tone or voice, try reading your paper aloud--or have a colleague, peer, or friend read it aloud to you--so you can hear whether your sentences sound as you want them to..  AUTHENTICITY: Have you made your paper as reasonable, practicable, and logical as possible to your audience?  If you're not sure, ask questions of your audience ahead of time, and imagine how your audience member(s) might want elements of your paper explained to them.  Have you tried to go to the heart of the matter you are discussing?  Have you brought interesting, vivid, and even unusual details into the paper's contents?  Have you been true to yourself and your own interests in the subject by trying to find the most interesting information to write about in each paragraph, something meaningful to you?             Final Advice Given in Most Chapters In most professional writing, papers, you should use the third-person pronoun: "he," "she," "it," and "they."  You should not use "you" unless you are giving directions, or writing a diary or personal reflection, or a less formal magazine or newsletter article or other specific advice (as in this chapter).  In professional writing, "I" is never used (unless occasionally in the form of an anecdote, starting with a phrase such as "For example, I was..."). Paragraphing in most academic papers follows some relatively standard guidelines.  You usually are working with a large amount of information when you write a professional paper.  For this reason, clear, consistent paragraphing becomes even more important.  Your paragraphs should help you logically divide your body sections into smaller sub-parts, ideas, or sub-ideas--just for the sake of clarity and ease of reading, if for no other reason.  Also, generally, for a short- to medium-length paper, you should have one paragraph each for your introduction, conclusion, and--if you have it--your summary.  You should, as a matter of habit, have at least two or three paragraphs per page in your final draft.  On the other hand, be careful not to have too many paragraphs per page.  If you have a lot of short, choppy paragraphs, combine them.  The goal, graphically speaking, is to provide your audience with a variety of paragraph lengths--an occasional short one for emphasis or change of pace added to a mix of varying medium and long paragraphs.  The goal in terms of content is to make your ideas flow so well that your audience can easily keep them clear and separate without ever even noticing your paragraphing (or, for that matter, any other mechanical aspect of your paper).  For more advice, go to the "Paragraphing" chapter.   Several other common, useful strategies of efficient, thorough editing are in the several chapters of the "Revising and Editing" section.  Some of these strategies also are summarized in the following very-brief web page, which is aimed especially at people writing professionally and/or in their majors:   Very Brief Review of How to Edit Your Final Draft --- Good luck with writing this type of paper.  For more advanced and/or interesting information on this type of paper, please see the "Advanced" section of the chapter. --- Return to top.