Readers pick up on the conventions you employ early in a research report and utilize that information to help them understand following content. Editing research papers for consistency makes reading easier for the reader by removing hurdles that might otherwise make the process more difficult. A well-written paper will be clear enough so that even someone who has not read any other material related to its subject matter can follow the main ideas. In addition to making reading the paper easier, consistency within the paper itself helps readers identify facts that may not be apparent from just reading over the text. For example, if one section describes how X works with Y to produce Z, but another section says that Z produces V instead, the reader knows that something must be wrong with the first study or it would have been included in the analysis. Consistent formatting also helps readers distinguish information that may appear similar: for example, if one page of the paper uses small italic type while another page uses large boldface type, the reader knows that these are two different ways of indicating a quote or thought from someone else. Finalized papers are also less likely to contain errors caused by poor editing skills or forgotten details. Finally, consistency in research papers shows that the author(s) took time to think about what they wanted to say and how to say it most clearly.