Q. Where should I acknowledge or thank someone in my paper?

The answer to your question is it depends. What type of paper is this that you are writing? Is it a formal paper, like a capstone, final applied project, or dissertation? If so, the department generally will have a format to follow, and it is normally at the beginning of the paper. It would be a section prior to where you would start the body of the paper. It would be on its own page, and it would have a heading called "Acknowledgements." You should check with your department for this type of paper to determine the exact format that should be used.

If this is for an informal course paper, then I would say that you have more freedom as to where you can put and the format. Generally you will find Acknowledgements at the start of a paper or at the end of a paper. If you put it at the end of the paper, I would recommend putting it after your reference list. If you put it at the start of your paper (where it will more than likely be noticed or read), I would put it right after the title page. In either case, I would put it on a separate page and label it as Acknowledgements.

Before you make a final decision, you might want to check with your instructor to see what his/her preference will be.