Apart from that, the writing should be precise and informative. Any extra argument can break the entire flow of thought. One should avoid jargons. These jargons can make the paper complicated. You should remember that the paper must not be hard to read.It should deliver the message it intends to do.So, the language should be simple and straightforward.Your voice should come out in a proper manner. This is the foundation of academic language.
Any paper talks about specific research agendas. Throughout the paper, author should pitch that agenda. After all, the research paper is also a product. The academicians call this product as “Research Output”. So, to place the paper among the literature, you will need to pitch the strength of your paper. And, the strength of a paper lies in its research agenda. When the reviewers will go through your paper, they must feel the difference.
In Economics, there are two categories of paper. One is agenda-based, and another is method-based. In case of these papers, the pitching should be different. In the first case, the focus should be on the agenda. For example, “why this issue is important”, or “why the context needs attention”. In the second case, the focus should be on the method.For example, “why this context needs this method”, or “what is the aim of this method”.
These are some of the basic principles of writing a paper in Economics. A paper contains different sections. For writing those sections, there are some specific ways. Following these ways can make the paper more perfect.
SECTION WISE ANALYSIS
Any research paper has seven broad sections. Those are Introduction, Literature Review, Research Methods, Data Analysis, Discussion of Results, and Conclusion. Now, we will discuss these sections.
INTRODUCTION
This is the where research paper begins. This section gives a snapshot of the entire study.You can break this section in three to four paragraphs. The first paragraph should introduce the research agenda. In the second paragraph, you should write about the background of the study. In the third paragraph, you should mention about the context and data. The fourth paragraph is optional. You can use it for mentioning the organization of your paper.
In this entire section, you have to mention your research agenda in every paragraph. This includes “why this area of interest”, “why the context needs it”, “why this method”, etc.You should always remember that a group of uninitiatedaudience will read your paper. So you need to generate the interest. Introduction section addresses this motive.
LITERATURE REVIEW
This section is for building the background of the study. You will need to stand on the shoulder of a giant. The giant is the volume of literature. You will need to build your argument based on this literature. This was you can stand on the shoulder of the giant.
You can design this section in two ways. One is theme-based, and another is chronology-based. You can follow any of these two ways. In both the cases, you should address the literature to support your argument.
You should choose the references in a strategic way. For publishing in a journal, you should pick the latest relevant papers for citation.This increases the probability of publication. Citing more papers from a particular journal will increase its readership. In that way, you can give the reviewers a signal about your strong interest in that journal.
Every research agenda comes from a distinct research gap. From this section, you should discover that gap. You need to mention in detail the rationale behind that gap, and why it is important.
RESEARCH METHODS
To carry out the study, you may need one or more research methods. You should not decide them on an ad hoc basis. Your study should determine the research method. Need of that method in the study in detail should start this section.
After this part, you will need to discuss that method in detail. You will have to declare all the variables you have taken, and thenature of the variables.You should also mention the data required for that method.
DATA ANALYSIS
In this section, you will have to mention the data sources and the data.After that, you will carry out the analysis. The results of the analysis need a clear representation, in tabular and graphical formats.You will need to give proper and detailed explanations of the tables and the graphs.
Some authors forget to mention their assumptions in their studies. While stating the results, you should mention your assumptions and level of error tolerance.This brings a new dimension in your analysis.
DISCUSSION
Once you have obtained the results, you will need to analyze them. You should address how your results are complying with your research agenda. The results will either support your hypotheses, or not. In any of the cases, you should give proper explanations.
CONCLUSION
This is the last section of a paper. Here you will have to sum up the study by stating the research agenda and the results. You can add the limitations of the study and the possible future research areas in that domain. This will enrich the acceptability of your paper.
SUMMARY
So far, we have discussed on various aspects of writing a research paper in Economics. Following point emerged in the course of the discussion:
• Research papers should be precise, concise, simple, and straightforward.
• There should be coherence in the writing.
• All seven sections need equal attention.
• The research agenda needs pitching in all seven sections of the paper.