— a thread of tips on writing academic papers

Will divide these tips into two: (1) writing process; and (2) structure and content of the paper

#studytwt

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(1) Writing process

1.a. READ! I know it’s pretty basic but it’s really the number one rule. You cannot give what you have. Similarly, you cannot write about something you do not know of. In finding articles related to your topic, try to skim through Google Scholar, JSTOR

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And reputable journals related to your field. Please don’t ever use Wikipedia!

1.b. Create an outline. As to what kind of outline, it really depends on your style. It could be an outline of sub-topics of your paper, but personally, I prefer creating a sentence outline.

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For a sentence outline, you can write one (or two) sentence(s) that correspond(s) to one section of your paper. This will help you stick to what’s necessary and not get sidetracked to write about things that are not ~really~ relevant to your paper. Here’s an example!

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1.c. Write a draft, then revise it many times over. Sometimes, the reason why we can’t move forward is bc we get so obsessed with our choice of words and/or sentence structure. You can worry about the “aesthetics” of your paper later, prioritize logical consistency!

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When your paper already makes sense (lol), that’s when you “beautify” it.

1.d. Always assume that your readers know nothing about your topic. Think of the paper as a story and yourself as a storyteller. This will help you write clearly and coherently.

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2. Structure/Content of the Paper

2.a. An academic paper usually has the following parts: introduction, a brief discussion of the issue/topic at hand, theoretical framework (that you’ll use to back up your argument), your resolution to the issue /contribution to the topic,

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And conclusion.

2.b. An introduction is like a preview of the contents of your paper. So, provide a context for your paper, i.e., What is the issue that you are trying to address? Here are parts of the intro of a paper I wrote recently to serve as an example:

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2.c. Section 2: A brief discussion of the issue/topic at hand. This is where you should describe the issue/topic.

The topic of the paper that served as the examples above is the bidding for PH’s third telco. So, this part is where I discussed the bidding in detail.

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2.d. Section 3: Theoretical framework - Now, this is what makes your paper “academic”. That is, it’s based on theory and not just about your or someone else’s opinion. This iis where you discuss the implications of the theory that you’ll use to back up your argument.

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In the paper that I used as an example, I wrote about an economic theoretical model which I used to address the issue in my paper.

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2.e. Section 4: Your resolution to the issue. This is where you finally address the issue in your paper using the theoretical framework you discussed in the previous section.

2.f. Section 5: Conclusion. Yay, you reached the end! This is where you give your reader(s)

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A recap of what you discussed in your paper. Here’s an example:

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And that’s the end of this thread! Hope this helps, feel free to ask me questions if there’s something you wish to clarify. Also, would appreciate it if you could share with me your own techniques in writing an academic paper!