***** GUIDELINES FOR YOUR FIRST DRAFT The purpose of this document is to help you present the results of your self-directed learning in a Draft format. In your Proposal, you presented the initial concept and tentative design of your study. Now you must proceed on to a more formal and demanding kind of writing. In this phase you need to be more aware of the conventions of economic writing, of its methods for analysis and argument. Aim for clear and precise communication (take your favorite textbook as an example of what clear and precise reads like). Be persuasive and always keep in mind that your audience is composed of your economics faculty and your peers, NOT the general public. This will require you to think hard before you write. Whichever subject and format you have chosen, start by adapting your Draft to the typical structure of an economics paper, then tailor it to suit your particular subject and type of paper. The typical format of an economics research paper will usually contain the following elements that will appear in this same order: Component Title & Subtitle Abstract Key Words Introduction In its final version, it must include all these elements: purpose of research, motivation, general background, original contribution, methodology, and brief summary of your results and conclusions. Literature Review or Background Review Must contain background, conceptual development or conceptual framework. Results/Findings This section may look very different depending on what kind of paper you are writing. It may consist of a synthesis of main strands of ideas and presentation of how they connect to or contrast with one another. Conclusions Must include: Summary of findings Implications Suggested length 6-15 words 200 words at most As of now, do NOT attempt to write an Abstract: leave this section blank. 3-6 keywords About 20% of total length of paper Write the final version of this section ONLY AFTER you have written the Literature Review or Background Review and have results or findings to comment on. About 20% Start here! This is the first section you will write. About 40% This is the second section you will write, after your Literature Review or Background Review. • Limitations • Recommendations for future research Around 10-15% This is the third section you will write. 1 All economic writing contains pretty much the same elements. Later on, in your professional life, you may want to use this same structure BUT adapt section names. E.g. 'Executive Summary' instead of 'Abstract.' How You Should Proceed I recommend you create a document with all the above sections. Then leave blank the sections you are not working on yet. Note that efficient economical writing is not sequential, that is, you will not write your paper's sections in the order in which they will appear to the reader. For example, do not attempt to write an Abstract; leave this section blank until the very end, when your paper is complete. Start with your Literature Review. You can call it Background Review if, for example, there is not enough scholarly literature on your subject because your subject is too new or unexplored. You will still have to explain to your audience what is relevant about your subject, and what is known (and not known) about it. In the Draft version of your Introduction, copy the elements in your Proposal (except your tentative title, of course). You will review them later, when you start working on your Final Version and AFTER you have completed your Literature Review (or Background Review) and have some results and conclusion(s). This may seem counterintuitive now but, by the end of the semester, you will see it has saved you a lot of work! Note that the above sections are a baseline: their function is to serve as a reference, so you can start thinking about the structure of your paper and the relative lengths of your sections. Keep in mind that, depending on the subject and format of your paper, the sections listed above may be different lengths and have different names. For example, if your paper is a review or survey of a particular subject, your literature review/background review will be relatively lengthier, and your results/findings will contain your own analysis of the literature. You may also decide to create subsections according to the most important elements in the literature/background in your subject. Or, if your paper is empirical, you will need to add a section where you explain your methodology and another section where you describe the data you are using. Regardless of format, be organized and give a clear and logical structure to your paper. Always make it as easy as possible for your audience to read and identify content: create sections (and subsections) with descriptive titles and never make your Draft one long essay. Do not force your audience to do your work: motivate, explain, and engage them. See the last section of this document for a list of journals with papers you can use as samples. Once you submit your Draft, we will give you feedback on how your structure works. Regardless of subject and format, work on your literature review/background review first; this is an important section, and you may find that it takes longer that you had anticipated (it may even take the longest to complete!). This section is the core conceptual section of your paper and where you establish credibility with your audience (do you truly know your subject?). Then, go on to your results/findings/analysis. LATER, proceed onto your conclusions. You may or may not be ready to tackle work on your Introduction in your First Draft. If you are not, leave it for your Final Version. It is perfectly all right to do so. In your Introduction, you will incorporate what is relevant and noteworthy in the other sections. Keep in mind an Introduction is a presentation of a COMPLETED work and, therefore, it makes most sense to write it once you have finished the other sections in your paper (including conclusions). If you follow this sequence, you will not have to duplicate (or triplicate) your efforts by re-doing your Introduction every time you modify your work. As of now, pencil in your title (and perhaps subtitle) and your key words and reassess them periodically as you progress in your work. They will acquire their final form only when you have a firm view of your paper's final structure and contents. The title, key words and Abstract are the portal through which a reader is most likely to access your paper. It is, therefore, extremely important to choose effective key words and a title that is descriptive, revealing of the paper's content, and that grabs your audience's 2 attention. Later, when your paper is complete, you will write your Abstract (ONLY for the Final Version of your paper). Your Abstract should be engaging and motivate us to read your Introduction and Conclusions. Your Introduction and Conclusions should then entice your audience to read the main body of your paper.³ Description of First Draft Components Once your Proposal has been accepted and you have read our feedback, you can use the Proposal's components and adapt them to fit the structure and tone of your Introduction in your First Draft. For example, in your Proposal there was a specific component called 'Motivation.' In your Draft, you can use this Motivation as part of your Introduction, except you will not call it 'Motivation': it will have no specific title (or subtitle), it will be a paragraph (or two) of your Introduction. And you will proceed similarly with your Methodology, etc. When working on your Draft, include the following:4 • Title and (perhaps) subtitle. • • Although you will consider the definitive version of your title last, you should try your hand at a good title. Use a subtitle, if you think you need it. The title should grab the reader's attention and clearly reflect the main theme, issue or position in your paper. Try to reflect the true nature and focus of your work and do not create false expectations. Abstract. Leave this element/section blank as of now. Key Words. When you think of your paper, what words come up more often? How would you describe your work in a telegraphic fashion? Pencil in these words or terms and look at some sample papers (or some of your own scholarly sources) for an illustration of what these words look like. Note that one ‘key word' may actually be two or more words. For example, 'economic growth' (counts as ONE key word), 'optimal taxation' (also ONE key word), 'greenhouse gas emissions' (same). Place your Key Words right below your (as of now blank) Abstract in one line. Separate your key words with semi-colons. Advice: some of the key words you list should appear in the title. → Place your title, your name and affiliation (SBU), (blank) Abstract, and key words in your cover page, in exactly this order. Introduction. As of now, copy the elements of your Proposal in your Introduction. Make each element a paragraph (or two). You will wait to write the definitive version of this section until you have completed your literature review/background review, have results/findings to discuss and, ideally, some clear conclusions. We are discussing it now because it may help you focus on --and keep track of-- what is important as it comes up during your research, so it is easier for you to explain later. 2 Never promise anything your paper will not deliver! Title, key words, and Abstract must be a reliable portal. 3 This is how most of your audience screens papers and decides whether to read them in their entirety or not. And this is also how you should examine potentially valuable sources and references for your own research. 4 Have a look at the sample papers. Different journals place different requirements on authors and, consequently, not all papers look the same in terms of sections and section names. However, all papers have similar structure and must contain similar elements. Above all, all papers present a clear structure and descriptive section titles according to their subject. When you are ready to write the final version of your Introduction, keep in mind it should contain the following elements: 。 Statement of the broad theme or topic of your paper. The core issue. Your paper's objective, the purpose of your research. E.g. "To investigate ...," "To determine ...," "To evaluate ...," "To compare ...," "To analyze ...," "To describe ...," "To review ...," "To discuss ...,” etc. Your objective should logically flow from the core issue or question. 。 Explain the importance of your topic. That is, give a convincing answer to the question: "Why should your audience want to read your paper?” This is the Motivation you worked on in your Proposal, except now you know more about your subject and you can present it better! 5 Your main contribution and/or your results/findings. 。 Summarize your Literature Review/Background Review and tell us what is most relevant for your topic.6 Point to what you think is most important in the literature, the most important controversies, gaps, inconsistencies, the consensus, etc. and relate it to your findings. In your last paragraph, outline the structure of the rest of the paper. As in: "In the next section I cover the most relevant literature on this subject; in Section 3, I present the main results/findings of my research; and in Section 4, I conclude and point to future directions of research on this topic." • Literature Review or Background Review. • The literature review/background review represents the theoretical core of your paper. Its purpose is to look at what other researchers have done in order to provide a background and, also, to serve as motivation and guide to your own work. You will have to do some reading! A good overview does not merely summarize relevant previous research; in it you must critically evaluate, re-organize, and synthetize the work of others. As Kotzé (2007) puts it, "In a sense, compiling a literature review is like making a smoothie or a fruit shake. The end product is a condensed mix that differs totally in appearance from the individual ingredients used as inputs. The key to a successful literature review lies in your ability to "digest" information from different sources, critically evaluate it and present your conclusions in a concise, logical, and reader-friendly manner.” 958 Please, see the section of this document (below) for a more specific and detailed description of a good literature or background review. References. You must cite and reference your sources according to American Psychological Association (APA) guidelines. Check the presentation in the Documents section of Blackboard or follow instructions in this link to see how to cite in-text and list references: https://ggu.libguides.com/c.php?g=106881&p=694051 Keep in mind that, although these days we all access most content online, we still have to cite ORIGINAL sources. That is, a book chapter accessed online is still a book chapter and you NEED to cite and reference 5 Always keep in mind that your audience is composed of your peers and the economics faculty, not the general public. You must demonstrate competency in economic reasoning while keeping your peers interested. You must think like an economist. 6 Do not 'cut and paste' from other sections: organize, synthetize, and summarize what is noteworthy. This is part of your work! 7 Some writing experts will say this is not at all necessary. It is, however, common practice in scholarly economic writing and your audience will expect you to do it. It works as our Table of Contents. 8 Kotzé, T. (2007). Guidelines on writing a first quantitative academic article. Department of Marketing and Communication Management, University of Pretoria (South Africa). • the book chapter. See this link here on how to use a 'digital object identifier' or doi properly: https://library.uic.edu/help/article/1966/what-is-a-doi-and-how-do-i-use-them-in-citations. If what you are citing and referencing is ORIGINAL website content; then follow these guidelines: http://blog.apastyle.org/apastyle/2010/11/how-to-cite-something-you-found-on-a-website-in-apa-style.html In regard to your sources: ✓ Check that your list of references includes sufficient academic and scholarly sources (primary sources). When in doubt, consult your librarian: they are the experts. Remember you can FREELY access most (if not all) academic sources online using your account via Stony Brook libraries (check the last section of your Syllabus). In general, while you are working on your Draft, think carefully about how your choices will affect the internal coherence and quality of your final version. Be very realistic about your goals and the time you have available to work on your paper: do not be over-ambitious, narrow your focus, and set feasible goals. Your Draft should contain your main arguments and show the final structure of your paper. And, always, be as self-critical and honest as possible in your writing: say what you mean, be clear, and get to the point. You will see this makes your work easier and better! The Use of Statistical, Graphical, and Mathematical Information In order to summarize, illustrate, and support your arguments and make them more convincing, you may decide to use statistical, graphical, and mathematical information. This information will provide your audience with: • Background on your problem Support for your claims Tests of your hypotheses Illustration of your arguments Information presented this way will also make your paper more appealing and readable. You can elaborate this information yourself, in which case you will have to properly format tables, figures, graphs, equations, etc. (which takes time). Or you may reproduce figures, graphs, tables, or numerical information from other studies, statistical agencies, etc. In either case, you must always cite the original source of the data you used or the visual object you reproduced, following APA guidelines.⁹ All visual objects (figures, graphs, tables, etc.) and equations should be included within the body of your paper, unless they are too large, in which case they should be moved to an appendix. Regardless of where they are placed, keep in mind "The purpose of charts, tables, and other graphics is to summarize and illustrate the argument in the text. Every figure should be designed to be easily understood independently of the text." (Greenlaw, 2006, p. 235). All figures, graphs, tables, etc. must be numbered and have a title. Titles should be self-explanatory and state the theme of the information. They should be single spaced in a 10 pt. Times New Roman font. As a rule, do the following: For figures/graphs, place "Figure [Number]: [Title of figure]" at the bottom of the figure. 9 Here is a very visual link where you can find the instructions to do it properly (Method 2, after MLA style): http://www.wikihow.com/Cite-a-Graph-in-a-Paper