How to Write an Economics Paper: Tips for University Students

Economics has long been called “the dismal science” because of its predictions about human behavior and motivation, but that is no reason that your essays about economics need to be dismal as well. In fact, your college essays about economics can be exciting, innovative and compelling. In this article, we’ll look at a few of the ways that you can improve your writing strategies to create better and stronger economics papers every time. While our tips might not be able to guarantee you a specific grade, we guarantee that following them will help you take your writing from dismal to closer to the best you can make it every time.

Master Your Subject

As should be obvious, the first and most important thing to do before starting an economics paper is to master your subject matter. Economics is a challenging subject, and it’s essential that you understand the theories and data that you plan to use in developing your essay. The most closely you have studied the subject and the more depth with which you studied the specific theories you’ll use, the better your economics essay will be. It’s also a great idea to have worked out the data you plan to present before writing. That means calculating out the results and double-checking to make sure your data are correct before relying on them to support your thesis. It is better to spend some extra time on research than to “float” when writing the thesis itself. You will lose time on doubts, editing, using not relevant materials and struggle. Get to know the subject as if you are choosing a life companion.

Conduct a Literature Review Before You Write

It can be tempting to try to write your economics paper from beginning to end and fill in the research as you go along. However, doing so can result in wasted effort and deleted pages as new material comes to light. Your best bet is to start your research with a literature review before you write so you can see what other economists have already done, both to ensure that you don’t duplicate what’s already been published and to make sure that your own ideas are correct and won’t need to be revised before you finish the paper. Also, pay attention to the quality of sources. It is tempting to use blogs, as it is easy to read them, all the key ideas are presented on the surface, and it is fast to Google them. Most of them also cannot qualify as academic sources for a serious paper. So, first of all, use Google Scholar at least, and focus on academic databases that have contracts with your college or university. Don’t forget about JSTOR and similar libraries.

Create a Powerful Introduction

The introduction is the first, and sometimes only, thing that your audience will read. It needs to stand out to lure readers in and provide them with the information they need to decide that they want to read more of your work. One way to do this is to start with an attention-grabbing hook. A great hook will grab the reader from the first. Some effective strategies include presenting a dramatic fact, beginning with a compelling quotation, or telling a fascinating anecdote. Anecdotes can be a great lure because people like stories, and they often remember stories better than numbers. Our mind is designed to remember stories because they create chains of images and provoke the imagination. Yes, you are not writing a fiction book, but you still can use this trick.

Develop an Effective Thesis Statement

The thesis statement is the single most important sentence in your economics paper, so you need to give it extra attention. The thesis statement needs to summarize your entire paper and present the main lines of evidence that will support your conclusion. A strong thesis can make your paper sharper and more focused. A weak or poor thesis can leave your paper unmoored and meandering. Therefore, the more time you spend on your thesis, the more likely your economics paper will be strong as well. Quality thesis statement attracts professors like a magnet, beware!

Outline Your Paper Before You Write

Outlining is one of the single most effective ways of developing a strong economics paper. An outline serves as a roadmap to your essay and provides you with a step-by-step guide for what to write and in what order. Because outlines can save you time and frustration, they can be a massive lifesaver during the writing process. To make an outline effective, you need to take the time to go through it step by step and fully develop each part of the outline. The more effort you make on your outline, the stronger your final essay will be. While it may seem like a waste of time since it isn’t included in the final product, the end result will be so much stronger that you’ll be glad you took the time to outline.

Writing an economics paper can be a challenge, even when following these tips. However, if you find that you need help writing an economics paper, it can be efficient and effective to pay someone to do your papers for you. An online paper writing service like Write My Paper Hub has the economics experts who can create powerful essays to show you the right way to approach your own paper. When you use a custom-written economics essay to help you with your assignment, you tap in to the expertise of writers who hold advanced degrees in economics such as a PhD or Master’s degree. Professional essay writing services like that even provide a free bibliography of sources that you can draw upon for future research.

This article does not necessarily reflect the opinions of the editors or management of EconoTimes