ECON4331W Writing Assignment: Introduction,
Literature Review and References
University of Minnesota
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Outline
1 Writing the Introduction
2 Writing the Literature Review
3 Writing the Reference List
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Overview
This presentation will discuss some key structural elements of an academic
paper:
The Introduction
The Literature Review
The Reference List
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1 Writing the Introduction
2 Writing the Literature Review
3 Writing the Reference List
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What is the Introduction?
Your Introduction will provide the reader with the first impression of your
paper. It should draw in the reader’s attention and make clear why your
paper is worth reading.
Keep in mind that the goal of an academic paper is to present the reader
with an evidence-based answer to a research question. For this reason
it is important to make clear right from the beginning what your paper is
about, why your research question is interesting, and how your project will
address the research question.
It is ideal to lay out your research question as part of the Introduction in
the early stages of drafting your paper. However, since the introduction
should include a summary of your methods and findings, it is usually
necessary to redraft it when the analysis is complete.
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Structure of the Introduction
A good Introduction should be 3-5 paragraphs long and accomplish the
following:
Describe what you plan to write about, introduce your research
question, and include a clear, concise thesis statement.
Summarize how you plan to approach your topic, including a brief
explanation of the analytical techniques you are going to employ
and what type of data you will use.
Give an overview of your findings and contributions.
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1 Writing the Introduction
2 Writing the Literature Review
3 Writing the Reference List
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What is the Literature Review?
Your Literature Review should summarize existing economic research that
is closely related to your research question. You should get started with
the Literature Review early on, as it should inform your model selection
and analytical sections.
Your Literature Review should introduce the key papers that are relevant
to your paper:
Papers that develop theory that is important to your paper.
Present a survey of existing academic work completed on your
research question.
I If several works tackle your same research question, discuss the
different assumptions, data sources, and empirical methods used.
Compare the existing literature to your work and explain in which
respects your paper is different.
I If you cannot find any papers that discuss your same research question,
try to find papers in the same topic area. Discuss similarities and
differences, and explain how they relate to your research question.
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Structure of the Literature Review
There is no hard and fast rule for how many papers should be in your
Literature Review. At the very minimum, you are expected to do a Google
Scholar search for existing research that is closely related to your question,
and to write up a brief summary of what is or isn’t out there.
For each paper you mention, you should write one or more sentences
stating what the paper does and how it relates to your own project.
Depending on the topic, you might choose to do an in-depth
discussion of a few key papers or an overview that mentions a larger
number of papers, but in less detail.
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Finding relevant papers
There are several methods to identify the key papers for your Literature
Review:
Start with a Google Scholar search for your topic. Try several
variations of key words.
If you find an article closely related to your topic that is relatively
recent (i.e., from within the last five years) you can get started by
looking through its Bibliography.
If you find a promising article that is older, you might still want to
look at its bibliography but you will need to supplement this with
more recent research as well. The “Related articles” and “Cited by”
buttons on Google Scholar are very helpful.
If you are still struggling, ask a librarian!
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Using Google Scholar effectively
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What sources are most important?
You should focus on reputable academic articles when putting together
your Literature Review. A ranking of economics journals can be found
here.
You should examine at least a few papers on the general topic on
which you are writing from the top 5 or top 10 ranking journals.
When examining research on a narrower research question, it is
okay to draw from journals outside the top 10.
If you are looking at a well-established model (e.g., Solow model,
Romer model, Ricardian model, etc.) it is okay to reference a
textbook rather than the original paper.
Books written by academics are also acceptable sources.
News articles, magazine articles, etc. should generally not be part of
the Literature Review, although it might be appropriate to cite them
elsewhere in your paper if closely related to your topic.
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Summarizing the literature
A literature review should not merely be a recap of existing literature. It
should involve some synthesis, that is, the re-organization of the ideas
and theories most common on the topic on which you are writing.
Organize your writing around key motives or ideas in the literature.
Keep some notes while you read the literature and look for patterns,
similarities, and differences among the papers you read.
If there are theories that are particularly influential in the field,
organize your review around those.
Pay close attention to the literature review sections in the papers you
read; they might help you identify the key themes and issues in the
field.
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Identifying your contributions
In your Literature Review, try to identify one or two key papers that are
closest to your research question. Compare similarities, contrast
differences, and highlight what your paper is doing, for example:
Applying the same identification strategy in a different context.
Replicating the same analysis using more data, such as a longer panel
or a different data source on the same topic.
While it is okay to include direct quotes of someone else’s work, these
should be used sparingly. It is not acceptable to quote entire
paragraphs or sentences without explaining what they are, and how they
are related to your research question.
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1 Writing the Introduction
2 Writing the Literature Review
3 Writing the Reference List
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How to write a Reference List
A Reference List or Bibliography is the last section of your paper, after the
Results section but before the Appendix. It is simply an alphabetized list
of all journal articles, books, websites, and other sources you have
consulted while writing your paper. Each citation should be formatted
using MLA or APA style.
Keep track of the papers you read and sources you consult and add them
to the References as you go; it will be much easier than writing it after you
are done. Some people find using a program like Endnote or EasyBib
helpful, or you can just keep a list in a text file.
You can find examples of how to cite each type of source here.
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A helpful trick on Google Scholar
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How and when to use citations
There are two types of citations:
In-text citations: These should be included whenever you quote,
summarize, or paraphrase another source.
I For every in-text citation in your paper, there must be a full-length
entry in your References.
I The in-text citation should include the name of the author (or authors)
and the date of publication.
I Example: “As illustrated by Acemoglu et al. (2001), institutional
quality is a key determinant of a country’s income level.”
Bibliographical citations: You should include a reference to all
sources you have consulted in the References. This includes not only
a full citation for each in-text citation, but also a citation to works
you have read when doing background research that have in some
way informed your analysis but that you did not cite directly.
I Example: Acemoglu, Daron, Simon Johnson, and James A. Robinson.
“The colonial origins of comparative development: An empirical
investigation.” American Economic Review 91.5 (2001): 1369-1401.
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Plagiarism
You do not need to provide a citation when something is common
knowledge or if it is your own work. In general, something can be
considered common knowledge if it is widely known and accepted as fact
by the average educated reader.
When in doubt, err on the side of caution and cite. Not citing a source on
which you have relied can constitute plagiarism. Please review the
University plagiarism guidelines here.
Additional resources on bibliographical software, style manuals and more
can be found here.
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