Writing a term paper is what all students will need to pass through. Some of them will feel confident enough when the time comes to craft that important assignment. Others will most likely feel anxious and a bit lost. However, nearly all are going to ask the same question at least once: how to write a term paper in economics?
This article is called to help you deal with that writing quest. Read it through attentively and thoroughly, and maybe make some notes during the process. You’ll most probably need the knowledge from here more than once and even twice during your studies. Actually, the guide will come in handy not only for term papers but also for essays, coursework, other research papers, theses, and dissertations.
What Is a Term Paper?
We’ll do several steps backward to reach the very basic definitions. That is an excellent starting point to develop all academic guides about different paper types. So, what is that term paper? It will be useful for you to check things out before starting to craft your one. You’ll know the purpose of a term paper, its features, and its structure. Consequently, it will be easier for you to come up with an assignment worth the very best grade.
The definition of a term paper is simple. It is a research paper that a student needs to prepare by the end of their semester at school. The goal of this paper, just like that of any other academic assignment, is to show how well a student mastered the material that is about to pass. However, if an essay usually concentrates on some topic that is quite small regarding the subject, then a term paper can cover broader concepts and facts of the ongoing course.
A term paper is normally a discussion or a scientific report on the topic. That means a writer should go in for a thorough study and also know how to write technical things expertly. An economics term paper worth the highest grade is well-researched, thoroughly structured, analyzing facts and issues, and carrying some value – it shows how well you know the course’s material.
Writing an Economics Paper: 6 Stages
Before you decide to solve all your academic troubles with one strong willpower move, here is a thing you should know: writing that economics paper is the fourth step out of six. You feel that, don’t you?
The point is, there is a lot of preliminary work you should do to create a solid ground, a basement able to keep your economics assignment on track. That is the only way to come up with a logically connected, correctly structured, analyzed, and carefully written term paper that is able to bring academic value. A term paper is like another exam – it shows your ability to understand new knowledge you should gain throughout the past course and operate it as intended.
The process of crafting an economics term paper can be divided into six stages. Each of them is relatively simple. Moreover, if you have experience writing any academic assignment, there most probably will not be any revelation in your mind.
Here are the six steps of composing a top-grade economics term paper:
- choose a topic;
- make an in-depth study;
- come up with an outline;
- expand it to the full-scale paper;
- edit and proofread your writing;
- check a term paper for plagiarism.
That doesn’t look too difficult, does it? You’ve done all that before. This time, the only difference is the scale of your paper. See the details on economic term paper writing stages below.
Topic
It is quite frequent for professors to assign topics for students beforehand. If that is your case, you can obviously skip the first stage we describe. You’ve got the theme to work on, and the only thing you can do is accept it. Still, if your topic does not quite cut it for you, sometimes professors may allow changing it. Keep in mind that you should not make any changes to a previously assigned topic on your own without discussing an issue with your supervisor. They are not likely to accept the economics term paper with an undiscussed topic, even if it will be written perfectly.
On the other hand, there are those who received more freedom of choice from their liberal professors. We won’t say if you are lucky or not. An opportunity to choose the topic of a term paper independently can be a blessing for one student and a curse for the other one. If you don’t know which topic to come up with, try reflecting on the materials you learned within the semester. That’ll help.
Here are some sample economics topics that can cut it well for your term paper:
- The Effect of the 2008-2009 Economic Crisis on Small US Business Companies;
- How the US and EU Counter Their Currency Inflation;
- Role of Banks in the World’s Economy;
- Economic Regulation Models;
- Cryptocurrencies and their Economic Prospects.
The choice of topics is nearly unlimited. To craft a term paper worth the best grade, you should do whatever you can and find the theme that is interesting to you first of all. Then, it may take some time to come up with concepts to be able to present it as an intriguing topic to your professor, but it will surely be worth the effort. The point is, a student working on a topic that interests them is more likely to pass through the following term paper writing stages thoroughly, attentively, and effectively. Additionally, it will be easier for them to generate a thesis statement worth attention.
Study (Research)
After the topic is picked and accepted by the professor, it is time to proceed with the next step. Some students say it’s the dullest one. Others praise it as the most interesting activity of the entire paper writing process. What’s that?
Right, it’s a thorough study. Here, you need to find theoretical materials on the topic, as well as arguments, statistical data, and proofs to support your thesis statement. You’ll use them in your future term paper’s content, so don’t think there can be too much information. It is better to take your time and to find a lot of data to process than to try jumping through the research stage quickly by picking the first couple of sources you could find online without even checking them.
The paragraph above is the best reason to apply all your time management skills to writing that economics term paper. Don’t postpone that job till the very last month, week, or day. If you do, you risk getting a much lower grade than you might expect or even failing to bring the paper on time. That’s not how you want your professor to remember you for sure.
Outline
Again, don’t skip this stage! A thoroughly composed outline will serve you as a roadmap throughout the entire writing process. For an outline to work as intended, it should keep up with a term paper structure. Its key elements are here:
- Cover page: it is a page serving as a book cover but for academic papers. It indicates your name, course, supervisor, and deadline date. You can craft it first to kickstart the process with an easy part of the job or leave it alone until the economic term paper itself is completed.
- Abstract (if necessary): a short work description to let the readers of your paper know the direction, the problem, and the meaning the writing itself carries without the need to analyze all the content available.
- Intro: the very beginning of the main part of your term paper, a correctly written introduction represents the topic briefly, explains the significance of an issue, and also contains a thesis statement you will prove in the next part.
- Body: this is the place to provide the reader with main points. Let them understand what you’ve got by presenting issues, arguments, and proofs logically. Keep an eye on correct interconnections between them.
- Results: explain where the research you conducted led you. Was your thesis statement confirmed? Did it make you change your thoughts and opinions on the chosen topic? Make sure you wrap the entire intro and body content as one and tie two previous parts together.
- Discussion: the final part of your term paper is a conclusion, a summary of the topic, and the issue you decided to discuss at the very beginning. The best way to finish a term paper is to reflect on what you’ve found out and then to pose a question directing further research potential. Additionally, you can try engaging your readers to continue finding out more about the topic on their own if you want.
Those were the key elements of an economics term paper you should include in your writing. An outline should take that structure into account and give you a clear understanding of the way you are going to use the available research material. An outline is a skeleton helping you keep the structure of your paper and connect its elements between themselves in the right way.
There is no need to try composing a final draft of your term paper at once. The point is to set your milestones by mentioning key ideas, facts, data, and proofs to use in the most suitable and logical order. You will grow muscles using that skeleton pretty soon. And the process will be much easier if you organize an outline correctly.
Writing a Research Paper on Economics
Here it is time to unpack your outline. Add necessary details, explain concepts, tie them with proofs, and build bridges between the key parts of the content you’ve marked in an outline. Be thorough, and make sure you don’t forget anything critical.
Now you understand why the preparation process is vital for term paper writing cases, don’t you? If you invested enough time to get the required info from the research stage and to craft a detailed outline, it wouldn’t be a problem for you to write the paper itself.
Editing and Proofreading
When you finish writing the first draft of your term paper based on the roadmap from an outline, have a break. Let your assignment and head cool off, go for a short walk, play a video game, spend time with your friends and family. Why should you do that here?
It’s because you need to edit and proofread the contents of your paper with a fresh, untired, and sharp eye. Do all the elements keep the required direction? Is there a required connection between concepts, arguments, proofs, and conclusions? Did you reveal the topic in the way you intended to?
Be merciless. Cut off the unnecessary paragraphs, fix issues, and make your economics assignment as close to perfection as possible. Also, be especially attentive with grammar, punctuation, and orthography. And use some software to fix those typos. Seriously, nothing can spoil an outstanding paper as much as those annoying misspelled words a student missed.
Anti-Plagiarism Measures
The last stage of the guide explaining how to write an economics paper is, of course, a plagiarism check. When you’ve got the final draft of the paper at hand, it is time to get yourself safe from accidental plagiarism issues.
To do that, you should use one of the tested plagiarism check software solutions like Quetext. If there is another one recommended by your educational establishment or professor, go on and use it. The academic world does not tolerate plagiarizers, so do whatever possible to avoid becoming the one.
To Conclude
That was our detailed guide about how to write an economics research paper. It will suit students who need to complete a term paper, coursework, or even an essay. Though, you should make some corrections regarding structural differences between various types of academic assignments.
In case you don’t have enough time to complete your economics term paper on your own (or you just don’t want to), there is another solution for you. Ask professional writers for assistance. We can handle any topic or level. And we are always here to help you.