How to Write an Academic Paper

Marnie Ginis
April 9, 2024
Columbia University

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About me

• 5th year PhD candidate in Political

Science at Columbia University
• Currently in Vietnam conducting
research for my dissertation
• When I earn my doctorate, I will apply
for jobs as a professor at a university

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Overview

• How to write a paper

• Elements of a paper
• How to structure each element
• Technical details
• Summary
• How to publish a paper
• Overview of publishing process
• What journals are looking for
• Top journals
• Which journals to submit to

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Elements of a Paper

• Abstract
• Introduction
• Theory
• Context
• Data
• Method
• Results
• Discussion
• Conclusion

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Abstract

• First sentence makes it clear why the

reader should care about the project
• 1-2 sentences that orient the reader in
the existing literature
• A sentence that asks your question or
highlights the puzzle you are
interested in
• 1-2 sentences about your method
• Brief summary of results
• Conclude with a sentence that makes
it clear why your findings are a
contribution
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Abstract

• First sentence makes it clear why the

reader should care about the project

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Abstract

• 1-2 sentences that orient the reader in

the existing literature

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Abstract

• A sentence that asks your question or

highlights the puzzle you are
interested in

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Abstract

• 1-2 sentences about your method

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Abstract

• Brief summary of results

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Abstract

• Conclude with a sentence that makes

it clear why your findings are a
contribution

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Introduction

• About 3 pages maximum

• Essentially an extended version of the abstract
• Reader should be able to only read your introduction and understand your paper
• This is the most important part of the paper

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Introduction

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Introduction

• Where your work fits in with

the existing literature (the
puzzle)
• What you do in your paper
• What your method is
• Main findings
• Why your findings are
important
• Layout of your paper (e.g.
“This paper proceeds as
follows. Section 2 discusses
the literature...”
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Theory

• Sometimes referred to as “Background” or “Literature Review”

• Define your terms
• Discuss related literature
• Discuss your theory and hypotheses
• Make it clear where your theory fits into the existing literature
• Applying an existing theory to a new context
• Finding the middle ground between two conflicting theories
• Using a new method to explore an existing theory
• Applying a theory from a different discipline to your discipline
• Etc.

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Theory

If using a formal model, this is where you will explain it, e.g.:

If using an analytical framework, can include graphic here, e.g.:

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Context and Data

• A context section is not necessary for every paper

• Generally needed if your paper includes an experiment or survey
• Data sections are usually short
• Outline where the data is from and what your independent, dependent, and
control variables are

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Method

• Explain your methodological approach

• Explain how and why your
methodological approach makes sense
for your theory
• Ideally, you will be able to directly tie
your method to your hypotheses
• E.g. “To demonstrate the plausibility
of Hypothesis 1, I examine
country-level data to see if X leads
to Y.”

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Method

• This is also where you will discuss robustness tests and how you are ruling out
alternate hypotheses
• Be upfront about the weaknesses of your approach – it’s better to be precise
about exactly what your method can test than to over promise
• Example from a published paper:

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Results

• Outline your results, usually using statistical tables

• Make it clear what part of the results the reader should focus on and what they
mean
• E.g. “The results indicate that women that received a personal bank account,
direct deposit of wages into that account, and financial literacy training (D2T)
had significantly more freedom of movement than those in the control group.”
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Results

Again, be sure to address what the results do not show. E.g.:

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Discussion and Conclusion

• Sometimes will have only one of these

• Generally the discussion focuses on the implications of the results, such as whether
the hypotheses were supported or not and what the theoretical implications are
• For this reason, the discussion is sometimes not its own section and is instead
included in the results section
• Conclusion summarizes what you did, your method, and what you found
• Also discusses what your results mean for the broader literature and what the next
steps should be

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Technical details

• Generally use Chicago style references, with author-date in-text citations

• Strongly suggest using a reference software, like Zotero
• Use a Latex editor to type up papers, Overleaf is online and free

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Zotero

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Overleaf

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Summary of Paper Structure

• One idea
• Be concise – clear and as short as possible
• Avoid jargon and adjectives
• Tell reader what you’re going to tell them, tell them, tell reader what you told
them

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Overview of Publishing Process

• Submit to a paper
• Reviewed by editor
• Either rejected or sent to peer review
• If sent to peer review, paper is anonymously reviewed by referees
• Possible outcomes: accepted outright, conditional acceptance, revise and
resubmit, rejected outright
• Most common outcome is revise and resubmit (R&R) or rejection
• This process usually takes several months

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What are journals looking for in a paper?

• One clear idea

• A clear contribution to the discipline
• Interesting outside of one subfield
• A good fit with the journal’s theme
• Methods that match the theory
• Correctly conducted methods

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Top Journals

Top journals in economics and political science:

• Econometrica
• American Political Science Review
• Journal of Economic Literature
• American Journal of Political Science
• The Quarterly Journal of Economics
• Annual Review of Political Science
• American Economic Review
• Journal of Politics
• American Economic Journal:
• Comparative Political Studies
Macroeconomics

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Which journals to submit to

• Top journals are very difficult to get into

• Often better to focus on a journal that is more specialized, either regionally, by
topic, or by subfield
• E.g. Asian Journal of Political Science, International Security, World Politics

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Questions?

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Graduate school overview

• In the United States, there are terminal masters programs and PhD programs that
include a masters degree
• E.g. my program is about 6 years long, and I received two masters degrees along
the way
• Some people in my program already had previous terminal masters degrees, so they’ll
have 3 masters degrees and a doctorate at the end!
• In the US, it is not recommended to go directly from an undergraduate degree to
a PhD program

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Research jobs overview

• Consulting
• Policy-focused research institutions (think tanks)
• Research assistant at a university
• Government research institutions
• Research team within a firm
• International institutions

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Pathway to graduate school

• Experience with conducting research

• Methodological skills and substantive knowledge
• A clear research agenda
• Some knowledge of academia, specific scholars you want to work with
• Generally need excellent grades

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Pathway to research jobs

• As an entry-level researcher you will need to have useful skills and subject
knowledge
• Useful skills: language, statistical software, ArcGIS, coding, interviewing, case
studies, building databases
• Enough subject knowledge to show you are interested in the topic

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How to get research experience

• Work as a research assistant

• Tell your professor you are interested in working as a research assistant
• Contact professors outside your school that are doing work you are interested in
• Conduct your own research
• International programs for undergraduate students conducting their own research
• Take any courses that allow you to conduct your own research
• Become familiar with academia
• Read academic journals
• Follow the careers of scholars in your field
• Take methodological courses

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Questions?

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