Writing papers in economics/management can be very different from writing papers in English classes.  Here are some things to remember for these papers.

In general

Remember some of the same things you would in English classes, in particular:

1.  Develop a sound thesis.  Make sure you have enough information to back it up.

2.  Follow through with your argument.  Make sure you have a separate paragraph for each new argument.  It’s okay to acknowledge that there may be opposition to your thesis.  That is called your antithesis.  Your goal is not to pretend that there are no objections to your thesis; you can spend part of your paper refuting those arguments.

3.  Research fully and deeply.  Don’t just go online; look through journals, scholarly articles, and books.  While your style of writing is important, verbacity and language tricks are not a substitute for thorough research and idea development.

4.  Give your paper a once-over before you turn it in.  Make sure your sentences flow into one, and your paragraphs flow into one another.  Use transitions so that it doesn’t look like you’re jumping from idea to idea.  While copy and paste is a wonderful thing, you need to make sure what you paste actually makes sense.

Specifically for management classes

Management deals with either report-type writing or analysis of several interacting variables or theories.  When writing these kinds of papers, you must start the paper with an explicit statement of critical issues facing the organization under investigation, then proceed with a cogent analysis of the facts which lead to the statement of the critical issues.  Students often find it hard to be succinct and to the point.  Remember that this is a terse style of writing.  You do not need to make metaphors or comparisons to get your point across.

Acknowledgments:

Michael Clugston

Contact Michael Clugston c/o:

Goucher College

Van Meter Hall – Department of Economics and Management

1021 Dulaney Valley Road

Baltimore, MD 21204