Syllabus
Registration via LPIS
Session 1: Academic Journals and the Publication Process
Publication process, journal rankings, which journal is the right one for my paper?, submission strategy, working paper series & when to submit there, conference submissions
Session 2: Title
What is a good title?
Sessions 3 & 4: Abstract
What belongs in the abstract? We’ll look at good abstracts and identify what they have in common. We’ll also spend some time re-writing and discussing abstracts.
Session 5: Storyline
What belongs in the paper? How do I tell a coherent story? What should I cite? Plagiarism
Session 6: Introduction
Elements of a good introduction, examples
Session 7: Main body of the paper
Structure of a theory/empirical paper, what to keep in mind with tables and figures
Session 8: Conclusion and Appendix
Session 9: Referee Reports
How to deal with rejections, revising a paper, response letters, how to write a referee report
This session outline is subject to changes!
The course is part of the Doctoral Program in International Business Taxation (DIBT). During the course, students learn best practices for writing an academic paper in accounting, economics or psychology. After the course, they are familiar with the publication process and know how to choose the best outlet for their papers. They know how to structure a paper and how to write it to maximize their publication chances.
Students receive material in advance and will prepare for the course. In particular, each student should select 2-3 favorite papers from their field (at least 1-2 of which should be published in top journals). We will use these papers to figure out best practices for academic writing. Besides the group work, there will be lectures on each of the topics mentioned above.
After the first part of the course, students will have about three weeks to re-work a piece of their own writing (ideally, abstract and introduction of a research paper). They will then give each other feedback on this text (in writing). They have to hand in their writing sample three weeks after receiving feedback.
The course consists of lectures by the professor, group work and discussion in class. Weighting of the course assessment will be:
50% own writing sample (abstract + introduction of a research project)
25% for active participation
25% for written feedback on someone else’s writing
Participation in the DIBT Program - Doctoral Program in International Business Taxation
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Bellamare, Marc (2020): How to write applied papers in economics. http://marcfbellemare.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/BellemareHowToPaperSeptember2020.pdf
Berk, Jonathan B., Campbell R. Harvey and David Hirshleifer (2017). How to Write an Effective Referee Report and Improve the Scientific Review Process. Journal of Economic Perspectives 31 (1), 231-44.
Cochrane, John (2005): Writing Tips for PhD students. https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5e6033a4ea02d801f37e15bb/t/5eda74919c44fa5f87452697/1591374993570/phd_paper_writing.pdf
Faff, Robert (2020): http://pitchingresearch.com/guide.html
Glaeser, Ed (2003): How to write a theory paper. https://www.princeton.edu/~reddings/tradephd/Glaeser_Lecture_11.pdf
Harvey, Campbell R. (2012). Reflections on Editing the Journal of Finance. https://faculty.fuqua.duke.edu/~charvey/Research/Working_Papers/W111_Reflections_on_editing.pdf
Kachelmeier, Steven J. (2004). Reviewing the Review Process. Journal of the American Taxation Association, Supplement 2004.
McCloskey, Deirdre (2019): Economical Writing. 3rd Edition, University of Chicago Press.
Schimel, Joshua (2011): Writing Science: How to Write Papers That Get Cited and Proposals That Get Funded. Oxford University Press
Schwabish, Jonathan (2014). An economist’s guide to visualizing data. Journal of Economic Perspectives 28 (1), 209-234.
Thomsen, William (2011): A guide for the young economist. 2nd Edition, MIT Press
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