How-to-write-a-paper

(version Feb. 2007)

Assistant Professor Ann-Christina Lauring Knudsen

Associate Professor Kirsten Gomard
Department of European Studies and Department of Gender Studies
The University of Aarhus

Read these pages carefully:

The following text includes some advice on how to write a research paper. No single
formula exists for how to do this, but a number of features are generally expected to be
present in all humanities papers. This paper addresses standard features of research
papers (free papers). Please note that it is not possible to describe every single step of the
research process here. During the research process, you will have to settle some issues
yourself, and other issues you may want to address with your supervisor. The
responsibility for the final paper rests with the individual student. Be aware that if you go
on to write more ambitious works – an M.A. or PhD thesis, or even academic books –
certain demands regarding contents will change, but the general structure of the study
will typically be quite similar to what is described below.

OBS: If you are writing 7-days or 14-days exam or similarly in answer to a set question,
some of the steps mentioned below are not relevant because the problem formulation is
already provided. But you should nevertheless make your purpose clear in the
introduction, and all the format requirements for papers still apply (orderly structure,
referencing, etc. See below).

First thing to do: Write a Working introduction/problem formulation

(Danish: Problemformulering) 1-2 pages

A working introduction (also sometimes called problem formulation or synopsis) is a first

step in the process of writing a paper. It is meant to clarify in a concise way what the
paper is about, and how you intend to write it. A working introduction/problem
formulation is a good point of departure for your first meeting with your supervisor, and a
way to monitor your own work and progress. Later when you are writing the final paper,
the essential points of the working introduction / problem formulation will be integrated
into the introduction.

In a working introduction / problem formulation, you present your Topic, and give a
preliminary answer to the fundamental questions:

WHAT –WHY - HOW???

9 WHAT ? = research question

9 WHY ? = purpose of the paper with justification of the subject matter, and

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 9 HOW ? = your theoretical approach + methodology
(i.e. the way that you intend to undertake the research).

This is a good way to clarify what the paper will be about, and also to limit what the
paper is not about. In a way the working introduction / problem formulation can be seen
as a pre-paper, and is an extremely important part of writing the final paper. In fact, our
research experiences show that the more consideration you have put into this pre-paper,
the closer you are to actually finishing the final paper!

If you do not write a working introduction / problem formulation at an early stage of your
research, you are at a serious risk of getting lost in an ocean of information and of losing
sight of what you intended to do. Writing a working introduction / problem formulation
saves you time in the longer run, and it keeps you focused at all times on what you are
doing. It is also a document that you have produced which you can show to others as
research-in-progress. It is an indispensable tool in a professional research process.

The working introduction / problem formulation can be revised as you go along with the
research - as you become wiser on your subject - but always keep your working
introduction/problem formulation updated. Do not revise it every time a new idea comes
through your mind, but take some time to think a revision over, in order to convince
yourself (and your supervisor) why a revision is necessary.

Decide on a title, or working title, of the project at an early stage - this will keep you
focused on the topic.

WHAT and WHY

Research question, purpose and justification
Academic research arises from questioning the world around you. The focal point of an
academic paper is the research question = exactly what you want to find out about your
topic.

At the beginning of a paper, you also need to state your purpose and justification = why
the subject matter that you have chosen is so puzzling that you wish to spend time and
energy on it.

Sometimes such statements seem ‘obvious’, sometimes they are less obvious – in both
cases it is crucial that the author explains what the purpose is, why the reader needs to
read the paper. It is a good idea to state clearly in what context the research question is
interesting (theoretically, empirically, or both), whether you are aware of contending
views over the issue in the literature, and what argument you will try to advance.

Some people present a hypothesis about the answer to the research question. In the
humanities a stringent hypothesis is not a requirement, you can also phrase your research
question as an open question.

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HOW
Theory+Methodology
= the-method-you-intend-to-use-for-investigating-the-answer-to-your-research-question
in the light of the relevant theoretical approach.

In this section, you should describe the types of theoretical literature, empirical literature,
sources / evidence, etc., that you need for your study. You should explain their use in
relation to solving the puzzle of the paper, and you should discuss the relevance and
possible biases of the primary and secondary evidence that you draw in. In the working
introduction / problem formulation you should always include statements about theory
and methodology, and in the final paper you have to elaborate this into, at least, a full
section.

A working introduction/problem formulation may also include a tentative table of

contents for the final paper, thus indicating the structure that you expect to follow when
writing the final paper. This will help you imagine what the final paper will look like
without actually having completed it. You can also include an estimate of the length of
each section which helps you balance the amount of work that you put into each section.
This will prevent you from wasting time on irrelevant topics.

The question usually comes up of how to make the structure of the paper: by chronology,
or by theme, or … There is no one correct way of doing this. The best way is to look at
“the nature of the beast” that you are dealing with and try to imagine how best to explain
it.

Finally, the working introduction / problem formulation should include a list of literature
and sources, as complete as possible.

When writing this paper, you should do so as if your readership were senior students of
the humanities who are not specialists in this particular field.

Paper
Look carefully at the study regulations and follow the requested format (e.g. 10-12 or 12-
14 (normal) pages). According to study regulations of 2005 and later a (normal) page is
not just a piece of paper. It is exactly 350 words including footnotes/endnotes. Do not
count front page, table of contents, and literature list. This means that the body of text
and footnotes/endnotes of a 10-12 page paper must be not one word less than 3500 words
and not one word more than 4200.
For the BA project and the MA thesis do not count front page, table of contents, literature
list, and English summary. (OBS: The English summary must be there even if you are
writing in English!)
You will be requested to fill in the exact number of words on the front page of your paper

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and hand in a floppy disk or cd-rom for control.

Do take this absolutely seriously. The format is part of the formal requirements for
the paper. Even a minimal difference will cause you to fail, also if it is a good paper
in all other respects. 1

The essential, obligatory elements of a paper are:

9 Title
9 Front page
9 Table of contents
9 Introduction
9 Theory+Methodology
9 Main part (i.e. sections, chapters)
9 Conclusion
9 Literature list, and
9 Notes

Title
Keep it as informative about the topic of the paper as possible. Sometimes a subtitle is
useful too.

Front page
You must fill in and sign the front page provided by the Department. Available at the
department website and at the Secretary’s office. It includes name and relevant
identification of author (for exam registration purposes), title, and context of presenting
the paper. You should attach a front page to each copy of the paper.

Table of contents
Is the structure of the paper.

Introduction
Here you can use some of the material from the working introduction/problem
formulation, because in the introduction you must explain why you have chosen the
subject, and what is challenging about it (i.e. justification & purpose) and state your
research question. The rest of the paper is essentially meant to be answering that exact
question - nothing more, nothing less (your Conclusion at the end of the paper should be
used to testify that you have done exactly what you said you were going to do in the
Introduction).

Theory+Methodology

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Study regulations of 2001 which are still relevant for some MA students, define a normal page as 2400
units (units being letters, interpunctuation, and blanks). Students to whom this applies, should follow the
2400-units format counting text and footnotes/endnotes but not counting front page, table of contents and
list of references. FORMAT REQUIREMENTS (e.g. min. 15, max.17 pages) MUST BE TAKEN
SERIOUSLY AS PART OF THE FORMAL REQUIREMENTS FOR THE PAPER. EVEN A MINOR
DIFFERENCE WILL CAUSE YOU TO FAIL.

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Some people prefer to present their Theory+Methodology as part of their introduction
section, others prefer to place it as a separate section. See the comments about
Theory+Methodology in the working introduction/problem formulation section above.
Remember to stay focused in this section. You are not supposed to cover a whole
theoretical / methodological field but only to present what is relevant for your work.

Main part
= the body of text
= sections (chapters)
This is the content of the research, and only the researcher knows how best to do that. If
you have made a tentative table of contents in your working introduction / problem
formulation, you are at the advantage already by now that you have solved this problem.

Conclusion
This is obligatory too. Conclusions can have different styles depending on the structure of
the paper, and the style in which the paper has been written. The crucial element of a
Conclusion is that your research question must be answered on the basis of the evidence
that you presented in the sections. If the research did not provide the answers you
expected, you must discuss that in the Conclusion. Do not manipulate the evidence – it is
legitimate and correct to admit shortcomings in the research undertaken, but not to claim
something which is not true, or to ‘stretch’ the evidence to fit a certain conclusion.

Literature and sources

A literature list is obligatory, including source list. It must contain all relevant
information on each item. We will not try and impose one single way of writing a
literature list other than to insist that you list your texts alphabetically according to
authors’ last names. One way to decide on the style of the literature list is to look in one
of your textbooks and borrow that style. Do not try to create your own style.

When using the web you must cite the FULL address. That means: do not just reference
e.g. http://www.hum.au.dk, but the exact location on the hum.au.dk-server, and the date
of downloading information. If you use internet-based information as a central part of
your paper, be cautious to use reliable sources only, and make sure to keep prints of the
important information for future reference.

References
Your referencing must always be done so that the reader can easily go back to the
literature list and find all the literature that you have used, and also the sources that you
have used. There must be no doubt of where you got the information from. Your
referencing must be constant throughout the paper.

Techniques: Referencing may be done either in parentheses in the text, e.g. (Booth,
Colomb & Williams 1995: 148) or as footnotes/endnotes, e.g. 2 Either system will do, but
stick to one of them. In order not to waste too many precious words on references,
references MUST be brief (e.g. surname of the author + year + page). This is enough to
2
Booth, Colomb & Williams 1995: 148.

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identify the work in the literature list which contains all relevant information. (OBS: if
people are making references several times after another to the same work and want to be
brief, they sometimes say e.g.: ibid.: 150. This practice is not forbidden, but it is a bit
risky. If you are later shifting sections around in your paper, the references will, of
course, be shifted around accordingly, and then your ibid. might suddenly refer back to
something that is not relevant.)

The programme RefWorks which is available via the University Library homepage3 is
very helpful to organize references. The librarians at the Ringgade Library are ready to
help you.

Your referencing must be completely honest. You always, always, always get a better
evaluation by informing about your sources, than pretending that you have “thought
something out for yourself”. An experienced reader (such as your instructor!) notices
immediately if something is “wrong” in the referencing, and that leaves you with a lower
grade than if you proved honestly where you obtained the argument and information
from.

The principle of references is that everything important must have a reference, and that
reference must be clear and unambiguous. Things that must be expected to be 100%
general knowledge to your readers do not need referencing (such as 'World War II ended
in 1945’).

Notes
Generally you can choose endnotes or footnotes. Footnotes makes the text easier to read
than endnotes. Sometimes academic authors use footnotes to elaborate on a particular
academic issue, but as a student we will advise you: Do not do that too much. If it is
important enough to bring in a footnote it is usually also important enough to be part of
the text.

Traineeship papers
A traineeship paper is an academic paper on a topic of interest for the organization where
you are doing your traineeship. The topic must be approved by both the organization and
the study board of European Studies. Supervision takes place at the organization where
you are doing you traineeship. The paper must be an academic paper following all the
requirements for an academic paper outlined in this material. In an appendix of 1-2 pages
(which are not to be counted in the required number of pages for the paper), you should
state the name of the organization where you did your traineeship, the name of your
contact person, the period of your traineeship, the types of work you have done, and
explain how the topic of your paper fits into your traineeship.

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How to find it: 1. Go to www.statsbiblioteket.dk. 2. Click the link Databaser under E-Materialer. The
databases are listed alphabetically.

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A few words about good academic practice
Above all: Beware of plagiarism!
Do not ever directly copy from another text! It is called plagiarism, and it is bad
academic practice. Plagiarism is stealing the intellectual property of someone else. On the
front page of the paper you confirm with your signature that
- Direct quotations are marked as quotations, and the source of each quotation is
indicated.
- The sources are also clearly indicated for material summarized or paraphrased
from the work of other writers.
- Sources are indicated at the point in the text where the material is used, either
through a reference in the text of through a footnote, as well as being listed in the
bibliography.

I may have discussed the paper with others and used advice and a suggestions from
others in writing it, but the paper is my own original work and is neither copied from
another source without proper acknowledgement, nor written for my by any other person,
in whole or in part.

Any suspicion of plagiarism will be reported immediately to the Director of Studies who
after looking into the case will report it to the Rector of the University. Procedures and
disciplinary measures are described at http://www.au.dk/en/rules/2004/au30
We suggest that you keep all the notes and drafts that you made in the process of
researching and writing the paper so that you, in case of doubt, can document your work
process.

In other words: when you cite another text, this must be clearly marked and referenced. A
citation should always be commented on, so that the reader knows what the purpose of
the citation is, and whether you support the quote or not. Do not cite too much. Now and
then it is ok to do so, but do not cite anything without a purpose, and try not to apply
page-long citations - write it in your own words. But also when writing about somebody
else’s views in your own words, do not forget the reference.

Remember: Not all references are equally good. For instance, you cannot use the web-site
of the Popular Front (political party on the far right wing of the political spectrum) in
France to say what “France's” general view is towards immigration, because the Popular
Front is not fully representative in France, is not in government, and is generally known
for having an extremist point of view. If your purpose is to show that right wing
politicians in France have a certain view on immigration issues, then a reference to
statements by the Popular Front could be a good idea. It is often simply a question of
thinking logically about the connection between the subject and sources.
You should also avoid quoting wikipedia and similar grass-root website-publications. If
you need to use an encyclopedia, you must choose a comprehensive and generally
respected publication to be sure it is reliable.

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Also...
Focus: While writing, think carefully about what details are important, and what details
are unimportant. Leave out the unimportant ones!

Do not ever hand in a text that has not been spell-checked. It normally just takes about
one minute to do so. A paper that has not been spell-checked leaves a bad impression,
and perhaps a lower grade.

Readability: make sure that your text is read-able. Perhaps you should ask someone else
to read through the next-but-final version and give you some feedback on the quality of
the text (i.e. you can easily use someone who is not a specialist on your particular paper
topic). This is especially a good idea for students with English as their second language.

Last minute computer breakdowns, erased disks, incompatible programs: are just too bad
for you - they are your own responsibility. So do not do the research at the very last
minute, and make sure that you save your files. Start writing early, and re-write if
necessary.

Other questions: ask your supervisor or other people around you - but remember that you
are responsible for the final product, and during the research process you have to
demonstrate that you can make the right choices for the research project.

Good luck.
Ann-Christina Knudsen and Kirsten Gomard

Literature
Booth, Wayne C, Colomb, Gregory B., Williams, Joseph M. (1995): The Craft of
Research. The University of Chicago Press. Chicago & London.

Rienecker, Lotte, Stray Jørgensen, Peter (2002): Den gode opgave. Samfundslitteratur.
Frederiksberg C.: 130-157.

Useful websites
In English:
Academic writing in English: http://kiepc10.cc.tut.fi/~english/kirjoittamo/awe/index.html
The Purdue Writing Lab: http://owl.english.purdue.edu/

In Danish:
Useful resources including the programme Scribo at the Studiemetro
www.studiemetro.au.dk