How to Write about Economics and Public Policy

Katerina Petchko is Associate Professor at the National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies (GRIPS) where she directs the Center for Professional Communication and teaches courses in research methodology and academic writing. She is the developer of GRIPS’ Academic Writing Program, which teaches students to write in ways that members of their discipline find persuasive. She has advised graduate students in public policy and economics on dissertation and thesis writing for nearly two decades.

1. What is Academic Writing?2. Research in Public Policy and Economics3. Research Topics and Paper Options4. Identifying Literature to Review5. Reading and Analyzing Literature6. Research Questions, Hypotheses, and Purpose Statements 7. Research Proposals8. Structure of a Research Paper9. Justifying Research: The Introduction10. Theory and Theoretical Frameworks11. Situating a Study: The Literature Review12. Literature Review: Models and Examples13. Data and Methodology14. Results, Discussion, and Conclusion15. Data, Methodology, Results, and Discussion: Models and Examples16. Writing Skills

Appendix A: Citation GuidesAppendix B: Model PapersAppendix C: Sources of Data for Public Policy and Economics ResearchAppendix D: Journals in Economics and Public Policy