The document serves as a manual for writing academic papers, detailing the essential structure consisting of an introduction, main body, and conclusion. It emphasizes the importance of adhering to citation rules to avoid plagiarism and provides guidelines on quoting, paraphrasing, and summarizing sources. Tips for effective writing, including creating clear arguments and using a consistent citation format, are also included.

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Manual for Academic Writing
How to Successfully Write an Academic Paper
------------------
Structure, Use of Literature, Rules for Papers at the University of Hamburg
Update: August 2011

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3. 3
Table of Contents

4. 4
1. How to write an academic paper
1.1. Structuring a paper
An academic paper always consists of three main parts: an introduction, a main body and
a conclusion. The aim of the introduction is to give a short overview of what the paper is
about (introduction to the topic; research question and aim; overview of the different
parts or chapters). The main body contains the actual paper, in which the research
question is investigated. It may consist of different parts or chapters, but it should always
be possible to separate the main body from the introduction and the conclusion. The
conclusion then summarizes the main findings of the paper and possibly points to issues
for which extra research is needed.
1.1.1. Table of contents
A table of contents gives an overview of the different parts or chapters of a paper. It is
highly recommended to insert a table of contents because it makes the structure of your
paper clear. It is often possible to derive the main arguments of the paper from the table
of contents, which may be a useful guide for the readers of your paper.
This is an example of a table of contents for a paper on the role of the European
Commission in the European integration process:
Table of Contents: The European Commission as Network Broker1
1. Introduction 2
2. Previous analytical limits 3
3. The brokerage roles of the Commission: The conceptual framework 3
4. The Commission in the GMO policy network 7
5. The Commission in the employment strategy 15
6. Conclusion: The resilient network broker 18
7. List of abbreviations 20
1.1.2. Introduction
1
Borras, S. (2007), ‘The European Commission as Network Broker’, European Integration Online Papers,
11(1).

5. 5
An introduction is meant to get your reader interested in your subject and to provide him
with the information necessary to go on reading your paper. It usually consists of three
main elements: a context, the relevance of the topic and a thesis or research question2
.
1. Set the context (introduction of the topic and problem definition): provide general
information about the main idea, explaining the situation so the reader can make
sense of the topic and the claims you make and support.
2. State why the main idea is important (theoretical or empirical relevance of your
research): tell the reader why he should care and keep reading. Your goal is to
create a compelling, clear and convincing essay people will want to read and act
upon.
3. State your research question or thesis: compose a sentence or two stating the
question that your paper will try to answer. For argumentative texts you may state
a thesis, which is the position you will support.
Tips for writing an introduction3
:
 Announce your topic broadly, then declare your particular take.
 Provide any background material important to your argument.
 Define key terms, as you intend to make use of them in your argument.
 Use an anecdote or quotation.
 Acknowledge your opponents.
1.1.3. Main body
From general to specific information. Your paper should be organized in a manner that
moves from general to specific information. Every time you begin a new subject, think of
an inverted pyramid – the broadest range of information sits at the top, and as the
paragraph or paper progresses, the author becomes more and more focused on the
argument ending with specific, detailed evidence supporting a claim. Lastly, the author
2
For more information, see: The OWL at Purdue: http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/724/01/
3
Darthmouth Writing Program: http://www.dartmouth.edu/~writing/materials/student/ac_paper/write.shtml

6. 6
explains how and why the information he has just provided connects to and supports his
thesis4
.
Induction versus deduction5
- Induction is the type of reasoning that moves from specific facts to a general
conclusion. When you use induction in your paper, you will state your thesis (which
is actually the conclusion you have come to after looking at all the facts) and then
support your thesis with the facts.
- When you use deduction in an argument, you begin with general premises and move
to a specific conclusion. There is a precise pattern you must use when you reason
deductively, which is called “syllogistic reasoning”. A syllogism is organized in three
steps:
i. Major premise, e.g.: All men are mortal.
ii. Minor premise, e.g.: Socrates is a man.
iii. Conclusion, e.g.: Socrates is mortal.
4
OWL at Purdue: http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/724/02/
5
Ibid.

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Some useful guidelines6
:
 Define the concepts you are using
 Motivate your assertions
 Document your paper with sources and facts
 Make the relations between different assertions clear
 Eliminate contradictions
 Separate valuation from facts
1.1.4. Conclusion
Conclusions wrap up what you have been discussing in your paper. After moving from
general to specific information in the introduction and body paragraphs, your conclusion
should begin pulling back into more general information that restates the main points of
your argument. Conclusions may also call for action or provide an overview of future
possible research. Don’t try to bring in new points or to solve world hunger in the final
sentence of your conclusion. Simplicity is best for a clear, convincing message7
.
This does not mean that papers should be ended by simply summarizing what has come
before. A summary is important in the conclusion – particularly if your argument has
been complicated or has covered a lot of ground. But a good conclusion will do more.
Just as the introduction sought to place the paper in the larger, ongoing conversation
about the topic, so should the conclusion insist on returning the reader to that ongoing
conversation, but with the feeling that they have learned something more8
.
Strategies for improving your conclusion9
:
 Return to the ongoing conversation, emphasizing the importance of your own
contribution to it.
 Consider again the background information with which you began, and illustrate how
your argument has shed new light on that information.
6
Kreikemeyer, A.; Schneider, P. (2007), Wie schreibe ich erfolgreich eine Masterarbeit?, S. 4.
7
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/724/04/
8
Dartmouth Writing Program: http://www.dartmouth.edu/~writing/materials/student/ac_paper/write.shtml
9
Ibid.

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 Return to the key terms and point out how your paper has added some new dimension
to their meanings.
 Use an anecdote or quotation that summarizes or reflects your main idea.
 Acknowledge your opponents – if only to emphasize that you have beaten them.
 Remember: language is especially important to a conclusion. Your goal in your final
sentences is to leave your ideas resounding in your readers’ mind. Give them something
to think about. Make your language ring.
1.2. Use of literature
Not following formal requirements and rules of quotation can result in lowering grades
and/or, in extreme cases, the work will be graded as "failed".
1.2.1. Quoting, paraphrasing and summarizing
The three ways of incorporating other writers’ work into your own writing – quoting,
paraphrasing and summarizing – differ according to the closeness of your writing to the
source writing10
.
1. Quotations must be identical to the original, using a narrow segment of the
source. They must match the source document word for word and must be
attributed to the original author.
2. Paraphrasing involves putting a passage from source material into your own
words. A paraphrase must also be attributed to the original source. Paraphrased
material is usually shorter than the original passage, taking a somewhat broader
segment of the source and condensing it slightly.
3. Summarizing involves putting the main idea(s) into your own words, including
only the main point(s). Once again, it is necessary to attribute summarized ideas
to the original.
10
OWL at Purdue: http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/563/01/

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1.2.2. Citation rules
Whenever you quote or base your ideas on another person's work, you must document the
source you used. Even when you do not quote directly from another work, if reading that
source contributed to the ideas presented in your paper, you must give the authors proper
credit. By following the guidelines of this manual, you avoid plagiarism, which is a
serious violation of the university’s citation rules. Plagiarism can result in expulsion from
your course and the university.
There are two main systems of citing sources, the so-called “American System” and the
system of footnotes/endnotes. In the following, one example of each system will be
given. There are, however, differences even in both systems. Therefore, it does not really
matter which system you use, as long as you are consistent and use the same way of
citing throughout your entire text11
.
American system
- In the American system, citations are put in the text, between brackets: (Author, Year:
Page number(s)).
- For a literal citation, you need to indicate the page number(s); for a reference to the
general idea of a book or article (cf. summarizing) this is not always needed.
Examples
- A classic way of distinguishing between policy types is in terms of regulatory,
redistributive and distributive policies (Lowi, 1964).
- An early definition by Gary Marks (1993: 392) spoke of: “the emergence of multi-level
governance, a system of continuous negotiation among nested governments at several
territorial tiers – supranational, national, regional and local”.
11
For more information (and slightly different ways of citing within both systems), see Universität
Marburg: http://www.staff.uni-marburg.de/~kuesterm/Style%20Sheet.pdf and Capital Community College:
http://www.ccc.commnet.edu/mla/practical_guide.shtml#footnotes

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Footnotes (or endnotes)
In the footnote or endnote system, sources are referred to in footnotes (at the bottom of
each page) or endnotes (at the end of each chapter or the end of the entire text): Author
(Year), Title, Page number(s).
Example
Nugent, N. (2006), The Government and Politics of the European Union, p. 236.
Monographs
Citation in the text:
- One Author: Brooks (2008, p. 56).
- Two Authors: Solnik and McLeavey (2009, p. 22)
- From Three Authors: Campbell et al. (1997)
Citation in the footnote:
- One Author: Vgl. Brooks (2008), p. 56.
- Two Authors: Vgl. Solnik and McLeavey (2009), p. 22
- From Three Authors: Vgl. Campbell et al. (1997)
Citation in the bibliography:
- Brooks, C. (2008): Introductory econometrics for finance, 2. Aufl., Cambridge
University Press, Cambridge et al.
- Solnik, B. / McLeavey, D. (2009): Global investments, Pearson Education, Inc.,
Boston et al.
- Campbell, J.Y. / Lo, A.W. / MacKinlay, A.C. (1997): The econometrics of
financial markets, Princeton, University Press, Princeton, New Jersey.

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Contributions in compilations and edited volumes
Citation in the text:
- Koch (1989, S. 2068 f.)
- Rudolph (1994, S. 1339 ff.)
Citation in the footnote:
- Vgl. Koch (1989), S. 2068 f. [in English: See Koch (1989), p. 2068 f.]
- Vgl. Rudolph (1994), S. 1339 ff. [in English: See Rudolph (1994), p. 1339 ff.]
Citation examples in the bibliography:
- Koch, H. (1989): Techniken zur Handhabung von Unsicherheit, in:
Handwörterbuch der Planung, hrsg. von Szyperski, N., Stuttgart 1989, S. 2060-
2073.
- Rudolph, B. (1994): Ökonomische Theorie und Insiderrecht, in: Bilanzrecht und
Kapitalmarkt, Festschrift zum 65. Geburtstag von Adolf Moxter, hrsg. von
Ballwieser, W. et al., Düsseldorf 1994, S. 1335-1349.
Articles
Citation in the text:
- One Author: Sharpe (1964, p. 433)
- Two Authors: Modigliani und Miller (1958, p. 289 ff.)
- From Three Autors: Hansen et al. (1995, p. 240)
Citation in the footnote:
- One Author: See Sharpe (1964), p.433. [in German: Vgl.
Sharpe (1964).]
- Two Authors: See Modigliani und Miller (1958), p. 289 ff.
[in German: Vgl. Modigliani und Miller (1958), p. 289 ff.]

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- From Three Authors: See Hansen et al. (1995), p. 240. [in
German: Hansen et al. (1995), p. 240.]
Citation in the bibliography:
- Sharpe, W.F. (1964): Capital asset prices: A theory of market equilibrium under
conditions of risk, Journal of Finance, 19(3), p. 425-442.
- Modigliani, F. / Miller, M. (1958): The cost of capital, corporation finance and the
theory of investment, American Economic Review, 48(3), p. 261-297.
- Hansen, L.P. / Heaton, J. / Luttmer, E. (1995): Econometric evaluation of asset
pricing models, Review of Financial Studies, 8(2), p. 237-274.
Working Papers
Citation in the text:
- Kern und Rudolph (2001, p. 3)
Citation in the footnote:
- Vgl. Kern und Rudolph (2001), p.3. [in English: Kern und
Rudolph (2001), p.3.]
Citation in the bibliography:
- Kern, M. / Rudolph, B. (2001): Comparative analysis of alternative credit risk
models – An application on German middle market loan portfolios, CFS Working
Paper, Nr. 2001/03.
Sources without an author's name
- Newspaper articles
Citation in the footnote:
- o.V. (1994), Neuemissionen. [in English: n.n. (1994), Neuemissionen.]
Citation in the bibliography:

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- o.V. (year), title of article, in: title of paper, the number of paper, date, page.
o.V. (1994): Bei Neuemissionen müssen alle umdenken (Neuemissionen), in:
Börsen-Zeitung, N6. 209 from 29.10.1994, p. 5.
- [in English: n.n. (year), title of article, in: title of paper, the number of paper,
date, page.]
- Institution, organization or company as a publisher
Citation in the text:
- Deutsche Bundesbank (1994a, p. 123 ff.)
- Deutsche Bundesbank (1994b, p. 64 f.)
Citation in the footnote:
- Vgl. Deutsche Bundesbank (1994a), p.123 ff. [in English: See Deutsche
Bundesbank (1994a), p.123 ff.]
- Vgl. Deutsche Bundesbank (1994b), p.64 f. [in English: See Deutsche
Bundesbank (1994b), p.64 f.]
Citation in the bibliography:
- Deutsche Bundesbank (1994a): Geschäftsbericht der Deutschen Bundesbank
1993.
- Deutsche Bundesbank (1994b): Die Fünfte Novelle des Kreditwesengesetzes,
in: Monatsberichte der Deutschen Bundesbank, 46. Jg., Nr. 11, S. 59-67.
Laws, Regulations, Guidelines
Laws, regulations and official guidelines are listed in the bibliography after the other
sources under a separate heading.
Citation in the text or footnote:
- § 8 Abs. 1 Satz 1 GwG.
- § 5 GmbHG.
Citation in the bibliography:

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- Gesetz über das Aufspüren von Gewinnen aus schweren Straftaten
(Geldwäschegesetz - GwG) vom 25.10.1983.
- Gesetz betreffend die Gesellschaften mit beschränkter Haftung (GmbH-Gesetz)
vom 20.04.1892, Stand 28.10.1994.
Websites
In the bibliography:
Name of the institution (date): Title of the website, URL.
Citation in the bibliography:
- Deutsche Börse AG (07.01.2002): Deutsche Börse - Indizes,
http://www.exchange.de/fwb.indices_d.html.
Citation in the footnote:
- Deutsche Börse AG (07.01.2002), p. 3.
Sources without date, author, place of publication
German:
o.O. – ohne Ortsangabe (or s.l. – sine locum)
o.J. - ohne Jahresangabe (or s.a. – sine annum)
o.V. – ohne Verfasserangabe
English:
n.p. – no place (or s.l. – sine locum)
n.d. – no date (or s.a. – sine annum)
N.N. – nomen nescio (no name)

15. 15
2. Rules for papers at Uni Hamburg
2.1. General requirements
- Papers need to be written in Times New Roman, font size 12, line spacing 1.5.
- Left margin: 3 cm
- Right margin: 2 cm
- Top margin: 3 cm
- Bottom margin: 2,5 cm
- Use the formatting for the entire text. The title page contains the title of your paper,
your name, the program you are in, the date, the name of the course for which the
paper was submitted and the name of the lecturer.
2.2. Ausarbeitung eines Referats
- 5-7 pages
- Due on the last day of the lecture period
- To be handed in at the “Studienbüro”: two printed copies, a completed “Schein”
and a CD-Rom/DVD with the electronic version of your paper12
.
2.3. Hausarbeit
- 10-12 pages
- Due on the first day of the following semester
- To be handed in at the “Studienbüro”: two printed copies, a completed “Schein”
and a CD-Rom/DVD with the electronic version of your paper.
12
Except if agreed otherwise with the lecturer. Some lecturers ask to send write-up papers per e-mail and
do not expect extra printed copies or a CD-Rom/DVD.

16. 16
2.4. Große Hausarbeit
- 25-30 pages
- Due on the first day of the following semester
- To be handed in at the “Studienbüro”: two printed copies, a completed “Schein”
and a CD-Rom/DVD with the electronic version of your paper.
2.5. Projektgruppe
- 15 pages each
- Due on the first day of the following semester
- To be handed in at the “Studienbüro”: two printed copies, a completed “Schein”
and a CD-Rom/DVD with the electronic version of your paper.
The Structure of the Hausarbeit or Master Thesis:
- Title
- Table of Contents
- List of Annexes (if relevant)
- List of Tables (if relevant)
- List of Figures (if relevant)
- Abbreviations (if relevant)
- List of Symbols (if relevant)
- Text
- Annexes (if relevant)
- Bibliography
- Discussions’ List (if relevant)
- Web Site Directory (if relevant)
- Ehrenwörtliche Erklärung gemäß den Vorschriften des Prüfungsamtes –
for Master Thesis only.

17. 17
Useful references
Björk, L., Räisänen, C. (2008), Academic Writing. A University Writing Course, Lund:
Studentlitteratur.
Brookes, A., Grundy, P. (1990), Writing for Study Purposes. A Teacher’s Guide to
Developing Individual Writing Skills, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Franck, N., Stary, J. (2007), Die Technik des wissenschaftlichen Arbeitens: Eine
praktische Anleitung, Taschenbuch.
Greetham, B. (2001), How to Write Better Essays, Basingstoke: Palgrave.
Murray, R. (2006), How to Write a Thesis, 2nd
Edition, Berkshire: Open University Press.

18. 18
Examples for a title page
Kleine/Große Hausarbeit zum Thema:
TITEL DER HAUSARBEIT
Betreuer: Prof. Dr. Ingrid Größl
Professur für Volkswirtschaftslehre
Fachbereich Sozialökonomie
Universität Hamburg
Studiengang: Master of Arts International Business Administration/
Master of Arts European Studies
Kurs: New Institutional Economics
Eingereicht von: Marta Musterfrau
Musterstraße 10
10000 Musterort
Matrikel-Nummer:
Tel.:
Eingereicht am: Hamburg, den TT.MM.JJJJ

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MASTERARBEIT
zur Erlangung des Grades Master of Arts
International Business Administration/
European Studies
an der Universität Hamburg
TITEL DER MASTERARBEIT
Erstprüfer: Prof. Dr. Alexander Bassen
Professur für Betriebswirtschaftslehre,
insb. Kapitalmärkte und Unternehmensführung
Fachbereich Sozialökonomie
Universität Hamburg
Zweitprüfer:
Studiengang: Master of Arts International Business Administration/
Master of Arts European Studies
Eingereicht von: Marta Musterfrau
Musterstraße 10
10000 Musterort
Matrikel-Nummer:
Tel.:
Eingereicht am: Hamburg, den TT.MM.JJJJ
Spätester Termin für die Erstellung des Gutachtens durch den Erstprüfer:

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Ehrenwörtliche Erklärung
Ich versichere hiermit ehrenwörtlich, dass ich meine vorliegende Abschlussarbeit
selbstständig verfasst habe und keine anderen als die angegebenen Hilfsmittel
– insbesondere keine im Quellenverzeichnis nicht benannten Internet-Quellen –
benutzt habe.
Die Arbeit wurde vorher nicht in einem anderen Prüfungsverfahren eingereicht und
die eingereichte schriftliche Verfassung entspricht der auf dem elektronischen
Speichermedium.
Wörtlich oder dem Sinn nach aus anderen Werken entnommene Stellen sind unter
Angabe der Quellen kenntlich gemacht.
Ort, Datum
Unterschrift