INSTRUCTIONS ON HOW TO WRITE THE MACROECONOMICS

SEMINAR PAPER (bonus 10%)

1. General information

The paper is the result of individual student work which is supposed to produce an academic analysis of a
specific economic issue. You agree on a topic with the Teaching Assistant who grades the papers.

The paper is not obligatory and can bring you up to 10 bonus points for the final grade in Macroeconomics
1(UPES). The paper should be between 10 and 15 pages long and formatted according to the guidelines.

The paper must have an introduction with clearly specified topic, aim and goals, research approach,
hypotheses and a table of contents. The paper’s conclusion must not contain any tables, additional analyses or
additional key points. The conclusion has to logically follow the hypotheses laid out in the introduction.

2. Formatting guidelines

a) Margins and size

The paper is to be submitted in an A4 format:

− the inside margin should be 3 cm;
− all the other margins should be 2 cm;

b) Font size and color

The text should be written in Times New Roman 12 in black.

c) Spacing

You should use single line spacing.

d) Other content

The paper is to be submitted along with:

− an authorship statement
− table of contents, figures and appendix .

e) Page numbering

Place the page numbers at the bottom of the page.

f) Tables and images

You are not allowed to scan tables and images, but are supposed to recreate them yourself. All tables and
images should be placed in line with the text. They should normally be inserted after the referencing
paragraph, so as to retain the flow of thought. Tables should have titles and references.

g) Bibliography

A list of literature and sources is an integral part of every paper.

List all works used in writing the paper (printed or electronic), whether cited with quotation marks or
paraphrased.

The works which we have read but do not reference in the paper are not to be listed in the bibliography.
The bibliography follows the conclusion of the paper. You should number all works listed in the
bibliography.

Your references have to contain the following:

− surname and first name of the author
− year of publication
− title of the book or article
− publishing house
− journal title
− year and volume of the journal issue

h) Language and style

The paper should be written in the 1st person singular, or 1st person plural. You should decide on one and use
it consistently throughout the text.

Clarity, comprehensibility and succinctness are the basic guidelines. An unclear text is a sign of messy
thoughts.

i) Plagiarism

There is a thin line between citing and plagiarizing. Sometimes, students tend to use their resourcefulness for
incorporating other people’s works instead of writing their own. Plagiarism (copy-pasting, inadequate
paraphrasing) will not be tolerated. Copying a paragraph literally, even while citing the source, will not be
permitted since it is a breach of intellectual property rights. The study guidelines allow for academic sanctions
in such cases.

Thus, your text has to clearly separate your own words from those of another author. There are two options
in doing so:

1. We paraphrase- rewrite the idea in our own words. In doing so, we reference the author and year in
brackets.

Example: Eco (2003, p. 46) believes that students should choose their Bachelor Thesis counselor towards the
end of the second study year, since by then they should be rather familiar with most subjects.

2. If we copy excerpts from another author’s text literally, we use quotation marks. The sentences in our text
and the original text are identical in this case. Such excerpts should not constitute a large part of the paper so
that the paper ends up being a collage of different authors’ works.

Example: Eco (2003, p. 46) claims: “I believe it would be ideal if you choose a Bachelor Thesis topic and an
advisor towards the end of the second study year. By then you will be familiar with different subjects .”

Ljubljana, february 2019