Guidelines for Preparing a Seminar Paper or Thesis

Harald Grethe

Department of International Agricultural Trade and Development

Version of October 23, 20061

Seminar Paper Submitted for the Seminar [name of seminar] on [date]

Supervisor: [name]

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Helpful comments by Christine Chemnitz and Harald von Witzke on a draft version are gratefully
acknowledged.
List of Contents

1 Functions of a Seminar Paper ......................................................................................... 3

2 Things to Do Before Starting to Write a Seminar Paper.............................................. 3

3 Structure and Elements of a Seminar Paper ................................................................. 3

3.1 General Approach ...................................................................................................... 3
3.2 Introduction ................................................................................................................ 4
3.3 Body of the Research ................................................................................................. 4
3.4 Discussion of the Findings and Conclusions.............................................................. 5

4 Guidelines for the Layout and Style of the Seminar Paper.......................................... 5

4.1 Layout......................................................................................................................... 5
4.2 Style............................................................................................................................ 5

5 References ......................................................................................................................... 6
5.1 General Idea ............................................................................................................... 6
5.2 References in the Text................................................................................................ 7
5.3 Reference List ............................................................................................................ 8

6 Presentations..................................................................................................................... 8

7 Hints for Searching Literature........................................................................................ 9

8 References ....................................................................................................................... 10

List of Tables
Table 1: American and British English 6

List of Abbreviations
NGO Non Governmental Organisation

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1 Functions of a Seminar Paper

A seminar paper is the written analysis of a particular topic specified in the seminar. It has to

fulfil all requirements for a scientific article: the ideal seminar paper resembles a journal

article. Any research paper is a means of communication between the researcher and the

academic community. Sometimes it may also address other groups such as policy makers or

NGOs (Non Governmental Organisations). The fundamental goal of all research papers is to

contribute to the existing body of literature in their fields.

A seminar paper is also an excellent opportunity to exercise scientific writing before writing a

thesis. In order to get the maximum learning effect from this opportunity, we suggest that you

contact your supervisor at least three times during preparing your paper: first, in order to fix

the topic, second, if you have developed the structure of the envisaged paper and third, with

a(n almost) complete version before submitting it.

2 Things to Do Before Starting to Write a Seminar Paper

• Fix a specific topic in accordance with your supervisor.

• Get a first overview of the existing literature (literature review is one of the important
parts of your work for a seminar paper. Generally, this is in your own responsibility, but
you may get hints from your supervisor).

• Specify the structure in accordance with your supervisor.

3 Structure and Elements of a Seminar Paper

3.1 General Approach

Any seminar paper has to include an abstract, a list of contents (including page numbers), a

list of abbreviations, in case of many tables/figures a list of tables/figures and, at the end of

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the paper, a list of references. Furthermore, there are at least three basic elements in a seminar

paper: introduction, the body of the research, and discussion of the findings.

3.2 Introduction

The first section of the seminar paper is the introduction. The introductory section should

establish the importance of the topic, define a meaningful research gap, and explain how the

present paper attempts to fill the gap. The introduction should also explicitly outline the

contributions of the paper. An introduction ends with explaining the organization of the rest

of the paper. The key purpose of the introduction is to motivate the reader to read the rest of

the paper. Examples of good introductions can be found in good journal articles.

3.3 Body of the Research

In theory, the purpose of this part is simple. It describes how the research question was

answered. In practice, there are many ways to organize this part. For empirical papers, the

structuring is commonly quite straightforward. First, previous literature is reviewed in detail.

Second, hypotheses are developed building on the existing body of knowledge. Third, the

methodology used in the hypothesis testing is described. Fourth, the results from the tests of

the hypotheses are reported.

However, in seminar papers, the common approach is to write a literature review. Empirical

studies are also welcome but not required. For papers focusing on literature review, there are

many alternatives for structuring the body part. The topic and the selected approach largely

determine the optimal structure. Please refer to relevant analogous journal articles or other

research papers for identifying structures that could work in your case and agree upon a

structure with your supervisor.

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3.4 Discussion of the Findings and Conclusions

This section discusses the findings and their implications. The author should derive own

conclusions based on the body of the research and not only repeat conclusions found in other

papers. Also limitations and suggestions for future research can be discussed.

4 Guidelines for the Layout and Style of the Seminar Paper

4.1 Layout

The structure of the paper should consist of numbered headings. Text should be in 12 point

font (Times New Roman), double-spaced, with single-spaced footnotes (please use footnotes,

not end notes). Footnotes should be numbered consecutively and should appear on the same

page. Pages should be numbered.2 The minimum length for a seminar paper is 10 pages, the

maximum 20.

All tables and figures should be numbered consecutively and have a title. The sources need to

be given below the table/figure.

4.2 Style

A few notes on style:

• Always structure your work in advance.

• Know what you want to say before trying to write it.

• Each sentence must follow logically from the one before. A well written text is a "chain
of ideas".

2
These guidelines are written in a format suitable for a seminar paper.

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• While writing, keep your reader’s needs in mind. This means providing a "verbal map" of
your document so that your reader knows what to expect, and placing "verbal signposts"
in your text to explain what is coming next.

• At the end, proof-read your work carefully and check your spelling and grammar. Ask a
friend or relative to read your proposal.

• Don't use words when you are not absolutely certain of their meaning and don't use
difficult words to impress your reader. Avoid repetitions.

• Choose for British English or American English language – don't mix. Some examples of
differences between American English and British English are listed below (for more
consult dictionaries such as http://dict.leo.org/):

Table 1: American and British English

American English British English

favor, favorable favour, favourable

analyze, analysis analyse, analysis

organized organised
Source: Own compilation.

• A good reference for matters of format, layout and style is The University of Chicago
Press (2003).

5 References

5.1 General Idea

References are one of the most important parts of writing a scientific text. Anytime you take a

thought from another published source, this must be referenced with the author’s name and

the year of publication. Full details of the publication must be given at the end of the paper in

a reference list. Failure to properly referencing your text, and particularly copying text

directly from internet sources, other papers or books without referencing constitutes

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intellectual theft. Intellectual theft will have serious consequences which may include a non-

pass grade or, in serious cases and with exam theses, exmatriculation.

5.2 References in the Text

We suggest using the "author-date system" for referencing throughout the text. References

should be given as follows:

Meinheit (1995) shows that trade restrictions can be justified by economic theory as

internalizing….

Or:

A second rationale for domestic mandatory animal welfare standards is that the government

acts in order to implement reflective preferences of consumers, which may differ from their

market preferences (Mann, 2004).

If the reference has two authors, cite like (Brennan and Lomasky, 1984).

If the reference has more than two authors, cite as (Theuvsen et al., 2005).

If there are two or more references by the same author (or by an identical group of authors)

published in the same year they are distinguished by "a", "b", etc., added after the year:

(Commission of the European Communities, 2006a).

Literal citations must be in citation marks and the page number(s) of the source must be

added:

The WTO secretariat, in an analysis of the negotiating history, comes to the conclusion: "The

negotiating history suggests that many participants were of the view that standards based inter

alia on PPMs [Process or Product related Measures] unrelated to a product’s characteristics

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should not be considered eligible for being treated as being in conformity with the TBT

Agreement" (WTO, 1995a: 2).

Also cite page numbers when you paraphrase or summarize very specific arguments or

findings of authors, which may be difficult to find for the reader otherwise:

…in contrast to the hypothetical willingness to pay that is assessed in various contingent

valuation analyses (Theuvsen et al., 2005: 11-12).

5.3 Reference List

In the reference list at the end of the paper, all references cited in the text are to be listed in

alphabetic order. There are many options of format. If you consult the websites of scientific

journals you will find that most of them have their "house style". Most important features for

the reference list are

• completeness: give full details (author or authors, year of publication, title and publisher),
and

• consistency (use the same approach for all publications).

For an example see the reference list at the end of this paper.

6 Presentations

Some hints for your presentations3:

• The maximum time for your seminar paper presentation is 20 minutes in order to have
enough time for discussion. Check whether you get along with your presentation within
20 minutes before!

3
Part of this section is based on Lengauer (2004).

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• Give an outline of your presentation in the beginning.

• It is supporting for the audience if you bring a printout of your presentation (if prepared
in Power Point, you can print 6 pages on one A4 sheet).

• Select a sufficiently large font (not below 26 pt for Times New Roman).

• A matter of taste, but please: choose colours and animation judiciously and consistently.
Nothing is as unnerving as a slide that looks like a box of M&Ms or a presentation which
is animated as a video clip…. So, employ animations in a goal-oriented and limited
fashion.

• Only write on the slide what you will actually refer to in the talk, and keep the slides
isomorphic with your oral presentation. Otherwise, while you are speaking, the audience
will be distracted by reading the diverging content on your slides.

• Putting complex slides up only for a few seconds and not referring to their content or
mention their essential point is a bad habit that is widespread. So the rule is: If you do not
talk about it, do not put it on the slide.

• Sometimes you cannot avoid using slides that are complex and of which you only address
excerpts. In this case you should let the audience know that you do not expect them to
understand the whole slide. Otherwise they will try to do so, be distracted and possibly
miss important material. By the same token, if you include forward references in the talk,
i.e., if you mention points that you explain in more detail later (or never), then you
explicitly have to say so. Otherwise the audience will ponder what they should
understand and what comes later or never, and again they will be distracted.

7 Hints for Searching Literature

There is a great website on this topic – we don't have to add much more here: http://www.uni-

goettingen.de/en/sh/29498.html.

The two key methods for searching literature are:

• Find the most relevant and important pieces of research on the topic area and track the
references used in them.

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• Conduct literature searches in databases (and Google…) using identified key terms.

If scanning a lot of literature, it is difficult to keep in mind what the one was about which one

read two weeks ago. Therefore, it is often useful to take notes on previously read papers and

summarizing the most important content, for example by creating summary tables.

8 References

Brennan, G. and L. Lomasky (1984), Institutional Aspects of 'Merit Goods' Analysis.

Finanzarchiv N.F. 41: 183-206.

Commission of the European Communities (2006a), Commission Working Document on a

Community Plan on the Protection and Welfare of Animals 2006-2010, Strategic Basis for
the Proposed Actions. COM(2006) 14 final, 23.01.2006.

Commission of the European Communities (2006b), Agriculture in the European Union -

Statistical and Economic Information 2005. http://europa.eu.int/comm/agriculture/agrista/2005/
table_en/index.htm, accessed at 20.03.2006.

Lengauer, T. (2004), Guidelines for the Preparation of Scientific Presentations. www.mpi-

sb.mpg.de/departments/d3/teaching/guidelines/GuidelinesTalks.doc, accessed at 15.10.2006.

Mann, S. (2004), Wer sollte für den Tierschutz bezahlen? In: Dabbert, S., Großkopf, W.,
Heidhues, F., and J. Zeddies (eds.), Perspektiven in der Landnutzung – Regionen,
Landschaften, Betriebe – Entscheidungsträger und Instrumente. Schriften der GEWISOLA
e.V. 39.

Meinheit, E. (1995), Handelspolitik als Umweltpolitik im Agrarbereich? Kiel,

Wissenschaftsverlag Vauk,.

Theuvsen, L., Essmann, S. and H. Brand-Sassen (2005), Livestock Husbandry between Ethics
and Economics: Finding a Feasible Way Out by Target Costing? In: XIth Congress,
European Association of Agricultural Economists, "The Future of Rural Europe in the
Global Agri-Food System", Copenhagen, 24-27 August 2005 (CD).

The University of Chicago Press (ed.) (2003), The Chicago Manual of Style. Chicago, The
University of Chicago Press.

WTO (1995a), Negotiating History of the Coverage of the Agreement on Technical Barriers
to Trade with Regard to Labelling Requirements, Voluntary Standards, and Processes and
Production Methods Unrelated to Product Characteristics. Note by the Secretariat. Doc.
No. WT/CTE/W/10/G/TBT/W/11, 29 August.

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