Senior Thesis Style

The Department follows the style guidelines described in Joseph Gibaldi and Walter S. Achtert, MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers, Third Edition (New York: Modern Languge Asocation of American, 1988). Some issues to keep in mind:

Footnotes and endnotes should be avoided, except where you must make a long digression from the main line of your argument.

Tables should be given sequential numbers for easy reference. Each table should have a title that describes the substance of the data contained in it. Cite sources of the table at the bottom of each table.

Figures (including graphs) should be given sequential numbers for easy reference. Each Figure should have a caption that describes it in detail for the reader's convenience. Choose the appropriate type of graph for the data you have. For example, use pie charts to represent proportions, and line graphs to show time trends.

Bibliographical style. Here are some examples of correct usage:

Dobb, Maurice. 1973. Theories of value and distribution since Adam Smith. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Solow, Robert M. 1988. "Growth theory and after." American Economic Review 78.3 (June): 307-318.

Kohn, Meir and Sho-chieh Tsiang, ed. 1988. Finance constraints, expectations, and macroeconomics. Oxford: Clarendon.

Hicks, John. 1988. "Toward a more general theory." In Kohn and Tsiang, ed. 1988, 6-14.

In-line citation style. Here are some examples of correct usage:

As John Hicks has pointed out (1988, 6)....

"Why did Keynes think he could get by, considering no more than the flow account of the industrial sector, and no more that the stock account of the financial?" (Hicks 1988, 7)