Treating Research Writing: Symptoms and Maladies

This article is a response to a question many economists ask: how can I improve my first draft? The first section addresses a common approach to doing this: treating problems visible on the surface. This paper presents six such symptoms along with treatments for them. The second section addresses another approach, one that often turns out to be more effective: looking deeper for the underlying malady that causes several symptoms to show up on the surface and treating it. This paper presents five common maladies that matter for eventual outcomes, such as publishing and hiring.