Academic essays in the social sciences follow the typical structure for this kind of document: an introduction, followed by the body of the paper that expounds the arguments with examples and/or numerical data, a conclusion, and a reference list.

High-level structures for social sciences essays include varied evaluative and analytical structures, such as:

• compare and contrast
• cause and effect
• problem and solution.

Organising principles within these structures include:

• a chronological or developmental structure (ordered by the time when the events occurred)
• a chain structure (making each point in order, and dealing with it in full before moving to the next point – for example, identifying a problem and a solution, then moving to the next problem and its solution, and so forth)
• a block structure (making points in 2 blocks – all of the problems, then all of the solutions; or all of the causes, then all of the effects).

See Journal articles for more information on developing such publications.