COVID-19 course topic paper writing guide
Choose a topic or theory from the course, find three original-reporting news articles from the last three to six months, then analyse the topic through two assigned course readings in a six-page paper with a thesis, a summary capped at 1.5 pages, one subsection per author, and a conclusion about global integration and interdependence.
Editorial process
Last reviewed · August 12, 2026
What is the page allocation telling you?
The structure is prescribed in unusual detail and each constraint is doing work, so treat the specification as the outline rather than as formatting advice. The summary is capped at 1.5 pages of six, which tells you the paper is not about describing what the pandemic did to your topic; that is the setup. The critical analysis section requires one subsection per author, which means the two readings are not decorative and cannot be blended into a general theory paragraph. And the conclusion must return to global integration and interdependence, which is the course's own frame — so choose a topic that actually has a cross-border dimension, since a purely domestic subject will leave that conclusion unsupportable. The examples the brief offers — a global regulatory institution, a commodity chain, emissions — all share that property, which is why they are there rather than as suggestions to be adopted.
The article requirement has three conditions that are separately checkable: original reporting rather than aggregation or opinion, publication within the last three to six months, and reputable sources of the kind the brief names. Original reporting is the one students miss; a column analysing someone else's reporting does not qualify, and neither does a summary piece. Read all three before choosing your topic if you can, because a topic with thin recent coverage will force the empirical section to lean on older material and the currency requirement is explicit. The three articles are your evidence base for what happened; they are not the argument, and a paper that reaches page four still summarising them has spent its allowance on the wrong section. If a source's status is unclear, the brief says to ask, which is cheaper than losing the empirical section to an ineligible article.
The analysis section is where the marks concentrate and its instructions are unusually precise: explain each author's argument concisely and accurately, show how it applies to your topic, and show how it deepens your understanding of causes and implications. That third clause is the one to build toward. A reading that merely confirms what the news articles already said has not deepened anything, so look for the concept that reframes the coverage — a mechanism the journalism describes without naming, a structural cause behind what is reported as an event, or an implication the reporting does not follow through. Write the two subsections to the same shape so the comparison between them is legible, and then let the conclusion say what the two readings together imply about interdependence that neither says alone. The citation format is specified down to the punctuation, so follow it exactly.
Likely learning objectives
Inferred from the brief — check these against your own rubric.
- 01Choose a topic with a genuine cross-border dimension, so the conclusion is supportable.
- 02Select three articles that are original reporting, current, and from reputable outlets.
- 03Keep the summary within its 1.5-page cap.
- 04Give each author a subsection rather than blending the two readings.
- 05Use each reading to reframe the reporting rather than to confirm it.
- 06Follow the specified in-line citation format exactly.
Read the full question
Review every instruction before using the planning guidance that follows.
Turn the brief into deliverables
- 01A six-page paper with a thesis statement in the introduction.
- 02A summary of the topic and the pandemic's impact, no more than 1.5 pages.
- 03Critical analysis with one subsection per course reading.
- 04A conclusion addressing global integration and interdependence.
- 05A bibliography listing all news sources and course readings.
What counts as deepening your understanding?
Topic and thesis
Present a course topic with a cross-border dimension and state an argument about its relationship to the pandemic.
The empirical picture
Summarise the topic and the pandemic's impact using the three articles, within the 1.5-page cap.
Author one, author two
In separate subsections, state each author's concept accurately, apply it to the topic, and show what it reveals that the reporting did not.
Conclusion
Draw the two readings together and say what your argument implies for global integration and interdependence.
Where is the pandemic evidence?
Recommended databases
- World Health Organization
- United Nations
- Reputable news outlets named in the brief
Search sequence
- 1.Test candidate topics against the interdependence conclusion before committing.
- 2.Find the three articles first and confirm each is original reporting within the window.
- 3.Re-read the two chosen course readings for the concept, not the conclusion.
- 4.Draft the analysis subsections before the summary, so the summary knows what it is setting up.
Reference shortlist
These are authoritative starting points, not a ready-made bibliography. A qualified reviewer must confirm that each source fits the assignment and supports the claim beside which it is cited.
Nothing here is cleared for citation until you have read it.
- 01
Coronavirus disease (COVID-19)
World Health Organization · 2024
The institutional and epidemiological record against which the news reporting in the empirical section can be checked.
- 02
COVID-19 Response | United Nations
United Nations · 2024
The multilateral response material, useful where the chosen topic is a global regulatory institution.
- 03
Business and Industry: Time Series / Trend Charts
U.S. Census Bureau · 2024
Dated economic series for topics involving commodity chains, trade or production, where the reporting needs a quantitative anchor.
Review before submission
Common mistakes
- Choosing a purely domestic topic, leaving the interdependence conclusion unsupported.
- Using opinion columns or aggregated pieces as original reporting.
- Letting the summary run past 1.5 pages and squeezing the analysis.
- Merging the two readings into one theory section.
- Applying a reading that only restates what the articles already reported.
- Using a different citation format from the one specified.
Submission checklist
- Thesis stated in the introduction, not implied.
- Three articles, all original reporting, all within three to six months.
- Summary section within 1.5 pages.
- One subsection per author, in the same shape.
- Each reading shown to deepen, not merely confirm, the account.
- Conclusion returns to global integration and interdependence.
- Six pages, formatted as specified, with in-line citations in the given form.
Use this guide to plan and review your own work. Follow your institution's rules and read our academic-integrity policy.

Written by
Aaron Bishop
MA, Education
assignment interpretation and research-methods coaching across disciplines
Aaron leads the EssayCrackers editorial desk. He works on how assignment briefs are read — what a rubric is actually asking for, and where students most often answer a different question than the one set.

Reviewed by
Dr. Nathan Cole
PhD, Rhetoric & Composition
Argumentation and thesis development
Nathan teaches first-year composition and directs a university writing center. He reviews EssayCrackers guides for argumentative soundness and citation accuracy.