RESEARCH PAPER TOPICS - GOOD IDEAS AND TIPS FOR STUDENTS

Writing assignments come in all sorts for students. There are book reports and reviews, essays (descriptive, narrative, argumentative, to name a few). As a college student, you'll inevitably come across various kinds of academic tasks. One of them is a research paper. But are you aware of how to write one?

In this article, you'll learn the basics of writing this sort of paper and find out its meaning, general ideas, and tips to make it "A"-worthy. But, as the title of this post suggests, our focus will be on giving you a wide selection of research paper topics that may prove immensely useful to you.

Starting from the definition, a research paper is a detailed piece of academic writing that explores a topic based on research work that has been previously done. This implies that the paper should be heavily research-oriented. Undoubtedly, it is a demanding academic assignment that requires careful planning, research, critical thinking, and writing skills.

Before you feel you're being overburdened by the numerous assignments you've been given, you should know what the purpose of writing a research paper is. The basic rationale for this kind of assignment is as follows.

• To improve the student's independent research, critical thinking, and writing skills.
• To develop their capacity to evaluate complex ideas and formulate their views and present the issues in as clear a manner as possible. This should consequently help the reader acquire a greater comprehension of the topic of the paper.

Tips for Research Paper Writing

When you're given the task of writing a research paper, there are important things you should bear in mind. We have listed them below as tips.

• Start working early on your paper.
• Seek clarifications for any requirements that are not clear to you.
• Layout a clear plan of how you'll undertake it from start to finish.
• Break down your work into parts and understand what you need in regard to time and resources.
• If given the freedom, always choose a topic you are familiar with or interested in.
• Start with a broad topic. Then, narrow it down and ensure there is enough material on the topic.
• After you choose an issue to explore, get approval from your professor to ensure it's acceptable.
• Pay close attention to the formatting and referencing style required for your paper.
• Use an outline to organize your main ideas and structure your writing from the introductory section to the conclusion.
• Organize your work into the necessary sections or parts.
• Use proper grammar, punctuation, spellings, and other widely accepted standards of writing.
• Make your writing as clear as possible. Especially focus on the abstract, introduction, and body of your paper.
• Read through your paper several times to proofread it and improve some parts that could be more appropriately written.

Structure Tips

Organizing your paper into section is a vital part of writing a research paper. The outline you create will be a tool to help you brainstorm and decide what content goes where and in what order. Here, we'll simply show you the necessary sections that would be expected in a research paper.

• Title/Cover Page.

  Being the first page of your work, the cover page is where you convey crucial pieces of information about the paper to the prospective readers. It should contain the title, the name of the author(s), the name of the course and academic department where the research was conducted, date of completion/submission. The specifics will not always be the same. Hence, you should check the specific requirements for your assignment or consult with your professor if unsure.

• Abstract.

  Serving to provide an overview of your paper, the abstract is, in essence, a summary. It is expected to be composed of no more than 250 words. An abstract should include information about the issue(s) or problem(s) addressed in the paper, the objective or purpose, the research method used, major results, and the implications of the findings.

• Introduction.

  This section allows you to supply background information about the topic, the limitation of your work, your motivation (why did you decide to do the research?). This will help the reader understand the basics or foundation upon which your study is conducted. Accordingly, a literature review is appropriate here. It allows you to explain key terms, provide historical context of the topic, and mention a number of other important research that has been done previously which have helped advance mankind's collective understanding of the topic.

• Body.

  As the main section or the core of your writing, the body is where you explain your work in detail. It should be composed of sections like the research method or design, the results, discussion of the results, and the conclusion. The discussion section allows you to explain what implications you think there are judging from your findings and highlight the limitations of your study. You should also mention possible ways it can be improved upon by other researchers.

• Conclusion.

  The conclusion allows you to give a final overview of your paper and give your closing views. It should help you close the curtains on the topic you've studied.

• References (Bibliography).

  This is where you should include the sources you used for developing your writing. They should be ordered and linked to all citations you made in your text. The references enable an interested reader to easily find the original sources you cited. Ensure you use the required citation and formatting style for your reference list.

• Acknowledgments. Use this section to recognize and thank the people and institutions who helped make your paper a reality.

A Selection of Topics by Field

Being the focus of this text, research paper topics from different disciplines are presented here. Ideally, they should help you quickly arrive at a specific issue you'd like to work on. Feel free to use any of the following themes!

History Topics

1. World at War. What factors contributed to the start of World War I?
2. Rome Has Fallen. What factors contributed to the fall of the Western Roman Empire?
3. To what extent did economic factors influence the French Revolution?
4. What were the effects of the American Civil War on transatlantic trade with Europe?
5. How did the British government influence the outcome of World War II?
6. What were the causes of the American Revolutionary War?
7. What roles did Social Media play in the Arab Spring which started in late 2010?
8. How did Nelson Mandela drive sociopolitical change in South Africa?
9. What factors contributed to the fall of Napoleon Bonaparte at Waterloo?
10. How did the fall of Gaddafi in 2011 change the Libyan economy?
11. Drugs and Crime: Analyze the history of drug trafficking in Mexico.

Topics on Politics or Political Science

1. Affordable Care Act, How has Obamacare affected the healthcare of middle-class Americans?
2. Should there be a decrease or lower limit on the number of refugees accepted into America from South America and other war-torn countries?
3. How has the fall of Muammar Gaddafi changed the Libyan political landscape?
4. 2016 US Presidential Election. Compare and contrast the public campaign and media strategies of Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton.
5. Should the US federal government investigate the murder of Jamal Khashoggi and impose sanctions on the Saudi government for its role in his murder?
6. Should the US government lift its sanctions on North Korea as a sign of improving the relationship between both countries and South Korea?
7. The Iran nuclear deal. To what extent can the reimposed US sanctions affect the Iranian economy given the European Union's support of Iran's 2016 denuclearization agreement?
8. The American Reds vs. Blues. Compare and contrast President Trump's foreign policy and President Obama's.
9. Has the Trump tax cuts positively affected the American middle-class in the past few years?
10. What impact has been the most widely felt in Germany from a large number of refugees accepted since 2015?

Topics on Education and Social Issues

1. School at home. What are the pros and cons of homeschooling?
2. Video gaming addiction. Could there be a better way to address the problem?
3. What impacts does college education have on compensation levels in the early career years?
4. Child labor. What workable solutions should be adopted?
5. Do students score higher on standardized tests and exams when they play sports?
6. Human and sex trafficking in Western countries.
7. Finding your significant other online. Is using the Internet to find love a good idea?
8. College dropouts and entrepreneurial success. Is the modern American society placing the wrong emphasis on this theme?
9. Is Social media destroying the way we interact in public?
10. What are the benefits connected with broader female education?

Topics on Physical Science and Our Natural Environment

1. 2016 Paris Agreement. What impact has the climate deal had on countries across the world in the past few years?
2. Endangered species. Which methods are most effective in combating animal poaching and why?
3. Natural disaster in Texas. An examination of the impact of Hurricane Harvey.
4. Counting the cost of Nature's undesirable side. An examination of the costs of Hurricane Katrina.
5. 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill. An examination of its cause, containment effort, and costs.
6. Tornado disaster response. What are the best methods to manage tornado strikes?
7. Shifting grounds. Can earthquakes be prevented? What are the effective ways of managing them?
8. In what ways did the Flint water crisis bring about change in government policy across the US on the issue?
9. Can electric vehicles be a major solution to the global warming problem in the next two or three decades?
10. Energy and cutting-edge technology. What is the most efficient renewable energy generation method available today?
11. Global food shortage. Analyze a number of workable solutions that may be implemented across the world to ensure food security

Business Topics

1. Commerce online. Is using the Internet to do business a good idea?
2. Entrepreneurial glory. Examining success indicators and how a person can become a successful entrepreneur.
3. Mixing business and family. Is it effective as a way of doing business in the long-term?
4. What proven methods can governments use in encouraging and developing entrepreneurship among youth?
5. What are some major benefits of globalization in today's international business environment?
6. What strategies have led to Chinese consumer technology companies dominating the global mobile devices market?
7. How can new businesses be established and expanded when access to capital is severely limited?
8. How do ethics play a role in the pharmaceutical industry from a business standpoint?
9. Analyze the place of Tesla Inc. in the US electric vehicle manufacturing market.
10. Can Tesla maintain its global dominance in the increasingly competitive electric vehicle market in North America, Europe, and China?
11. What notable traits have made Elon Musk a remarkably successful entrepreneur?
12. Analyze (compare and contrast) the market strategies of Apple and Google in the mobile OS industry.
13. Is Apple pricing strategy for its smartphone devices effective in helping it retain global smartphone market share?

Writing a research paper can be an intellectually rewarding endeavor. But it could also be a real challenge, especially when you consider the intensity of college academic life - tight deadlines, multiple assignments, and regular tests.

It becomes clear why many students seek some assistance. If you are looking for research paper writing help, don't hesitate to reach out to us. Our seasoned and highly skilled writers can write a research paper of great quality for you. We are confident that you'll be pleased with what we can do for you.