Before you can successfully write a research paper, you need to decide on a compelling and manageable topic. In this post, we discuss five tips for generating research paper topics.
1. Make a list of your interests
If you have the opportunity to choose your own topic, it’s a great idea to start with your personal interests. Make a list of your interests on one half of a sheet of paper. Then, on the other half, list the wider social, historical, or intellectual concepts that correspond to your interest.
For example, if you really like cats, you might think about connecting your interest in cats to broader societal issues like animal rights, the state of domestic animal shelters, or even the relationship between modern domestic cats and their larger ancestors.
2. Use Wikipedia
Although your instructor will likely discourage you from using Wikipedia as a source for your paper, it’s a great tool for generating topic ideas. Most Wikipedia entries include introductory paragraphs that contain valuable, alternative keywords and phrases for the subject. Once you’ve taken note of those, you can use them to conduct more systematic research.
Additionally, many Wikipedia articles include both reference lists of the sources that were cited in the article and further reading sections. Many of the sources that are cited in Wikipedia are peer-reviewed, which means that you can use them in your paper.
3. Do preliminary research
If you have a general idea of what you want to write about, you can conduct some preliminary research in order to formulate a more specific topic. Use your school library’s databases or Google scholar to search for peer-reviewed books or articles on your tentative topic.
The strongest topics are those that respond to gaps or puzzles within existing scholarly research. When you have a basic understanding of the current research, you can more easily narrow or broaden your topic idea.
Occasionally, preliminary research may prompt you to change your topic completely. You may find that your original idea is not feasible. This can save you a lot of time later on when you are actually drafting your paper.
4. Ask a librarian
Librarians can help you at any stage of the research process. You might consider scheduling a research consultation with a librarian to help with generating keywords and phrases or with narrowing down topic ideas.
Librarians can also help you conduct preliminary research. They know which databases or websites are best for finding credible sources. Additionally, librarians can assist with citing your sources when it’s time to create your citations and bibliography.
You can also use BibGuru’s citation generator to automatically create citations in whatever style your instructor requires.
5. Consult your class notes
If you’ve taken good notes during class, then you might want to return to them when it’s time to come up with topic ideas. Look back at places in the textbook that you highlighted or at any notes that you marked as interesting or perplexing.
If you’re thinking ahead and want to take notes that you can use later on, consider using a two-column approach. In one column, record your actual notes from class discussions, textbooks, or homework. In the second column, pull out quotes or ideas that seem particularly thought-provoking. These can easily become the seeds for research paper topic ideas.
Frequently Asked Questions about how to generate topic ideas for research papers
🌶 What is a research topic?
A research topic is the general subject of a research paper. Your overall topic determines the shape of your primary research question and thesis statement.
🏏 Where can I find a research topic?
You can generate research topics by doing preliminary research, consulting with a librarian, or evaluating your personal interests.
🛳 How do I choose a topic to write about?
If you are able to choose your own topic, you might consider making a list of your own interests and then translating those items into wider social issues. For example, if you really like cats, you might think about connecting your interest in cats to broader societal issues like animal rights.
🐸 What is the first step in choosing a topic?
The first step in choosing a topic is to establish whether your idea is feasible within the scope of the assignment. For instance, if you are writing an argumentative paper, you’ll need to be sure that your topic is actually arguable.
🔋 What are some good topics?
The strongest topics are those that respond to gaps or puzzles within existing scholarly research. When you have a basic understanding of the current research, you can more easily narrow or broaden your topic idea.
