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In the realm of academia, selecting the right research essay topics is the foundation of a successful research project. These topics encompass a broad spectrum of contemporary issues, offering ample opportunities for in-depth analysis and exploration. Choose a subject that resonates with your interests and aligns with your academic goals, and you'll be on your way to crafting a compelling research essay that contributes valuable insights to your chosen field of study.

For instance, when exploring research essay topics, consider seeking out research topic essay examples related to your chosen subject. Examining well-crafted research essays can provide valuable insights into effective research methodologies, structure, and writing styles, helping you refine your own research and writing skills. These examples serve as guides and sources of inspiration as you embark on your academic exploration and contribute to the body of knowledge in your field.

To further assist your research journey, consider seeking out research essay examples related to your chosen topic. Examining well-crafted research essays can provide valuable insights into effective research methodologies, structure, and writing styles, helping you refine your own research and writing skills. These examples serve as guides and sources of inspiration as you embark on your academic exploration and contribute to the body of knowledge in your field.

Research Topics to Write About

When choosing research essay topics, it is important to consider your own interests and expertise. You should also make sure that there is enough information available on the topic to support your research. Here are some research topics that you may want to write about:

History and Society

• The rise and fall of empires
• The causes of revolutions
• The impact of colonialism on indigenous peoples
• The role of women in history
• The history of civil rights movements

More myriad of interesting US history topics on the blog

Literature and Art

• The influence of technology on art
• The role of the artist in society
• The relationship between art and politics
• The evolution of different literary genres
• The interpretation of famous works of art

Biology Research Topics

• The impact of climate change on biodiversity
• Genetic engineering in agriculture
• Neuroplasticity and learning
• Microbial ecology of the human gut
• Evolutionary origins of human behavior

For more biology research topics , check out our blog where you'll discover even more intriguing ideas and research directions in this fascinating science!

Business and Economics

• The impact of globalization on the world economy
• The challenges of income inequality
• The future of the workplace
• The ethics of business
• The role of government in the economy

Psychology and Education

• The nature of intelligence
• The causes of mental illness
• The effectiveness of different teaching methods
• The role of technology in education
• The importance of early childhood education

Choosing a Research Essay Topics

Choosing a research topic should combine personal interest with feasibility and potential contribution. Align your curiosity with your field of study, narrowing down to a specific, manageable question. Ensure sufficient credible sources exist for your research, and consider if you can realistically complete it within constraints. Evaluate your topic's originality and importance. Consult advisors for guidance, and be open to adapting your focus as needed. Remember, finding the right topic is an iterative process, so explore and refine as you go.

The craft of writing a compelling research essay is both an art and science. Such essays are foundational to academia and the broader professional landscape. By examining solid research essay examples , writers can gain insights into structuring their own work more effectively.

Research essays play a pivotal role in academic and professional circles. Their structure, backed by clarity and robust evidence, holds the power to influence, inform, and educate readers. With a well-written research essay example in hand, students and professionals alike can better understand their role and significance.

What is a Research Essay Example

A research essay is a type of academic writing that involves an in-depth investigation into a specific topic or question. It requires the writer to gather and analyze relevant information, present arguments, and draw conclusions based on their research findings. Here’s an example of a research essay in PDF :

This research essay sample provides an example of how to structure and discuss a topic while incorporating research findings and analysis. Remember that the specific format and requirements for research essays may vary depending on the academic institution or guidelines provided by your instructor.

What Makes a Good Research Essay

1️⃣ Structure of a Research Essay

A standard research essay comprises three main segments:

• Introduction : Presents the topic and posits a thesis
• Body : Delves into arguments, evidence, and analysis
• Conclusion : Wraps up the discussion and revisits the thesis

Let’s proceed with the structure guidelines for a research essay, which should encompass the following sections:

This research essay structure is designed to guide your writing process and ensure that your arguments are presented logically and persuasively while maintaining objectivity and integrity in your research.

2️⃣ Importance of Citing Sources

Citing your sources isn’t merely a formality; it lends credibility to your arguments and respects the original authors’ contributions. Through accurate citations, a research essay example can also avoid plagiarism and uphold academic integrity.

10 Expert Tips to Craft the Perfect Research Essay Example

Research essays require finding, evaluating, and integrating source material to support an analytical thesis. This process demands care and effort. Use these tips to write top-quality research essays.

• Start with a Clear Thesis Statement. Your thesis acts as the guiding star of your essay. For instance, a compelling research essay example would kick off with a concise and debatable thesis, immediately grabbing the reader’s attention.
• Use Reliable Sources. Quality over quantity always holds. Ensure your sources are credible. Perusing research paper examples can offer insights into sourcing reputable references.
• Organize Ideas with an Outline . Outlining can serve as a roadmap, guiding you through your essay’s journey. Many sample research essay structures emphasize the importance of a coherent flow of ideas.
• Draft with Clarity and Precision . Your words should clearly convey your message. Keeping examples of research essays as benchmarks can ensure your content is both clear and impactful.
• Incorporate Multiple Points of View. A comprehensive essay considers various perspectives. This not only strengthens your argument but also makes for a more rounded research essay example.
• Use Transition Words for Flow. Transition words act as the glue between your ideas. For instance, a research paper example might employ words like ‘however,’ ‘moreover,’ and ‘consequently’ to ensure smooth navigation.
• Ensure Proper Formatting . Consistency in formatting – be it APA, MLA, or Chicago – is essential. A polished research essay example adheres strictly to formatting rules, enhancing readability.
• Edit and Revise Multiple Times. Perfection comes with revision. Always iterate and refine your draft.
• Seek Peer Reviews . Fresh eyes can spot overlooked errors or provide new perspectives. Feedback can also enhance the quality of your research paper example.
• Reference Research Paper Examples . By studying multiple research paper examples and examples of research essays, you can understand common structures, styles, and tones in the field.

Over-generalization, neglecting counterarguments, or providing superficial evidence are common pitfalls in research essays. Always consult diverse research paper examples to understand and sidestep these mistakes.

Research Essay Writing Checklist

By following this checklist, you can better prepare yourself to critically evaluate research essay examples in a way that is aligned with your research goals and standards.

Be sure to review your grading rubric carefully, and consider studying at least one freely available research essay example. This will aid you in comparing the given guidelines with your specific task as you embark on the writing process.

Using these research and writing strategies will boost essay quality. Crafting a well-structured research essay is pivotal for academic and professional success. By harnessing the power of sample research essay resources and various research paper examples, anyone can elevate their writing and convey their arguments compellingly.

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How do you write a research essay?

Just like any research paper that a college student encounters, you must follow the classic pattern of “Introduction - Thesis - 3 Body Paragraphs - Conclusion”. Some cases may differ, depending on what you have been asked to do, yet a research paper is the one where you must synthesize available information and make a strong argument regarding the main topic or subject of your research. Check our research paper example to see how the sources and evidence are incorporated and mixed with the author’s opinion. Remember about formatting and style requirements in terms of indents and the spaces.

What is a research essay?

Unlike reflective or comparative writing, the research essay will always contain a strict academic structure. An example of a research paper usually represents writing with a thesis statement that makes a proposal, assumption, or uses a strong argument about some scientific idea. It is usually not written in the first person since an author must combine various resources, include quotations, and implement evidence to support certain ideas. The presence of focus on the ideas and the analysis of information is what makes it stand apart from the author-based essay writing.

What is an example of research?

In short, research always implements a certain methodology. While there is no universal formula that would explain what does the research mean in writing, it is sufficient to say that research must contain a topic, strong thesis statement (or an argument), a list of reliable sources, a counter-argument paragraph (if relevant) and the conclusion where information is summed up and stated in a clearer or simpler way. Check our college research paper example to examine the structure in practice and see the key differences when compared to the usual college essay papers.

How do I choose a research topic?

Select a topic that interests you and is relevant to your field of study. Ensure it's specific enough to be manageable but broad enough to find sufficient research material.

What's the structure of a research essay?

Typically, it includes an introduction, literature review, methodology, results, discussion, and conclusion. However, structure may vary depending on the assignment or guidelines.

What's the purpose of the introduction?

The introduction introduces your topic, provides context, and states your research question or thesis. It should engage readers and set the stage for your essay.

The most popular topics for Research Essay

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Writing Center

Research papers, develop a research question and thesis, do the research.

• Establishes your credibility as a researcher/scholar by showing you’re familiar with debates and current opinions
• Helps your readers come to trust your judgment by allowing them to find and read your sources for themselves
• Guides others who may want to learn about the same topic
• Acknowledges the ideas and words of others.

Information you must record

• Titles (of both articles and the journals they appear, as well as books)
• Pages for articles (all the pages of the article, including the one you are citing if it’s a particular page)
• Date of publication
• For books, a place of publication and publisher
• Direct quotes, word for word with no typos. Note the page numbers carefully. If the page changes in the middle of a quote, make a note of that. If the quote contains a typo, copy it exactly and make a note. (Often the Latin word [ sic ] in square brackets is used to indicate that an error appears in the original source.) If you omit any words when you copy, indicate that with an ellipsis (three dots . . . ).
• Paraphrases. In your own words, restate what the source says. Note the page numbers carefully. Be as original as possible in writing your paraphrase, but without changing the meaning. Don’t use the same word order as the original. And don’t simply replace a few words with synonyms: that can constitute plagiarism. Instead, read the original carefully twice and then set it aside and write what you remember. Then re-check the original to be sure you were accurate.
• Summaries. What is the gist of the source, not referring to any particular page or section? Again, be sure to use your own words.

Methods of organizing research notes

• End Notes and RefWorks. These are electronic ways to organize notes supported by University Libraries. From the University Libraries homepage, go to “Citing Your Sources” under the “Class Resources” heading.
• Index cards . For every source, record the full citation for the Works Cited or Reference page (author name, titles, dates, page numbers, etc.) on one card, and label it with a letter. When you take notes from that source, put the letter of the source at the top of the card. Use a new card for every note.
• Word files . For every source, create a Word file and record the full citation for the Works Cited or Reference pages (author name, titles, dates, page numbers, etc.) at the top. Name it with a short reminder of the source, such as the first author’s name. When you take notes, use the file for that source.
• Photocopies . Photocopy the title pages and all publication information you will need as well as any pages you will cite.
• Matrices . Create a matrix, where you can record both the source information and relevant citation (direct, paraphrase, or summary). Matrices are useful if you already have a basic thesis and a few main points in mind. Label the columns across the top with a letter or number you’ve used to identify your work. Use the columns to record your notes. Use quotation marks to show if you quoted directly.

Read the Research Critically

• What is the main idea or thesis? How is the main idea supported and developed?
• What content is new to you? What concepts does the text introduce? (e.g., new vocabulary, a new theory, a new perspective on an established concept)
• What questions, issues, or problems does this text address? Does it create or bring up additional questions?
• How is the text organized? (e.g., categorically, chronologically, compare/contrast, scientific method)
• What type of writing is the text? (e.g., narrative, research study, critical analysis, review)

Critical Reading Tips

• Read the text several times if needed.
• Highlight key phrases, sentences, or words, but don’t highlight too much. Otherwise, nothing will stick out from the text.
• Look for words or headings that signal organization or that might lead to main points.
• Mark unfamiliar terms and difficult sections to reread, look up, or discuss with your professor.
• Take notes or outline the text’s organization and content. Review what you write.
• Annotate and comment, or respond to the text in writing. Writing allows you to think deeply about the content and make connections with the ideas in the text.
• Read complicated sections out loud. Slowing down and using two senses (hearing and seeing) helps you understand and retain the information more effectively. It also helps you pay attention instead of letting your eyes superficially sweep over the words.
• Allow plenty of time to read; skimming isn’t the best method for reading critically.

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113 Great Research Paper Topics

General Education

One of the hardest parts of writing a research paper can be just finding a good topic to write about. Fortunately we've done the hard work for you and have compiled a list of 113 interesting research paper topics. They've been organized into ten categories and cover a wide range of subjects so you can easily find the best topic for you.

In addition to the list of good research topics, we've included advice on what makes a good research paper topic and how you can use your topic to start writing a great paper.

What Makes a Good Research Paper Topic?

Not all research paper topics are created equal, and you want to make sure you choose a great topic before you start writing. Below are the three most important factors to consider to make sure you choose the best research paper topics.

#1: It's Something You're Interested In

A paper is always easier to write if you're interested in the topic, and you'll be more motivated to do in-depth research and write a paper that really covers the entire subject. Even if a certain research paper topic is getting a lot of buzz right now or other people seem interested in writing about it, don't feel tempted to make it your topic unless you genuinely have some sort of interest in it as well.

#2: There's Enough Information to Write a Paper

Even if you come up with the absolute best research paper topic and you're so excited to write about it, you won't be able to produce a good paper if there isn't enough research about the topic. This can happen for very specific or specialized topics, as well as topics that are too new to have enough research done on them at the moment. Easy research paper topics will always be topics with enough information to write a full-length paper.

Trying to write a research paper on a topic that doesn't have much research on it is incredibly hard, so before you decide on a topic, do a bit of preliminary searching and make sure you'll have all the information you need to write your paper.

#3: It Fits Your Teacher's Guidelines

Don't get so carried away looking at lists of research paper topics that you forget any requirements or restrictions your teacher may have put on research topic ideas. If you're writing a research paper on a health-related topic, deciding to write about the impact of rap on the music scene probably won't be allowed, but there may be some sort of leeway. For example, if you're really interested in current events but your teacher wants you to write a research paper on a history topic, you may be able to choose a topic that fits both categories, like exploring the relationship between the US and North Korea. No matter what, always get your research paper topic approved by your teacher first before you begin writing.

113 Good Research Paper Topics

Below are 113 good research topics to help you get you started on your paper. We've organized them into ten categories to make it easier to find the type of research paper topics you're looking for.

Arts/Culture

• Discuss the main differences in art from the Italian Renaissance and the Northern Renaissance .
• Analyze the impact a famous artist had on the world.
• How is sexism portrayed in different types of media (music, film, video games, etc.)? Has the amount/type of sexism changed over the years?
• How has the music of slaves brought over from Africa shaped modern American music?
• How has rap music evolved in the past decade?
• How has the portrayal of minorities in the media changed?

Current Events

• What have been the impacts of China's one child policy?
• How have the goals of feminists changed over the decades?
• How has the Trump presidency changed international relations?
• Analyze the history of the relationship between the United States and North Korea.
• What factors contributed to the current decline in the rate of unemployment?
• What have been the impacts of states which have increased their minimum wage?
• How do US immigration laws compare to immigration laws of other countries?
• How have the US's immigration laws changed in the past few years/decades?
• How has the Black Lives Matter movement affected discussions and view about racism in the US?
• What impact has the Affordable Care Act had on healthcare in the US?
• What factors contributed to the UK deciding to leave the EU (Brexit)?
• What factors contributed to China becoming an economic power?
• Discuss the history of Bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies  (some of which tokenize the S&P 500 Index on the blockchain) .
• Do students in schools that eliminate grades do better in college and their careers?
• Do students from wealthier backgrounds score higher on standardized tests?
• Do students who receive free meals at school get higher grades compared to when they weren't receiving a free meal?
• Do students who attend charter schools score higher on standardized tests than students in public schools?
• Do students learn better in same-sex classrooms?
• How does giving each student access to an iPad or laptop affect their studies?
• What are the benefits and drawbacks of the Montessori Method ?
• Do children who attend preschool do better in school later on?
• What was the impact of the No Child Left Behind act?
• How does the US education system compare to education systems in other countries?
• What impact does mandatory physical education classes have on students' health?
• Which methods are most effective at reducing bullying in schools?
• Do homeschoolers who attend college do as well as students who attended traditional schools?
• Does offering tenure increase or decrease quality of teaching?
• How does college debt affect future life choices of students?
• Should graduate students be able to form unions?

• What are different ways to lower gun-related deaths in the US?
• How and why have divorce rates changed over time?
• Is affirmative action still necessary in education and/or the workplace?
• Should physician-assisted suicide be legal?
• How has stem cell research impacted the medical field?
• How can human trafficking be reduced in the United States/world?
• Should people be able to donate organs in exchange for money?
• Which types of juvenile punishment have proven most effective at preventing future crimes?
• Has the increase in US airport security made passengers safer?
• Analyze the immigration policies of certain countries and how they are similar and different from one another.
• Several states have legalized recreational marijuana. What positive and negative impacts have they experienced as a result?
• Do tariffs increase the number of domestic jobs?
• Which prison reforms have proven most effective?
• Should governments be able to censor certain information on the internet?
• Which methods/programs have been most effective at reducing teen pregnancy?
• What are the benefits and drawbacks of the Keto diet?
• How effective are different exercise regimes for losing weight and maintaining weight loss?
• How do the healthcare plans of various countries differ from each other?
• What are the most effective ways to treat depression ?
• What are the pros and cons of genetically modified foods?
• Which methods are most effective for improving memory?
• What can be done to lower healthcare costs in the US?
• What factors contributed to the current opioid crisis?
• Analyze the history and impact of the HIV/AIDS epidemic .
• Are low-carbohydrate or low-fat diets more effective for weight loss?
• How much exercise should the average adult be getting each week?
• Which methods are most effective to get parents to vaccinate their children?
• What are the pros and cons of clean needle programs?
• How does stress affect the body?
• Discuss the history of the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians.
• What were the causes and effects of the Salem Witch Trials?
• Who was responsible for the Iran-Contra situation?
• How has New Orleans and the government's response to natural disasters changed since Hurricane Katrina?
• What events led to the fall of the Roman Empire?
• What were the impacts of British rule in India ?
• Was the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki necessary?
• What were the successes and failures of the women's suffrage movement in the United States?
• What were the causes of the Civil War?
• How did Abraham Lincoln's assassination impact the country and reconstruction after the Civil War?
• Which factors contributed to the colonies winning the American Revolution?
• What caused Hitler's rise to power?
• Discuss how a specific invention impacted history.
• What led to Cleopatra's fall as ruler of Egypt?
• How has Japan changed and evolved over the centuries?
• What were the causes of the Rwandan genocide ?

• Why did Martin Luther decide to split with the Catholic Church?
• Analyze the history and impact of a well-known cult (Jonestown, Manson family, etc.)
• How did the sexual abuse scandal impact how people view the Catholic Church?
• How has the Catholic church's power changed over the past decades/centuries?
• What are the causes behind the rise in atheism/ agnosticism in the United States?
• What were the influences in Siddhartha's life resulted in him becoming the Buddha?
• How has media portrayal of Islam/Muslims changed since September 11th?

Science/Environment

• How has the earth's climate changed in the past few decades?
• How has the use and elimination of DDT affected bird populations in the US?
• Analyze how the number and severity of natural disasters have increased in the past few decades.
• Analyze deforestation rates in a certain area or globally over a period of time.
• How have past oil spills changed regulations and cleanup methods?
• How has the Flint water crisis changed water regulation safety?
• What are the pros and cons of fracking?
• What impact has the Paris Climate Agreement had so far?
• What have NASA's biggest successes and failures been?
• How can we improve access to clean water around the world?
• Does ecotourism actually have a positive impact on the environment?
• Should the US rely on nuclear energy more?
• What can be done to save amphibian species currently at risk of extinction?
• What impact has climate change had on coral reefs?
• How are black holes created?
• Are teens who spend more time on social media more likely to suffer anxiety and/or depression?
• How will the loss of net neutrality affect internet users?
• Analyze the history and progress of self-driving vehicles.
• How has the use of drones changed surveillance and warfare methods?
• Has social media made people more or less connected?
• What progress has currently been made with artificial intelligence ?
• Do smartphones increase or decrease workplace productivity?
• What are the most effective ways to use technology in the classroom?
• How is Google search affecting our intelligence?
• When is the best age for a child to begin owning a smartphone?
• Has frequent texting reduced teen literacy rates?

How to Write a Great Research Paper

Even great research paper topics won't give you a great research paper if you don't hone your topic before and during the writing process. Follow these three tips to turn good research paper topics into great papers.

#1: Figure Out Your Thesis Early

Before you start writing a single word of your paper, you first need to know what your thesis will be. Your thesis is a statement that explains what you intend to prove/show in your paper. Every sentence in your research paper will relate back to your thesis, so you don't want to start writing without it!

As some examples, if you're writing a research paper on if students learn better in same-sex classrooms, your thesis might be "Research has shown that elementary-age students in same-sex classrooms score higher on standardized tests and report feeling more comfortable in the classroom."

If you're writing a paper on the causes of the Civil War, your thesis might be "While the dispute between the North and South over slavery is the most well-known cause of the Civil War, other key causes include differences in the economies of the North and South, states' rights, and territorial expansion."

#2: Back Every Statement Up With Research

Remember, this is a research paper you're writing, so you'll need to use lots of research to make your points. Every statement you give must be backed up with research, properly cited the way your teacher requested. You're allowed to include opinions of your own, but they must also be supported by the research you give.

#3: Do Your Research Before You Begin Writing

You don't want to start writing your research paper and then learn that there isn't enough research to back up the points you're making, or, even worse, that the research contradicts the points you're trying to make!

Get most of your research on your good research topics done before you begin writing. Then use the research you've collected to create a rough outline of what your paper will cover and the key points you're going to make. This will help keep your paper clear and organized, and it'll ensure you have enough research to produce a strong paper.

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4 Research Essay

Jeffrey Kessler

By the end of this chapter, you will be able to do the following:

• Construct a thesis based upon your research
• Use critical reading strategies to analyze your research
• Defend a position in relation to the range of ideas surrounding a topic
• Organize your research essay in order to logically support your thesis

I. Introduction

The goal of this book has been to help demystify research and inquiry through a series of genres that are part of the research process. Each of these writing projects—the annotated bibliography, proposal, literature review, and research essay—builds on each other. Research is an ongoing and evolving process, and each of these projects help you build towards the next.

In your annotated bibliography, you started your inquiry into a topic, reading widely to define the breadth of your inquiry. You recorded this by summarizing and/or evaluating  the first sources you examined. In your proposal, you organized a plan and developed pointed questions to pursue and ideas to research. This provided a good sense of where you might continue to explore. In your literature review, you developed a sense of the larger conversations around your topic and assessed the state of existing research. During each of these writing projects, your knowledge of your topic grew, and you became much more informed about its key issues.

You’ve established a topic and assembled sources in conversation with one another. It’s now time to contribute to that conversation with your own voice. With so much of your research complete, you can now turn your focus to crafting a strong research essay with a clear thesis. Having the extensive knowledge that you have developed across the first three writing projects will allow you to think more about putting the pieces of your research together, rather than trying to do research at the same time that you are writing.

This doesn’t mean that you won’t need to do a little more research. Instead, you might need to focus strategically on one or two key pieces of information to advance your argument, rather than trying to learn about the basics of your topic.

But what about a thesis or argument? You may have developed a clear idea early in the process, or you might have slowly come across an important claim you want to defend or a critique you want to make as you read more into your topic. You might still not be sure what you want to argue. No matter where you are, this chapter will help you navigate the genre of the research essay. We’ll examine the basics of a good thesis and argument, different ways to use sources, and strategies to organize your essay.

While this chapter will focus on the kind of research essay you would write in the college classroom, the skills are broadly applicable. Research takes many different forms in the academic, professional, and public worlds. Depending on the course or discipline, research can mean a semester-long project for a class or a few years’ worth of research for an advanced degree. As you’ll see in the examples below, research can consist of a brief, two-page conclusion or a government report that spans hundreds of pages with an overwhelming amount of original data.

Above all else, good research is engaged with its audience to bring new ideas to light based on existing conversations. A good research essay uses the research of others to advance the conversation around the topic based on relevant facts, analysis, and ideas.

II. Rhetorical Considerations: Contributing to the Conversation

The word “essay” comes from the French word essayer , or “attempt.” In other words, an essay is an attempt—to prove or know or illustrate something. Through writing an essay, your ideas will evolve as you attempt to explore and think through complicated ideas. Some essays are more exploratory or creative, while some are straightforward reports about the kind of original research that happens in laboratories.

Most research essays attempt to argue a point about the material, information, and data that you have collected. That research can come from fieldwork, laboratories, archives, interviews, data mining, or just a lot of reading. No matter the sources you use, the thesis of a research essay is grounded in evidence that is compelling to the reader.

Where you described the conversation in your literature review, in your research essay you are contributing to that conversation with your own argument. Your argument doesn’t have to be an argument in the cable-news-social-media-shouting sense of the word. It doesn’t have to be something that immediately polarizes individuals or divides an issue into black or white. Instead, an argument for a research essay should be a claim, or, more specifically, a claim that requires evidence and analysis to support. This can take many different forms.

Example 4.1: Here are some different types of arguments you might see in a research essay:

• Critiquing a specific idea within a field
• Interrogating an assumption many people hold about an issue
• Examining the cause of an existing problem
• Identifying the effects of a proposed program, law, or concept
• Assessing a historical event in a new way
• Using a new method to evaluate a text or phenomenon
• Proposing a new solution to an existing problem
• Evaluating an existing solution and suggesting improvements

These are only a few examples of the kinds of approaches your argument might take. As you look at the research you have gathered throughout your projects, your ideas will have evolved. This is a natural part of the research process. If you had a fully formed argument before you did any research, then you probably didn’t have an argument based on strong evidence. Your research now informs your position and understanding, allowing you to form a stronger evidence-based argument.

Having a good idea about your thesis and your approach is an important step, but getting the general idea into specific words can be a challenge on its own. This is one of the most common challenges in writing: “I know what I want to say; I just don’t know how to say it.”

Example 4.2: Here are some sample thesis statements. Examine them and think about their arguments.

Whether you agree, disagree, or are just plain unsure about them, you can imagine that these statements require their authors to present evidence, offer context, and explain key details in order to argue their point.

• Artificial intelligence (AI) has the ability to greatly expand the methods and content of higher education, and though there are some transient shortcomings, faculty in STEM should embrace AI as a positive change to the system of student learning. In particular, AI can prove to close the achievement gap often found in larger lecture settings by providing more custom student support.
• I argue that while the current situation for undocumented college students remains tumultuous, there are multiple routes—through financial and social support programs like the Fearless Undocumented Alliance—that both universities and colleges can utilize to support students affected by the reality of DACA’s shortcomings.

While it can be argued that massive reform of the NCAA’s bylaws is needed in the long run, one possible immediate improvement exists in the form of student-athlete name, image, and likeness rights. The NCAA should amend their long-standing definition of amateurism and allow student athletes to pursue financial gains from the use of their names, images, and likenesses, as is the case with amateur Olympic athletes.

Each of these thesis statements identifies a critical conversation around a topic and establishes a position that needs evidence for further support. They each offer a lot to consider, and, as sentences, are constructed in different ways.

Some writing textbooks, like They Say, I Say (2017), offer convenient templates in which to fit your thesis. For example, it suggests a list of sentence constructions like “Although some critics argue X, I will argue Y” and “If we are right to assume X, then we must consider the consequences of Y.”

More Resources 4.1: Templates

Templates can be a productive start for your ideas, but depending on the writing situation (and depending on your audience), you may want to expand your thesis beyond a single sentence (like the examples above) or template. According to Amy Guptill in her book Writing in Col lege (2016) , a good thesis has four main elements (pp. 21-22). A good thesis:

• Makes a non-obvious claim
• Poses something arguable
• Provides well-specified details
• Includes broader implications

Consider the sample thesis statements above. Each one provides a claim that is both non-obvious and arguable. In other words, they present something that needs further evidence to support—that’s where all your research is going to come in. In addition, each thesis identifies specifics, whether these are teaching methods, support programs, or policies. As you will see, when you include those specifics in a thesis statement, they help project a starting point towards organizing your essay.

Finally, according to Guptill, a good thesis includes broader implications. A good thesis not only engages the specific details of its argument, but also leaves room for further consideration. As we have discussed before, research takes place in an ongoing conversation. Your well-developed essay and hard work won’t be the final word on this topic, but one of many contributions among other scholars and writers. It would be impossible to solve every single issue surrounding your topic, but a strong thesis helps us think about the larger picture. Here’s Guptill:

Putting your claims in their broader context makes them more interesting to your reader and more impressive to your professors who, after all, assign topics that they think have enduring significance. Finding that significance for yourself makes the most of both your paper and your learning. (p. 23)

Thinking about the broader implications will also help you write a conclusion that is better than just repeating your thesis (we’ll discuss this more below).

Example 4.3: Let’s look at an example from above:

This thesis makes a key claim about the rights of student athletes (in fact, shortly after this paper was written, NCAA athletes became eligible to profit from their own name, image, and likeness). It provides specific details, rather than just suggesting that student athletes should be able to make money. Furthermore, it provides broader context, even giving a possible model—Olympic athletes—to build an arguable case.

Remember, that just like your entire research project, your thesis will evolve as you write. Don’t be afraid to change some key terms or move some phrases and clauses around to play with the emphasis in your thesis. In fact, doing so implies that you have allowed the research to inform your position.

Example 4.4: Consider these examples about the same topic and general idea. How does playing around with organization shade the argument differently?

• Although William Dowling’s amateur college sports model reminds us that the real stakeholders are the student athletes themselves, he highlights that the true power over student athletes comes from the athletic directors, TV networks, and coaches who care more about profits than people.
• While William Dowling’s amateur college sports model reminds us that the real stakeholders in college athletics are not the athletic directors, TV networks, and coaches, but the students themselves, his plan does not seem feasible because it eliminates the reason many people care about student athletes in the first place: highly lucrative bowl games and March Madness.
• Although William Dowling’s amateur college sports model has student athletes’ best interests in mind, his proposal remains unfeasible because financial stakeholders in college athletics, like athletic directors, TV networks, and coaches, refuse to let go of their power.

When you look at the different versions of the thesis statements above, the general ideas remain the same, but you can imagine how they might unfold differently in a paper, and even  how those papers might be structured differently. Even after you have a good version of your thesis, consider how it might evolve by moving ideas around or changing emphasis as you outline and draft your paper.

More Resources 4.2: Thesis Statements

Looking for some additional help on thesis statements? Try these resources:

• How to Write a Thesis Statement
• Writing Effective Thesis Statements. 

Library Referral: Your Voice Matters!

(by Annie R. Armstrong)

If you’re embarking on your first major college research paper, you might be concerned about “getting it right.” How can you possibly jump into a conversation with the authors of books, articles, and more, who are seasoned experts in their topics and disciplines? The way they write might seem advanced, confusing, academic, irritating, and even alienating. Try not to get discouraged. There are techniques for working with scholarly sources to break them down and make them easier to work with (see How to Read a Scholarly Article ). A librarian can work with you to help you find a variety of source types that address your topic in a meaningful way, or that one specific source you may still be trying to track down.

Furthermore, scholarly experts are not the only voices welcome at the research table! This research paper and others to come are an invitation to you to join the conversation; your voice and lived experience give you one-of-a-kind expertise equipping you to make new inquiries and insights into your topic. Sure, you’ll need to wrestle how to interpret difficult academic texts and how to piece them together. That said, your voice is an integral and essential part of the puzzle. All of those scholarly experts started closer to where you are than you might think.

III. The Research Essay Across the Disciplines

Example 4.5: Academic and Professional Examples

These examples are meant to show you how this genre looks in other disciplines and professions. Make sure to follow the requirements for your own class or to seek out specific examples from your instructor in order to address the needs of your own assignment.

As you will see, different disciplines use language very differently, including citation practices, use of footnotes and endnotes, and in-text references. (Review Chapter 3 for citation practices as disciplinary conventions.) You may find some STEM research to be almost unreadable, unless you are already an expert in that field and have a highly developed knowledge of the key terms and ideas in that field. STEM fields often rely on highly technical language and assume a high level of knowledge in the field. Similarly, humanities research can be hard to navigate if you don’t have a significant background in the topic or material.

As we’ve discussed, highly specialized research assumes its readers are other highly specialized researchers. Unless you read something like The Journ al of American Medicine on a regular basis, you usually learn about scientific or medical breakthroughs when they are reported by another news outlet, where a reporter makes the highly technical language of a scientific discovery more accessible for non-specialists.

Even if you are not an expert in multiple disciplines of study, you will find that research essays contain a lot of similarities in their structure and organization. Most research essays have an abstract that summarizes the entire article at the beginning. Introductions provide the necessary setup for the article. Body sections can vary. Some essays include a literature review section that describes the state of research about the topic. Others might provide background or a brief history. Many essays in the sciences will have a methodology section that explains how the research was conducted, including details such as lab procedures, sample sizes, control populations, conditions, and survey questions. Others include long analyses of primary sources, sets of data, or archival documents. Most essays end with conclusions about what further research needs to be completed or what their research further implies.

As you examine some of the different examples, look at the variations in arguments and structures. Just as in reading research about your own topic, you don’t need to read each essay from start to finish. Browse through different sections and see the different uses of language and organization that are possible.

IV. Research Strategies: When is Enough?

At this point, you know a lot about your topic. You’ve done a lot of research to complete your first three writing projects, but when do you have enough sources and information to start writing? Really, it depends.

If you’re writing a dissertation, you may have spent months or years doing research and still feel like you need to do more or to wait a few months until that next new study is published. If you’re writing a research essay for a class, you probably have a schedule of due dates for drafts and workshops. Either way, it’s better to start drafting sooner rather than later. Part of doing research is trying on ideas and discovering things throughout the drafting process.

That’s why you’ve written the other projects along the way instead of just starting with a research essay. You’ve built a foundation of strong research to read about your topic in the annotated bibliography, planned your research in the proposal, and understood the conversations around your topic in the literature review. Now that you are working on your research essay, you are far enough along in the research process where you might need a few more sources, but you will most likely discover this as you are drafting your essay. In other words, get writing and trust that you’ll discover what you need along the way.

V. Reading Strategies: Forwarding and Countering

Using sources is necessary to a research essay, and it is essential to think about how you use them. At this point in your research, you have read, summarized, analyzed, and made connections across many sources. Think back to the literature review. In that genre, you used your sources to illustrate the major issues, topics, and/or concerns among your research. You used those sources to describe and make connections between them.

For your research essay, you are putting those sources to work in a different way: using them in service of supporting your own contribution to the conversation. According to Joseph Harris in his book Rewriting (2017), we read texts in order to respond to them: “drawing from, commenting on, adding to […] the works of others” (p. 2). The act of writing, according to Harris, takes place among the different texts we read and the ways we use them for our own projects. Whether a source provides factual information or complicated concepts, we use sources in different ways. Two key ways to do so for Harris are forwarding and countering .

Forwarding a text means taking the original concept or idea and applying it to a new context. Harris writes: “In forwarding a text you test the strength of its insights and the range and flexibility of its phrasings. You rewrite it through reusing some of its key concepts and phrasings” (pp. 38-39). This is common in a lot of research essays. In fact, Harris identifies different types of forwarding:

• Illustrating: using a source to explain a larger point
• Authorizing: appealing to another source for credibility
• Borrowing: taking a term or concept from one context or discipline and using it in a new one
• Extending: expanding upon a source or its implications

It’s not enough in a research essay to include just sources with which you agree. Countering a text means more than just disagreeing with it, but it allows you to do more with a text that might not initially support your argument. This can include for Harris:

• Arguing the other side: oftentimes called “including a naysayer” or addressing objections
• Uncovering values: examining assumptions within the text that might prove problematic or reveal interesting insights
• Dissenting: finding the problems in or the limits of an argument (p. 58)

While the categories above are merely suggestions, it is worth taking a moment to think a little more about sources with which you might disagree. The whole point of an argument is to offer a claim that needs to be proved and/or defended. Essential to this is addressing possible objections. What might be some of the doubts your reader may have? What questions might a reasonable person have about your argument? You will never convince every single person, but by addressing and acknowledging possible objections, you help build the credibility of your argument by showing how your own voice fits into the larger conversation—if other members of that conversation may disagree.

VI. Writing Strategies: Organizing and Outlining

At this point you likely have a draft of a thesis (or the beginnings of one) and a lot of research, notes, and three writing projects about your topic. How do you get from all of this material to a coherent research essay? The following section will offer a few different ideas about organizing your essay. Depending on your topic, discipline, or assignment, you might need to make some necessary adjustments along the way, depending on your audience. Consider these more as suggestions and prompts to help in the writing and drafting of your research essay.

Sometimes, we tend to turn our research essay into an enthusiastic book report: “Here are all the cool things I read about my topic this semester!” When you’ve spent a long time reading and thinking about a topic, you may feel compelled to include every piece of information you’ve found. This can quickly overwhelm your audience. Other times, we as writers may feel so overwhelmed with all of the things we want to say that we don’t know where to start.

Writers don’t all follow the same processes or strategies. What works for one person may not always work for another, and what worked in one writing situation (or class) may not be as successful in another. Regardless, it’s important to have a plan and to follow a few strategies to get writing. The suggestions below can help get you organized and writing quickly. If you’ve never tried some of these strategies before, it’s worth seeing how they will work for you.

Think in Sections, Not Paragraphs

For smaller papers, you might think about what you want to say in each of the five to seven paragraphs that paper might require. Sometimes writing instructors even tell students what each paragraph should include. For longer essays, it’s much easier to think about a research essay in sections, or as a few connected short papers. In a short essay, you might need a paragraph to provide background information about your topic, but in longer essays—like the ones you have read for your project—you will likely find that you need more than a single paragraph, sometimes a few pages.

You might think about the different types of sections you have encountered in the research you have already gathered. Those types of sections might include: introduction, background, the history of an issue, literature review, causes, effects, solutions, analysis, limits, etc. When you consider possible sections for your paper, ask yourself, “What is the purpose of this section?” Then you can start to think about the best way to organize that information into paragraphs for each section.

Build an Outline

After you have developed what you want to argue with your thesis (or at least a general sense of it), consider how you want to argue it. You know that you need to begin with an introduction (more on that momentarily). Then you’ll likely need a few sections that help lead your reader through your argument.

Your outline can start simple. In what order are you going to divide up your main points? You can slowly build a larger outline to include where you will discuss key sources, as well as what are the main claims or ideas you want to present in each section. It’s much easier to move ideas and sources around when you have a larger structure in place.

Example 4.6: A Sample Outline for a Research Paper

• College athletics is a central part of American culture
• Few of its viewers fully understand the extent to which players are mistreated
• Thesis: While William Dowling’s amateur col lege sports model does not seem feasible to implement in the twenty-first century, his proposal reminds us that the real stakeholders in college athletics are not the athletic directors, TV networks, and coaches, but the students themselves, who deserve th e chance to earn a quality education even more than the chance to play ball.
• While many student athletes are strong students, many D-1 sports programs focus more on elite sports recruits than academic achievement
• Quotes from coaches and athletic directors about revenue and building fan bases (ESPN)
• Lowered admissions standards and fake classes (Sperber)
• Scandals in academic dishonesty (Sperber and Dowling)
• Some elite D-1 athletes are left in a worse place than where they began
• Study about athletes who go pro (Knight Commission, Dowling, Cantral)
• Few studies on after-effects (Knight Commission)
• Dowling imagines an amateur sports program without recruitment, athletic scholarships, or TV contracts
• Without the presence of big money contracts and recruitment, athletics programs would have less temptation to cheat in regards to academic dishonesty
• Knight Commission Report
• Is there any incentive for large-scale reform?
• Is paying student athletes a real possibility?

Some writers don’t think in as linear a fashion as others, and starting with an outline might not be the first strategy to employ. Other writers rely on different organizational strategies, like mind mapping, word clouds, or a reverse outline.

More Resources 4.3: Organizing Strategies

At this point, it’s best to get some writing done, even if writing is just taking more notes and then organizing those notes. Here are a few more links to get your thoughts down in some fun and engaging ways:

• Concept Mapping
• The Mad Lib from Hell: Three Alternatives to Traditional Outlining
• Thinking Outside the Formal Outline
• Mind Mapping in Research
• Reverse Outlining

Start Drafting in the Middle

This may sound odd to some people, but it’s much easier to get started by drafting sections from the middle of your paper instead of starting with the introduction. Sections that provide background or more factual information tend to be more straightforward to write. Sections like these can even be written as you are still finalizing your argument and organizational structure.

If you’ve completed the three previous writing projects, you will likely also funnel some of your work from those projects into the final essay. Don’t just cut and paste entire chunks of those other assignments. That’s called self-plagiarism, and since those assignments serve different purposes in different genres, they won’t fit naturally into your research essay. You’ll want to think about how you are using the sources and ideas from those assignments to serve the needs of your argument. For example, you may have found an interesting source for your literature review paper, but that source may not help advance your final paper.

Draft your Introduction and Conclusion towards the End

Your introduction and conclusion are the bookends of your research essay. They prepare your reader for what’s to come and help your reader process what they have just read. The introduction leads your reader into your paper’s research, and the conclusion helps them look outward towards its implications and significance.

Many students think you should write your introduction at the beginning of the drafting stage because that is where the paper starts. This is not always the best idea. An introduction provides a lot of essential information, including the paper’s method, context, organization, and main argument. You might not have all of these details figured out when you first start drafting your paper. If you wait until much later in the drafting stage, the introduction will be much easier to write. In fact, most academic writers and researchers wait until the rest of their project—a paper, dissertation, or book—is completed before they write the introduction.

A good introduction does not need to be long. In fact, short introductions can impressively communicate a lot of information about a paper when the reader is most receptive to new information. You don’t need to have a long hook or anecdote to catch the reader’s attention, and in many disciplines, big, broad openings are discouraged. Instead, a good introduction to a research essay usually does the following:

• defines the scope of the paper
• indicates its method or approach
• gives some brief context (although more significant background may be saved for a separate section)
• offers a road map

If we think about research as an ongoing conversation, you don’t need to think of your conclusion as the end—or just a repetition of your argument. No matter the topic, you won’t have the final word, and you’re not going to tie up a complicated issue neatly with a bow. As you reach the end of your project, your conclusion can be a good place to reflect about how your research contributes to the larger conversations around your issue.

Think of your conclusion as a place to consider big questions. How does your project address some of the larger issues related to your topic? How might the conversation continue? How might it have changed? You might also address limits to existing research. What else might your readers want to find out? What do we need to research or explore in the future?

You need not answer every question. You’ve contributed to the conversation around your topic, and this is your opportunity to reflect a little about that. Still looking for some additional strategies for introductions and conclusions? Try this additional resource:

More Resources 4.4: Introductions and Conclusions

If you’re a bit stuck on introductions and conclusions, check out these helpful links:

• Introductions & Writing Effective Introductions
• Guide to Writing Introductions and Conclusions
• Conclusions & Writing Effective Conclusions

Putting It All Together

This chapter is meant to help you get all the pieces together. You have a strong foundation with your research and lots of strategies at your disposal. That doesn’t mean you might not still feel overwhelmed. Two useful strategies are making a schedule and writing out a checklist.

You likely have a due date for your final draft, and maybe some additional dates for submitting rough drafts or completing peer review workshops. Consider expanding this schedule for yourself. You might have specific days set aside for writing or for drafting a certain number of words or pages. You can also schedule times to visit office hours, the library, or the writing center (especially if your writing center takes appointments—they fill up quickly at the end of the semester!). The more you fill in specific dates and smaller goals, the more likely you will be to complete them. Even if you miss a day that you set aside to write four hundred words, it’s easier to make that up than saying you’ll write an entire draft over a weekend and not getting much done.

Another useful strategy is assembling a checklist, as you put together all the pieces from your research, citations, key quotes, data, and different sections. This allows you to track what you have done and what you still need to accomplish. You might review your assignment’s requirements and list them out so you know when you’ve hit the things like required sources or minimum length. It also helps remind you towards the end to review things like your works cited and any other key grammar and style issues you might want to revisit.

You’re much closer to completing everything than you think. You have all the research, you have all the pieces, and you have a good foundation. You’ve developed a level of understanding of the many sources you have gathered, along with the writing projects you have written. Time to put it all together and join the conversation.

Key Takeaways

• Your research essay adds to the conversation surrounding your topic.
• Begin drafting your essay and trust that your ideas will continue to develop and evolve.
• As you assemble your essay, rely on what works for you, whether that is outlining, mindmapping, checklists, or anything else.
• You have come far. The end is in sight.

Clemson Libaries. (2016). “Joining the (Scholarly) Conversation.”  YouTube . https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=79WmzNQvAZY

Fosslien, L. Remember how much progress you’ve made [Image].

Graff, G. & Birkenstein, C. (2017). They Say, I Say: The Moves that Matter in Academic Writing . W. W. Norton and Co.

Guptill, A. (2016). Constructing the Thesis and Argument—From the Ground Up : Writing in College . Open SUNY Textbooks.

Harris, Joseph. Rewriting: How to Do Things with Texts . Second Edition. Utah State University Press, 2017.

Writing for Inquiry and Research Copyright © 2023 by Jeffrey Kessler is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

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55 Research Paper Topics to Jump-Start Your Paper

Coming up with research paper topics is the first step in writing most papers. While it may seem easy compared to the actual writing, choosing the right research paper topic is nonetheless one of the most important steps. Your topic determines the entire writing process: your core arguments, which sources you use, the structure of your outline, and ultimately how well the paper is received.

Unfortunately, how to select a research topic isn’t always obvious. So here, we explain how to come up with research paper topics that will work for you. We even share a list of research topics to help inspire you.

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What are research paper topics?

A research paper topic is the main focus of a piece of academic writing , encompassing the author’s main argument, thesis, or hypothesis that they plan to research and investigate.

Usually, the assignment stipulates what kind of research paper topics you can use, but even so you should choose topics that you feel passionately about and that have ample resources to fully develop your ideas.

How to come up with research paper topic examples

The ideal approach is to create a list of research topics that fulfill the criteria, and then choose the best one. Because research paper topics can be pretty broad, creating a list helps you narrow down ideas and consider fresh alternatives.

Of course, creating a list of research topics takes some effort. To save you time, here are some tried-and-true methods for how to come up with research paper topic examples:

• Personal interest: Which topics are you interested in or particularly curious about?
• Topics in class discussions: Was anything mentioned in class that you’d like to examine more deeply?
• Current events: Are there any topics in the news that fit the requirements for the assignment?
• Research gaps: For dissertations , are there any topics that haven’t been sufficiently researched before that you could contribute original data to?
• Advice from teacher, colleagues, or friends: Can you ask someone knowledgeable to help you brainstorm research paper topics?
• Search online: What kinds of relevant topics do people discuss online?

Once you have a short list of research topics, it’s time to move on to the next step: deciding how to select a research topic from the list.

How to select a research topic

As we explain in our guide on how to write a research paper , you should choose a topic with enough content to fill the length of your paper. On top of that, it’s best to pick a topic that you’re personally interested in, since you’re going to be spending long hours researching it and discussing it.

To keep your paper focused, choose a specific topic instead of a broad one . For example, instead of a general topic like “the eating habits of cats,” try to narrow it down a little, like “the eating habits of tigers.” With broad topics, you won’t be able to cover everything . Limit the scope of your topic so you can fully discuss it within the paper.

However, if you get too specific, you won’t have enough data, sources, or knowledge to write a substantial report. For example, if your topic was “the eating habits of my cat Charlie,” most likely you wouldn’t have enough information to fill more than a page or two.

So try to pick a topic that’s not only precise but manageable enough to describe completely within the limitations of the assignment.

Research paper topic vs. thesis vs. hypothesis

What’s the difference between a research paper topic, a thesis, and a hypothesis?

A research paper thesis is the main argument your paper tries to prove or explain. As such, the thesis is a core part of your entire research paper topic. A thesis is typically summed up in a thesis statement , a single sentence at the beginning of the paper to introduce your argument to the reader.

For example, if your topic was analyzing wind power in Mexico, your thesis might be:

Wind power effectively enabled Mexico to meet the requirements of the Paris Agreement, thanks to natural winds in the south.

With this thesis, your paper would then discuss the availability of wind, what factors of the south make it ideal, and how Mexico went about enacting it with regard to the Paris Agreement.

Specific to scientific works, a research paper hypothesis is a statement that describes what the author hopes to prove or disprove with their paper. A hypothesis is similar to a thesis in that it sums up the research paper topic, but a hypothesis requires original data and often testing to prove whether it’s true, whereas a thesis can draw on other people’s research.

55 examples of research topics

• The evolution of antibiotic-resistant bacteria
• Comparing the impacts of pollution on freshwater and saltwater ecosystems
• How the Human Genome Project changed the field of biology
• How modern-day urbanization affects wildlife and natural habitats
• The ethical considerations of CRISPR technology
• Leveraging sustainable business practices for marketing purposes
• How attitudes about financial risk management have changed over time
• Different leadership styles and their impact on organizational performance
• The challenges of cross-cultural business negotiations
• The practicality of big data analytics for small businesses

Communication

• How the internet changed in-person social interactions
• The most effective strategies for interpersonal conflict resolution
• The relationship between media literacy and voting habits
• The evolution of communication in family dynamics
• How advertising affects decision-making outside of sales

Computer science

• The application of blockchain technology outside of finance
• The future of quantum computing
• The greatest threats to cybersecurity at present
• The ramifications of humanizing AI
• An in-depth comparison between cloud computing and fog computing

Criminal justice

• Rehabilitation versus punishment in the juvenile justice system
• The merits of decriminalizing certain drugs
• Comparing the apprehension of white-collar and blue-collar criminals
• The evolution of profiling and behavioral analysis
• The effects of a private prison system on lawmaking
• Cultural appropriation versus cultural appreciation
• Comparing the historic traditions of younger and older countries
• Effective strategies to preserve indigenous cultures
• The merits of multiculturalism in big cities
• The influence of public school systems on cultural understanding
• The relationship between socioeconomic factors and educational achievements
• The challenges of early childhood education compared to that of older students
• Effective strategies for promoting interest in STEM fields
• Predicting the future of education based on current trends
• Pros and cons of multilingual classrooms
• The evolution of mental health treatment over time
• Analyzing the most successful public health campaigns throughout history
• Misinformation and diet-related illnesses
• Comparing the health effects of natural drugs and synthetic drugs
• The future of telehealth and telemedicine
• Comparing feminist literature of the first, second, third, and fourth waves
• How colonization historically affected literature
• Comparing the genres of high fantasy and magic realism
• The decline of literary journals in the modern era
• The history of metafiction and self-referential literature
• Effective strategies for combating political corruption
• Leading causes of political extremism and terrorism
• Comparing the efficiency of different electoral systems around the world
• Comparing populism in North America and Europe
• The connection between specific governments and the happiness index of their people

Research paper topics FAQs

A research paper topic is the main focus of a piece of academic writing, encompassing the author’s main argument, thesis, or hypothesis, as well as the evidence to support it and the ultimate conclusion.

How do you come up with research paper topic examples?

You can brainstorm some research paper topics by asking people or searching online. Sometimes current events or topics discussed in the classroom can fit the type of topic you need. Try to think of topics you have a personal connection to, or perhaps topics that have not yet been sufficiently researched.

What’s the difference between a research paper topic, thesis, and hypothesis?

A research paper topic describes the general subject matter of the entire paper. A thesis is the specific argument that the author is trying to prove or explain. A hypothesis is particular to scientific papers; it is what the author attempts to prove or disprove through original testing.

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How to Write a Research Essay

Last Updated: January 12, 2023 Fact Checked

This article was co-authored by Michelle Golden, PhD . Michelle Golden is an English teacher in Athens, Georgia. She received her MA in Language Arts Teacher Education in 2008 and received her PhD in English from Georgia State University in 2015. There are 11 references cited in this article, which can be found at the bottom of the page. This article has been fact-checked, ensuring the accuracy of any cited facts and confirming the authority of its sources. This article has been viewed 389,184 times.

Research essays are extremely common assignments in high school, college, and graduate school, and are not unheard of in middle school. If you are a student, chances are you will sooner or later be faced with the task of researching a topic and writing a paper about it. Knowing how to efficiently and successfully do simple research, synthesize information, and clearly present it in essay form will save you many hours and a lot of frustration.

Researching a Topic

• Be sure to stay within the guidelines you are given by your teacher or professor. For example, if you are free to choose a topic but the general theme must fall under human biology, do not write your essay on plant photosynthesis.
• Stick with topics that are not overly complicated, especially if the subject is not something you plan to continue studying. There's no need to make things harder on yourself!

• Specialty books; these can be found at your local public or school library. A book published on your topic is a great resource and will likely be one of your most reliable options for finding quality information. They also contain lists of references where you can look for more information.
• Academic journals; these are periodicals devoted to scholarly research on a specific field of study. Articles in academic journals are written by experts in that field and scrutinized by other professionals to ensure their accuracy. These are great options if you need to find detailed, sophisticated information on your topic; avoid these if you are only writing a general overview.
• Online encyclopedias; the most reliable information on the internet can be found in online encyclopedias like Encyclopedia.com and Britannica.com. While online wikis can be very helpful, they sometimes contain unverified information that you should probably not rely upon as your primary resources.
• Expert interviews; if possible, interview an expert in the subject of your research. Experts can be professionals working in the field you are studying, professors with advanced degrees in the subject of interest, etc.

• Organize your notes by sub-topic to keep them orderly and so you can easily find references when you are writing.
• If you are using books or physical copies of magazines or journals, use sticky tabs to mark pages or paragraphs where you found useful information. You might even want to number these tabs to correspond with numbers on your note sheet for easy reference.
• By keeping your notes brief and simple, you can make them easier to understand and reference while writing. Don't make your notes so long and detailed that they essentially copy what's already written in your sources, as this won't be helpful to you.

• Sometimes the objective of your research will be obvious to you before you even begin researching the topic; other times, you may have to do a bit of reading before you can determine the direction you want your essay to take.
• If you have an objective in mind from the start, you can incorporate this into online searches about your topic in order to find the most relevant resources. For example, if your objective is to outline the environmental hazards of hydraulic fracturing practices, search for that exact phrase rather than just "hydraulic fracturing."

• Avoid asking your teacher to give you a topic. Unless your topic was assigned to you in the first place, part of the assignment is for you to choose a topic relevant to the broader theme of the class or unit. By asking your teacher to do this for you, you risk admitting laziness or incompetence.
• If you have a few topics in mind but are not sure how to develop objectives for some of them, your teacher can help with this. Plan to discuss your options with your teacher and come to a decision yourself rather than having him or her choose the topic for you from several options.

Organizing your Essay

• Consider what background information is necessary to contextualize your research topic. What questions might the reader have right out of the gate? How do you want the reader to think about the topic? Answering these kinds of questions can help you figure out how to set up your argument.
• Match your paper sections to the objective(s) of your writing. For example, if you are trying to present two sides of a debate, create a section for each and then divide them up according to the aspects of each argument you want to address.

• An outline can be as detailed or general as you want, so long as it helps you figure out how to construct the essay. Some people like to include a few sentences under each heading in their outline to create a sort of "mini-essay" before they begin writing. Others find that a simple ordered list of topics is sufficient. Do whatever works best for you.
• If you have time, write your outline a day or two before you start writing and come back to it several times. This will give you an opportunity to think about how the pieces of your essay will best fit together. Rearrange things in your outline as many times as you want until you have a structure you are happy with.

• Style guides tell you exactly how to quote passages, cite references, construct works cited sections, etc. If you are assigned a specific format, you must take care to adhere to guidelines for text formatting and citations.
• Some computer programs (such as EndNote) allow you to construct a library of resources which you can then set to a specific format type; then you can automatically insert in-text citations from your library and populate a references section at the end of the document. This is an easy way to make sure your citations match your assigned style format.

• You may wish to start by simply assigning yourself a certain number of pages per day. Divide the number of pages you are required to write by the number of days you have to finish the essay; this is the number of pages (minimum) that you must complete each day in order to pace yourself evenly.
• If possible, leave a buffer of at least one day between finishing your paper and the due date. This will allow you to review your finished product and edit it for errors. This will also help in case something comes up that slows your writing progress.

Writing your Essay

• Keep your introduction relatively short. For most papers, one or two paragraphs will suffice. For really long essays, you may need to expand this.
• Don't assume your reader already knows the basics of the topic unless it truly is a matter of common knowledge. For example, you probably don't need to explain in your introduction what biology is, but you should define less general terms such as "eukaryote" or "polypeptide chain."

• You may need to include a special section at the beginning of the essay body for background information on your topic. Alternatively, you can consider moving this to the introductory section, but only if your essay is short and only minimal background discussion is needed.
• This is the part of your paper where organization and structure are most important. Arrange sections within the body so that they flow logically and the reader is introduced to ideas and sub-topics before they are discussed further.
• Depending upon the length and detail of your paper, the end of the body might contain a discussion of findings. This kind of section serves to wrap up your main findings but does not explicitly state your conclusions (which should come in the final section of the essay).
• Avoid repetition in the essay body. Keep your writing concise, yet with sufficient detail to address your objective(s) or research question(s).

• Always use quotation marks when using exact quotes from another source. If someone already said or wrote the words you are using, you must quote them this way! Place your in-text citation at the end of the quote.
• To include someone else's ideas in your essay without directly quoting them, you can restate the information in your own words; this is called paraphrasing. Although this does not require quotation marks, it should still be accompanied by an in-text citation.

• Except for very long essays, keep your conclusion short and to the point. You should aim for one or two paragraphs, if possible.
• Conclusions should directly correspond to research discussed in the essay body. In other words, make sure your conclusions logically connect to the rest of your essay and provide explanations when necessary.
• If your topic is complex and involves lots of details, you should consider including a brief summary of the main points of your research in your conclusion.

• Making changes to the discussion and conclusion sections instead of the introduction often requires a less extensive rewrite. Doing this also prevents you from removing anything from the beginning of your essay that could accidentally make subsequent portions of your writing seem out of place.
• It is okay to revise your thesis once you've finished the first draft of your essay! People's views often change once they've done research on a topic. Just make sure you don't end up straying too far from your assigned topic if you do this.
• You don't necessarily need to wait until you've finished your entire draft to do this step. In fact, it is a good idea to revisit your thesis regularly as you write. This can save you a lot of time in the end by helping you keep your essay content on track.

• Computer software such as EndNote is available for making citation organization as easy and quick as possible. You can create a reference library and link it to your document, adding in-text citations as you write; the program creates a formatted works cited section at the end of your document.
• Be aware of the formatting requirements of your chosen style guide for works cited sections and in-text citations. Reference library programs like EndNote have hundreds of pre-loaded formats to choose from.

• Create a catchy title. Waiting until you have finished your essay before choosing a title ensures that it will closely match the content of your essay. Research papers don't always take on the shape we expect them to, and it's easier to match your title to your essay than vice-versa.
• Read through your paper to identify and rework sentences or paragraphs that are confusing or unclear. Each section of your paper should have a clear focus and purpose; if any of yours seem not to meet these expectations, either rewrite or discard them.
• Review your works cited section (at the end of your essay) to ensure that it conforms to the standards of your chosen or assigned style format. You should at least make sure that the style is consistent throughout this section.
• Run a spell checker on your entire document to catch any spelling or grammar mistakes you may not have noticed during your read-through. All modern word processing programs include this function.

• Note that revising your draft is not the same as proofreading it. Revisions are done to make sure the content and substantive ideas are solid; editing is done to check for spelling and grammar errors. Revisions are arguably a more important part of writing a good paper.
• You may want to have a friend, classmate, or family member read your first draft and give you feedback. This can be immensely helpful when trying to decide how to improve upon your first version of the essay.
• Except in extreme cases, avoid a complete rewrite of your first draft. This will most likely be counterproductive and will waste a lot of time. Your first draft is probably already pretty good -- it likely just needs some tweaking before it is ready to submit.

Community Q&A

• Avoid use of the word "I" in research essay writing, even when conveying your personal opinion about a subject. This makes your writing sound biased and narrow in scope. Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0
• Even if there is a minimum number of paragraphs, always do 3 or 4 more paragraphs more than needed, so you can always get a good grade. Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0

• Never plagiarize the work of others! Passing off others' writing as your own can land you in a lot of trouble and is usually grounds for failing an assignment or class. Thanks Helpful 12 Not Helpful 1

You Might Also Like

• ↑ https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/general_writing/common_writing_assignments/research_papers/choosing_a_topic.html
• ↑ https://libguides.mit.edu/select-topic
• ↑ https://www.indeed.com/career-advice/career-development/research-objectives
• ↑ https://www.hunter.cuny.edu/rwc/handouts/the-writing-process-1/organization/Organizing-an-Essay
• ↑ https://www.lynchburg.edu/academics/writing-center/wilmer-writing-center-online-writing-lab/the-writing-process/organizing-your-paper/
• ↑ https://www.mla.org/MLA-Style
• ↑ http://www.apastyle.org/
• ↑ https://writing.wisc.edu/Handbook/PlanResearchPaper.html
• ↑ https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/apa6_style/apa_formatting_and_style_guide/in_text_citations_the_basics.html
• ↑ https://opentextbc.ca/writingforsuccess/chapter/chapter-12-peer-review-and-final-revisions/
• ↑ https://openoregon.pressbooks.pub/wrd/back-matter/creating-a-works-cited-page/

About This Article

The best way to write a research essay is to find sources, like specialty books, academic journals, and online encyclopedias, about your topic. Take notes as you research, and make sure you note which page and book you got your notes from. Create an outline for the paper that details your argument, various sections, and primary points for each section. Then, write an introduction, build the body of the essay, and state your conclusion. Cite your sources along the way, and follow the assigned format, like APA or MLA, if applicable. To learn more from our co-author with an English Ph.D. about how to choose a thesis statement for your research paper, keep reading! Did this summary help you? Yes No

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How to write about research in college applications

Research can be an amazing way for a high school student to dive deeper into a subject they love, whether through research internships or an independent research project .

Students often end the experience with a clearer sense of direction and with greater excitement for their road ahead.

But we’ve also worked with plenty of students who didn’t know where or how to communicate those things to colleges in their applications, or do so in ways that would help colleges understand who they were, what drove them, and why they were different from other students doing cool research.

So, we built this guide. Enjoy.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Does research look good on college applications, how do you describe research to colleges, understanding your audience, write strategically, options for writing about research + how to stand out in your college application, activities list (150 characters per description), additional info (up to 650 words), supplemental essays (approx. 100-500 words), university of california personal insight questions (piqs) (350 words), narrative or montage personal statement (650 words), some schools: interviews, some schools: research submission, some schools: letters of rec from a research supervisor, final thoughts.

It definitely can.

“Can” is really important phrasing there though: at highly selective schools, many applicants will have done some kind of research project, so it won’t simply speak for itself— you need to help the reader understand how it’s part of your story , the story of your overall application. So before we talk about options for writing, let’s break down your goals with writing about your research, and especially, some things to generally be wary of.

What you want to avoid is the impression: “I just did this research project because my mom told me it would look good to college admission readers.”

Ideally, this experience was transformational for you and allowed you to sharpen (or pivot!) your skills, qualities, values and interests (which are the things you want to help a reader to see through the various elements of your application). Showing colleges how this experience is part of your growth arc and how it shaped and contributed to your ability to problem solve, to work collaboratively, and to “dream big” in many cases, can often leave a favorable impression on those in the committee room.

Don’t let the name of the program, the names of the professors you worked with, or the selectivity “do the work for you.” College admissions officers read these applications quickly, and while some of those shiny stats/facts about your project can grab someone’s attention, it’s fairly common for admission readers to see projects shared in applications—it’s less common to hear from students WHY the projects matter and HOW they were transformational.

So capturing that spirit (while not writing thousands of words about it!) is the balance you should aim to strike. We’ll talk through different approaches to writing below, with examples and analysis.

Doing this well can strengthen your college applications: Our friends at Lumiere looked at data on their students and found that writing about their research effectively in their applications correlated with an increase in their acceptance chances at selective universities.

First, you’ll want to understand how readers read applications, and use that understanding to help tell your story.   

Many schools, (and generally all highly selective schools) use some form of holistic reading—meaning they are looking at how each piece of your application comes together to create a whole. And while things like grades, test scores, etc. are important, one of the biggest things they’re actually thinking about (take MIT’s word on it , for example) is how you and the school fit together .

Admissions readers are typically generalists. They are usually not experts in the subject you’ve done research in.

Because of that:

Know your WHY, and always remember your “so what.”

You can spit out scientific jargon until the cows come home and “flex” your advanced proficiency in the subject … but the admissions officer is more likely to advocate for you if they have a clear understanding of WHY the project is important to you and what issues or challenges, whether local or global, it can help address.

Make sure to communicate your project using digestible language!

This is an important skill that college students learn well during their undergraduate education. It’s fine (and even useful) to get a bit  jargon-y at times, but if you aren’t able to communicate the overarching importance and/or value of your research to diverse audiences and populations, it can get lost in translation and its potential for impact can weaken.

Demonstrate skills and values

Be sure to use language that helps your reader to see how you both pursued and developed/strengthened your skills and values . Which means that, depending on where you’re writing about your research (more on that below), you’ll generally want to show more than tell .

Map out the schools you’re applying to and their supplemental prompts, so you can understand where you can build “ super essays ” (more  on those below).

If you see that, say, 8 out of the 10 schools you are applying to have a supplemental essay that would allow you to share this research experience, it may be smarter to not include much (or maybe even at all) in your personal statement.

You have several options for where to write about research in your college application. Below, we’ll walk through them. We don’t always recommend one approach over the others—things will vary from student to student.

At minimum, your research should appear in your Activities List (and should generally do so regardless of whether you’re also writing about it in a supplemental essay or in your personal statement).

When you’re writing these descriptions, do remember to keep the audience in mind: a person who may or may not have any experience with the content knowledge of your research topic.

With this in mind, let’s look at how one student presented their research on their Common App Activities List:

HudsonAlpha Institute LABS Program (Career Oriented) - (10th - 11th)

6 hours per week / 16 weeks over 2 years = 93 hours total

Trainee (Launching Aspiring Biotech Scientists Program)

HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology

Performed CRISPR gene editing in bacteria (HDR & NHEJ repair), micropipetting, PCR, aseptic technique, tested foods for GMO presence; earned lab coat

Now, this is a fairly effective way to present this information, but this student could have upleveled their description with a “less is more” approach—as in, maybe a bit less jargon (HDR & NHEJ repair, aseptic technique, PCR) and more universal skills, qualities, values and interests. (If you want to get jargon-y, probably use one of the other options below, since you’ll have a greater word count to play with.)

Beyond your technical expertise in the research area, here are some additional questions to ask yourself when writing these descriptions:

Whom did I collaborate with, and what did I learn from them?

What values did I solidify?

Did the research project help clarify my future goals?

Final tip: adding in more Epic Verbs to your description can also help you communicate more about the project, even in a short 150 character description. Did you manage a part of the project? What about presenting the information? The more you can include beyond solely completing research tasks, the more your overall college application will demonstrate college-readiness.

Putting your project in your Activities List (above) is a given— but you’re likely leaving money on the table if you only include it there.

If you’re not planning on using your research project to write either some of your supplemental essays or your personal statement (more on those options below), we’d recommend expanding on your Activities List description using the Additional Info section.

Important note: We recommend not trying to sneak another essay into the Additional Info section (some admissions readers have essentially said that doing so will kind of piss them off). But you can use Add’l Info section to expand on your Activities List description, offering greater detail of your actions and especially expanding on the WHY and the SO WHAT mentioned above—things we are pretty unlikely to get from a simple 150 char description in a list.

Here’s an example of one student who used the Additional Info section to effectively elaborate on one of his Activities List entries:

Over the past eight months, I produced a 10-minute documentary that unpacks the environmental consequences of snowmaking, an increasingly widespread technology that ski resorts use to make artificial snow during meager winters. Based on an AP English paper, my film was self-driven and every element of it was carried out by me. The project combines my interests in skiing, the outdoors, and documentary filmmaking.

In the winter, I conducted research and filmed nearly 10 hours of cinematic footage. In the spring, I interviewed industry experts in Colorado, Washington State, West Virginia, and Vermont. In the summer, I began editing—fusing my research, footage, and interviews into a story. I drafted a script before sitting down with a podcasting microphone. I was the cameraman, editor, interviewer, director, and producer.

I became a more experienced cinematographer and a stronger editor in Premiere Pro. But what I enjoyed the most was being able to meet the knowledgeable, helpful, and fascinating people I interviewed, because without them, there wouldn’t be a story to tell.

My documentary is called Snowmaking: The Environmental Impacts of the Ski Industry’s Saving Grace. To see the documentary in its entirety, follow the second link below to watch it on YouTube. To view a short teaser-trailer for the film, follow the first link.

Why This Works:

Digestible details. While this student admittedly doesn’t have the most niche, convoluted research topic (though I’m sure the chemistry and physics behind snowmaking is more “Black Diamond” intense than Green Circle #lolskijokes), he wisely uses clear, straightforward language to describe his project and his relationships to it. You know what hard skills he’s gained (research, interviewing, video editing) and the project’s scope/scale from the “stats” he’s shared (10-minute documentary, 10 hours of footage) . Plus, by walking you through the general workflow, you also get a sense that he values creativity, entrepreneurship, meaningful work, and more.

A clear “so what?” In addition to providing us with a little more of a play-by-play/timeline of his project—which is helpful for the admissions officer to have a clearer sense of the “what”—this student ends his Additional Info explanation with a broader takeaway from the project: “what I enjoyed the most was being able to meet the knowledgeable, helpful, and fascinating people I interviewed, because without them, there wouldn’t be a story to tell.”

Many supplemental essays (like Why Us , Why Major , Extracurricular Activity , and sometimes Community prompts) offer a chance to expand on WHY you pursued your research project and, through that context, offer greater insight into who you are through exploring some of the values, insights, skills, qualities, interests, and experiences you’ll bring with you to college (and thereby helping readers to see how you and the college fit together).

We have a couple of exercises/approaches that we highly recommend for developing the content for your essay, and doing so in a way that saves you a ton of time:

The BEABIES Exercise

The link above offers specific questions + a chart to help you build your content, but essentially, this exercise helps you brainstorm What I Did, Problems I Solved, Lessons Learned/Skills Gained, Impact I Had, and How I Applied What I Learned—generally all elements that you’ll want to share in a supplemental essay exploring your research.

“ Super Essays ”

We linked this above as well, but essentially, this guide walks through how to look for overlap between supplemental essay prompts, so that you can largely reuse pieces of writing (and often save yourself dozens of hours in the process, and frequently create better writing anyway).

Here’s an example of one student’s 200-250 word Super Essay that she was able to reuse for five different colleges’ supplemental essay prompts:

Note: Bolded lines added by us, for ease of reference in the analysis below.

 I stared at a picture of the blood-brain barrier (BBB) with annoyance. Despite its importance, its role in blocking most substances from the brain impaired my potential solution to anorexia nervosa: making up for low dopamine levels by injecting the hormone into cerebral fluid. After days of research, I found a new solution. Since the barrier’s semi-permeable nature allows for the diffusion of lipid-soluble molecules like barbiturates, I could deliver the dopamine via a preoperative sedative (a barbiturate), penetrating the BBB and allowing patients to get pleasure from eating. I was exhilarated. And hooked. I discovered the brain’s role in other disorders and developed a fascination for how it worked—or didn’t work. I soon realized that, though the brain was often the problem, it could also be the solution. So in every STEM class paper, I pitched an idea on how to use the brain. Bypassing the BBB with nanotechnology to target primary brain tumors. Increasing glucose levels to strengthen willpower. Using stimulants to activate the prefrontal cortex in autistic children. In researching ADHD and autism, I found that brain imaging data could be used to predict changes in symptoms. Imagine the power that could give doctors in preventing serious challenges like depression or anxiety. I learned to appreciate the power the brain had in other areas of my life, like processing the mind-boggling 0/0 in calculus, or the plane’s oscillation physics, or The Giver ’s message on freedom. The brain is more than an organ. It's equipped me to be an innovator in my own home, and I’m excited to continue learning about all it does—and doesn’t do—at Dartmouth, whether it’s studying the theories behind groupthink in Social Psychology or researching the complex mechanisms of the medial frontoparietal network in Professor Meyer’s Social Neuroscience Lab.

The ripple effect. This student doesn’t just clearly demonstrate (in only a few words!) how fascinated she is by the brain—she also shows how lessons and insights she’s uncovered about the brain can be applied to other scenarios outside of just research: planes, calculus, and even young adult fiction. Being able to demonstrate your ability to make interdisciplinary connections is a sign of college-level thinking, maturity, and an ability to see the broader impact/possibilities of your research interest … which is the whole point of research!

Unfiltered emotions. Some of the adjectives this student uses to describe her journey through research are par for the course (hooked, exhilarated), but by starting off her essay with a moment of frustration and annoyance, you get a sense of her humanity. The project wasn’t just sunshine and rainbows—she had to pivot and push past mental roadblocks. Being able to capture the highs and lows she experienced during the project adds in a layer of vulnerability, which helps build connection and relatability with her reader.

More bang for your buck. Focusing on the WHY doesn’t just help admissions officers get a better sense for you as a  person—it also helps you (potentially) save a lot of time and effort on your supplemental essays! Because this student shared not just the “what I did” but also her “this is why it’s important to me,” she was able to reuse the essay at several schools whose prompts (at the time of her application) asked her to reflect on her academic interests, things that excite her (Dartmouth) and bring her joy (Brown):

Darmouth: What excites you? (250-300 words)

Stanford: The Stanford community is deeply curious and driven to learn in and out of the classroom. Reflect on an idea or experience that makes you genuinely excited about learning. (250 words)

Emory: What academic areas are you interested in exploring in college? (200 words)

Brown: students care deeply about their work and the world around them. Students find contentment, satisfaction, and meaning in daily interactions and major discoveries. Whether big or small, mundane or spectacular, tell us about something that brings you joy. (200-250 words)

UNC Chapel Hill Honors Carolina Program: Please submit a short essay that describes your academic interests and the ways you believe Honors Carolina can help you pursue them (250 words)

Here’s another Super Essay example that demonstrates how writing these essays from the angle of intellectual curiosity can maximize their use and scope:

I thought I was being smart, luring my opponent into the back of my piste, giving her the best opportunities to attack. And everything went according to plan: she attacked, I stepped back to parry and… I stepped over the back line. After much deliberation I realised it was my fault for not realising, but I was curious: why do we expect fencers to just know when they are at the back line? That summer I had started an Arduino course, fascinated by the capabilities the small computer has to offer. I had modeled different medical devices as part of my Biomedical Engineering Course with Johns Hopkins, but realised the potential was unlimited. With a new goal in mind, I brainstormed ideas: a touch sensor? Too small for the piste. An analog hall sensor? That would require putting a magnet in the shoe—too invasive. A laser beam? Might be difficult to position but… feasible! Using a photoreceptor, laser, active buzzer, and Arduino Uno—after much troubleshooting and remodelling—I created a system that alerts the fencer when they cross the back line. It is now in trial at my fencing classes, where I am gathering data on how often fencer’s cross the back line for my coach. With my interest in the power of the Arduino, I am working on a fencing 2-target training device. It will work on a fencer’s depth and ability to switch targets while accelerating, as well as a way to measure max speed using lasers.

Asking the big questions. This student gives us a sense of how his mind tries to problem solve, and the types of questions he’s eager to answer. This is a surefire way to weave intellectual curiosity into your response—rather than just saying “I’m fascinated by fencing,” show us .

Prioritizing the process—not the pedigree. You might be surprised that this student only spent one sentence detailing his Johns Hopkins course/research experience. Many students will write responses like this and completely reverse the ratio—spending 80% on “I’m smart because I did a Johns Hopkins program” and 20% on “and here’s what it prompted me to do/think/feel.” Reverse that ratio! It’s much more colorful and illustrative to show your creativity/output versus a general program description, which could be written by any student who did that program.

There are other (arguably more suitable) spaces to relay the facts about the research experience—namely the Additional Info section. In fact, here’s how this student described his course there:

Johns Hopkins Biomedical Engineering Innovation Course

Learnt how to plan my own labs write full-length lab reports.

learnt how to apply physics principles to the variety of human body systems

Created our own biosensors, I developed one to detect seizures

Final research project: “A Clinical Approach To Measuring The Effects of Pes Planus on Execution of Fencing Movements”. Inspired by my flat feet

Advisor for research: Aspetar sports biomechanics researcher

If you’re applying to the University of California (UCs) and have conducted an independent or formal research project, it can often be a perfect fit for their Personal Insight Questions (PIQs).

The UCs give students eight different prompts and ask for four 350 word responses, and you get to choose whichever ones you want. From our experience, independent research projects tend to be great fits for Prompt #4: Significant Educational Opportunity/Barrier .

The UC writing prompts are a little different than supplemental essays at other selective colleges. Whereas many other colleges are hoping for students to weave in a little more creativity, reflection, and insight into their supplemental essays, the UC admissions team has actually encouraged students to be a little more straight-to-the-point, with a focus on the scope and impact of your experiences (for more on this, check out our free UC PIQ guide ). Think of them as a hybrid between most selective colleges’ supplemental essay prompts (i.e. more opportunity for the WHY) and the Common App Additional Info section (i.e. an opportunity for the WHAT).

Here’s an example from a student who wrote about his CRISPR research project for UC PIQ #4, with a keen focus on that more direct and explanatory writing style:

The letters A, C, T, and G are inscribed on colored bubbles in various geometric shapes, filling the blue background. A new board game? Not really. Those are actually CRISPR puzzles used to create new RNA designs for medical research. And the letters? Well, those represent the four bases found in DNA molecules. I enjoyed interacting with DNA through experiments like these after being selected into the University of Rochester Personalized Medicine course, where I explored genetics, personalized medicine through gene editing, and the ethics behind these treatments. This course allowed me to explore my insatiable curiosities towards medicine and form valuable connections with other students and professionals in the medical sciences. I was able to delve deeper into aspects of medicine as varied as investigating the ethical considerations of gene editing with a bioethicist, discovering the ins and outs of the professional medical field with a MD/Phd candidate, and learning about treating lymphoma by using DNA editing in CAR-T therapy with a hematologist. Eventually, it was time to apply these weeks of studying and collaborating: my peers and I needed to design our own personalized medical treatments. Even though this task was formidable at first, I was eager to use my new skills to create something unique and beneficial. Whether I was meticulously searching my patient and their family’s medical history, identifying the genetic variants associated with asthma with my mentor, determining the ethical considerations of my treatment, or researching viral vectors used to deliver similar gene-editing treatments, I relished delving deeper into these complex medical processes and putting into practice the ever-evolving concept of personalized medicine. In the end, I developed a “prototype” treatment for asthma targeting the bronchial epithelial cells in-vivo through the inhalation of the adeno-associated viral vector, using the emerging CRISPR-Cas9 technology as the method of gene-editing. I was so proud to receive glowing reviews of this idea from the professors of the course and my student mentor. As a result, I’ve realized I want to be at the forefront of personalized medicine, treating patients as individuals rather than as just another “patient.”

What a beautiful BEABIES! This student seems to have clearly followed the sequence of CEG’s signature extracurricular brainstorming exercise, BEABIES : What I Did, Problems I Solved, Lessons Learned/Skills Gained, Impact I Had, and How I Applied What I Learned. With a 350 word PIQ, there’s a lot of room for each of these five categories to get their time in the sun.

We’ve been sent good “whether.” Notice the bolded section at the end of the fourth paragraph. This student wisely uses what we call a “stacked sentence” to show multiple examples of how he was able to apply what he learned from his research experience to other facets of his life. Using a sentence that begins with “Whether I was” and goes on to describe 3-or-so parallel applications of research lessons is a great practice, and allows you to show a lot in very few words.

We want to offer a caveat about making a research experience the singular focus of a personal statement : doing so can entail a higher degree of difficulty, and possibly missed opportunities.

Here’s why: Your personal statement is one of your primary opportunities to help a school see who you are through what you value and the insights you’ve gained through your experiences. To help frame the overall arc of your story. And while it’s theoretically possible that your research experience is the best way to show those things to your reader, it seems more likely (and definitely has been in our experience) that including your research experience and what it meant to you / why you’ve pursued it as a component of your essay, but not making it the entire 650 words, will help a college see who you are and how you fit together.

It’s possible to write an entire 650 word personal statement on just the research experience. Doing so in an effective and compelling way is generally harder. And it tends to mean you missed out on the chance to show us other values, insights, qualities, and skills that make you you (because we’re betting research is important to you, and that there’s also way more to you than research).

Here’s an example of a Narrative essay that incorporates elements of a student’s research, within the broader narrative of their intellectual curiosity for ecotourism.

I sit next to the tiger. Smile, click, next. Jumping up and down, beaming, eleven-year-old me could hardly believe that I was in such close proximity to these beautiful, ferocious animals in a tiger temple. Twelve-year-old me frowned and asked the person leading the camel I was riding, “Why are its humps flopped over?” I am told that it’s hungry and will be fine after lunch in an hour. Concerned for the animals’ wellness, I checked an hour later...and nothing had changed. Heart sinking, I trudged back to my parents and wondered what was going on. After researching, I found that a flopped over hump indicates malnutrition. A few years later, leafing through the new National Geographic magazine, a title caught my eye, “Suffering unseen: The dark truth behind wildlife tourism.” Curiosity warring with dread, I quickly flipped the pages and began to read. As all those memories of visiting animals came flooding through my consciousness, I realized—seeing the experiences with a new lens—that animal abuse is rampant in the ecotourism industry. With that realization came a determination and desire within me to learn more and have a positive impact on animals’ lives. As I uncovered more information, I began searching for ways to spread this knowledge. The amount of people that still visit these places makes me wonder how many truly know about the horrors behind-the-scenes; surely the main demographic of ecotourism is animal lovers like me, and surely they would not knowingly support this abuse. When searching for ways I could spread my knowledge, I reached out to participate in a nearby TEDx event and was invited to be a speaker. Delighted, I devoted myself to researching, drafting, and redrafting for a speech that meant so much, for a speech on animal abuse in ecotourism. As I played with a pet dog backstage, my awe at this creature and its delight reminded me of the only thing able to still my visible jitters and guide me through my speech: the thought that I was doing this not for myself, but for the innocent animals who themselves can not communicate with people. This thought has continued to guide me as I go down the path of researching to influence change about animal mistreatment. I want to give them a stronger voice and so I turned to a new medium: writing articles. I began to focus on putting my experiences and research onto paper. The first article I wrote was about the tiger temple. At the time, caught up in the exhilaration of getting to touch tigers, I had not noticed that they had been chained and lethargic. I remembered that I had even seen—but not realized I was seeing—an employee poke a nail into a tiger to make the majestic animal perk up for a picture. It is disturbing how easily the signs of exploitation are overlooked. To take my advocacy to the next level, I built a website to host these articles. Distributing flyers with basic information at airports, and traveling friends and family posting them at ecotourism hotspots, has caused people to access the site from all over the world—even Thailand! This work has now evolved into a non-profit called PAFT (Protect Animals From Tourism), focused on creating awareness and providing tools to aid animals. As I began learning Swift and Xcode, I found myself gravitating towards building apps for this cause. The many-month long process commenced to create an app that gives users a set of criteria to identify animal exploitation and take steps to help them. I aspire to continue utilizing technology's vast reach to spread this information and influence change in animal treatment. Because, no matter the path I take, my heart will always be floating in nature, yearning to protect its most vulnerable members.

Raising the stakes. Because this student’s research work wasn’t a “one-and-done” (i.e. she stopped thinking or doing anything about it at the conclusion of a formal program), the Narrative essay gives her ample space to walk through how she raised the stakes and amplified the importance of animal mistreatment to wider audiences.

A forward-focused ending. A great Narrative essay will often end with a “New Status Quo” outlook. For this student, that’s a sense of direction and clarity around her future path. If your research experience solidified a career or major prospect for you, this is a great chance to reflect on what you hope to accomplish by pursuing it.

NOTE: while this personal statement roughly passes the “Great College Essay Test," this student likely could have been able to uplevel their personal statement had they written it as more of a Montage , which would have allowed them to describe more experiences and showcase more values.

Speaking of which, here’s a Montage example where the student used our Essence Objects brainstorming exercise to demonstrate how miscellaneous objects in her tote bag connect to her love for running, newfound confidence on her appearance (and how that manifests in other areas), commitment to service, and—you guessed it!—scientific research:

Note: The student bolded the object at the beginning of each paragraph. We’ve added bold to the other lines for ease of reference in the analysis below.

I’m seven years old, rummaging through my mom’s small red purse. When she sees me, she tells me to stop. “It’s not proper to look through a woman’s purse,” she says. I’m confused—I was only looking for chapstick. As I reflect on this ten years later, I realize that the treasures bags hold are personal. My tan tote bag with “Bonjour” written in red lettering offers a peek into my life and what I value. Nike Pegasus running shoes , limited edition. In these shoes, I’ve met my best friends, ran countless miles, and made unforgettable memories. Two years ago, my love for running turned into an unhealthy obsession and I developed an exercise addiction along with an eating disorder. After loved ones voiced their concerns, I reevaluated the path that I was on. Since then, I’ve worked hard to change my mindset towards exercise and food. Now, I run to clear my mind and improve my mood. Eventually, I began seeing improvements, not only in my mental health, but also in my athletic performance. Gold hair fork , bought in the Ithaca Commons on my first solo road trip. On the surface it may appear meaningless, but it carries several memories for me. Growing up, I was naturally hairier than most kids in my grade and had thick, frizzy curls (thank you, Italian genetics). After years of being picked on and lots of hair straightening, I grew tired of trying to conform. I learned how to properly take care of my hair and found peace in embracing my natural self. My journey did not stop with the acceptance of my physical appearance. I took this newfound confidence and started to speak up in my conservative-leaning hometown. Whether it was at Sunday family dinners or during heated APUSH discussions about our presidency, I made it a priority to speak up for what I believed in, despite the potential for harsh backlash. Junior youth group book , Breezes of Confirmation . This book is based on my religion, the Bahai Faith, and it teaches the junior youth about valuable moral concepts and virtues. In my two groups, we have studied the book together and served together. We wrote cards to people hospitalized during COVID and raised money to send a young girl in Uganda to school. One of my faith’s fundamental principles is the idea that science and religion work together in harmony. I strive to create this harmony in my own life through both my leadership in the junior youth program and my academic aspirations. Blue 3D printed cell model, created with my brother on a hot summer day. From exploring at-home chemistry kits to learning how and why my Grandpa got cancer, I value learning about what the eye cannot see. I eventually landed an internship in a lab at a local university where I helped dissect drosophila melanogaster flies and looked at their eggs under high power microscopes, aiming to find out how mitotic spindle fibers are oriented in epithelial tissues. This research is so important to me because of its potential to improve chemotherapy drugs. My grandpa is still alive because he risked taking a new immunotherapy treatment called pembrolizumab. Witnessing the female researchers work towards such a meaningful cause has inspired me to pursue cancer research in the future, just like them. Similar to a lysosome, destroying old organelles, the items I’ve used in high school will soon be replaced by newer, although equally important items. My $5 tote bag with its poorly stitched canvas material will surely give way in the years (hopefully not months) to come, but the meaning of the contents inside will remain. I’ll always be that frizzy haired author, scientist, podcaster, advocate, and leader, running to my own rhythm.

Uncommon connections. Right from the beginning of the fifth paragraph, this student starts linking their value for “what the eye cannot see” to their research. She also folds in her value of empowerment—particularly for women—in scientific spaces. With this ratio intact (one sentence on WHAT and three-ish sentences on WHY), she avoids the reader from getting lost in the fly trap. Ha. ha.

A clear “so what.” She has a “jargon-y” sentence… but she backs up WHY dissecting flies even matters in the greater scope of the human experience—something that any admissions officer will be able to appreciate.

Again, think about your audience here. If it’s an alumni interviewer who studied a subject that’s completely different from what your research is in, you’ll want to give the most “bird’s eye” view of the project you can so they can understand it (even if it’s complex!) in a short conversation. Alternatively, if you happen to be paired with a student interviewer who studied or is studying the area you’ve done research in, it makes sense to geek out a little more! (And can be a nice way to bond.)

It helps to understand how each school’s evaluation process works, and who actually will be laying eyes on and sharing their opinion about your application. Some colleges offer specific portals through which to submit research, and at some colleges, research abstracts and papers might be shared with faculty members in that particular academic department, and they may (or may not!) share notes and/or a rating about how your project fits in with the pedagogy and work of the college’s department.

If you’re able to ask your research supervisor (especially if they’re a college professor) for a letter of recommendation, that can be a really eye-catching addition to your application at certain selective colleges.

For instance, one of our CEG team members recently had a counselor call (aka when high school college counselors call admissions officers to get a heads up about their school’s applicants) with an admissions rep from Caltech, who mentioned that applicants who’ve done research alongside faculty members at colleges/universities AND have an additional form of advocacy from a professor (generally a recommendation letter) can sometimes fare better in their admissions process.

However, this appreciation for recommendations falls very much in the “it depends” category of how colleges view certain application materials. It’s best to clarify specifically with your regional admissions officer at each college you apply to about their take on this.

Because we covered a ton in this post, we’ll keep this brief:

Be sure to take the time to think about the overall story of your application, and how research fits into it.

And help your readers see the values and insights and growth you’ve gained because of the experience.

Thanks for reading, and have a beautiful time diving in with your writing.

Tom Campbell (he/him) is an eternally extra Gemini who has spent the past seven years helping students and families navigate the college admissions process—one alliterative/assonant aphorism at a time. Prior to joining College Essay Guy, he worked as a college counselor at Lakeside School and an admissions officer at Pomona College and College of the Holy Cross (his alma mater). He stans em dashes and semicolons, Kacey Musgraves (all eras, not just star crossed and Golden Hour), superior breakfast burritos, and complaining about space tourism.

Top Values: Authenticity | Fun | Vulnerability

Andrew Simpson (he/him), CEG’s Editorial Director, has worked as an educator, consultant, and curriculum writer for the past 15 years, and earned degrees from Stanford in Political Science and Drama. He feels most at home on mountain tops and in oceans.

Top Values:  Insight/Growth | Truth | Integrity

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11.1 The Purpose of Research Writing

Learning objectives.

• Identify reasons to research writing projects.
• Outline the steps of the research writing process.

Why was the Great Wall of China built? What have scientists learned about the possibility of life on Mars? What roles did women play in the American Revolution? How does the human brain create, store, and retrieve memories? Who invented the game of football, and how has it changed over the years?

You may know the answers to these questions off the top of your head. If you are like most people, however, you find answers to tough questions like these by searching the Internet, visiting the library, or asking others for information. To put it simply, you perform research.

Whether you are a scientist, an artist, a paralegal, or a parent, you probably perform research in your everyday life. When your boss, your instructor, or a family member asks you a question that you do not know the answer to, you locate relevant information, analyze your findings, and share your results. Locating, analyzing, and sharing information are key steps in the research process, and in this chapter, you will learn more about each step. By developing your research writing skills, you will prepare yourself to answer any question no matter how challenging.

Reasons for Research

When you perform research, you are essentially trying to solve a mystery—you want to know how something works or why something happened. In other words, you want to answer a question that you (and other people) have about the world. This is one of the most basic reasons for performing research.

But the research process does not end when you have solved your mystery. Imagine what would happen if a detective collected enough evidence to solve a criminal case, but she never shared her solution with the authorities. Presenting what you have learned from research can be just as important as performing the research. Research results can be presented in a variety of ways, but one of the most popular—and effective—presentation forms is the research paper . A research paper presents an original thesis, or purpose statement, about a topic and develops that thesis with information gathered from a variety of sources.

If you are curious about the possibility of life on Mars, for example, you might choose to research the topic. What will you do, though, when your research is complete? You will need a way to put your thoughts together in a logical, coherent manner. You may want to use the facts you have learned to create a narrative or to support an argument. And you may want to show the results of your research to your friends, your teachers, or even the editors of magazines and journals. Writing a research paper is an ideal way to organize thoughts, craft narratives or make arguments based on research, and share your newfound knowledge with the world.

Write a paragraph about a time when you used research in your everyday life. Did you look for the cheapest way to travel from Houston to Denver? Did you search for a way to remove gum from the bottom of your shoe? In your paragraph, explain what you wanted to research, how you performed the research, and what you learned as a result.

Research Writing and the Academic Paper

No matter what field of study you are interested in, you will most likely be asked to write a research paper during your academic career. For example, a student in an art history course might write a research paper about an artist’s work. Similarly, a student in a psychology course might write a research paper about current findings in childhood development.

Having to write a research paper may feel intimidating at first. After all, researching and writing a long paper requires a lot of time, effort, and organization. However, writing a research paper can also be a great opportunity to explore a topic that is particularly interesting to you. The research process allows you to gain expertise on a topic of your choice, and the writing process helps you remember what you have learned and understand it on a deeper level.

Research Writing at Work

Knowing how to write a good research paper is a valuable skill that will serve you well throughout your career. Whether you are developing a new product, studying the best way to perform a procedure, or learning about challenges and opportunities in your field of employment, you will use research techniques to guide your exploration. You may even need to create a written report of your findings. And because effective communication is essential to any company, employers seek to hire people who can write clearly and professionally.

Writing at Work

Take a few minutes to think about each of the following careers. How might each of these professionals use researching and research writing skills on the job?

• Medical laboratory technician
• Small business owner
• Information technology professional
• Freelance magazine writer

A medical laboratory technician or information technology professional might do research to learn about the latest technological developments in either of these fields. A small business owner might conduct research to learn about the latest trends in his or her industry. A freelance magazine writer may need to research a given topic to write an informed, up-to-date article.

Think about the job of your dreams. How might you use research writing skills to perform that job? Create a list of ways in which strong researching, organizing, writing, and critical thinking skills could help you succeed at your dream job. How might these skills help you obtain that job?

Steps of the Research Writing Process

How does a research paper grow from a folder of brainstormed notes to a polished final draft? No two projects are identical, but most projects follow a series of six basic steps.

These are the steps in the research writing process:

• Choose a topic.
• Plan and schedule time to research and write.
• Conduct research.
• Organize research and ideas.
• Draft your paper.
• Revise and edit your paper.

Each of these steps will be discussed in more detail later in this chapter. For now, though, we will take a brief look at what each step involves.

Step 1: Choosing a Topic

As you may recall from Chapter 8 “The Writing Process: How Do I Begin?” , to narrow the focus of your topic, you may try freewriting exercises, such as brainstorming. You may also need to ask a specific research question —a broad, open-ended question that will guide your research—as well as propose a possible answer, or a working thesis . You may use your research question and your working thesis to create a research proposal . In a research proposal, you present your main research question, any related subquestions you plan to explore, and your working thesis.

Step 2: Planning and Scheduling

Before you start researching your topic, take time to plan your researching and writing schedule. Research projects can take days, weeks, or even months to complete. Creating a schedule is a good way to ensure that you do not end up being overwhelmed by all the work you have to do as the deadline approaches.

During this step of the process, it is also a good idea to plan the resources and organizational tools you will use to keep yourself on track throughout the project. Flowcharts, calendars, and checklists can all help you stick to your schedule. See Chapter 11 “Writing from Research: What Will I Learn?” , Section 11.2 “Steps in Developing a Research Proposal” for an example of a research schedule.

Step 3: Conducting Research

When going about your research, you will likely use a variety of sources—anything from books and periodicals to video presentations and in-person interviews.

Your sources will include both primary sources and secondary sources . Primary sources provide firsthand information or raw data. For example, surveys, in-person interviews, and historical documents are primary sources. Secondary sources, such as biographies, literary reviews, or magazine articles, include some analysis or interpretation of the information presented. As you conduct research, you will take detailed, careful notes about your discoveries. You will also evaluate the reliability of each source you find.

Step 4: Organizing Research and the Writer’s Ideas

When your research is complete, you will organize your findings and decide which sources to cite in your paper. You will also have an opportunity to evaluate the evidence you have collected and determine whether it supports your thesis, or the focus of your paper. You may decide to adjust your thesis or conduct additional research to ensure that your thesis is well supported.

Remember, your working thesis is not set in stone. You can and should change your working thesis throughout the research writing process if the evidence you find does not support your original thesis. Never try to force evidence to fit your argument. For example, your working thesis is “Mars cannot support life-forms.” Yet, a week into researching your topic, you find an article in the New York Times detailing new findings of bacteria under the Martian surface. Instead of trying to argue that bacteria are not life forms, you might instead alter your thesis to “Mars cannot support complex life-forms.”

Step 5: Drafting Your Paper

Now you are ready to combine your research findings with your critical analysis of the results in a rough draft. You will incorporate source materials into your paper and discuss each source thoughtfully in relation to your thesis or purpose statement.

When you cite your reference sources, it is important to pay close attention to standard conventions for citing sources in order to avoid plagiarism , or the practice of using someone else’s words without acknowledging the source. Later in this chapter, you will learn how to incorporate sources in your paper and avoid some of the most common pitfalls of attributing information.

Step 6: Revising and Editing Your Paper

In the final step of the research writing process, you will revise and polish your paper. You might reorganize your paper’s structure or revise for unity and cohesion, ensuring that each element in your paper flows into the next logically and naturally. You will also make sure that your paper uses an appropriate and consistent tone.

Once you feel confident in the strength of your writing, you will edit your paper for proper spelling, grammar, punctuation, mechanics, and formatting. When you complete this final step, you will have transformed a simple idea or question into a thoroughly researched and well-written paper you can be proud of!

Review the steps of the research writing process. Then answer the questions on your own sheet of paper.

• In which steps of the research writing process are you allowed to change your thesis?
• In step 2, which types of information should you include in your project schedule?
• What might happen if you eliminated step 4 from the research writing process?

Key Takeaways

• People undertake research projects throughout their academic and professional careers in order to answer specific questions, share their findings with others, increase their understanding of challenging topics, and strengthen their researching, writing, and analytical skills.
• The research writing process generally comprises six steps: choosing a topic, scheduling and planning time for research and writing, conducting research, organizing research and ideas, drafting a paper, and revising and editing the paper.

Writing for Success Copyright © 2015 by University of Minnesota is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.