How to Choose a Research Topic: 7 Tips for Students

First things first, a research paper doesn’t fail at the conclusion; it does in the premise. And most students do not realize it until they spend precious weeks choosing a research paper topic that only sounds good.

Sometimes they pick a topic that has a broad interest but a narrow space left for research questions. And only realize halfway through that they have nothing to add. But you know what, at the back of your mind you could also have a voice that said a brilliant idea has already been picked by everyone else.

Worry not, here is the good news for you!

That stuck feeling doesn't mean that your instincts are incorrect; it just means that you are viewing a mountain to be climbed without a map. Because of this, here's the only map that is needed to unravel the mystery of how to choose a good topic for my research paper.

It's a methodical process of identifying gaps that have been previously neglected in the research and matching them with researchable data.

What Makes a Good Research Paper Topic?

A good research paper topic is if it is possible to complete it with all the logical parts and sources. That's an easy and trivial thing to say, but it's also the reason behind the failure of so many ideas that sound good. It is interesting and important, and, indeed, it is a subject which we can't fit into a whole book.

There are five factors that distinguish the safe from the unsafe topics:

• Assignment Fit: The topic is an answer to the question you were asked by your instructor and is in the correct format and length.
• Genuine Interest: This will be a lot of work, and there's a little bit of curiosity that goes out as fast as you'd think.
• Manageable Scope: It can be protected effectively in the amount of pages you have.
• Available Evidence: There are scholarly journals, books, or reliable data available, and you can contact them.
• Opportunity for Debate: Not a collection of information. There are definitely some to make an argument, to compare, or even to determine.

How to Choose a Research Paper Topic in 7 Steps

For a topic that's just not strong on these 7 measures, a few other options exist. Here's what you can do.

1. Read the Assignment Requirements Carefully.

Record the paper type (e. g., argument, analytical, informative), word count number of references and type of sources (for example online library-based, published books) and any requirements or limitations on content. You may be required to concentrate on one unit by your professor. Others may have been frightened off by certain topics, seeing them so often.

If not, ask. Don't risk another draft to be written from scratch when you could take a little time to send us a quick 2-line email. When you get your instructor's response, it also indicates how broad your research is.

2. Begin with a topic that you are interested in.

Write a broad topic that you may have a little bit of intuition about, even if it is a very small amount. Maybe something has occurred to you about your own life, or you have a question you didn't get to in your lectures, or you read it in an article that just didn't seem right. Here are the reasons why it's important to go on reading when it gets boring.

Do not concern yourself with accuracy at this time. “Sleep and school” or “work from home” is an equally good beginning for now.

3. Brainstorm Several Possible Topics

If you are looking for fresh research topic ideas and finding a research topic, write down at least five or six ideas rather than jumping on the first one. Try free writing for ten minutes. Or make a list of questions you'd like to have answered, or browse your course text's table of contents to see if there's a chapter that caught your interest.

When choosing a research paper topic, this matters for a more pragmatic reason. Even if you blow your first choice while you're researching it, you'll have alternatives.

4. Do Some Preliminary Research

Spend an hour (not a week) doing extra background reading on your two or three best ideas. Use your library's database or Google Scholar (not just Google) to find the abstracts and introductions of papers and observe which ideas have been repeated and cited.

There are two questions you need to ask yourself. First: is this a topic that has been well written about by someone else? And second: does the topic excite you enough to want to know more about it? If the answer to both questions is yes, then it deserves to be given the treatment!

5. Narrow the Topic to a Manageable Scope

This is where you get away from an overbroad subject by cutting it down to a sense of population, time period, location, or perspective. This will be shown more thoroughly in the next section.

Here's a quick way to think about this. If you could see an entire bookshelf of books written on the subject, that's still too broad. If you could sum up every fact there is to know about the subject in one paragraph, it's too narrow.

6. Check Whether Enough Credible Sources Are Available.

Search your topic more narrowly and keep track of the number of items you find. Scan for peer-reviewed journals, scholarly presses' books, and reports from known companies. Your assignment will require a specific number, so add a couple more to the list because a couple will not be quite as relevant as you first thought.

Two warning signs: almost nothing appears, or everything appears in the form of blog or news article summaries. Both require you to refine the topic, often by broadening it. After receiving advice from your library's guide to finding credible sources for a research paper on how to evaluate sources, you may be ready to revise.

7. Turn the Topic Into a Focused Research Question

Knowing how to develop a research question is essential because a topic is a general area, while a question gives a subject to be answered. "Social media and study habits" would be the topic. "How do college students explain the effect of social media on their studying practices?" would be a question you could answer, and that would guide your search terms, your outline, and ultimately your thesis statement.

Quality questions are narrowly focused and sufficiently broad to challenge you to analyze your evidence, and can be reasonably answered based on your evidence (step 6). For example, if a simple yes/no response would do, then you need to restate your question.

How Do You Narrow a Broad Research Topic?

Narrowing means adding limits until the topic fits your paper. You can limit by group of people, by setting, by time frame, or by a particular aspect of the issue. Usually two limits are enough.

Here's how that looks in practice:

Observe the events in each row. The very first column could fill up an entire semester. The second one's an ok example for a paper. The third column provides you with an exact indication of what to look for, and it also provides you with an exact indication of what you can ignore.

If unsure, ask "which people?". Ask the questions, "where?" and "when?" about your topic. One or two answers will be given to each question, which may be used as a limit. Additionally, you may discover some how-to's available at writing centers at other universities (like Texas A & M and Boston University).

How Can You Tell If Your Research Topic Is Suitable?

Before you decide, score your topic on this scorecard below. Be honest. A topic that ranks poorly now will end up costing you many times that amount of time down the road.

Topic-Evaluation Scorecard: Indicate the ratings for each criterion with 1 (weak) through 5 (excellent).

How to read your total (out of 30):

• 24 to 30: Proceed.
• 18 to 23: Promising, but correct the lowest-scoring point first. This is generally scope or evidence.
• Less than 18: Return to your brainstorming list and select a different project.

Anything with a 1 shouldn't be ignored regardless of your total being high. For a subject that lacks evidence, passion is not going to cut it.

Common Mistakes to Avoid When Choosing a Topic.

• Choosing something too wide-ranging: You can't go into 'mental health' or 'the history of war' in a single essay. If your topic could be the title of a course, make it more specific.
• Skipping the source check: Do the cross-check before you've even written a paragraph.
• Relying on personal opinion: The presence of personal opinion is not proof. If you're mostly defending your point of view.
• Deciding the conclusion in advance: Choose a question you can't yet answer as once you know the answer, you will find sources that are inclined towards your choice.
• Choosing a topic that's too narrow: If you struggle to find three or four sources addressing your particular problem, expand one of your boundaries.

Final Checklist Before You Commit to a Topic

Read these over before you start outlining:

• It has to do with my assignment and my teacher's requirements.
• I can describe it in one sentence to someone who was not in class.
• I found sufficiently reliable sources and academic works on it.
• The research question I have is not "subject-based" but focused (e.g., on a question).
• The question cannot be answered with a simple yes or no.
• I am able to complete the research and writing in the available time.
• I am still at least somewhat interested in the answer.

Once you can tick all seven, initiate your notes of literature review and make a draft outline. If not, go to the step that you did not get through.

Where to Go From Here

After you have figured out what you need to write about and a question, the next thing you have to do is create a plan. We've got an outline and timeline on how to plan a research paper, but for the last few chapters we've got a breakdown of how to turn your question into an argument, and how to cite your sources correctly. Once you have your research mapped out and are ready to draft your arguments, check out our guide on how to write an essay for a broader breakdown of academic structure. If you think that a second pair of eyes on your research paper would be an ideal choice for reviewing and helping you, our academic writing support team is happy to take a look.