How to Write Your Academic Paper

Before diving into a term paper format, we need to define what a term paper and its objectives are.

A term paper is assigned to students at the end of a school semester which showcases a student’s knowledge about a topic. Hence, it requires technical writing expertise, and it must be well analyzed, organized, and researched. Before writing a term paper, select a subject. Therefore, this article will explain how to get a topic and things to consider when choosing a topic.

Term Paper Topics

You might have the opportunity to choose a topic of your choice if your instructor didn’t provide you with any topic related to your course. To get research topics, read journals, magazines and articles, listen to the news, and surf the web – after all of these, you would have seen a topic that interests you. Hence, writing becomes easy and fun.

Put the points below into consideration when choosing a topic:

  • Length

According to your instructor’s requirements, how many pages long is the project? What is the word count requirement? when you answer these questions, you will determine how broad or narrow your subject will be.

  • Resources

Ensure there are available resources for your topic. You can check your school academic library or online for available resources.

  • Complexity

No matter how complex your topic is, be ready to defend it. Therefore, don’t be afraid to ask questions from experts on grey areas of your topic.

Starting a Term Paper

Before you start writing your paper, get clarifications from your instructor on how he or she wants you to write it. Furthermore, to have an excellent paper, you need to start planning ahead of time and also know the outlines to cover in a term paper.

Term Paper Outline

A term paper outline serves as a basis for your work. Hence, you need to know the formatting requirement before you start writing. The main paper parts are the introduction, body, and conclusion.

Explained below is a general term paper format to follow when writing your paper:

  • Title page: This page contains your topic, name, student registration number, instructor’s name, and submission date – all in the center of the page.
  • Abstract: This page summarizes your topic. It’s objective and significant. It is always less than a page, about 150 – 200 pages.
  • Introduction: this contains the thesis statement, the significance of the study and problem statement, and how you plan to resolve the issue.
  • Body: This should contain the ideas and viewpoints of past researchers concerning your topic. Discuss your viewpoint explicitly and how the researchers’ resources correlate with your topic.
  • Results: connect your findings with your thesis statement stated in the introductory part of the research and state how your findings have changed your initial viewpoint.
  • Discussion: in this section, summarize and conclude your research and also give recommendations for future researchers.