Bits of Advice for Choosing Research Paper Topics. Part I

• It is okay to write a research paper on very specialized and technical issues, but keep in mind that your topic should involve real feelings and emotions, so that your readers can understand what you are talking about.
  
• Bad research paper topics are usually too general and broad, not controversial enough, or entirely dependent on warrants and emotional beliefs.
  
• Beware of topics that have not much argument in them, for instance, anorexia nervosa. Moreover, these research paper ideas have too much information available, hence, heaps of ideas repeated over and over.
  
• Don’t consider topics for research papers that deal with academic and specialized arguments among experts: arguments which display very little use of ethos and pathos but a good deal of technical knowledge.
  
• Avoid research paper topics, in which you are likely to get only one-sided talking because there is nothing to compare in them.

Finding Good Topics for Research Papers is not an Easy Matter

"1. Lack of originality: Do you begin to get that canned feeling? Many of these debates have been rehearsed so many times that it is hard to think anything new on them, much less say anything new. Both you and the person grading your research paper may easily get bored rehashing the same old stuff. Check with your teacher to find out which topics are the ones they are personally sick to death of.

2. Excess and absence of source materials: Some of these topics are so classical and have been discussed so long that there are books and books about them. In that situation it becomes very hard to choose which articles should stand as exemplars for the various sides. You may be overwhelmed by sheer bulk of material. You may have to do a lot of reading and comparing to find out which essays, over the years, have emerged as classics. If you take one of these topics, you are responsible for determining which sources are the best on your topic. This may mean investigating various anthologies to find what essays are frequently reprinted.

Also, as you try to do research in the library, you will find that others have been there before you. It is not uncommon to discover that some asshole has exacto-knifed every article you need out of the bound magazines. When this happens, take your citation of the missing article to the Reference desk and explain the problem.

They will order a xerox of the article and rebind it into the magazine -- probably not in time to help you, but at least you can feel good about doing a service for next year's freshman community. Meanwhile, xeroxes of all articles used for summaries in the research paper must be handed in, so xerox what you need and put the books in the reshelving bin or back on the shelf in the right place so as to make things easier for your fellow students."

Problems with Good Topics

I absolutely agree with Dr.Sparks as per the difficulties students face selecting good topics for research papers. Many students struggle with finding outstanding research paper topics that can be both interesting to research and easy to be "won".

Unfortunately, the majority of them become victims of obsolete and stale topics, such as abortion, euthanasia, and smoking, simply because there are a lot of materials available on them. Though, choosing such topics can be a total fiasco for research papers.

That's why it is more reasonable to conduct a research and find out topical and relevant issues that will be interesting for the writer to cover and exciting for the reader to learn more about.

One more hindrance on the way to good research papers is a broad research paper topic. The majority of students choose topics that are too general and can't narrow them to more specific ones. Broad research paper ideas are difficult to cover because there is too much information to choose from, hence, it is difficult to focus the research.

However, too specific topics should not be taken into consideration. After all, it can be not enough information to support the ideas developed in the paper.

Inspiring Research Paper Ideas Kick-Start Research Paper Writing

Having an affinity to writing doesn’t always mean to be creative and imaginative. I have been a student for quite some time now and was always hard-pressed to come up with stellar research paper topics. I would have appreciated having a few heads that can offer me a help when I needed inspiring research paper ideas to start my brain thinking.

At times you have a host of ideas that crave to jump out of your head. Unfortunately, creativity takes turns with writing blocks, when you simply can’t think up any research paper topic. In fact, an uninspired topic is something that can doom your paper, making it boring and tedious. Many research papers turn out to be dull because students can’t find inspiring research paper ideas.

It really holds true that finding interesting research paper topics is one the most difficult task a student is likely to face.

The best way I found to get an idea for a paper when no particular topic hits me in the face is to read a brief overview of the subject under study and to find some point that grabs my attention. It can be a really broad field, but in the course of reading you will find a specific area that interests and incites you.