Allan Green
3 min readFeb 17, 2016

How to choose a research paper topic

Approaching writing a scientific work demands remembering one of the most important things that needs to be very well thought through is topic selection. Coming up with an attention-grabbing topic for your research paper pre-determines the smoothness of the writing process, as well as how truly exciting it would be to investigate it. Your future scientific works and career may depend on the chosen topic. Research paper topic is an element of a scientific problem, which covers a couple of research questions. Your topic ought to be directly related to your field of study, otherwise, the value of your research in context of your education, and years spent studying wouldn’t be significant.

To formulate a decent research topic, you need to examine quite a bit of materials. Thus, underestimation of the amount of sources that needs to be process is not the way. At this point, you are free to use different websites and Wikipedia. They will orientate you in choosing the right theme. It should be noted that the wording of the chosen theme should be understandable, clear and express the main idea of the problem of research.

Begin to define a narrower topic. After you are finished reading, it is a perfect time to start defining your interests. The notion that you’ll build your research around must thrill you. Do not forget that research paper topic should have scientific novelty and practical importance.

Also, when choosing a topic, be aware of the documentary base. This is especially necessary when you have, for example, a historical research paper. You will have to be ready to find a lot of information related to your topic.

You might not be fully aware of this, but besides all of the abovementioned criteria, the value of selecting a topic you’re passionate about is priceless. Research paper writing is a lengthy process, therefore, liking the idea that requires deep examination, and understanding will help you remain interested, and eager to sit down, and work on it day in, and day out. You will not have a proper motivation to come up with a professional research paper if you haven’t thought through this seemingly minor detail that is going to affect a lot.

When you already have a research paper topic, you’ll be willing to study it more profoundly. Deep research has to comprise:

- Focus on the topic

- Object of study

- Subject of study

To sum up, when making the decision about a research paper topic, attention must be paid to:

• The title has to get you excited, then it will definitely sound appealing, and intriguing to the readers, audience etc.

• Avoid complicated language; make your topic understandable;

• The topic has to be timely and socially important and interesting in comparison with other similar studies;

• Take your time realizing the ultimate goal or problem you want to reach or solve through your study;

• Make sure you can find all the necessary sources and literature.

Everything stated above completely shows that the choice of the research paper topic is a complex, multifaceted and demanding task. For its successful result student needs to not only be a good student, with grades higher than average, but also has to carefully study and analyze the relevant literature and grasp the essence of research.