How to Write a Term Paper

How to Write a Term Paper

Abstract

Scholars in higher learning institutions must submit their term papers at the end of each semester. These papers play a crucial role in evaluating the learner’s knowledge in a specific subject. The student should engage in adequate preparation before writing the complete term paper. Some of the essential steps include defining the topic, finding sources, creating and revising the outline, and drafting the term paper. The outline of a term paper differs from that of other essays since it must include subsections. The writer should ensure that all the subtopic relates to the thesis statement. Besides, each body paragraph must contain a topic sentence, supporting evidence, relevant explanations, and a concluding and transitioning statement. The term paper’s conclusion should include a concise summary of the main points discussed in the essay.

Keywords: Term paper, thesis statement, outline, and credible evidence

Introduction

Students must prepare research papers for them to succeed in their studies. Term papers refer to a research assignment that a student should submit at the end of a semester. Lectures use these works to track and evaluate their learners’ knowledge about the area of expertise. The process of writing a research paper involves comprehensive research and methodological writing skills. Outstanding term papers contain analytical and organized structures. Besides, they have well-researched evidence that supports significant claims. Learners in higher learning institutions prepare terms papers when reflecting on their knowledge in a specific study area.

Possible Topics for Term Paper

Students in higher learning institutions may come across different topics for writing their term papers. In practice, term paper themes vary from one subject to the other but require one to engage in detailed research. These are the possible topics that one may come across:

• Is there a cancer epidemic due to industrial chemicals in the environment?
• Should federal courts be bound by the “original intent” of the framers?
• Do foreign investments threaten U.S. economic independence?
• Should morality and human rights influence foreign trade policy?
• Do rich nations have an obligation to help developing countries?
• Partnership benefits at state and federal institutions
• Same-sex adoption and access to reproductive technologies
• Partnership benefits at state and federal institutions
• Execution of juveniles
• The lengthy appeals process for death row inmates
• The Constitutional question of “cruel and unusual punishment.”

Term paper topics have a broad scope. The term paper topics given above show that a writer must carry out extensive research to provide a comprehensive response. The writer decides the content that they must include in their essays to give a comprehensive analysis of the subject.

Step-by-Step Guide

A student must prepare for the term paper to achieve the desired grades. Adequate preparation allows the scholar to gather the relevant evidence and draft the term paper effectively. The following are the necessary steps that one should take to prepare for writing term papers.

Preparation

Define a topic. Defining the subject for a term is the first and most crucial activity that a writer must consider. For instance, describing the issue allows the scholar to understand the prompt and understand the ideas required to complete the essay. In this case, one must understand the meaning of the essential terms and the essay’s context. The student should use resources like a dictionary and thesaurus to obtain the necessary definitions. However, the scholar may opt to seek help from peers and lecturers when defining the topic.

Prepare ideas. Preparing ideas leads to outstanding essays. For example, the writer should identify all the relevant ideas before engaging in the actual writing process. Most learners fail to consider preparing thoughts as an essential step when writing the essay. As a result, they prepare low-quality papers and achieve better grades. Hence, students should prepare ideas for writing a term paper using acceptable methods.

Scholars should consider brainstorming as an acceptable method to prepare ideas for the essay. Brainstorming helps the learners to come up with fresh and new facts. In this case, the learners think of the ideas that relate to the topic. The process generates unique ideas that can make one’s work to stand out. The following are some brainstorming ideas that one may use when preparing concepts and thoughts for term papers.

• Come up with bad ideas first – The learner should think about the concepts related to the topic. Successful learners do not consider raising positive thoughts during brainstorming. Instead, they should present both good and bad ideas concerning their subject. The student should not feel stupid for raising bad ideas since the strategy helps identify weaker and more robust ideas. One should allow ideas to flow during the brainstorming strategy. Besides, the writer should focus on raising positive images after exhausting the throwaway thoughts. Hence, the writer should increase both bad and good ideas that relate to the topic.
• Breaking and building ideas – One of the most effective strategies of turning a few ideas into many is to break them down. The learner should identify general themes that relate to the essay and break them into smaller details. The process helps the writer to see if some narrower ideas branch from the main themes. Alternatively, one may combine different ideas to create a broader subtopic for the term paper. Hence, the writer should break down more general concepts while combining narrow ones.
• Play word games – Outstanding term papers contain original and unique ideas. Word games are instrumental tools that prevent learners from producing generic and unoriginal ideas. This statement implies that word games motivate some out-of-box thinking. “Word storm” is an excellent method for a student to generate related ideas. This method allows the learner to create thoughts naturally without overthinking.
• Creating a mood board – Learners should rely on methods that motivate them to generate fresh and unique ideas related to the topic. For instance, combining imagery, color, and visual-spatial elements evoke emotions and feelings that spark fresh and new thoughts. In this case, the learner manages to recall some concepts acquired during learning, improving the essay’s quality.
• Doodling – Successful learners spur creativity insights and increase attention when generating essential ideas for the term paper. Doodling allows a learner to engage with visuals that spark new thoughts. Practical doodling approaches help students break out of the traditional brainstorming approaches that rely on reading and talking. In this case, the learner should break visual objects into small objects or combine unrelated items. These approaches motivate the brain to generate unique ideas for supporting the central theme.
• Changing the physical environment – Ordinary motivation plays a crucial role in the generation of new ideas. For example, the learner should change the physical environment to avoid boredom. Enriched and attractive environments affect how the human brain works and speeds up how one generates new ideas and thoughts. A successful learner must select the location for brainstorming effectively.

Reading is an appropriate method that a learner may consider when generating ideas for the essay. For instance, the task is a traditional method that students use to raise arguments related to a specific topic. The scholar should identify sources that relate to the topic and read them to understand the subject better. This strategy plays a crucial in raising viable and accurate ideas about the essay’s topic. However, the scholars must take the necessary precautions since extensive reading is a tedious and monotonous process.

Consider the audience. Different people read term papers for specific reasons. The students must consider the target audience to ensure that the term paper meets their needs. In most cases, the writer must use the official language when expressing thoughts. Formal language suits academic documents because it reveals professionalism and academic excellence.

Set up the stage

Find sources. Terms papers must contain credible evidence obtained from scholarly sources. The scholar must gather adequate evidence from different sources like books, journal articles, financial and laboratory reports, credible websites, and magazines. As a ground rule, all sources must provide adequate and irrefutable evidence to support the main arguments. One should find sources published in the last ten years because they contain the latest evidence and facts on some issues. Hence, the writer should look for credible sources to support the main arguments in the essay.

Make notes. Taking notes is a crucial step when preparing term papers. For instance, the scholar should read all the sources critically. The strategy allows one to understand the major concepts and ideas that relate to the topic. In practice, one should consider writing short notes to avoid unnecessary misunderstanding of the main message. Successful scholars take notes and revise them to ensure that they obtain the most substantial evidence supporting the work. Improving the notes involves breaking broader ideas into smaller ones and combining others to make them stronger and sensible. Therefore, the student should take the necessary points to support the main arguments in the essay.

Create an outline. Organizing thoughts play a crucial role in preparing a quality paper. One should combine the notes obtained from scholarly sources and those gathered during brainstorming and put them into writing in practice. An outline helps the scholar to connect ideas. A persuasive outline should contain the topic and the main thoughts and concepts. Besides, clear outlines have smaller ideas that relate to the main ones. The strategy allows one to see the connections between the main ideas and leads to an organized essay. The student should follow the steps below to create a clear outline.

• Organize notes and the relevant evidence into groups of related ideas
• Review the thesis statement to determine if it communicates the intended message
• Identify the main ideas of the main arguments that support the thesis statement.
• Identify ideas and thoughts that support the main points.
• Match the main ideas with the relevant sources obtained through research
• Logically organize the ideas to achieve a unique flow of information.
• Identify if some of the points presented need more research and where thoughts require development.
• Identify the points and ideas that require revising to enhance the overall quality of the work.

Create an annotated bibliography. Successful scholars prepare term papers that contain relevant and irrefutable research. Each entry in the annotated bibliography should include the citation information and a short description and analysis. The scholar should follow the accepted citation style depending on instructions given by the lecturer. Besides, the annotated bibliography must focus on the topic of the essay. The scholar should ensure that all sources remain relevant to the topic. However, one should remember that the annotated bibliography requirements may vary depending on the topic and term paper’s requirements.

A useful annotated bibliography should help the learner to keep track of the readings and gain a sense of the literature. One should prepare the bibliographic entry when conducting research. The process helps to identify the most suitable sources for use in the essay. Besides, an appropriate annotated bibliography allows the scholar to determine if the ideas presented in a specific source supports the central arguments. The learner must ensure that this strategy helps to refine the sources obtained for supporting the statements.

Start Writing

Create a draft. Drafts of the term papers help one to organize ideas in a good flow. The student should use the outline and annotated bibliography to create the first draft. However, the students should focus on presenting all the ideas in the draft. An appropriate current enables one to test the outline and elaborate theories to support the central argument. In practice, good drafts resemble the complete term paper. Good drafts should contain a title page, abstract, introduction, body, and conclusion.

Put everything together. A scholar should put all the ideas together into a complete paper. For example, the student should ensure that the file contains a logical flow of ideas. The strategy enables the student to identify the gaps in the concepts presented in the term paper. Besides, putting everything together helps the students to identify the points that require more investigation.

Find new sources or delete old ones if needed to back up your ideas better. Term papers must contain compelling ideas and arguments. The learner must review the draft to determine if the sources provide relevant and credible evidence. In practice, the scholar must change the sources that offer weak arguments. Besides, the writer should remove previous scholarly sources that provide weak points of view. Hence, one must change the sources where necessary.

Alter outline. Learners should change the outline of the term paper to make it more substantial and compelling. For instance, one must use the first draft and the new scholarly sources to make the term paper’s outline relevant changes. The primary goal of this strategy is to strengthen the arguments and improve their clarity.

Create a working thesis. Compelling term papers must contain persuasive thesis statements. The scholar must develop a working thesis statement that includes the claim and the significant points that the scholar tries to make. The writer should create a sentence that explains the position taken on the topic in question. Lecturers evaluate all the body paragraphs and how they relate to the thesis. In this case, one should use the revised outline, draft, and annotated bibliography to create the working hypothesis and ensure that it meets the necessary quality.

Wrap it Up

Revisions. Outstanding term papers contain minimal or no flaws. The learner must revise the draft to remove all the mistakes. Some of the factors that one must consider are spelling and grammatical errors, various writing technicalities, and ideas flow. Revisions play a significant role in improving the term paper’s overall quality and ensuring that readers develop the motivation to evaluate all its sections. Hence, the scholar must revise the term paper’s draft to remove unnecessary mistakes.

Editing. Editing is an important task that helps to make term papers compelling. The student must focus on enhancing the readability and relevance levels of the term paper. The following are the things that one must consider when writing the term paper.

• The scholar should change the order of words during the editing process. The primary purpose of enhancing the term paper’s euphony is to improve the rhythm and other dynamics. In this case, the student should replace the work’s expressions and characteristics to remove clichés and conversational style.
• Effective editing helps the scholars to enhance the brevity of the statements and claims made throughout the essay. Short and concise words sound better than long or wordy statements.
• An effective editing process improves the honesty of the claims made and evidence presented throughout the essay. The term paper should include proven facts in each paragraph. One should specify the sources of any data used in supporting the topic sentences.
• The scholars should edit the term paper to improve the quality of its literacy levels. For instance, one must proofread the work to remove punctuation, spelling and syntax mistakes, and typos. This process requires reading the term paper several times to identify all errors and correct them accordingly.

Topic sentences. Each paragraph must begin with a topic sentence. For example, the learner must ensure that each section dwells on a single point related to the thesis statement. One should reread the work to ensure that all paragraphs have the necessary opening statements.

Concluding sentences. Each paragraph should end with a concluding sentence. In this case, the learner should summarize the ideas presented in a section.  Besides, the last sentence should include a summative claim that brings all the concepts and thoughts into a unique closure.

Transition. All ideas presented in the term paper must have a unique transitioning of ideas. For example, the writer should use the necessary phrases to transition sentences and paragraphs. The approach improves the overall readability of the work and the flow of ideas. As a rule, each paragraph’s last sentence must act as a transition to the next section. The readers must find the connection between all the paragraphs in the essay.

Formatting. Each learning institution has specific formatting rules. Learners must follow such guidelines when writing their term papers. Marking rubrics are useful tools that each learner must use to format their work.

Peer review. Peer review is an essential step in enhancing the term paper’s quality. One should identify peers or other people who are familiar with the subject to read the term paper. Such people help to identify some mistakes that may undermine the essay’s readability. Besides, they provide positive criticism that allows students to make the necessary changes to their work.

Final draft. The term paper’s final draft must include all the changes made during the revisions, editing, formatting, and peer review. The scholar should focus on submitting flawless documents that do not contain any forms of plagiarism. The final draft must capture all the aspects included in the rubric.

Outline of a Term Paper

1. Introduction
2. Attention getter
3. The purpose of the term paper or the problem discussed
4. Personal reaction to the subject
5. Agree or disagree
6. Change of mind
7. Met the expectations
8. Ideas learned
9. Thesis statement
10. Body
11. Heading 1

• Body paragraph 1

1. Topic sentence
2. Evidence
3. Explanation
4. Conclusion and transition
5. Heading 2

• Body paragraph 2

1. Topic sentence
2. Evidence
3. Explanation
4. conclusion and transition
5. Heading 3

• Body paragraph 3

1. Topic sentence
2. Evidence
3. Explanation
4. Conclusion and transition
5. Heading 4

• Body paragraph 4

1. Topic sentence
2. Evidence
3. Explanation
4. Conclusion and transition

• Conclusion

1. Summary of the main points
2. A strong response to the thesis statement
3. A summative statement

The outline of the term paper appears different since it contains different sections. For example, a term paper includes various subheadings that relate to the main topic. Each subheading may have several body paragraphs. However, each paragraph must contain a topic sentence, a supporting example, and the relevant explanation.

Explanations for the Outline

Introduction

The introduction must state the primary purpose of the term paper. The scholar should ensure that the first part of the work acquaints the reader with the problem under discussion. Besides, one must include a compelling and robust thesis statement in this section. As a rule, the introduction should not take up a large part of the entire paper. Hence, the introduction should provide an overview of the whole work in a straightforward and precise manner.

Body

The term paper’s body should have different headings and subheadings that connect to the topic. The scholar must ensure that the process of dividing the essay into different sections enhances the clarity of the message. The strategy should not distract the readers from appreciating the intended message.

Conclusion

The closing paragraph should restate the thesis statement included in the introduction. The student must sum up the ideas presented in all the body paragraphs. The most effective strategy that one may use is to restate all the topic sentences. Besides, the student must provide a concluding statement that brings the entire work into a unique closure.

How to Write a Term Paper Proposal

A term paper proposal outlines the structure of the future work that the scholar must complete. Practical recommendations provide crucial elements that support the research included in the actual term paper. The main proposal aims to constrict a wide area of interest into a complicated or specific topic. In this case, the writer defines the intention to discover the issue and base the decision on the need to make changes, improve the condition of the matter or advance the scholarly knowledge in the specific area of interest. One should select the essential parts of the term paper and put them together in a unified format. Besides, one should briefly describe each section and tie the details to the chosen topic. A suitable proposal should include the following parts:

• Title – the request should have a concise and brief title. In practice, this title should resemble that of the actual term paper.
• Objectives – The term paper proposal should state the goals of the study. This statement implies that one must include the intended purpose of the research.
• Research question – An outstanding proposal must state the research question that the scholar intends to answer through adequate research.
• Thesis statement – The proposal should include a clear thesis statement that responds to the research question directly. A suitable thesis should be factual, clear, and subjective. Besides, one must ensure that the central claim is a verifiable statement.
• Methodology – The proposal should state the methods used to gather and evaluate the relevant data. From a practical perspective, the student should use appropriate and proven methods to conduct the research.

Possible Formats for Term Papers

Different learning institutions require learners to use other formats when preparing term papers. The most common formatting styles that one may come across include MLA, APA, Harvard, and Chicago. Each of these formats has specific guidelines that one must observe.

MLA

Term papers formatted in MLA do not require a cover page unless specified. The writer must include a header that contains surname and page number. One must flush these details to the right margin of the page. Besides, all the in-text citations should have the author’s last name and the exact page containing the evidence used.

APA

Term papers formatted in APA should contain a title page that includes a title and identifies the student, date, and relevant institution. Each page must contain a header that consists of a shortened title of the term paper and the specific page. However, the first page should have the phrase “running head” preceding the shortened title. In-text citations should contain the author’s last name and publication date.

Harvard

Term paper formatted in Harvard style must contain a title page that includes the title and other details identifying the student, professor or tutor, and the relevant institution. One must write the title in capital letters. The header should contain the title and page number. However, one must flush these details to the right margin. In-text citations should include the author’s surname, publication date, and the page containing the relevant evidence.

Chicago

Term papers formatted in Chicago should contain a title page that has the title and identifies the author. One must capitalize all the letters in the heading. The page numbers should begin on the second page and must appear on the top right side. The in-text citations should appear as footnotes that contain full bibliographic details of the source.

Sample of an Informative Essay

Is the “war on terror,” a global civil war?

The term war on terror became standard after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. President George W. Bush’s administration declared a global campaign that involved open and covert military operations, new security legislation, and efforts to block the financing of terrorism, among other factors. The movement rallied for support from other countries, which willingly joined in the fight against terrorism. Although most scholars argue that the war on terror is an American strategy to control other countries, civil war theories prove otherwise.

Theories of Civil War

Different theories of civil wars prove that persistent rebel groups that engage in criminal activities. Some of the civil war philosophies include motivation and feasibility, ideas of rebellion, organization of the uprising, and evidence on the causes, among other factors. These theories prove that civil war results from the emergence and persistence of a rebel army. Motivation and feasibility theories argue that rebels with excessive power engage in terrorism. Hence, persistent rebel groups engage in terrorism as a way of addressing their interests.

Organization of Rebellion Theory

The civil wars theories prove that greed and grievance remain an excellent motivator for forming the rebel groups. The rebellion theory organization explains that al-Qaida and ISIS, among other terrorist groups, emerge as criminal groups that focus on revenge. In this case, the terror groups seek to achieve religious autonomy and access natural resources. These factors make the disadvantaged societies to engage in rebellion. Hence, theories on civil way reveal that grievances and interest in gaining natural resources motivate rebel groups to engage in terrorism.

Standard Game Theory

Standard game theory shows that economic grievances lead to terrorism. According to traditional game theory, economic dissimilarities in the community motivate some people to engage in crime. The less productive but healthy groups tend to engage in predation against productive but weak agents. Such conflict levels undermine justice, equity, or extortion, depending on the analyst’s political perspective. Hence, economic grievances motivate some groups to engage in terrorism.

The United States Response to Terrorism

The United States targets specific terror groups since their predatory behavior in a country or region leads to adverse economic and social outcomes. Militant groups lead to redistribution-through-violence when the productive and weak agents engage in defensive actions. This statement implies that the militant groups engage in activities that cause other people to reiterate. The results from such activities include reciprocated hatred that inflicts harm to innocent citizens. The United States participates in peacekeeping missions that can lower the negative impacts of such conflicts.

Conclusion

Most scholars argue that the war on terror is an American strategy to control other countries. Different theories on civil wars prove that terrorism results from grievances and economic interests of some specific groups. Such activities destabilize the economic and social welfare of ordinary citizens. The citizens focus on such terror groups intending to protect the citizens of the affected countries.

Conclusion

Term papers refer to a research assignment complete by learners towards the end of the semester. The learners must ensure that term papers meet the necessary quality since they track and evaluate one’s knowledge. The following are some of the points that one may consider when writing a term paper.

• One should rely on comprehensive research and methodological writing skills.
• Outstanding term papers should contain analytical and organized structures.
• Term papers should contain well-researched evidence that supports significant claims.
• The scholar should consider various formatting strategies as required by the learning institution.