Research and Writing Ideas for Term Papers

Once you decide to go to college, one of the most essential skills you must have is learning the proper way to write term papers. Regardless of your major, there will be core coursework necessary and professors will expect a more professional form of academic writing, than what was required to graduate from high school. Academic writing must be written from an informed perspective and aimed to educate an audience or present an argument that is backed up by reliable research.

Topic Selection

Choosing the right topic and performing avid research, is at the heart of all great academic writing. Depending on the class or your professor, you may be given a topic or you may have a choice of topics that your paper must address. It may be in the form of a question, a particular issue, or simply a list that you choose from. Sometimes, freshmen may have difficulty in selection, so it is important you contact your professor with a list of questions. They almost always provide an email and an office phone for you to reach them. Some even give their home or cell phone numbers. Your professor can tell you if you are on the right track after clarification of you questions and point you in the right direction if you need help with research. The key to choosing the right topic is to make it strong and narrow. Weak, waffling or broad topics are difficult to elaborate on, so you need something that is concise and permits you to fully support with research.

Research

The aforementioned topic brings me to the crux of a solid paper; research! In the Internet age, electronic sources usually are most effective. However, every college campus has a library if you need to check out print sources for your assignments. First, see what academic scholars are saying about your topic that has been previously published. Certain sites have a compilation of journals that you can research such as LexisNexis Academic or JSTOR. Again, your library may have access to these types of sources or you may have to pay a nominal subscription fee if they are not available. While reading published articles in name journals or other papers, pay close attention to the references section and footnotes, as these may be used for sources, as well.

Grammar and Punctuation

While the concept of your paper is the most important thing, a paper that is sloppily written with tons of spelling, grammatical and punctuation errors, can be disconcerting to your professor. If they are too frequent, it may lower your score regardless of how well researched the paper may be. Perhaps English grammar is not your greatest asset. If this is the case, schedule an appointment with a campus writing lab or tutor who can help. Also, have your friends or family read the paper before you turn it in. If they get lost in the structure or have a hard time reading it, you should make adequate changes before you turn it in for a grade.

Plagiarism

Last but far from least, do not plagiarize your work. Do not blatantly copy or steal another authors work without proper citation. The Modern Language Association (MLA) and American Psychological Association (APA) are two of the most frequently used manuals within the undergraduate, graduate and doctorate levels of education. When in doubt, refer to the manual for the style your professor wants the paper to emulate. With proper referencing according to the style guide, you can avoid plagiarism and most often, a failing grade.

Reference: Learn English Grammar - essayforum.com/grammar/

Student Essays: Tips For Writing Top Academic Papers

I have been writing Academic Papers for over two years now and I have had my fair share of difficult assignments. In the course of my writing career, I have learned to enjoy these assignments for the challenge and learning opportunity that they provide. Although difficult assignments take more time and effort to complete, I believe that being able produce them proves my skill and professionalism as a writer.

That being said, it is wise to form a strategy before diving right into a difficult writing assignment. Otherwise, a writer risks becoming overwhelmed, which always leads to the inefficient use of time and energy. In the following sections, I will be sharing some of the tips that have worked for me so well over the years.

First, I find that minimizing distractions makes things easier. Academic research papers are serious matters and not focusing on the task at hand creates the risk of making mistakes. Additionally, distractions make writers waste time and as the deadline looms nearer, the writing becomes increasingly rushed and careless.

Second, I find it helpful to start by reading credible materials related to the subject matter before I even begin to type. This serves two purposes for me: it allows me to learn more and gather materials on the subject and as I'm reading, I am also able to form a rough idea of how I will approach the subject matter. While reading materials, I also note which of them are going to be useful in my writing. On that note, it is worth remembering that while the internet is a goldmine for information on all kinds of topics, a writer must be extra careful about finding credible sources. Personally, I still prefer books to online sources and I always use the former whenever possible.

Third, I think it is extremely helpful to use an outline to organize my thoughts before I start to write the paper itself. Having an outline also helps in generating an overall picture of how the paper is going to be.

Fourth, it is advisable to write a first draft without thinking of rules of grammar and spelling and how the sentences flow together. When writing my first draft, I just write down whatever comes to mind. This allows me, as a writer, to flesh out my ideas and to put into words the thoughts that float around in my head before they disappear. After the first draft, I go ahead and write the second draft where I apply the principles of good writing and I become mindful of spelling, grammar and the overall flow of the paper.

Fifth, I advise that writers should always re-read their work before submission. While reading, the author should use the opportunity to make sure that the paper is both authoritative and coherent. Both substance and matter are important in academic writing.

Lastly, I am advocate of taking frequent and short breaks. Take this opportunity to refresh the mind and recharge your energy. Exhaustion will show in your work, as you will now rush to finish the assignment without heeding the quality of your output. Taking breaks are also very helpful when you run out of things to write. Sometimes, a breather is all you need to gain fresh perspective on a subject matter.

These are the tips and tricks that have helped me meet my clients' expectations. By doing these things, I have successfully produced many academic papers, including some that are really challenging. As a full-time academic writer, I take pride in being able to produce in-depth and insightful articles, especially when they involve a lot of research and hard work on my part.

Reference: Learn Research Tricks - freelanceessaywriters.com/research-tricks

Academic Research

Academic research is considered to be one the most difficult tasks that a college student must tackle they are required to write an essay or college paper. There is a lot of work that goes into the production of a good essay and grants them the high grades that they seek. However, in order to for the college student to get that A or B letter grade, there is much research and time that needs to be devoted to write that desired paper.

When embarking of writing and crafting a wonderfully written paper, there are different routes that a student can embark on in order to successfully write a paper. A college student has several different tools at their disposal in order to conduct the research needed to write an excellent academic research paper. The first primary to goal is to know and understand your research topic. There is the primary research method of using the Internet in order to write the academic research paper. The other method is using books and scholarly journals from the library. This method is considered to be time consuming and may conflict with the student’s schedule; so therefore the majority of students use the Internet when writing their research paper. The use of the Internet is the more preferred use of college students when they are writing research paper because the library method can often be lengthy. The college student may not be able to locate hard to find research articles that would be available in archives on the internet versus in the library. However the college student must understand that this information needs to be added correctly to their research paper in order to avoid the issue of plagiarism.

There are plenty of reserves that are available to college students when the research is conducted at the library of the college that they are attending. The internet of course is also considered to be available for the college student; however the internet has a huge advantage of the use of the library for conducting academic research. First of the all, the library has set hours of when people are allowed to come there and they are closed sometimes in the evening after eight or nine p.m. There are some libraries that are closed on weekends. This is a huge disadvantage for the college student because what if the student needed to work on a paper at ten o’clock at night. Some college students work and may get off late at night or in the evenings; so they are up late writing papers and studying. Therefore, the library would not be a good idea for that because the library closes at a set time. On the other hand the internet is available twenty-four seven and three hundred and sixty five days a year; the college student is able to write the paper whenever they need it. The college student is not confined to a time constraint like the library.

The library is good for researching information for an event that occurred in history, and then the library is considered to be a wonderful place for that. The library would most likely contain a book that offers the information that is needed in order for the college student to conduct their research. However, the Internet has more options for articles that easier to find than the library has. In conclusion, the most important aspect is that the student is able to write their research paper using two different methods for research and that is considered important when they are in college.