• Hot Paper Topics
• Idea Generator
• Documents in the News
• Social Issues

• Brainstorm a Topic Idea
• Narrow or Broaden Your Topic
• Narrowing Topics (U.Penn.)
• Topics: Using a Topic to Generate Questions (U.Wash.)

• Types/Genres of Writing (Purdue OWL)
• Thesis or Question (Purdue OWL)
  

The topic of your research paper may be given to you by your instructor, you may have to choose from several topics, or you may need to come up with one of your own. The links to the left under Selecting a Topic are good places to gather ideas on a topic. Don't forget to check your textbook. The Table of Contents might be helpful in selecting a topic.

One key to a successful paper is to choose a topic that is of interest to you. To begin, you might choose a broad topic, for instance, video games.

From this broad topic, select a narrower subtopic, for instance, violence in video games. The links under Narrowing the Topic can help you drill down to a more specific topic. There is also information available should you narrow your topic too much.

Now, ask yourself questions depending on the type of paper you are writing. For instance:

What do I want to know?
Does video game violence adversely affect children?

What do I want to prove/disprove?
Violence in video games adversely affects children.

The links under Thesis or Question will help you establish a working thesis which will help you decide on the type and content of your research materials.

Remember, if you have any doubts or questions about your topic selection, ask your instructor.