Writing some form of a research paper is a rite of passage for first-year composition students. What defines a research paper is research. In other words, a research paper is an essay that engages with and responds to a bunch of sources that they’ve looked up on your own.
Sometimes, students are given the freedom to choose their own topics to research and write about, which is what I do in many of my classes. Here are some examples of arguments that some of my previous students have made in their research papers:
- There should be more programs to teach life skills to youth
- The U.S. should fund more research into nuclear fusion energy
- People should eat less meat
- Environmental racism should be considered anti-Black violence
- Immigration laws should be changed to allow more people to pursue the American dream.
A research paper doesn’t necessarily need to argue that something should or shouldn’t be the case—that’s just a requirement for the research paper assignment in most of my classes.
In terms of organization and argumentation, a research paper will generally require many of the same kinds of academic writing skills that other essays do:
- Writing an introduction, body paragraphs, and a conclusion
- Creating an appropriate thesis statement
- Quoting and summarizing sources
- Responding to, analyzing, and synthesizing sources
- Distinguishing the essay’s argument from sources’ arguments
- Incorporating and responding to counterarguments
- Connecting the parts of the argument and smoothly transitioning from one idea to the next
- Revising and proofreading for clarity and rhetorical effectiveness
Additionally, students need to know the basics of researching, evaluating, and documenting sources.
Choosing a topic
Students will need to check with their instructors to find out what topics they can choose. In general, there are at least a few basic guidelines. Like much of the writing students do in first-year composition classes, the intended audience for their writing is an academic one. In other words, students (pretend to) write for a wide array of college professors, students, and other college-educated people. They’re expected to rely heavily on logic and credibility, and less on emotion. Even though emotion is a powerful way to persuade people, it’s generally not as effective in academic contexts. We wouldn’t want doctors injecting us with stuff because they feel like it will cure a disease, for example. We want them to make decisions based mostly on logic and evidence, although that doesn’t mean we should dismiss emotion entirely.
Topics & Thesis Statements
A topic isn’t the same thing as a thesis, but it’s helpful to think about topics and theses together. What’s the difference? A topic is the general subject area that you’re researching. A thesis is your argument about the topic.
Here are some examples of topics and thesis statements about those topics:
- Topic: Keeping youth out of the criminal justice system / Thesis: There should be more programs to teach life skills to youth.
- Topic: Environmental racism / Thesis: Environmental racism should be considered anti-Black violence.
- Topic: Immigration / Thesis: Immigration laws should be changed to allow more people to pursue the American dream.
Thinking about what makes for a good thesis can help you identify your topic. If you’re writing for an academic audience, your thesis should probably be:
- Accurate
- Arguable
- Significant
- Specific
Thesis statements
Is your thesis arguable?
“Photosynthesis is an important process for plants” wouldn’t be a good thesis statement because it’s basically a fact. Without photosynthesis, plants would die, so it’s obviously an important process for them. You can test whether something is arguable or not by imagining someone arguing the opposite. If someone could reasonably disagree, then it’s arguable, which is a good sign.
Is it significant?
“Koala bears are so cute” wouldn’t be a good thesis because it’s ultimately not that significant for an academic argument. It is arguable—someone could argue that they’re not cute (their claws are kind of scary and koala bears have lots of problems with chlamydia). However, the problem is it’s just a matter of personal taste as to whether a person thinks they’re cute or not. It would be nearly impossible to explain why this is a significant topic to a skeptical academic reader asking “so what?”
Is it specific?
“Diversity is good” is a very general claim. Someone could disagree, so it’s arguable. It’s a significant issue of debate right now in the United States. But it’s so general that you could write a few dozen books about all the reasons why diversity is good and still not be done. In academic writing, specificity is valuable. I wrote a 20-page research paper in graduate school about the significance of one character’s yellow stockings in Twelfth Night, one of Shakespeare’s plays. You certainly don’t have to be that specific for an essay in a first-year composition class.
To stick with the diversity example, business professor Katherine W. Phillips published an article in Scientific American in 2014 that didn’t just argue that diversity is good–it argues a much more specific thesis: companies should pursue diversity if they want to be innovative and better at problem-solving. That’s much more specific than just saying diversity is good.
Having said all that, when you’re first coming up with a working thesis, it can be hard to make it more specific than “X is bad” or “X is good.” That’s okay. Remember that you can always make your thesis more specific later on in the writing process, after you’ve done some research or written a paragraphs, for example.
Is it accurate?
“Everyone in the U.S. needs to take implicit bias more seriously” is an arguable, significant, and specific thesis statement, but does “everyone” really need to take it more seriously? What about scholars who study implicit bias for a living? What about babies? The word everyone literally means 100% of people, so it would be better to say something like, “More people in the U.S. need to take unconscious racism seriously.”
As you revise your thesis statement throughout the writing and revision process, keep in mind that academic writing tends to be very literal. So, you need to be accurate.
It can be difficult because we often talk in absolutes when we have informal conversations: “All my professors are crazy,” “Politicians are evil,” “No one likes me,” etc. When accuracy will ultimately make your argument more effective.
Advice for choosing a topic
Choosing a topic can be frustrating for many students, so here are some tips.
Choose a topic you want to learn about
You’re choosing a subject to study in depth, so it will probably be more enjoyable if you’re actually interested in learning more about it or think it might be useful to you in some way. Maybe you could choose a topic related to your major or a major you’re considering, for example.
Choose a topic you can learn more about
Some topics are difficult to learn about without paying money, doing laboratory experiments, sifting through archives, or talking to subject-matter experts. Be realistic about what resources are available to you. And please don’t spend money on this assignment.
Choose a topic you’re familiar with
Choosing a topic you already know something about can be help give you a head start as far as research goes. If you’re already familiar with a particular subject, you might have a better idea of where to go for information and ultimately have less work to do. On the other hand, if you already have strong feelings or beliefs about your topic, it might be difficult to be open-minded to new information and points of view. Remember to be fair to viewpoints you disagree with and avoid confirmation bias.
Stick with the topic you choose
This advice isn’t about choosing a topic, but it’s still important to keep in mind while working on the research paper. The process of doing research can be frustrating. At times, you might feel like you’ve hit a brick wall and don’t know how to write your essay, even if you started off feeling very excited about your topic. This is a normal part of the the academic writing process (and working on any long-term project?). Negative feelings don’t necessarily mean you should give up and find another topic. Let me know if you feel stuck, and I’ll help you get back on track.
Types of sources
Choosing a topic and creating a working thesis are important aspects of writing a research paper, but you also need to consider what types of sources to use.