Best Writing Prompts and Research Paper Topic Ideas

Starting a research paper is often a daunting task for students. Often the stress of writing a research paper arises from poor topic selection.

Besides draining your energy, poor topic selection limits available resources, making it hard to develop a solid argument. As such, proper topic selection is essential to ensure a decent score in your paper.

This article will guide you on selecting good topics for a research paper and provide various research paper writing tips.

How to find good research paper topics

Finding the best research ideas for your papers requires more effort than selecting the first topic that meets your eyes. These easy steps are vital to finding a topic you can easily handle.

  1. Conduct background research

Before selecting your paper, peruse various existing materials in your field. Doing this will help you analyze the extent to which an idea has been depleted and determine the room left for debate.

Background research will also help develop your research questions and determine relevant material to support your arguments.

  1. Brainstorm ideas

After gauging the extent to which a topic has been covered, come up with a list of topics relevant to your case. Afterward, sift these topics and settle for those covering a specific issue within your papers.

Avoid broad topics as they may cause an enormous task and risk poor coverage of arguments within your paper. Also, avoid sentimental issues as they may limit critical evaluation of the topic at hand.

  1. Research the topics

Next, search the topic to determine the perspectives you may address your case. When going through this, prepare a list of materials used for easy retrieval during the writing process.

How to Title a Research Paper

The research paper title is your chance to wow your audience from the word go. Also, the title should contain the main keywords to give your reader a gist of what your paper covers.

For an intriguing research paper title:

  • Determine a specific key phrase that best defines your topic. For instance, if your paper addresses the issues limiting education in developing countries, the critical phrase challenges of education in developing countries better describes the matter instead of ‘education in developing countries”.
  • Phrase your title in an attention-grabbing manner.
  • Keep it short. The words in a title should not exceed fifteen characters.

Research paper topic ideas

Having determined the process to find and write excellent research paper ideas, here are some research topics to inspire your search for a topic:

College research topics

  1. How to manage taxes as an owner of a small business
  2. Are women better brand ambassadors than their male counterparts
  3. A case study of the financial implications of the Covid pandemic
  4. How to curb the crime rate and murder cases in urban centers
  5. Is learning more effective in same-sex classrooms?
  6. Is it ethical for people to trade their organs for money?
  7. Should abortion be termed murder?

Easy research paper topics

  1. Steps to protect oneself from sexual harassment
  2. Are white-collar jobs losing significance?
  3. Homeschooling vs. traditional schooling: What are the benefits and shortcomings of these methods
  4. How to curb drug abuse on campus grounds
  5. Are films on environmental conservation helpful in sustaining our environment?
  6. How has the internet impacted the music industry?
  7. The impact of mainstream depiction of feminism on the girl child
  8. Does beauty decide the extent of success in one’s life?
  9. An approach to curb the numbers of street children

Topics for informative speech

  1. Are immigrants beneficial or detrimental to a country’s economy?
  2. Should steroids be legalized in sports?
  3. How to curb cyberbullying
  4. Analyzing the role of a team leader and the approach to become a team leader
  5. A case study of the change of the role of women
  6. Exploring the impact of globalization on modern politics
  7. Are social media platforms causing more loneliness and depression rates?

Good research topics

  1. Approaches to managing plagiarism levels in research papers
  2. What factors cause students to cheat in exams? Can it be curbed? 
  3. A case study on the spiking rates of depression among the youth
  4. How is mental health connected to childhood trauma? 
  5. Are religious institutions drivers of societal morality?
  6. Is the death sentence an effective way to curb crime?

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