How to Write a Term Paper
In an academic setting, each discipline has a set of rules and objectives to be observed regardless of what you choose to major in. As a student, you will have to attend lectures, internships, practical lessons, seminars and other programs tailored to align with your major. As you go through this process, one of the most common approaches that your professor will use to test your knowledge and grasp of course content is writing a term paper. So how do we define a term paper?
A term paper is a piece of academic writing assigned in colleges and universities to allow students to show what they have learned about a certain topic of study. Term papers are serious assignments as they typically make up a large portion of the final grade. As a result, it is important to know how to craft an effective term paper. To make work easier for you, this article elucidates how to write a term paper focusing on a step-by-step guide, comprising on the term paper outline, and term paper format.
Step-by-step guide on writing a term paper
We have asked the question, what is a term paper? We have gone further to define for you what this sort of paper is. Now that we have that clear, when working on a term paper, you are required to look for information and then analyze and synthesize it to get a better understanding of the topic in question. Additionally, it is important to note that writing a term paper is not just about following set guidelines, rather it also requires you to think critically, ask questions, and add to what is already known. Remember, the better you are able to organize your ideas, the better positioned you will be to come up with a good term paper outline, and a good term paper format. Ultimately, this then translates to a more impactful final outcome in writing your term paper. Below are some of the important steps to help you achieve this.
Step 1: Develop ideas
The first step when writing a term paper is to engage in a creative thinking session to generate ideas for the best paper subject. Even though there are times the professor will provide a topic, often you will required to select one for yourself. This step is crucial as there are endless topics you can choose from; thus, making a decision may be difficult for some students.
Nonetheless, it is important to note that different experts have underscored the importance of avoiding topics that are too wide since you may not be able to cover everything. A wide topic may also make your approach shallow as you make an attempt to cover everything within a limited space (restricted words). Additionally, steer away from topics that are too particular as you may not locate enough materials to satisfy the needed paper length.
Step 2: Preparation (Research)
The second step is to conduct research aimed at finding enough information to support the topic you have chosen. Analyze the existing information while considering the main points highlighted by the authors to decide on what sources would be most effective. Do not forget to write down the references and citations as they will be a crucial part of the research. A term paper format has to be guided by academic guidelines; hence some of sources of information may be unacceptable.
In the table below, we list down for you the sort of sources that may be acceptable, and those that are not.
| Acceptable sources | Unacceptable sources |
| Peer-reviewed journal articles | Wikipedia |
| Books by scholarly publishers | Blogs and personal websites |
| Government publications | Social media posts |
| Academic websites e.g. associated with research institutions | Tabloid newspapers |
| Dissertations by students who have conducted prior research | Commercial websites |
Step 3: Draw an Outline for Your Term Paper
After deciding what information to include in your term paper, the next step is to create an outline for your term paper. This stage deserves a bit more time and effort as it acts as the guiding map that will lead you throughout the paper. Developing an effective outline is difficult, however, different samples from researchers, lectures, and other experts can be found online. Since the outline is not something the professor will review in depth, there is no need to stress on an exact format to use. Nevertheless, make sure you understand the content and present it logically. A logical flow will require you to start each section with a topic sentence that relates to the main thesis of the term paper.
Outline for a term paper
In addition to the information above, below is the general term paper outline often used by students;
- Introduction –Discusses the topic and issue you are investigating. Additionally, introduce your thesis statement and outline the goals and aim of your study.
- Body Paragraphs– As stated above, the standard practice for college term papers is the use of many headers and subheadings to organize the arguments and ideas into multiple paragraphs each starting with a topic sentence. Following the format outlined below, each body paragraph needs to include a single point and a powerful main phrase.
- Heading 1:
- Heading 2:
- Heading 3:
- Heading 4:
- Conclusion – In this last section, you should provide a solid summary and a response to your thesis.
Step 4: Create a First Draft
Crafting the first draft of your paper is easy as long as you follow your outline, and pay attention to the term paper format. Although this is the most time-consuming stage, keep in mind that everything does not have to be flawless as you will have time to modify and improve the paper as you progress. Simply, on this draft, you need to focus on getting all your thoughts and ideas on the paper.
Step 5: Editing and proofreading
Term paper writing is both difficult and time-consuming. A vast majority of students find this quite annoying. Imagine writing an entire paper, and then finding errors as you proofread it after spending so much effort on its various parts. Nonetheless, proofreading is crucial, so this is a step you do not want to skip. Remember, the more errors found in your paper, the more likely that your grade will be negatively affected. affecting the grade. To make sure that you catch all errors, you may offer a copy to a peer for review. This can help provide profound insights on errors you may have missed before writing a final draft.
Other than writing term papers, you may be required by your professor, to take a quiz on IXL. Read through our guide which offers practical hacks to get correct answers on IXL.
The standard format of a term paper
Now that we have covered the basic steps when writing a term paper, here is a standard format for writing a term paper.
- Title page- In general, this page has the title of the paper, course, and code, student name, instructor’s name, and the date
- Abstract– The abstract is a condensed overview of the key concepts, theoretical frameworks, and results you want to emphasize in the paper.
- Table of contents– This section simplifies paper section navigation. Usually contains section titles and page numbers.
- Introduction– In this part, the reader is introduced to the paper’s basic material such as the background, the objective of the paper, and other concepts.
- Main sections/ body paragraphs of the paper– These sections may include, the literature review, the methodology, results, and discussion. However, this may vary depending on the nature of the term paper given.
- Conclusion- To wrap up the paper in a reasonable manner, the final component is the conclusion. Here, the writer should summarize the key points and highlight how these discoveries are relevant to the current situation.
- Reference– Highlight references to all the citations that were used throughout the research.
- Appendix (Optional)- Authors use this section to write sections that would distract the flow of the paper, this may include questionnaires and tables.
By reading through and understanding the information provided in this article, we believe that you are now well acquainted with the tenets of a term paper, including the term paper outline, and term paper format. By referring to this guide, every student has a chance to potentially write a compelling term paper.
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