The Senior Research Paper: Searching for A Topic

When searching for your topic, keep in mind that you are writing an argumentative/persuasive/position paper where you are backing up an opinion/claim you have on a particular aspect of your topic. Many of these sites suggest “research questions” and general topic ideas. Just remember that you will be narrowing down a broad topic, forming a “thesis statement” and then providing facts and expert opinions that support your topic.

University Library at California State University, Long Beach - Hot Topics Page

This site is offers an extensive list of topics and subtopics as well as links to 8 other college sites that list topic ideas. Many topics link to resources to help you explore the topic more. http://www.csulb.edu/library/subj/Paper%20Topics/hottopics/hottopicsindex.htm

Questia – The World’s Largest Online Library

This site features a list of weekly popular topics and a list of 4,600+ research paper topic ideas complete with suggested sources.

http://www.questia.com/

Springfield (MA)Technical Community College Library-What Can I Write About?

This site features a drop down box of about 85 topics which list suggested websites, books and periodicals that may help you better determine your topic focus.

http://reference.stcc.edu/topic_search.cfm

Old Dominion University Library - Idea Generator

This website provides extensive lists of topic ideas listed under larger subject categories. http://www.lib.odu.edu/libassist/idea/index.php

Mr. Gunnar’s English Class @ MySchoolOnline–Argumentative/Persuasive Topics

This high school English class list provides students with topics in the form of questions geared mostly toward teen and school issues  along with other general issues.

http://www.myschoolonline.com/page/0,1871,10186-142069-11-12321,00.html

O’Keefe Library St. Ambrose Univ. Best Information on the Net- Hot Paper Topics

This site provides link to 25 hot topics but it also includes a link called “Article Files and Indexes to Hot Topics” which provides links to a wealth of resources/indexes on specific issues like government, ethics, law, national news, controversial topics, and public policy. http://library.sau.edu/bestinfo/Hot/hotindex.htm

The Educator’s Reference Desk by AskERIC

This site provides a search interface to the ERIC Database, providing access to over one million bibliographic records on educational research, theory, and practice. http://www.eduref.org/index.shtml