What is a term paper

A term paper is an intensive research paper that students are required to complete at the end of an academic term. The paper is used to determine the students’ understanding of a course or topic. A term paper accounts for a student’s final grade.

Essentials of a Term Paper

Writing a quality term paper requires more than shallow research and a few hours of writing. You need to plan, invest some time and above average writing skills. If you do not know the difference between an excellent term paper and a fine term paper, you should consider doing research online and seeing some examples of term papers, so that you can get a better insight of what your professor expects.

Steps of Writing a Term Paper

Custom term paper writing is inevitable; at one point in your academics, you will be required to compose one. Term papers are not written by English and literature students only, you could be asked to write a term paper in any course. The format of your term paper depends on the course you are studying, and the requirements of your college. A student studying a science course might need to use a more complex format than a literature student. The science student might use the format below:

• Title page – This is a page by itself, and it includes the title of the term paper, student’s name, professor’s name, and course name.
• Acknowledgement – In the acknowledgement you need to state you need to state your topic, explain why you chose that topic and give any other important introductory information.
• Abstract – The abstract presents the research question, and an overview of the term paper
• Literature review – In the literature review, you will explain what is already known about the topic and the methodologies used in your research.
• Results – You will explain and interpret your findings, giving a conclusion and closing statement. 
• Recommendations – Give suggestions for further research.
• References – List the sources you used when conducting research. Remember to observe the required format, APA term paper, MLA term paper, or any other. 

Writing a term paper outline

An outline is a given direction of the writing process; it helps the writer stay organized and on track. You should organize all the information you intend to put on the paper in the outline. Sometimes, professors ask students to submit outlines before submitting the final term paper. Below is the format of an outline:

• Introduction – This informs the audience about the topic being explored; it should contain a thesis statement.
• Body – In the body the argument is developed. You can have several subheadings in the body explaining the history of the history of the topic, impact of the problem and possible solutions.
• Conclusion – Summarize all the points made, referring to the thesis statement. 

Choosing a term paper topic

In most cases the professor chooses the topic. However, there are times when students are allowed to choose a topic. when choosing a topic, stay relevant to your course, and choose a topic that interests you. This ensures that you stay engaged and write a term paper with lots of useful information. Looking through sample term papers is important too.