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113 Great Research Paper Topics

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One of the hardest parts of writing a research paper can be just finding a good topic to write about. Fortunately we've done the hard work for you and have compiled a list of 113 interesting research paper topics. They've been organized into ten categories and cover a wide range of subjects so you can easily find the best topic for you.

In addition to the list of good research topics, we've included advice on what makes a good research paper topic and how you can use your topic to start writing a great paper.

What Makes a Good Research Paper Topic?

Not all research paper topics are created equal, and you want to make sure you choose a great topic before you start writing. Below are the three most important factors to consider to make sure you choose the best research paper topics.

#1: It's Something You're Interested In

A paper is always easier to write if you're interested in the topic, and you'll be more motivated to do in-depth research and write a paper that really covers the entire subject. Even if a certain research paper topic is getting a lot of buzz right now or other people seem interested in writing about it, don't feel tempted to make it your topic unless you genuinely have some sort of interest in it as well.

#2: There's Enough Information to Write a Paper

Even if you come up with the absolute best research paper topic and you're so excited to write about it, you won't be able to produce a good paper if there isn't enough research about the topic. This can happen for very specific or specialized topics, as well as topics that are too new to have enough research done on them at the moment. Easy research paper topics will always be topics with enough information to write a full-length paper.

Trying to write a research paper on a topic that doesn't have much research on it is incredibly hard, so before you decide on a topic, do a bit of preliminary searching and make sure you'll have all the information you need to write your paper.

#3: It Fits Your Teacher's Guidelines

Don't get so carried away looking at lists of research paper topics that you forget any requirements or restrictions your teacher may have put on research topic ideas. If you're writing a research paper on a health-related topic, deciding to write about the impact of rap on the music scene probably won't be allowed, but there may be some sort of leeway. For example, if you're really interested in current events but your teacher wants you to write a research paper on a history topic, you may be able to choose a topic that fits both categories, like exploring the relationship between the US and North Korea. No matter what, always get your research paper topic approved by your teacher first before you begin writing.

113 Good Research Paper Topics

Below are 113 good research topics to help you get you started on your paper. We've organized them into ten categories to make it easier to find the type of research paper topics you're looking for.

Arts/Culture

Discuss the main differences in art from the Italian Renaissance and the Northern Renaissance .
Analyze the impact a famous artist had on the world.
How is sexism portrayed in different types of media (music, film, video games, etc.)? Has the amount/type of sexism changed over the years?
How has the music of slaves brought over from Africa shaped modern American music?
How has rap music evolved in the past decade?
How has the portrayal of minorities in the media changed?

Current Events

What have been the impacts of China's one child policy?
How have the goals of feminists changed over the decades?
How has the Trump presidency changed international relations?
Analyze the history of the relationship between the United States and North Korea.
What factors contributed to the current decline in the rate of unemployment?
What have been the impacts of states which have increased their minimum wage?
How do US immigration laws compare to immigration laws of other countries?
How have the US's immigration laws changed in the past few years/decades?
How has the Black Lives Matter movement affected discussions and view about racism in the US?
What impact has the Affordable Care Act had on healthcare in the US?
What factors contributed to the UK deciding to leave the EU (Brexit)?
What factors contributed to China becoming an economic power?
Discuss the history of Bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies (some of which tokenize the S&P 500 Index on the blockchain) .
Do students in schools that eliminate grades do better in college and their careers?
Do students from wealthier backgrounds score higher on standardized tests?
Do students who receive free meals at school get higher grades compared to when they weren't receiving a free meal?
Do students who attend charter schools score higher on standardized tests than students in public schools?
Do students learn better in same-sex classrooms?
How does giving each student access to an iPad or laptop affect their studies?
What are the benefits and drawbacks of the Montessori Method ?
Do children who attend preschool do better in school later on?
What was the impact of the No Child Left Behind act?
How does the US education system compare to education systems in other countries?
What impact does mandatory physical education classes have on students' health?
Which methods are most effective at reducing bullying in schools?
Do homeschoolers who attend college do as well as students who attended traditional schools?
Does offering tenure increase or decrease quality of teaching?
How does college debt affect future life choices of students?
Should graduate students be able to form unions?

What are different ways to lower gun-related deaths in the US?
How and why have divorce rates changed over time?
Is affirmative action still necessary in education and/or the workplace?
Should physician-assisted suicide be legal?
How has stem cell research impacted the medical field?
How can human trafficking be reduced in the United States/world?
Should people be able to donate organs in exchange for money?
Which types of juvenile punishment have proven most effective at preventing future crimes?
Has the increase in US airport security made passengers safer?
Analyze the immigration policies of certain countries and how they are similar and different from one another.
Several states have legalized recreational marijuana. What positive and negative impacts have they experienced as a result?
Do tariffs increase the number of domestic jobs?
Which prison reforms have proven most effective?
Should governments be able to censor certain information on the internet?
Which methods/programs have been most effective at reducing teen pregnancy?
What are the benefits and drawbacks of the Keto diet?
How effective are different exercise regimes for losing weight and maintaining weight loss?
How do the healthcare plans of various countries differ from each other?
What are the most effective ways to treat depression ?
What are the pros and cons of genetically modified foods?
Which methods are most effective for improving memory?
What can be done to lower healthcare costs in the US?
What factors contributed to the current opioid crisis?
Analyze the history and impact of the HIV/AIDS epidemic .
Are low-carbohydrate or low-fat diets more effective for weight loss?
How much exercise should the average adult be getting each week?
Which methods are most effective to get parents to vaccinate their children?
What are the pros and cons of clean needle programs?
How does stress affect the body?
Discuss the history of the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians.
What were the causes and effects of the Salem Witch Trials?
Who was responsible for the Iran-Contra situation?
How has New Orleans and the government's response to natural disasters changed since Hurricane Katrina?
What events led to the fall of the Roman Empire?
What were the impacts of British rule in India ?
Was the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki necessary?
What were the successes and failures of the women's suffrage movement in the United States?
What were the causes of the Civil War?
How did Abraham Lincoln's assassination impact the country and reconstruction after the Civil War?
Which factors contributed to the colonies winning the American Revolution?
What caused Hitler's rise to power?
Discuss how a specific invention impacted history.
What led to Cleopatra's fall as ruler of Egypt?
How has Japan changed and evolved over the centuries?
What were the causes of the Rwandan genocide ?

Why did Martin Luther decide to split with the Catholic Church?
Analyze the history and impact of a well-known cult (Jonestown, Manson family, etc.)
How did the sexual abuse scandal impact how people view the Catholic Church?
How has the Catholic church's power changed over the past decades/centuries?
What are the causes behind the rise in atheism/ agnosticism in the United States?
What were the influences in Siddhartha's life resulted in him becoming the Buddha?
How has media portrayal of Islam/Muslims changed since September 11th?

Science/Environment

How has the earth's climate changed in the past few decades?
How has the use and elimination of DDT affected bird populations in the US?
Analyze how the number and severity of natural disasters have increased in the past few decades.
Analyze deforestation rates in a certain area or globally over a period of time.
How have past oil spills changed regulations and cleanup methods?
How has the Flint water crisis changed water regulation safety?
What are the pros and cons of fracking?
What impact has the Paris Climate Agreement had so far?
What have NASA's biggest successes and failures been?
How can we improve access to clean water around the world?
Does ecotourism actually have a positive impact on the environment?
Should the US rely on nuclear energy more?
What can be done to save amphibian species currently at risk of extinction?
What impact has climate change had on coral reefs?
How are black holes created?
Are teens who spend more time on social media more likely to suffer anxiety and/or depression?
How will the loss of net neutrality affect internet users?
Analyze the history and progress of self-driving vehicles.
How has the use of drones changed surveillance and warfare methods?
Has social media made people more or less connected?
What progress has currently been made with artificial intelligence ?
Do smartphones increase or decrease workplace productivity?
What are the most effective ways to use technology in the classroom?
How is Google search affecting our intelligence?
When is the best age for a child to begin owning a smartphone?
Has frequent texting reduced teen literacy rates?

How to Write a Great Research Paper

Even great research paper topics won't give you a great research paper if you don't hone your topic before and during the writing process. Follow these three tips to turn good research paper topics into great papers.

#1: Figure Out Your Thesis Early

Before you start writing a single word of your paper, you first need to know what your thesis will be. Your thesis is a statement that explains what you intend to prove/show in your paper. Every sentence in your research paper will relate back to your thesis, so you don't want to start writing without it!

As some examples, if you're writing a research paper on if students learn better in same-sex classrooms, your thesis might be "Research has shown that elementary-age students in same-sex classrooms score higher on standardized tests and report feeling more comfortable in the classroom."

If you're writing a paper on the causes of the Civil War, your thesis might be "While the dispute between the North and South over slavery is the most well-known cause of the Civil War, other key causes include differences in the economies of the North and South, states' rights, and territorial expansion."

#2: Back Every Statement Up With Research

Remember, this is a research paper you're writing, so you'll need to use lots of research to make your points. Every statement you give must be backed up with research, properly cited the way your teacher requested. You're allowed to include opinions of your own, but they must also be supported by the research you give.

#3: Do Your Research Before You Begin Writing

You don't want to start writing your research paper and then learn that there isn't enough research to back up the points you're making, or, even worse, that the research contradicts the points you're trying to make!

Get most of your research on your good research topics done before you begin writing. Then use the research you've collected to create a rough outline of what your paper will cover and the key points you're going to make. This will help keep your paper clear and organized, and it'll ensure you have enough research to produce a strong paper.

What's Next?

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These recommendations are based solely on our knowledge and experience. If you purchase an item through one of our links, PrepScholar may receive a commission.

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Christine graduated from Michigan State University with degrees in Environmental Biology and Geography and received her Master's from Duke University. In high school she scored in the 99th percentile on the SAT and was named a National Merit Finalist. She has taught English and biology in several countries.

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301+ Research Topic Examples For Students [Updated 2024]

Embarking on a research journey is a crucial aspect of academic growth for students. Selecting the right research topic is like choosing the key that unlocks the door to a world of academic exploration and discovery. In this blog, we will delve into the importance of choosing a relevant research topic for students, explore various considerations for topic selection, and provide research topic examples for students across different academic domains.

General Considerations for Selecting Research Topics

Table of Contents

Personal Interest

Identifying and pursuing personal interests is a fundamental aspect of selecting a research topic. When students choose a subject they are passionate about, the research process becomes an exciting journey rather than a mundane task. This can involve reflecting on hobbies, current events, or personal experiences that spark curiosity.

For example, a student interested in technology might explore the impact of artificial intelligence on society, delving into its implications for employment, ethics, and social dynamics.

Academic Relevance

Aligning the research topic with academic goals is essential for maximizing the learning experience. Students should consider how their chosen topic relates to their coursework and future career aspirations.

For instance, a psychology student might explore the effects of social media on mental health, connecting the research to their academic background and potential career path.

301+ Research Topic Examples for Students

Science and technology.

Quantum computing and its potential applications
Cybersecurity threats in the age of digital transformation
The role of nanotechnology in medicine
Impacts of 5G technology on communication networks
Sustainable practices in IT: Green computing
Robotics in healthcare: Current trends and future prospects
Ethical considerations in genetic engineering
Augmented reality and its applications in education
The future of space exploration: Mars colonization
Big data analytics for predicting disease outbreaks

Social Sciences

Impact of social media on political activism
Cultural appropriation in the fashion industry
Influence of family structure on child development
The psychology of decision-making in consumer behavior
Social implications of virtual reality experiences
Intersectionality and its role in social justice
Effects of climate change on migration patterns
Social perceptions of mental health disorders
Online communities and their impact on social isolation
Gender roles in contemporary society: Breaking stereotypes

Health and Medicine

The microbiome and its role in human health
Investigating alternative therapies for chronic pain management
Impact of sleep deprivation on cognitive function
Precision medicine: Tailoring treatments based on genetics
The role of gut health in immune system function
Telemedicine: Accessibility and effectiveness
Public health interventions for reducing obesity rates
Challenges in mental health care for marginalized communities
Exploring the link between diet and mental health
Vaccine hesitancy and its implications for public health
The effectiveness of project-based learning in STEM education
Assessing the impact of standardized testing on student stress
Inclusive education for children with learning disabilities
The role of teacher-student relationships in academic success
Gamification in education: Engaging students through games
Evaluating the effectiveness of online education platforms
School policies and their impact on LGBTQ+ students
Benefits and challenges of bilingual education
The role of arts education in fostering creativity
Technology integration in the classroom: Enhancing learning experiences

Business and Economics

The gig economy: Implications for workers and businesses
Corporate social responsibility and consumer behavior
Impact of e-commerce on traditional retail businesses
Cryptocurrency: Risks and opportunities in the financial market
Strategies for sustainable business practices
Workplace diversity and its impact on organizational performance
The role of emotional intelligence in leadership
Global economic disparities and their consequences
Challenges and opportunities for small businesses in a digital era
Consumer trust in online reviews and its influence on purchasing decisions

Environmental Science

The role of forests in carbon sequestration
Impact of plastic pollution on marine ecosystems
Sustainable agriculture practices for food security
Biodiversity conservation in urban environments
The effects of climate change on migratory patterns of animals
Renewable energy policies and their effectiveness
Pollution in urban areas: Assessing air and water quality
The role of wetlands in flood control and water purification
Conservation strategies for endangered species
Environmental education and its impact on eco-friendly behaviors

Political Science

The role of social media in shaping political opinions
Electoral systems and their impact on representation
International relations: Diplomacy and conflict resolution
Political polarization and its consequences for democracy
Human rights violations in conflict zones
The influence of lobbying on public policy decisions
Immigration policies and their societal implications
The role of women in politics: Breaking the glass ceiling
Cyber warfare and its impact on national security
Political ideologies and their evolution over time
The impact of childhood trauma on adult mental health
Cross-cultural differences in perception and cognition
Exploring the link between personality traits and career choices
Cognitive biases and decision-making errors
Psychosocial factors influencing addiction recovery
The role of positive psychology in promoting well-being
Effects of social media on body image and self-esteem
Sleep disorders and their impact on mental health
Stereotype threat in academic settings
The psychology of forgiveness and its therapeutic benefits
Social mobility and its relation to economic inequality
Social networks and their influence on career opportunities
The impact of incarceration on families and communities
Youth subcultures and their role in identity formation
The digital divide: Access to technology and social inequality
Social movements: Causes, dynamics, and outcomes
The role of religion in shaping social attitudes
Aging populations: Challenges and opportunities
Urbanization and its effects on community dynamics
Social stratification and its consequences for societal cohesion
Reevaluating historical events from multiple perspectives
The impact of colonialism on indigenous cultures
Women’s suffrage movements around the world
Historical analysis of economic recessions and recoveries
Revolutionary movements and their effects on society
The role of propaganda in shaping historical narratives
Cultural exchange and influence in ancient civilizations
Historical roots of current geopolitical conflicts
Technological advancements and their impact on historical eras
The legacy of historical figures in shaping modern ideologies

Literature and Language

The portrayal of gender roles in classic literature
The influence of folklore on contemporary literature
Linguistic diversity in multicultural societies
The evolution of language: Impact of technology and globalization
Analysis of dystopian literature and its reflection on society
Comparative study of literary movements across cultures
The role of literature in fostering empathy and understanding
The representation of mental health in literature
Translation challenges in preserving cultural nuances
Language acquisition in multilingual environments

Anthropology

Cultural practices surrounding death and mourning rituals
Studying indigenous communities and cultural preservation
Human adaptation to environmental changes throughout history
Impact of globalization on traditional cultural practices
Evolutionary perspectives on human behavior
Cultural relativism and its role in anthropological research
Ethnographic study of modern subcultures
Rituals and ceremonies in different world cultures
Social organization and kinship systems in tribal societies
Ethical considerations in anthropological fieldwork

Art and Design

The role of art therapy in mental health treatment
Influences of cultural movements on contemporary art
Exploring the intersection of technology and visual arts
Impact of public art installations on urban environments
Analysis of symbolism in Renaissance art
The evolution of graphic design in the digital age
Environmental art: Conveying messages about sustainability
Fashion trends and their cultural implications
The psychology of color in design and marketing
The relationship between art and political activism
Ethical implications of emerging technologies
Existentialist perspectives on human freedom and responsibility
Metaethics: Exploring the nature of ethical statements
Epistemological analysis of artificial intelligence
Philosophical perspectives on the concept of time
The relationship between mind and body: Dualism vs. monism
The philosophy of education: Examining different approaches
Environmental ethics and responsibilities
Political philosophy: The concept of justice
Comparative analysis of Eastern and Western philosophical traditions

Music and Performing Arts

Impact of technology on the music industry
Cultural influences on musical genres
The role of music in film: Emotional impact and storytelling
The evolution of dance as a cultural expression
Representation of social issues in theater productions
Music therapy for mental health and well-being
The intersection of music and activism
Cultural appropriation in the performing arts
Influences of globalization on traditional music styles
Experimental approaches in contemporary performing arts

Communications and Media Studies

The impact of fake news on public opinion
Representation of diversity in the media
Social media influencers and their influence on consumer behavior
The role of media in shaping political narratives
Online privacy concerns in the era of digital communication
The evolution of advertising in the age of streaming services
Investigating media bias in news reporting
Ethical considerations in photojournalism
Media literacy education: Promoting critical thinking skills
The future of journalism in the digital age

Criminal Justice and Law

The effectiveness of restorative justice programs
Police-community relations: Building trust and accountability
Cybercrime and the challenges of law enforcement
Juvenile justice reform: Balancing punishment and rehabilitation
Police Brutality and Accountability
Cybercrime and Digital Forensics
Bail Reform and Pretrial Detention
Human rights violations in prisons: Challenges and solutions
Legal implications of emerging surveillance technologies
The impact of criminalization on marginalized communities

Linguistics

The evolution of language: From ancient to modern times
Sociolinguistics: Language variation in different social contexts
Bilingualism and its cognitive effects on language processing
Analyzing language change through historical linguistics
Phonetics and phonology: Exploring sound patterns in languages
Syntax and sentence structure across diverse languages
The role of language in shaping cultural identities
Linguistic relativity: The influence of language on thought
Computational linguistics: Applications in natural language processing

Geography and Urban Studies

Urbanization and its impact on local ecosystems
Geopolitical implications of natural resource distribution
Sustainable urban planning for future cities
Environmental justice in urban areas
Exploring the dynamics of rural-urban migration
Geographic Information Systems (GIS) applications in urban studies
Impact of climate change on coastal communities
Urban transportation systems: Challenges and innovations
Cultural geography: Understanding the relationship between people and place
Historical analysis of urban development in different regions
The economic impact of global pandemics
Income inequality and its effects on economic growth
The role of central banks in monetary policy
Economic consequences of automation and artificial intelligence
Behavioral economics: Understanding decision-making processes
The economics of healthcare systems around the world
The gig economy and its implications for labor markets
Trade policies and their impact on international relations
Economic development in emerging markets
The role of entrepreneurship in economic growth
Impact of social media on political engagement
Effects of social isolation on mental health
Cultural influences on parenting styles
Social consequences of income inequality
Social dynamics in online communities
Gender roles in contemporary society
Impact of technology on interpersonal relationships
Immigration and its effects on social integration
Social movements: Causes and outcomes
The psychology of resilience in the face of adversity
Cross-cultural perspectives on emotional intelligence
The impact of childhood experiences on adult relationships
The impact of social media on political polarization
Electoral systems and their influence on representation
International relations: Power dynamics and conflict resolution
Global governance: Challenges and opportunities
The role of diplomacy in international relations
The portrayal of gender roles in contemporary literature
The influence of folklore on modern storytelling
The evolution of language in the digital age
Analysis of post-colonial literature and its impact
The role of literature in fostering empathy
The impact of art therapy on mental health
Cultural influences on contemporary art
Analysis of symbolism in contemporary art movements
Existentialist perspectives on human freedom
Metaethics: Examining the nature of ethical statements
The philosophy of education: Different approaches

Media Studies

Fake News and its Impact on Public Perception
The Evolution of Journalism in the Digital Age
Media Representation of Minorities: Challenges and Solutions
The Role of Satire in Political Commentary
Influencer Marketing: Consumer Trust and Ethical Considerations
Podcasting as a Medium for Alternative Narratives
Media Literacy Education: Navigating Information in the Digital Era
Virtual Reality and Immersive Storytelling in Media
The Relationship Between Media Consumption and Political Beliefs
Media Censorship: Balancing Freedom of Speech and Social Responsibility

Sociology of Religion

Interfaith Dialogue and Social Harmony
Religion and Environmental Stewardship
The Role of Religion in Shaping Gender Norms
Religious Pluralism in Diverse Societies
Faith-Based Initiatives in Social Welfare
Religious Fundamentalism and Its Impact on Society
Sacred Spaces: Architecture and Symbolism in Religious Buildings
Spirituality and Mental Health: Exploring Connections
The Influence of Religion on Political Movements
Secularism in Modern Societies: Trends and Debates

Computer Science

Explainable Artificial Intelligence: Bridging the Gap between Technology and Understanding
Quantum Computing Algorithms: Potential Applications and Limitations
Cybersecurity Threats in Internet of Things (IoT) Devices
Natural Language Processing for Multilingual Information Retrieval
Machine Learning for Predictive Maintenance in Manufacturing
Blockchain Technology in Supply Chain Management
Human-Computer Interaction: Enhancing User Experience
Edge Computing: Distributing Processing Power for Efficiency
Ethical Considerations in Autonomous Systems and Robotics
Augmented Reality Applications in Education and Training

Public Policy

Immigration Policies and Social Integration
Universal Basic Income: Economic and Social Implications
Public Health Policies for Disease Prevention
Education Policies: Assessing Impact on Student Outcomes
Climate Change Policy: International Cooperation and Challenges
Criminal Justice Reforms and Recidivism Rates
Social Welfare Programs: Effectiveness and Challenges
Affordable Housing Policies and Urban Development
The Role of Government in Addressing Income Inequality
Policy Responses to Global Health Crises

Tips for Narrowing Down Research Topics

Define Specific Research Questions

Once a general topic is identified, students should narrow down their focus by defining specific research questions. This helps clarify the scope of the research and ensures a more targeted and manageable investigation.

Consider Feasibility and Resources

Practical considerations, such as available resources and feasibility, play a crucial role in topic selection. Students should assess whether they have access to the necessary data, tools, and support to carry out their research effectively.

Evaluate Available Literature

Conducting a literature review is an essential step in refining research topics. By reviewing existing literature, students can identify gaps in knowledge, refine their research questions, and build on the work of previous scholars.

Seek Guidance from Mentors and Instructors

Engaging with mentors and instructors can provide valuable insights and guidance. They can offer feedback on proposed topics, suggest relevant literature, and provide support throughout the research process.

In conclusion, choosing a research topic (from research topic examples for students) is a pivotal step in a student’s academic journey. By considering personal interests, aligning with academic goals, and exploring examples across different domains, students can unlock the potential for meaningful and impactful research.

The outlined tips for narrowing down research topics serve as practical guidance, ensuring that students embark on a research journey that is both enriching and rewarding.

As students embrace the challenge of research, they contribute not only to their academic growth but also to the broader body of knowledge that shapes our understanding of the world. So, let the exploration begin!

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Research Paper Topics

Choose your Topic Smart

What starts well, ends well, so you need to be really careful with research paper topics. The topic of a research paper defines the whole piece of writing. How often have you chosen the book by its title? First impression is often influential, so make sure your topic will attract the reader instantly. By choosing your topic smart, the half of your job is done. That is why we have singled out several secrets on how to pick the best topic for you. Also see the list of 1000 thesis topics .

Browse Research Paper Topics by Category:

Anthropology
Argumentative
Communication
Criminal Justice
Environmental
Political Science

What is the Key to a Perfect Topic for a Research Paper?

The key to a perfect topic includes three main secrets: interest, precision, and innovation.

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It is impossible to do something great if you have no interest in what you are doing. For this reason, make sure you choose the topic that drives you. If you are bored by what you investigate, do not expect that your paper will be exciting. Right now, spend some minutes or even hours thinking about what interests you. Jot down all your preferences in life, science, politics, social issues etc. It will help you get the idea what you can write about.

After realizing what drives you, narrow this general idea to a more specific one. A research paper is not about beating around the bush. You will need clear facts and data. You will have to provide evidence to your ideas. You will need to be precise, specific and convincing.

Finally, the idea of any research is that it should be surprising and distinctive. Think what makes your perspective and approach special. What is the novelty of your research?

Use Technology

If you are still stuck, use technology. Today we have an opportunity to make our lives easier with a bit of technology used. You can find paper topic generators online. This software will examine the category you want to investigate and the keywords from your research. Within several seconds, this program generates paper topics, so you can try it yourself. It can help you get started with your assignment.

100% Effective Advice

We will now give you advice that is 100% effective when picking the topic. Firstly, forget about what others may think about your topic. This is your topic and this is your perception of the world. Stay personal and let your personal style get you the top grades. Secondly, never decide on the topic before analyzing the background for your research. By this we mean, investigate the topic before you start the research proper. It happens quite often that students choose the topic and later they realize there is no data or information to use. That is why conduct some research beforehand. Thirdly, read other researchers’ papers on the topic you want to write about. It will help you get the idea of the investigation. Moreover, it will help you understand whether you truly want to write a paper on this topic. Finally, when you have picked the topic, started your research, make sure you dedicate your time and energy. If you want to get high results, you need to study every little details of your research.

Examine Different Ideas

People often come up with genius ideas after analyzing thousands of other people’s ideas. This is how our brain works. That is why you can analyze other people’s ideas for research paper topics and think up your own. If you have never written any paper of that kind, it will help you understand the gist of this assignment, the style and the requirements. By comparing different topics, you can motivate yourself and get inspired with these ideas. Luckily, you have come to the right place. Here is our list of top 100 research paper topics.

What Makes a Good Topic for a Research Paper?

A good research paper topic is the one that is successful and manageable in your particular case. A successful research paper poses an interesting question you can actually answer. Just as important, it poses a question you can answer within the time available. The question should be one that interests you and deserves exploration. It might be an empirical question or a theoretical puzzle. In some fields, it might be a practical problem or policy issue. Whatever the question is, you need to mark off its boundaries clearly and intelligently so you can complete the research paper and not get lost in the woods. That means your topic should be manageable as well as interesting and important.

A topic is manageable if you can:

Master the relevant literature
Collect and analyze the necessary data
Answer the key questions you have posed
Do it all within the time available, with the skills you have

A topic is important if it:

Touches directly on major theoretical issues and debates, or
Addresses substantive topics of great interest in your field

Ideally, your topic can do both, engaging theoretical and substantive issues. In elementary education, for example, parents, teachers, scholars, and public officials all debate the effectiveness of charter schools, the impact of vouchers, and the value of different reading programs. A research paper on any of these would resonate within the university and well beyond it. Still, as you approach such topics, you need to limit the scope of your investigation so you can finish your research and writing on time. After all, to be a good research paper, it first has to be a completed one. A successful research paper poses an interesting question you can actually answer within the time available for the project. Some problems are simply too grand, too sweeping to master within the time limits. Some are too minor to interest you or anybody else.

The solution, however, is not to find a lukewarm bowl of porridge, a bland compromise. Nor is it to abandon your interest in larger, more profound issues such as the relationship between school organization and educational achievement or between immigration and poverty. Rather, the solution is to select a well-defined topic that is closely linked to some larger issue and then explore that link. Your research paper will succeed if you nail a well-defined topic. It will rise to excellence if you probe that topic deeply and show how it illuminates wider issues.The best theses deal with important issues, framed in manageable ways. The goal is to select a well-defined topic that is closely linked to some larger issue and can illuminate it.

You can begin your project with either a large issue or a narrowly defined topic, depending on your interests and the ideas you have generated. Whichever way you start, the goals are the same: to connect the two in meaningful ways and to explore your specific topic in depth.

Of course, the choice of a particular research paper topic depends on the course you’re taking. Our site can offer you the following research paper topics and example research papers:

Moving from a Research Paper Idea to a Research Paper Topic

Let’s begin as most students actually do, by going from a “big issue” to a more manageable research paper topic. Suppose you start with a big question such as, “Why has the United States fought so many wars since 1945?” That’s certainly a big, important question. Unfortunately, it’s too complex and sprawling to cover well in a research paper. Working with your professor or instructor, you could zero in on a related but feasible research topic, such as “Why did the Johnson administration choose to escalate the U.S. war in Vietnam?” By choosing this topic, your research paper can focus on a specific war and, within that, on a few crucial years in the mid-1960s.

You can draw on major works covering all aspects of the Vietnam War and the Johnson administration’s decision making. You have access to policy memos that were once stamped top secret. These primary documents have now been declassified, published by the State Department, and made available to research libraries. Many are readily available on the Web. You can also take advantage of top-quality secondary sources (that is, books and articles based on primary documents, interviews, and other research data).

Drawing on these primary and secondary sources, you can uncover and critique the reasons behind U.S. military escalation. As you answer this well-defined question about Vietnam, you can (and you should) return to the larger themes that interest you, namely, “What does the escalation in Southeast Asia tell us about the global projection of U.S. military power since 1945?” As one of America’s largest military engagements since World War II, the war in Vietnam should tell us a great deal about the more general question.

The goal here is to pick a good case to study, one that is compelling in its own right and speaks to the larger issue. It need not be a typical example, but it does need to illuminate the larger question. Some cases are better than others precisely because they illuminate larger issues. That’s why choosing the best cases makes such a difference in your research paper.

Since you are interested in why the United States has fought so often since 1945, you probably shouldn’t focus on U.S. invasions of Grenada, Haiti, or Panama in the past two decades. Why? Because the United States has launched numerous military actions against small, weak states in the Caribbean for more than a century. That is important in its own right, but it doesn’t say much about what has changed so dramatically since 1945. The real change since 1945 is the projection of U.S. power far beyond the Western Hemisphere, to Europe and Asia. You cannot explain this change—or any change, for that matter—by looking at something that remains constant.

In this case, to analyze the larger pattern of U.S. war fighting and the shift it represents, you need to pick examples of distant conflicts, such as Korea, Vietnam, Kosovo, Afghanistan, or Iraq. That’s the noteworthy change since 1945: U.S. military intervention outside the Western Hemisphere. The United States has fought frequently in such areas since World War II but rarely before then. Alternatively, you could use statistics covering many cases of U.S. intervention around the world, perhaps supplemented with some telling cases studies.

Students in the humanities want to explore their own big ideas, and they, too, need to focus their research. In English literature, their big issue might be “masculinity” or, to narrow the range a bit, “masculinity in Jewish American literature.” Important as these issues are, they are too vast for anyone to read all the major novels plus all the relevant criticism and then frame a comprehensive research paper.

If you don’t narrow these sprawling topics and focus your work, you can only skim the surface. Skimming the surface is not what you want to do in a research paper. You want to understand your subject in depth and convey that understanding to your readers.

That does not mean you have to abandon your interest in major themes. It means you have to restrict their scope in sensible ways. To do that, you need to think about which aspects of masculinity really interest you and then find works that deal with them.

You may realize your central concern is how masculinity is defined in response to strong women. That focus would still leave you considerable flexibility, depending on your academic background and what you love to read. That might be anything from a reconsideration of Macbeth to an analysis of early twentieth-century American novels, where men must cope with women in assertive new roles. Perhaps you are interested in another aspect of masculinity: the different ways it is defined within the same culture at the same moment. That would lead you to novelists who explore these differences in their characters, perhaps contrasting men who come from different backgrounds, work in different jobs, or simply differ emotionally. Again, you would have considerable flexibility in choosing specific writers.

Connecting a Specific Research Paper Topic to a Bigger Idea

Not all students begin their research paper concerned with big issues such as masculinity or American wars over the past half century. Some start with very specific topics in mind. One example might be the decision to create NAFTA, the North American Free Trade Agreement encompassing Canada, the United States, and Mexico. Perhaps you are interested in NAFTA because you discussed it in a course, heard about it in a political campaign, or saw its effects firsthand on local workers, companies, and consumers. It intrigues you, and you would like to study it in a research paper. The challenge is to go from this clear-cut subject to a larger theme that will frame your paper.

Why do you even need to figure out a larger theme? Because NAFTA bears on several major topics, and you cannot explore all of them. Your challenge—and your opportunity—is to figure out which one captures your imagination.

One way to think about that is to finish this sentence: “For me, NAFTA is a case of ___________.” If you are mainly interested in negotiations between big and small countries, then your answer is, “For me, NAFTA is a case of a large country like the United States bargaining with a smaller neighbor.” Your answer would be different if you are mainly interested in decision making within the United States, Mexico, or Canada. In that case, you might say, “NAFTA seems to be a case where a strong U.S. president pushed a trade policy through Congress.” Perhaps you are more concerned with the role played by business lobbies. “For me, NAFTA is a case of undue corporate influence over foreign economic policy.” Or you could be interested in the role of trade unions, environmental groups, or public opinion.

The NAFTA decision is related to all these big issues and more. You cannot cover them all. There is not enough time, and even if there were, the resulting paper would be too diffuse, too scattershot. To make an impact, throw a rock, not a handful of pebbles.

Choosing one of these large issues will shape your research paper on NAFTA. If you are interested in U.S. decision making, for example, you might study the lobbying process or perhaps the differences between Democrats and Republicans. If you are interested in diplomacy, you would focus on negotiations between the United States, Canada, and Mexico. Either would make an interesting research paper, but they are different topics.

Although the subject matter and analysis are decidedly different in the humanities, many of the same considerations still apply to topic selection. In English or comparative literature, for example, you may be attracted to a very specific topic such as several poems by William Wordsworth. You are not trying, as a social scientist would, to test some generalizations that apply across time or space. Rather, you want to analyze these specific poems, uncover their multiple meanings, trace their allusions, and understand their form and beauty.

As part of the research paper, however, you may wish to say something bigger, something that goes beyond these particular poems. That might be about Wordsworth’s larger body of work. Are these poems representative or unusual? Do they break with his previous work or anticipate work yet to come? You may wish to comment on Wordsworth’s close ties to his fellow “Lake Poets,” Coleridge and Southey, underscoring some similarities in their work. Do they use language in shared ways? Do they use similar metaphors or explore similar themes? You may even wish to show how these particular poems are properly understood as part of the wider Romantic movement in literature and the arts. Any of these would connect the specific poems to larger themes.

How to Refine Your Research Paper Topic

One of your professor’s or instructor’s most valuable contributions to the success of your research paper is to help you refine your topic. She can help you select the best cases for detailed study or the best data and statistical techniques. S/he can help you find cases that shed light on larger questions, have good data available, and are discussed in a rich secondary literature. She may know valuable troves of documents to explore. That’s why it is so important to bring these issues up in early meetings. These discussions with your instructor are crucial in moving from a big but ill-defined idea to a smart, feasible topic.Some colleges supplement this advising process by offering special workshops and tutorial support for students. These are great resources, and you should take full advantage of them. They can improve your project in at least two ways.

First, tutors and workshop leaders are usually quite adept at helping you focus and shape your topic. That’s what they do best. Even if they are relatively new teachers, they have been writing research papers themselves for many years. They know how to do it well and how to avoid common mistakes. To craft their own papers, they have learned how to narrow their topics, gather data, interpret sources, and evaluate conjectures. They know how to use appropriate methods and how to mine the academic literature. In all these ways, they can assist you with their own hard-won experience. To avoid any confusion, just make sure your instructor knows what advice you are getting from workshop leaders and tutors. You want everyone to be pulling in the same direction.

Second, you will benefit enormously from batting around your research paper in workshops. The more you speak about your subject, the better you will understand it yourself. The better you understand it, the clearer your research and writing will be. You will learn about your project as you present your ideas; you will learn more as you listen to others discuss your work; and you will learn still more as you respond to their suggestions. Although you should do that in sessions with your instructor, you will also profit from doing it in workshops and tutorial sessions.

Secrets to Keep in Mind when Writing a Research Paper

As a bonus, we have prepared several secrets for you to make your paper perfect. Firstly, always write your paper from scratch. Do not copy the already existing materials, as it can lead to unsatisfactory mark or even expulsion. Secondly, start your research early; do not put off investigating the topic. The earlier you start, the easier it will be to meet the deadline. Thirdly, plan your work and create an outline for your task. A planned work will help you be systematic. Plus, it will help you avoid writer’s block, as you always have an outline to follow. Another secret is following all the requirements. A research paper is an academic assignment, so all these structural and formatting standards are important. Finally, make sure you proofread and edit your task. Check your paper for grammar and spelling mistakes, examine your choice of vocabulary. If it seems too much, you can always ask our professional editors and they will check the paper for you. A mistakes-free paper is essential to get high results.

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If you still have concerns regarding your research paper, we are here to answer your questions. It is no secret that studying is becoming more and more difficult at college. Every week you have an overload of tasks and assignments. You work hard, sleep little. As a result, you can be at the edge of a nervous breakdown trying to finish all the tasks on time. That is why we are here helping thousands of students to study smart.

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Topics for Research Papers: Diverse Research Ideas Across Disciplines

Table of contents

1 Why Is the Choice of Subject in Research Papers So Important?
2 How to Choose a Research Paper Topic?
3 Business Research Paper Topics
4 Media and Communications Research Paper Topics
5 Psychology Research Paper Topics
6 Argumentative Research Paper Topics
7 Controversial Topics for Research Paper
8 Easy Research Paper Topics
9 Research Topic in Natural Sciences
10 Sociology Research Paper Topics
11 Family Research Paper Topics
12 Discrimination Research Paper Topics
13 Law Research Paper Topics
14 Environmental Research Paper Topics
15 Education Research Paper Topics
16 Science and Technology Research Paper Topics
17 College Research Paper Topics
18 Health Research Paper Topics
19 Politics Research Paper Topics
20 History Research Paper Topics
21 Music Research Paper Topics
22.1 After Choosing the Research Topic
22.2 Closing Thoughts

When students approach the final stage of their academic journey, they immediately begin to think about the need to develop their research project to add to their college curriculum. To do this, students start searching for the best research paper topics. From then on, many insecurities and doubts will haunt the minds of these college education students who will have a big job ahead of them with the best research paper topic.

To help students during this challenging phase of their education, we can help them explore various interesting research paper topics, figure out which one aligns with their interests, and start working on it well ahead of the deadline.

Why Is the Choice of Subject in Research Papers So Important?

The final project of a student who is in college is a research paper. However, the student needs to start working on it before the end of their program. It is known that the sooner you begin this process, the more time and tranquility you will find to develop it. Therefore, a research paper will review what experts on a given subject have published in the literature, making the student choose and defend a point of view concerning a thesis statement. Writing one successfully requires surveys and data to back your idea or topic and choose a good research paper topic.

How to Choose a Research Paper Topic?

Choosing a research paper topic is a crucial step in the research process . It’s important to select a topic that interests you, aligns with your academic goals, and is feasible to research. Here’s a step-by-step guide on how to pick a good research paper topic :

Pick a subject that you’re passionate about! If you’re passionate about your subject, the research process will be more relevant, and you will have more research topic ideas.
Concentrate on a doable topic.
You will only be able to focus if your topic is narrow enough.
Examine the subject selection instructions provided in your assignment—request advice from your lecturer or TA.
Always refer to important materials and notes about classes so that you are up to date on the topic.
Brainstorm research topics with a friend. They will be able to help you write your emphasis and raise concerns that will not be present at the time of your presentation.
Consider the following questions for your research topic ideas: who, what, when, where, and why:

WHY did you choose this particular topic? What piques your curiosity about it?

WHO are the sources of information, and who is impacted?

WHAT are the most important questions about this subject?

WHERE does your topic matter most: locally, nationally, or internationally?

WHEN did your topic become important? Is this a current issue or one from the past?

Business Research Paper Topics

A study of the business is current and significant. It allows data and information to be collected about commercial relationships worldwide. In this way, students can delve deeper into an important economics and professional development topic, finding solutions and discussing results. Sometimes, one can get research paper writing to assist in situations where it is inconvenient. Some examples of these business research paper topics include:

The influence of employee benefits on representative efficiency.
The difficulties of managing workgroup conflict.
Start-ups: Examining the challenges that arise during the early stages of a business.
How to work with open and closed systems in business.
Workgroups’ ability to evolve to meet the needs of the future.
Inter-authoritative networks and leadership strategies.
Product and service improvements made in significant cooperation.
How to manage an organization’s emergencies.
The effect of full quality management practices on client retention and satisfaction.
Effective time management as a tool for authoritative endurance.

Media and Communications Research Paper Topics

The research work developed in the area of the media manages to provide students with information about mass communication and its importance. With the advent of the internet and all its nuances, it is increasingly important to develop studies and research to understand the effects of media and communication in the social context. Some communication research topics can explore include:

The influence of the media on real-life relationships.
The role of the media in the expression of social issues.
Consequences of mass media on society’s ethical well-being.
The advantages of using the media to anticipate a crisis.
How the media infringes on citizens’ rights.
What role does the media play in spreading awareness?
The significance of trustworthy ads.
The impact of the media on a country’s political elite.
Is the media good or harmful to the economy?
What role does the media play in technological advancement?

Psychology Research Paper Topics

Many subjects can be approached within the theme of psychology. It is an area of science that allows us to carry out different studies with various themes and views. However, the student must be able to choose an important topic for the psychology and academic context. Your teacher’s attention is drawn to an engaging and novel topic. Here are some ideas for you:

What impact do violent video games have on children’s brain development?
Do violent cartoons impact our children’s behavior and mental health?
What impact does divorce have on a child’s emotional blooming?
An introverted child’s social anxiety and sadness.
How does bullying affect high school or college students’ social interactions?
When a person is in love, how does the brain work?
Differences in the way a man’s and a woman’s brains work
Is there a link between PTSD and Alzheimer’s disease?
Sleep paralysis causes and effects
What is the best way to deal with multiple personality disorders?

Argumentative Research Paper Topics

The student must choose an argumentative research paper topic because you will have to defend a thesis during the work. By opting for a good research paper topic of your interest, you will base yourself on various materials already published on the subject to develop your thoughts and arguments to defend your initial idea chosen as the main subject of your work.

The role of government in addressing income inequality.
The pros and cons of school uniform policies.
Analyzing the effects of violent video games on behavior.
The effectiveness of abstinence-only sex education programs.
The impact of fast food advertising on childhood obesity.
The role of government in regulating online privacy.
The pros and cons of school voucher programs.
Examining the impact of standardized testing on education.
The ethics of capital punishment for juveniles.
The ethics of human organ trafficking.

Controversial Topics for Research Paper

High times or high risks? The legalization of recreational marijuana use.
Locked and loaded: The endless debate on gun control policies.
To kill or not to kill: The ongoing debate on capital punishment.
Drones in the crosshairs: Balancing security and privacy.
The ethics of human cloning and genetic engineering.
Vaccination controversies: Mandates, exemptions, and public health.
Affirmative action under scrutiny: Equity in college admissions.
The ethics of assisted suicide and euthanasia.
Balancing surveillance and civil liberties.
Nuclear power and weapons: Weighing the benefits and risks.
Solitary confinement: Cruel punishment or necessary measure?
Rise of the machines: Artificial intelligence, employment, and ethics.
Animals in entertainment: Whose amusement at what cost?
Privacy vs. security: Government surveillance and individual rights.
Playing God: The ethics of human gene editing and designer babies.
Statues and symbols: The controversy surrounding Confederate memorials.
Fracking unveiled: The controversy surrounding hydraulic fracturing.

Easy Research Paper Topics

The effects of fast food consumption on health.
The benefits of reading for personal development.
Strategies for stress reduction in everyday life.
The role of family in child development.
The history of famous inventions.
Strategies for effective communication in relationships.
The history and impact of social movements.
The influence of advertising on consumer choices.
Strategies for healthy eating on a budget.
The importance of setting goals in life.

Research Topic in Natural Sciences

The impact of ocean acidification on marine life
Exploring the genetic diversity of soil microbes and their influence on crop health.
Studying the impacts of emerging contaminants on freshwater ecosystems.
Understanding the dynamics of emerging zoonotic diseases in wildlife populations.
The use of CRISPR in gene editing.
The use of drones in disaster response.
The effects of light pollution on nocturnal insect communities in urban areas.
Natural toxins in plants: mechanisms, benefits, and risks in agriculture.
Climate change and its effects on algal blooms and water quality in 2023.
The ecological significance of wetland restoration efforts in 2023.

Sociology Research Paper Topics

The sociology discipline is responsible for studying human behavior within society. These studies will address how people behave in social relationships and groups and how cultures and customs emerge. The possibilities for research are endless regarding sociology’s enormous reach and continually changing societal trends. Choose the best easy sociology research topics for yourself. Some topic ideas are:

Is emotional intelligence as crucial as everyone claims?
Is there a misconception that males are better professionals than women?
Is homeschooling a hindrance to children’s socialization?
Abuse marriages have both causes and effects.
We spend too much time on our phones.
The ethics of animal experimentation.
Is recycling beneficial to the environment?
In the United States, is there a stereotype about Mexicans?
Racial preconceptions ruin people.
The need for sex education.

Family Research Paper Topics

It’s not always easy to research family issues. This is mainly because some students may be coming from pleased families. Thus, many concepts might be difficult to comprehend. However, this field of study has the potential to significantly improve the psychological climate in many households throughout the world. Some topics one can research include:

In the family, there has been sexual abuse. The escape plan and organizations that can assist.
Resolving religious issues in families.
Is it possible to rescue oneself from substance abuse in a family if others engage?
Saving family connections while not inheriting the family business.
Balancing between family support and allowing young adults to experience living on their own in the transition to adulthood.
A relationship that is toxic and abusive. Breaking up with a toxic spouse has psychological ramifications.
Children and adults go through phases of grieving after losing a family member. How can we cope as a group?
What issues might parents confront when fostering a child?
When does teen misbehavior become more than a normal desire for independence?
A generational divide exists. The moral and cultural differences. Is this typical?

Discrimination Research Paper Topics

It is undeniable the massive impact that discrimination has in the society of the past and also of the present. Therefore, articles on discrimination and race relations must be the subject of academic research. Research papers on it can probe and proffer solutions through data found. Much research in this area can be developed, addressing relations of age, religion, race, sexual orientation, and any existing social conflict. Some topics to explore are:

Colorism as a kind of discrimination.
Discrimination Against Muslims in the Workplace.
Discrimination Against Asian Americans in Colleges.
Discrimination in the Workplace.
Discrimination against people of color as a result of racial profiling.
Discrimination Against Muslims in the Workplace is an issue that has to be addressed.
Discrimination in the Workplace: How to Manage in an Inclusive Environment.
Discrimination, social exclusion, and violence against LGBT people are issues that the LGBT community faces.
Discrimination and Equality Struggle.
Discrimination based on age in the workplace.

Law Research Paper Topics

Another fundamental form of research is legal research. It is a significant topic and one that allows us to have different approaches and points of view. Each country and each historical time will give us an even greater immersion in laws and legal conduct.

The law can be divided into 21 major areas. Just choose one of them to be the topic of your law research . Some areas of law are constitutional law, environmental law, and criminal law, among others. Some good topics include:

What are the benefits of business rules for institutions and organizations?
What is business law’s actual nature?
What do we know about the classification of business rules and the legal regulation of non-consensual adoption in the United States?
How does the law handle marriage and divorce for mentally ill people?
The cultural influence of transgender marriage and its legal status in different countries.
The environment and private property.
Equal protection under the law and the principle of equality.
The financial pyramid’s legal aspects.
Environment-related crimes.
Exchange Commission and Securities.

Environmental Research Paper Topics

To improve our relationship with nature and preserve it, it is necessary to carry out a lot of debate and research in this area. In this way, we will learn about the importance of ecology and the environment in the lives of all living beings. Developing work on this subject means containing the adverse effects of globalization, industrialization, and the use of nature. This way, we can save ecosystems, avoiding irreparable losses to our planet. Some environment research paper topics are:

Analysis and proposed remedies for lung cancer and radon.
The negative impact of acid rain on aquatic life and natural resources.
What can we do to protect wildlife from being killed by acid rain?
What role did prehistoric creatures have in today’s ecosystems?
The repercussion of air pollution and global warming on human health.
Can recycling assist people worldwide in improving their health?
What can be done to protect coral reefs from being destroyed?
How much are garbage and pesticides to blame for our soil contamination?
How big is the problem of ocean acidification?
Permafrost melting and its impact on climate change.

Education Research Paper Topics

It is known that improving the educational system worldwide is imperative, better serving students and society. However, how can we do this? This type of research aims to make education more efficient and accessible for everyone. Some topics to consider are:

Will one of the aims of modern education be the growth of emotional intelligence?
Discrimination in education and its impact on students’ futures.
Mentally ill persons need to be educated and socialized. There are some similarities and some variances.
Education and censorship. Do we want to protect the pupils, or do we want to help them learn what they need to know?
How do students in inclusive classrooms perform compared to students in non-inclusive classes?
Is it still necessary to have grades in today’s education?
Education and incentive: how to pique the interest of students.
In what ways may modern education be compared to traditional schooling?
Bullying and a negative psychological climate in the classroom. Its influence on educational quality.
The importance of discipline in education and how it affects the learning process.

Science and Technology Research Paper Topics

We can see many positive technical advances in the world these days. However, some have negative consequences. Students must prioritize topics that influence many people’s lives and help develop technological research. At the same time, look at the advantages and preservation of technology in today’s world. Some technology topics include:

What effect does alcohol intake have on athletes who are training?
What influence does ADCC activity research have on HIV treatment?
What function does CDfT-Cell Subsets play in HIV patient progression?
What is the most significant technical breakthrough of the twentieth century?
Is it possible for tech to ever replace human intelligence?
What impact does tech play in genetic engineering’s advancement?
Can microbial factories help solve the raw metals shortage?
Is the paleo diet representative of ancient life? Is it the best diet for people?
Is Europe’s objection to genetically modified crops motivated by science or economic considerations?
Could molecular biology study into uncommon genetic abnormalities possibly lead to new insights into cancer and other diseases?

College Research Paper Topics

Developing research about the dilemmas faced daily by many students within the university environment is also extremely important. In this way, it becomes possible to analyze more objectively all social relations within the college, the influence of social media, the academic development of students, and especially the results that will be reaped in their profession in the future. The education system is an extensive topic with possibilities to develop easy research paper topics. In addition, it is an environment you are probably already familiar with, thus facilitating the data and information collection process. Some topics about it:

The importance of higher education in a professional career for middle ages people.
What are the main reasons that lead students to drop out of college?
Why should people study foreign languages in college?
The influence of the digital world on the university world.
College and the financial hardship faced by many students.
Doubts about choosing the right college.
How to enter the job market after completing college.
What are the main differences between public and private colleges?
The effects of cyberbullying in the university context.
What is the ideal human behaviour in the university environment?

Health Research Paper Topics

Academic work must be developed in Health subjects, seeking to understand better the dynamics of health in different world countries and how this influences people’s lives to have physical well-being. We have recently seen the impact of the Covid-19 virus pandemic on our planet. We have seen the collapse of many health systems in many countries’ human relationships. In addition, we also saw despair and suffering in many families with mental health problems. Therefore, we see how necessary it is to develop research projects that help consolidate better care for the population, promoting health and preventing the emergence of new diseases, especially in third-world countries. Some health research paper topics are:

Support for family members who have lost loved ones to COVID-19.
Adolescent violence as a public health problem.
Assistance for people with disabilities living in rural areas.
Adolescent mental health in public health.
The evolution of the human body over the years.
Health problems caused by the use of pesticides.
How does social media addiction influence people’s health?
Obesity as a public health problem.
Health education in schools and through social media.
How does water quality interfere with public health?

Politics Research Paper Topics

Another research paper topic is politics. Politics is a topic that directly or indirectly involves the lives of all world inhabitants. Through it, we seek our rights, have the strength to fight for our ideologies, and become citizens. Here are some politics research paper topics :

Policies to face global warming.
The presence of politics within the education system.
The influences of the cultural industry in the constitution of public policies.
Political relations during World War I and World War II.
The importance of feminism in the political achievement of women’s right to vote.
Best professional writers on political topics.
Public policy related to an all-female working environment.
The importance of public policies that make people aware of drug use.
The emergence of extremist political ideologies in the 21st century.
The importance of democracy in politics.

History Research Paper Topics

History is essential for humanity to understand the facts that occurred and their relationship with time. From history, we can develop several exciting research topics as it can investigate what men did, thought, felt, and set in all social dynamics thousands of years ago. Historical knowledge is capable of helping to understand human beings, their attitudes, and their evolution. Some history research paper topics are:

The historical development of the electoral college.
Major terrorist attacks throughout history.
The historical and social importance of gender psychology.
The changes that came with the end of the Soviet Union.
The progression of the minimum wage over the years.
The worldwide impacts of the war between Russia and Ukraine.
The emergence of offshore bank accounts work and their social impact.
The Mayan Civilization and Its Cultural Legacy.
The history of dictatorships in South America and funding from the United States.
The democratization of access to course material at History College.

Music Research Paper Topics

Music has been present in humanity since the most remote times. Through music, people can express themselves, have fun, relax, and express their opinions. As it is a vast topic, it is possible to do extensive research. Music also allows you to find funny research paper topics to develop. We selected a few good research paper topics here:

The evolution of the music industry globally.
The influence of music in the treatment of depression.
The importance of still producing and listening to traditional music.
The presence of music in film.
The main legacies of classical music.
Songs about self-esteem that encourage obese people.
School development through music.
The aid of artificial intelligence in the creation of new songs.
The effects of music on brain development.
Songs that address controversial topics and their importance.

Literature Research Paper Topics

Literature is everything that involves the art of the word. We consider literature an instrument capable of making us communicate and interact socially. With literature, we can transmit knowledge, emotions, and stories, and that’s why literature has many good research topics. Literature can provide us with the most interesting research topics. Here are some research paper ideas.

Literature as a tool of corporate social responsibility.
The first forms of literature found.
The use of social media as a way to propagate literature.
A sensitive approach to child abuse in the literature.
Are people switching from literature to social media?
The change of literature after the Industrial Revolution.
Literature as a way to protect children online.
The development of scientific literature for standardized tests in science.
Literature review on computer science.
The importance of developing a thesis statement in literature.

After Choosing the Research Topic

Well, after finding great research paper topics, you will decide which one you like the most and which you are more comfortable writing about. So, once you’ve decided which college research paper topics to cover in your thesis, it’s time to start writing. It is important, right at the beginning, to define your main research question to start researching websites, books, articles, etc. A tip is always to opt for a broader research question, so your first research will have a greater amount of material on your research topics, which will make it easier when choosing an approach and focusing on the main subject of your thesis. Before starting the process of submitting research papers, it is important that an advisor can read and review your text on the chosen research topics.

Closing Thoughts

When you have to choose your research paper topic, there are tons of ideas you can use to embark on your research journey. It is very important that you first carry out thorough research about a good research paper topic so that you can start writing your thesis statement. You can read materials online to know if the topic you want to write on is relevant and has enough data. I hope you can take advantage of all our tips to develop your research papers. The most important thing to consider is that you need to like the topic you choose for a good research paper because it’ll help make writing fun.

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101 research paper topics.

Why do we sleep ?
How do GPS systems work?
Who was the first person to reach the North Pole ?
Did anybody ever escape Alcatraz ?
What was life like for a gladiator ?
What are the effects of prolonged steroid use on the human body?
What happened during the Salem witch trials ?
Are there any effective means of repelling insects ?
How did trains and railroads change life in America?
What may have occurred during the Roswell UFO incident of 1947?
How is bulletproof clothing made?
What Olympic events were practiced in ancient Greece?
What are the major theories explaining the disappearance of the dinosaurs ?
How was the skateboard invented and how has it changed over the years?
How did the long bow contribute to English military dominance?
What caused the stock market crash of 2008?
How did Cleopatra come to power in Egypt what did she do during her reign?
How has airport security intensified since September 11 th , 2001?
What is life like inside of a beehive ?
Where did hip hop originate and who were its founders?
What makes the platypus a unique and interesting mammal?
How does tobacco use affect the human body?
How do computer viruses spread and in what ways do they affect computers?
What is daily life like for a Buddhist monk ?
What are the origins of the conflict in Darfur ?
How did gunpowder change warfare?
In what ways do Wal-Mart stores affect local economies?
How were cats and dogs domesticated and for what purposes?
What do historians know about ninjas ?
How has the music industry been affected by the internet and digital downloading?
What were the circumstances surrounding the death of Osama Bin Laden ?
What was the women’s suffrage movement and how did it change America?
What efforts are being taken to protect endangered wildlife ?
How much does the war on drugs cost Americans each year?
How is text messaging affecting teen literacy?
Are humans still evolving ?
What technologies are available to home owners to help them conserve energy ?
How have oil spills affected the planet and what steps are being taken to prevent them?
What was the Magna Carta and how did it change England?
What is the curse of the pharaohs?
Why was Socrates executed?
What nonlethal weapons are used by police to subdue rioters?
How does the prison population in America compare to other nations?
How did ancient sailors navigate the globe?
Can gamblers ever acquire a statistical advantage over the house in casino games?
What is alchemy and how has it been attempted?
How are black holes formed?
How was the assassination of Abraham Lincoln plotted and executed?
Do the benefits of vaccination outweigh the risks?
How do submarines work?
Do lie detector tests accurately determine truthful statements?
How did Cold War tension affect the US and the world?
What happened to the lost settlers at Roanoke ?
How does a hybrid car save energy?
What ingredients can be found inside of a hotdog ?
How did Julius Caesar affect Rome?
What are some common sleep disorders and how are they treated?
How did the Freedom Riders change society?
How is internet censorship used in China and around the world?
What was the code of the Bushido and how did it affect samurai warriors ?
What are the risks of artificial tanning or prolonged exposure to the sun?
What programs are available to help war veterans get back into society?
What steps are involved in creating a movie or television show?
How have the film and music industries dealt with piracy ?
How did Joan of Arc change history?
What responsibilities do secret service agents have?
How does a shark hunt?
What dangers and hardships did Lewis and Clark face when exploring the Midwest?
Has the Patriot Act prevented or stopped terrorist acts in America?
Do states that allow citizens to carry guns have higher or lower crime rates?
How are the Great Depression and the Great Recession similar and different?
What are the dangers of scuba diving and underwater exploration?
How does the human brain store and retrieve memories ?
What was the Manhattan Project and what impact did it have on the world?
How does stealth technology shield aircraft from radar?
What causes tornadoes ?
Why did Martin Luther protest against the Catholic Church?
How does a search engine work?
What are the current capabilities and future goals of genetic engineers ?
How did the Roman Empire fall?
What obstacles faced scientists in breaking the sound barrier ?
How did the black plague affect Europe?
What happened to Amelia Earhart ?
What are the dangers and hazards of using nuclear power ?
How did Genghis Khan conquer Persia?
What architectural marvels were found in Tenochtitlan, capital of the Aztec Empire ?
From where does spam email come and can we stop it?
How does night vision work?
How did journalists influence US war efforts in Vietnam ?
What are the benefits and hazards of medical marijuana ?
What causes desert mirages and how do they affect wanderers?
What was the cultural significance of the first moon landing ?
What are sinkholes and how are they formed?
Have any psychics ever solved crimes or prevented them from occurring?
Who is Vlad the Impaler and what is his connection to Count Dracula ?
What are the risks of climate change and global warming ?
What treatments are available to people infected with HIV and are they effective?
Who was a greater inventor, Leonardo di Vinci or Thomas Edison ?
How are the Chinese and American economies similar and different?
Why was communism unsuccessful in so many countries?
In what ways do video games affect children and teenagers?

This is an image of a young woman in a library. She is sitting at a desk with a pile of books and looking toward the ceiling. She appears to be in deep thought.

923 Comments

I like using this website when I assist kids with learning as a lot of these topics are quickly covered in the school systems. Thankyou

Mackenah Nicole Molina

Wow! I always have trouble deiciding what to do a research project on but this list has totally solved that. Now my only problem is choosing what idea on this list I should do first!

Most of these my teacher rejected because apparently ‘these aren’t grade level topics, and I doubt they interest you”

I’m sorry to hear that. Sounds like you will have a potentially valuable character-building experience in the short-term.

Edwin Augusto Galindo Cuba

THIS SITE IS AWESOME, THERE ARE LOTS OF TOPICS TO LEARN AND MASTER OUR SKILLS!

research kid

I need one about animals, please. I have been challenged to a animal research project, Due Friday. I have no clue what to research! somebody help, thanks for reading!

You can do one on bats

For international studies you can do Defense and Security.

This was very helpful.

Research on Ben Franklin? I think THAT will get a real charge out of everyone (hehehehegetit)

Mandy Maher

“Is it possible to colonize Mars?”

maddy burney

these are silly topics

thx for making this real.

Mary Nnamani

Please I need project topics on Language Literature

Marcella Vallarino

I would appreciate a list of survey questions for middle school grades 6-8

I need a research topics about public sector management

I NEED FIVE EXAMPLES EACH ON QUALITATIVE AND QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH (EDUCATION, HEALTH, TECHNOLOGY, ECONOMY AND ENGINEERING)

publish research that are interesting please……

hey can you do one on the burmiueda triangle

Anybody know video games effect kids,and,teens. There Fun!!

they’re

I need a topic about woman history if any of u can find 1 please that would be great!

You could research about the history of the astronauts, and of human past (WWI, WWII, etc.)

so about women? Manitoba Women Win the Right to Vote in Municipal Elections, The First Women, January 23, 1849: Elizabeth Blackwell becomes the first woman to graduate from medical school and become a doctor in the United States, Rosa Parks Civil Rights Equal Pay. I have way more. so if you need more just ask.

communism is good

what are you a communist?!?!

Did FDR know about the upcoming attack on Pearl Harbor on 07 DEC 1941.

do you know how babies are born

Christine Singu

kindly assist with a research topic in the field of accounting or auditing

need more about US army

Please can yiu give me a topic in education

I think one should be how can music/Video games can affect the life for people

or How Do Video Games Affect Teenagers?

zimbabwe leader

I think a good topic is supporting the confederate flag!

Need a research topic within the context of students union government and dues payments

do more weird ones plz

joyce alcantara

Hi pls po can you give me a topic relate for humanities pls thank u.

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500 Good Research Paper Topics

Bonus Material: Essential essay checklist

Writing a research paper for a class and not sure how to start?

One of the most important steps to creating a great paper is finding a good topic!

Here’s a hand-drafted list from a Princeton grad who has helped professors at Harvard and Yale edit their papers for publication and taught college writing at the University of Notre Dame and .

What’s more, we give you some foolproof formulas for creating your own paper topic to fit the requirements of your class.

Using these simple formulas, we’ve helped hundreds of students turn a B- paper topic into an A+ paper topic.

Keep reading for our list of 500 vetted research paper topics and our magic formulas for creating your own topic!

Of course, if you want help learning to write research papers tailored to your individual needs, check out our one-on-one writing coaching or academic writing workshop . Set up a free consultation to see how we can help you learn to write A+ papers!

Jump to paper topics in:

European & Mediterranean History

African history, asian history, history of the pre-columbian americas.

Latin American History

History of Science

Politics & public policy, education & education policy, political theory, science policy.

Health Sciences & Psychology

What is a research paper?

In order to write a good research paper, it’s important to know what it is!

In general, we can divide academic writing into three broad categories:

Analytical: analyze the tools an author uses to make their point
Research: delve deeply into a research topic and share your findings
Persuasive : argue a specific and nuanced position backed by evidence

What’s the difference between an analytical paper and a research paper? For an analytical paper, it’s okay to just use one or two sources (a book, poem, work of art, piece of music, etc.) and examine them in detail. For a research paper, however, the expectation is that you do, well . . . research .

The depth of research that you’re expected to do will depend on your age and the type of class you’re taking.

In elementary or middle school, a “research paper” might mean finding information from a few general books or encyclopedias in your school library.

In high school, your teachers might expect you to start using information from academic articles and more specific books. You might use encyclopedias and general works as a starting point, but you’ll be expected to go beyond them and do more work to synthesize information from different perspectives or different types of sources. You may also be expected to do “primary research,” where you study the source material yourself, instead of synthesizing what other people have written about the source material.

In college, you’ll be required to use academic journals and scholarly books, and your professors will now expect that you be more critical of these secondary sources, noticing the methodology and perspectives of whatever articles and books you’re using.

In more advanced college courses, you’ll be expected to do more exhaustive surveys of the existing literature on a topic. You’ll need to conduct primary research that makes an original contribution to the field—the kind that could be published in a journal article itself.

For a walkthrough of the 12 essential steps to writing a good paper, check out our step-by-step guide .

Working on a research paper? Grab our free checklist to make sure your essay has everything it needs to earn an A grade.

Get the essential essay checklist

What makes a good research paper topic?

One of the most important features of a research paper topic is that it has a clear, narrow focus.

For example, your teacher may assign you to write a research paper related to the US Revolutionary War. Does that mean that your topic should be “the US Revolutionary War”?

Definitely not! There’s no way to craft a good paper with in-depth research with such a broad topic. (Unless you’re in elementary or middle school, in which case it’s okay to have a more general topic for your research paper.)

Instead, you need to find a more specific topic within this broader one. There are endless ways that you can make this narrower! Some ideas generated from this one broader topic might be:

Causes of the US Revolutionary War
Changes in military strategy during the Revolutionary War
The experiences of Loyalists to England who remained in the American colonies during the Revolutionary War
How the Revolutionary War was pivotal for the career of Alexander Hamilton
The role of alliances with France during the US Revolutionary War
The experiences of people of color during the Revolutionary War
How George Washington’s previous military career paved the way for his leadership in the Revolutionary War
The main types of weaponry during the Revolutionary War
Changes in clothing and fashion over the courses of the Revolutionary War
How Valley Forge was a key moment in the Revolutionary War
How women contributed to the Revolutionary War
What happened in Amherst, Massachusetts during the Revolutionary War
Field medicine during the Revolutionary War
How the Battle of Saratoga was a turning point in the Revolutionary War
How different opinions about the Revolutionary War were reflected in poetry written during that time
Debates over abolition during the Revolutionary War
The importance of supply chains during the Revolutionary War
Reactions to the US Revolutionary war in Europe
How the US Revolutionary war impacted political theory in England and France
Similarities and differences between the US Revolutionary War and the French Revolution
Famous paintings inspired by the US Revolutionary War
Different ways that the US Revolutionary War has been depicted in modern contemporary culture
The appropriation of the “Boston Tea Party” by US politicians in the 2010s

This list could go on forever!

good research paper topics about the US Revolution

In fact, any of these topics could become even more specific. For example, check out the evolution of this topic:

Economic causes of the Revolutionary war
The way that tax policies helped lead to the Revolutionary War
How tax laws enacted 1763–1775 helped lead to the Revolutionary War
How the tax-free status of the British East India Company helped lead to the Revolutionary War
How the 1773 tax-free status of the British East India Company helped lead to the Revolutionary War, as reflected in letters written 1767–1775
How the 1773 tax-free status of the British East India Company helped lead to the Revolutionary War, as reflected in letters written by members of the Sons of Liberty 1767–1775

As you advance in your educational career, you’ll need to make your topic more and more specific. Steps 1–3 of this topic might be okay in high school, but for a college research paper steps 4–7 would be more appropriate!

As you craft your research paper topic, you should also keep in mind the availability of research materials on your subject. There are millions of topics that would make interesting research papers, but for which you yourself might not be able to investigate with the primary and secondary sources to which you have access.

Access to research materials might look like:

To the best of our knowledge, the sources exist somewhere
The source isn’t behind a paywall (or you or your school can pay for it)
Your school or local library has a copy of the source
Your school or local library can order a copy of the source for you
The source is in a language that you speak
The source has been published already (there’s tons of amazing research that hasn’t been published yet, a frustrating problem!)
You can access the archive, museum, or database where the primary source is held—this might mean online access or travel! To access a source in an archive or museum you’ll often need permission, which often requires a letter of support from your school.

If you’re not sure about access to source materials, talk to a librarian! They’re professionals for this question.

Finally, pick a research topic that interests you! Given that there are unlimited research topics in the world and many ways to adapt a broad topic, there should absolutely be a way to modify a research topic to fit your interests.

Want help learning to write an amazing research paper? Work one-on-one with an experienced Ivy-League tutor to improve your writing skills or sign up for our bestselling academic writing workshop .

Insider tips to generate your own research paper topic

Use these formulas to generate your own research paper topics:

How did X change over a period of time (year, decade, century)?
What is the impact (or consequences) of X?
What led to X?
What is the role of X in Y?
How did X influence Y?
How did X become Y?
How was X different from Y?
How is X an example of Y?
How did X affect Y?
What were some reactions to X?
What are the most effective policies to produce X result?
What are some risks of X?
How is our current understanding of X incorrect? (advanced)
What happens if we look at X through the lens of Y theory or perspective? (advanced)

A good research paper topic often starts with the question words—why, how, what, who, and where. Remember to make it as specific as possible!

Good research paper topics

These research paper topics have been vetted by a Princeton grad and academic book editor!

How did European rivalries (British vs French) impact North American history?
What was the role of British and French alliances with indigneous tribes during the Seven Years’ War?
Reactions to the 1754 Albany Congress among North American intellectual figures
How the Albany Plan served as a model for future attempts at union among the North American colonies
How did different religious identities (Calvinist, Catholic, etc.) play a role in the aftermath of the Seven Years’ War?
What were the consequences of the 1763 Treaty of Paris?
How did the Seven Years’ War impact British debt and colonial economics?
What were some causes of the US Revolutionary War?
How did military strategy change during the Revolutionary War?
What were the experiences of Loyalists to England who remained in the American colonies during the Revolutionary War?
How was the Revolutionary War pivotal for the career of Alexander Hamilton?
What was the role of alliances with France during the US Revolutionary War?
What were the experiences of people of color during the Revolutionary War?
How did George Washington’s previous military career pave the way for his leadership in the Revolutionary War?
What were the main types of weaponry during the Revolutionary War? How did that affect the options for military strategies?
How did clothing and fashion change over the courses of the Revolutionary War?
How was Valley Forge a key moment in the Revolutionary War?
How did women contribute to the Revolutionary War?
What happened in Amherst, Massachusetts (or any other specific location) during the Revolutionary War?
What was field medicine like during the Revolutionary War?
How was the Battle of Saratoga a turning point in the Revolutionary War?
How were different opinions about the Revolutionary War reflected in poetry written during that time?
What were the debates over abolition during the Revolutionary War?
What was the role of supply chains during the Revolutionary War?
What were reactions to the US Revolutionary war like in Europe? What does that tell us about politics in England, France, the Netherlands, etc?
How did the US Revolutionary war impact political theory in England and France?
What are similarities and differences between the US Revolutionary War and the French Revolution?
What are some famous paintings inspired by the US Revolutionary War? What do differences between these paintings tell us about how the artists who created them saw the war?
What are some different ways that the US Revolutionary War has been depicted in modern contemporary culture? What does that tell us?
How was the story of the “Boston Tea Party” appropriated by US politicians in the 2010s, and why?
What was the difference between the Federalists and the Jeffersonians?
How did the 1797 XYZ Affair lead to the Quasi-War with France?
How were loans from European countries and companies (France, Spain, Dutch bankers) key to the early US?
What were reactions to the Constitutional Convention of 1787?
Why did the US remain neutral during the French Revolution?
How did the Alien and Sedition acts contribute to the election of Thomas Jefferson as president?
What was the US’s reaction to the Haitian revolution? Why did the US not recognize Haitian independence until 1862?
What were the reactions to John Jay’s Treaty of 1794?
How have the remarks made by George Washington in his Farewell Address inspired isolationist policies?
How did interpretations of the Monroe Doctrine change over the decades since its creation?
How did the Roosevelt Corollary and Lodge Corollary change and expand the Monroe Doctrine?
How did the presence of US companies like the United Fruit Company affect US military interventions in Latin America?
How was the Monroe Doctrine invoked in the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962?
How was US culture shaped by the Cold War?
How did ecology play a role in the rise of Ancient Egypt?
How did water management technologies impact Ancient Egypt?
How did bureaucracies function in Ancient Egypt?
How did Egyptian art influence Ancient Greek art?
Who could be a citizen in Athens in the 5th century BCE? What does this tell us about classical Athenian society?
What was the impact of the Peloponnesian War?
What was the impact of Alexander the Great’s attempt to create an empire?
How does the way that Alexander the Great is represented in art demonstrate conceptions about the relationship between the human and the divine?
Was there a conception of race in the ancient world? How were these ideas different from our own modern conceptions of race?
What was the role of debt slavery in the Roman republic? How were these policies ended, and what is the significance of the end of debt slavery? What kinds of slavery remained?
To what degree does the movie Gladiator accurately the Roman Empire in 176–192 CE?
What was the role of slavery in managing the large latifundia ?
How and why did the emperor Constantine I adopt Christianity?
How did patterns of urbanism in the latter Roman empire change? What does this tell us about challenges being faced at that time?
What do reactions to the Byzantine empress Theodora tell us about ideas of gender in 6th-century Byzantium?
How did scientific advancements in Islamic Spain influence the rest of Europe?
What was the relationship between Muslim, Christian, and Jewish populations in Islamic Spain? How does this compare to the experience of Muslim and Jewish populations in Christian Spain?
How did medieval troubadour poetry represent a new idea of romantic relationships?
What are similarities and differences between medieval troubadour poetry and lyric poetry in Ancient Greece?
What do letters between women and popes tell us about gender, power, and religion in medieval Europe?
In what ways was Hildegard of Bingen groundbreaking for her time?
Who produced beer in medieval England, and what does this tell us about society?
How did the adoption of hops affect the production and distribution of beer?
How did beer production allow some women a way to be financially independent?
How was clothing used to mark religious and cultural identities in 15th- and 16th-century Spain?
How did print culture change relationships and courting in Georgian England?
How did churches function as social gathering spaces in Georgian England?
To what degree is Netflix’s Bridgerton series historically accurate?
How did ideas of love change in the 18th century? How did philosophy play a role in this?
When were Valentine cards first commercially available? What does that show us about cultural ideas of love and courtship?
What were the consequences of the desertification of the Sahara?
How did trade links on the Red Sea influence Nubian culture?
How did Carthage build power in Northern Africa around 600–500 BCE?
What was the impact of the Mercenary War (241–238 BCE) in Carthage?
How did the Roman province of Africa play a key role in financing the Roman Empire?
What were the consequences of the Donatist division in the 300s in Northern Africa?
What was the impact of the large-scale movement of Bedouins from the Arabian peninsula into the Maghreb?
How was Mande society organized in the Mali Empire?
What was the role of the book trade in Timbuktu? What does this tell us about culture and learning in the Mali Empire?
How did Aksum use trade to build wealth and power?
What do Nok terracotta sculptures tell us about Nok culture?
How did the Luba Empire create a centralized political system? How did the idea of spiritual kins ( balopwe ) play a role in this system?
How did tax collection work in the Lunda empire?
What does it mean to say that the Ajuran Empire was a hydraulic empire? How did control over water resources allow the Ajuran Empire to build and consolidate power?
What is the significance of diplomatic ties between the Somai Ajuran Empire and Ming dynasty China?
How did the tribute system in the Kingdom of Kongo help to stimulate interregional trade?
What was the impact of the introduction of maize and cassava to the Kingdom of Kongo?
How did women wield influence in the Kingdom of Benin?
How did the Industrial Revolution in Europe help lead to the Scramble for Africa 1878–1898?
What were the consequences of the Second Boer War?
What happened in the Year of Africa (1960)?
How did the Han dynasty consolidate power in frontier regions?
How and why did the Han dynasty nationalize the private salt and iron industries in 117 BCE?
What are the earliest records of papermaking, and what is the significance of this invention?
What was the role of Daoist religious societies in rebellions at the end of the Han dynasty (Yellow Turban Rebellion, Five Pecks of Rice Rebellion)?
What do tomb paintings tell us about ancient Chinese society?
What was the impact of the Sui dynasty’s standardization and re-unification of the coinage?
What was the role of standardized testing in Sui dynasty and Tang dynasty China?
Why is the Tang dynasty often regarded as a golden age of cosmopolitan culture in Chinese history?
What was the role of slavery in imperial China?
How did the rise of jiedushi (regional military governments) undermine the civil-service system? What were the consequences of this?
How did Tang dynasty China exert power over Japan and Korea?
What was the Three Departments and Six Ministries system in imperial China and how did it work?
What does the appearance of Inca, Maya, and Aztec goods in North America (Utah, Canada) and the appearance of goods from the Great Lakes region in Maya and Aztec ruins tell us about trade in the Pre-Columbian Americas?
How did celebration of maize play a central role in Mesoamerican cultures?
How did the Aztec empire use relationships with client city-states to establish power? How did the Aztec empire use taxation to exert power?
How did the luxury good trade impact Aztec political power?
How did the building of roads play a key role in the Aztec empire?
How and why has archaeology played a pivotal role in expanding our understanding of the pre-Columbian Americas?
What are some common misconceptions about the Americas in the year 1491? Why do these misconceptions exist?

Latin American History (post-1492)

How and why did the Spanish appropriate Aztec sites of significance (e.g. Mexico City at the site of Tenochtitlan)?
What were reactions among Latin American intellectuals (e.g. Luis María Drago, Alejandro Álvarez and Baltasar Brum) to the Monroe Doctrine?
How was the US’s involvement in the Venezuela Crisis of 1902–1903 a pivotal turning point in the relationship between the US and Latin American countries?
What were the effects of the US’s involvement in the Cuban War for Independence?
How did the Roosevelt Corollary of 1904 benefit the US?
How did Simon Bolivar’s time in Europe affect his ideas about Latin American independence?
How did 19th century academic societies play a role in the advancement of scientific discoveries? Who was excluded from these societies?
How was music connected to the sciences in medieval thinking?
When was the concept of zero first used, and how was it instrumental for advancements in math?
What role did Islamic Spain play in the spread of scientific advancements in medieval Europe?
What role has translation between languages played in the development of sciences?
Why were Galileo’s ideas about astronomy controversial at the time?
What was the connection between art and advancements in human anatomy?
Why were Darwin’s ideas about natural selection controversial at the time?
To what degree does the film Master and Commander accurately depict the voyages of Charles Darwin?
How did the discovery of quinine and other medical innovations help to facilitate the European colonization of Africa?
How and why was the internet invented?
Does Virgil’s Aeneid celebrate the new Roman Empire or subvert it?
Why was the poet Ovid exiled from Rome?
What are the pagan influences in Beowulf ? What are the Christian elements in Beowulf ? What does that tell us about late Anglo-Saxon England?
How does Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales reflect gender roles in late medieval England?
How does Dante’s Inferno draw on book IV of Virgil’s Aeneid ?
How are gender roles presented and subverted in Shakespeare’s plays?
To what degree did Henry David Thoreau live out the ideals he described in Walden in his own life?
How did the serialized publication of novels affect the way that they were written?
Does Dickens’ novel A Tale of Two Cities accurately portray the French Revolution?
How did 18th-century novels propagate the idea of marrying for love?
What did contemporary readers think about Jane Austen and her novels?
To what degree do Jane Austen’s novels reflect economic realities for women in Regency England? What do they leave out?
How did Lord Byron’s personal life affect his poetry?
What do we know about the romantic life of Emily Dickinson?
What were the religious movements that influenced the writer George Eliot, and how do those influences appear in her novels?
In what ways were Walt Whitman’s writings new or different?
How did British poets react to the horrors of Word War I?
What do Tolkien’s letters reveal about the ways in which the two world wars influenced his writings?
How did the friendship between CS Lewis and Tolkien affect their respective writings?
What are the arguments for and against Catalonian independence from Spain?
What are the arguments for and against Scottish independence from the United Kingdom?
What are some risks of contact sports, especially for children?
What are the most effective policies for combating childhood obesity?
What are the most effective policies for reducing gun violence?
Which countries have the longest life expectancy and why?
What are some differences between the healthcare system in the US and in European countries? Which country has the most similar system to the US?
What policies for parental leave exist in different countries? What are some effects of these policies?
Has the drinking age in the US always been 21? What have been some different policies, and what were some consequences of them?
What is the debate around museum artifacts like the Elgin Marbles in London or the Benin Bronzes in Berlin?
How have politicians attempted to control population growth in different countries, either directly or indirectly? What have been some effects of these policies?
Which countries have the most gender parity reflected in national governments? How have they accomplished this?
How has public funding of K-12 education changed since the 1930s in the US?
How has public funding of higher education changed in the US?
What is early childhood education like in different countries?
What are some effects of free or reduced-cost meals in schools?
How does access to menstrual products affect education outcomes for girls in different countries?
What was the impact of Rousseau’s writings on education?
How did Plato’s ideal forms of government reflect contemporary Athenian concerns about the unruly masses ( demos )?
How did Aristotle justify slavery?
How has wealth inequality increased in recent decades?
How is inflation calculated, and what are the implications of this methodology?
How have genetically-engineered crops changed the way that the planet feeds itself?
How has animal testing changed since 2000?
How is animal testing regulated differently in different countries?

Health Sciences and Psychology

How do different societies reflect the natural circadian rhythms of the human body?
How does secondhand smoke affect the human body?
How does lack of sleep affect the body?
How does stress affect the body?
What are some ways to reduce stress?
How have cancer treatments changed in the past 30 years?
Why is it hard to find a “cure” for cancer?
How has the Human Genome Project changed medical science?
How were the Covid vaccines developed so quickly? What is the difference between the various Covid vaccines that have been developed?

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My Speech Class

Public Speaking Tips & Speech Topics

717 Good Research Paper Topics

Jim Peterson has over 20 years experience on speech writing. He wrote over 300 free speech topic ideas and how-to guides for any kind of public speaking and speech writing assignments at My Speech Class.

good and interesting research paper topics

Some examples of common research paper styles include:

Argumentative Research Papers
Persuasive Research Papers
Education Research Papers
Analytical Research Papers
Informative Research Papers

Your research essay topic may also need to be related to the specific class you are taking. For example, an economics class may require a business research paper, while a class on human behavior may call for a psychology research paper.

The requirements for your paper will vary depending on whether you are in high school, college, or a postgraduate student. In high school, you may be able to choose an easy topic and cite five or six sources you found on Google or Yahoo!, but college term papers require more in-depth research from reliable sources, such as scholarly books and peer-reviewed journals.

Do you need some help with brainstorming for topics? Some common research paper topics include abortion, birth control, child abuse, gun control, history, climate change, social media, AI, global warming, health, science, and technology.

But we have many more!

On this page, we have hundreds of good research paper topics across a wide range of subject fields. Each of these topics could be used “as is” to write your paper, or as a starting point to develop your own topic ideas.

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How to Choose Your Research Paper Topic

The first step to developing an interesting research paper is choosing a good topic. Finding a topic can be difficult, especially if you don’t know where to start. Finding the Right Research Paper Topic

If you are in a class that allows you to choose your own term paper topic, there are some important areas to consider before you begin your project:

Your Level of Interest: Research papers are time-consuming; you will be spending countless hours researching the topic and related topics, developing several primary and secondary sources, and putting everything together into a paper that is coherent and accomplishes your objectives. If you do not choose a topic you are passionate about, the process will be far more tedious, and the finished product may suffer as a result.

Your Level of Experience: Being interested in a topic is great, but it is even more helpful if you already know something about it. If you can find a topic that you already have some personal and/or professional experience with, it will vastly reduce the amount of research needed and make the whole process much easier.

Available Information on the Topic: Be sure to choose a topic that is not only interesting but also one that has numerous sources available from which to compile your research. A researchable topic with several potential sources gives you access to the level of information you need to become an authority on the subject.

Your Audience: An interesting topic to you may not necessarily be interesting to your professor or whoever is grading your research paper. Before you begin, consider the level of interest of the person(s) who will be reading it. If you are writing a persuasive or argumentative essay, also consider their point of view on the subject matter.

As you begin researching your topic, you may want to revise your thesis statement based on new information you have learned. This is perfectly fine, just have fun and pursue the truth, wherever it leads. If you find that you are not having fun during the research phase, you may want to reconsider the topic you have chosen.

The process of writing the research paper is going to be very time consuming so it’s important to select a topic that is going to sustain your interest for the duration of the project. It is good to select a topic that is relevant to your life since you are going to spend a long time researching and writing about it. Perhaps you are considering starting your own business or pursuing a career in politics. Look through the suggested research paper topics and find one in a category that you can relate to easily. Finding a topic that you have some personal interest in will help make the arduous task a lot easier, and the project will have better results because of your vested interest.

Our List of Research Topics and Issues

Affirmative action, health, pharmacy, medical treatments, interpersonal communication, marketing and advertising, barack obama, discrimination, bill clinton, hilary clinton, computer crimes and security, cosmetic surgery, controversial, criminal justice, donald trump, easy/simple, environment, family violence, foreign policy, gambling and lotteries, the lgbtq community, generational conflict, gun control, hate crimes, immigration, middle east, maternity/paternity leave, natural disasters, police work, population explosion, pornography, prisons and prisoners, prostitution, ronald reagan, student loan debt, teen issues, women, mothers, what, why, and how, relationships.

We compiled an exhaustive list of topics that would make excellent research papers. The topics are specifically organized to help you find one that will work for your project. Broad topics are headed, and then below them are narrowed topics, all to help you find an area to focus on. The way we have organized the topics for research papers can save you lots of time getting prepared to write your research paper.

We have topics that fit into categories that cover such areas as education, environmental sciences, communication and languages, current events, politics, business, criminal justice, art, psychology, economics to name just a few. Simply get started by choosing the category that interests you and peruse through the topics listed in that category and you’ll be well on your way to constructing an excellent research paper.

Be sure to check other topics ideas: persuasive speech topics , argumentative speech topics , policy speech topics . We also have some sample outlines and essay templates .

What limits are responsible?
What limits are realistic?
How to protect abortion doctors, pregnant women, and the protection of abortion clinics vs. the right to protest
Partial birth abortion
Scientific evidence vs. definition of viability
Stem cell research
Unborn victims of violence
Relative equality has been achieved vs. serious inequities continue
Can racial balance in business, education, and the military be achieved without policies that promote Affirmative Action
Reverse discrimination
NOW, National Organization for Women
No government support vs. fairness to parents who pay twice for education
Separation of church and state vs. religion’s contribution to the public good
Placement by age vs. placement by academic ability
Mainstreaming students with disabilities vs. special classrooms for their special needs
Required standardized tests for advancement vs. course requirements only
National standardized tests vs. local control of education
Discrimination in education
Multicultural/bilingual education vs. traditional basics
Teacher competency tests vs. degree requirements only
Teacher’s needs/demands vs. teaching as a service profession
Policing schools
School’s responsibility vs. parental responsibility for school violence
Drug and alcohol abuse, pregnancy, suicide
Zero tolerance toward violence vs. toughness with flexibility
Permit corporal punishment
Exams often do little more than measure a person’s ability to take exams. Should exams be outlawed in favor of another form of assessment?
Should teens in the U.S. adopt the British custom of taking a “gap year” between high school and college?
In some European schools, fewer than 10% of students get “As”. Is there grade inflation in the U.S.? Why so many “As” for Americans?
Education and funding
Grade inflation
No Child Left Behind Act: Is it working?
Home schooling
Standardized tests
Are children smarter (or more socialized) because of the Internet?
Should the federal government be allowed to regulate information on the internet?
How has the music industry been affected by the internet and digital downloading?
How does a search engine work?
What are the effects of prolonged steroid use on the human body?
What are the benefits and hazards of medical marijuana?
How does tobacco use affect the human body?
Do the benefits of vaccination outweigh the risks?
What are some common sleep disorders and how are they treated?
What are the risks of artificial tanning or prolonged exposure to the sun?
Should thin people have to pay Medicare and other health costs for the health problems of obese people? Should obese people have higher premiums?
Low carbohydrate vs. low fat diets
Benefits of weight training vs. aerobics
How much weekly exercise is needed to achieve lasting health benefits
Health websites give too much information
Psychological disorders, such as cutting and self-harm, eating disorders, Autism, Tourette Syndrome, ADHD, ADD, Asperger Syndrome
Are we taking it too far by blaming fast food restaurants for obesity? When is it individual responsibility and when is it appropriate to place blame?
Should companies allow employees to exercise on work time?
Steroids, Antibiotics, Sprays; Are food manufacturers killing us?
Alternative medicine
Alzheimer’s disease
Causes of eating disorders, society’s portrayal of women
Eating disorders statistics
Down’s syndrome
Birth control
Dietary supplements
Exercise and fitness
Heart disease
In vitro fertilization
Attention deficit disorder
Investigate the history and authenticity of ADHD and ADD.
Organic foods
Prescription drugs
Vegetarianism
Learning disabilities
Schizophrenia
Coma recovery: techniques, successes, new strategies.
What are the primary types of cancer, and in what ways are they related?
Investigate the success ratio of holistic and non-medical cancer treatments.
Is Alzheimer’s inevitable? Examine theories regarding its prevention.
What forms of physical degeneracy are seen as linked to aging?
Investigate the connections between emotional stability and physical well-being, and provide evidence as to how the two may be related.
Investigate differences in rates of injury recovery and overcoming illness based on cultural parameters.
Examine the modern history of viral epidemics, researching what is known about the emergence of deadly viruses.
Examine how congenital heart disease may be treated, and how it differs from other forms of heart disease.
Is occasional depression a natural state to an extent, and is society too eager to treat this as a disorder?
Investigate Sociopathy, determine biological and psychological roots, typical patterns, and potentials of treatment.
How are compulsive behaviors determined as such? Explore examples of anal retention and expulsion, OCD, etc., as offering accepted criteria.
Research and analyze the nature of codependency as both a normal state of relations and as an unhealthy extreme.
Investigate the history and practice of electroshock, analyzing how and why this extreme treatment came to be widely used.
Hoarding: symptoms and treatments, causes, types of hoarding
Limits on extraordinary, costly treatments vs. doing everything possible
Nutritional/alternative therapy vs. mainstream medical treatment insurance coverage for alternative treatment?
Government grants for alternative treatment research?
Health superiority of alternative treatments?
Assisted suicide vs. preservation of life
Governmental insurance requirements
Should there be a national database to track controlled substances (i.e., OXYCODONE) or should it be a state issue?
Should parents avoid vaccinating their children?
Decline of communication due to technology
Online social networks and their influence
Impact of texting and cell phones
How do men and women communicate differently using body language, and why does it matter (in dating, the workplace, and social circles)?
Limitations of the media
Marketing to children
Sexual innuendos in marketing
Global marketing trends
Should certain kinds of ads be banned in the interest of health/morality/annoyance – alcohol, cigarettes, prescription meds, etc…?
Children’s programming and advertising
Most controversial political ads
Media response and public outcry to political ads
Campaign funds and their relation to political advertising
Domestic policy
Separation of church and state
Judge nominations and make up of supreme court
Congressional opposition to presidential nominees/filibusters
Affirmative action
Erosion of civil liberties vs. protection against terrorism
Patriot Act One and Two
Most developed nations have universal health coverage. Why doesn’t the U.S., the wealthiest nation, have it?
Tax cut as economic stimulation
Needs of the states vs. needs of the individuals
Budget deficits and deficit spending
Rich vs. poor
Protection of victims vs. freedom of speech/rights of the accused
How to improve race relations
Women still earn only 75 cents for every $1 a man earns. Explain why.
Discrimination in the workplace: analyzing issues for today’s corporations.
Gender discrimination
Interracial marriage
Should government impose restrictions on what kinds of foods can be served in school cafeterias?
Pros and cons of school uniforms.
Do children learn better in boys-only and girls-only schools?
Charter schools
Prayer in schools
Rights of the individual vs. community safety (or campus safety)
Funding for research
U.S. obligation to third world countries
Manufacturing of generic drugs vs. U.S. pharmaceutical companies
How contagious diseases “jump” from animal hosts to human
What treatments are available to people infected with HIV and are they effective?
Right to privacy of a child with AIDS vs. safety of other children
Limits for campus safety vs. personal freedom
Implications on violence and crime
Issues with binge drinking
Should the U.S. lower the drinking age to 18?
Leniency because of condition vs. community safety
Revoking drivers license vs. being able to attend classes and work
Age discrimination of violators
Animal rights vs. medical research
Should it be illegal to use animals for sports and entertainment?
Humane treatment of animals vs. factory farms
Animal welfare in slaughter houses
Animal protection vs. business, employment interests
School prestige vs. academic standards
Should shoe companies be able to give away free shoes and equipment to high school athletes?
Should college athletes be paid?
Doping in sports
What are the effects on children whose parents push them in sports?
Steroids: Should they be legalized?
Title IX: Has it helped women’s sports? Has it harmed men’s sports?
Social effects of team sports
Needed in public school library/curriculum?
Needed in entertainment industry?
Needed on the Internet?
Should parents censor textbooks and other literature for children in schools?
Parental filters on the Internet. Does censorship actually increase curiosity and use of pornography?
How is internet censorship used in China and around the world?
How has United States censorship changed over the decades?
Democratic kingmaker, influence on political succession
Impact of global initiative
Influence on fundraising
Influence as Secretary of State
Foreign policies
Influence on women
ACT or SAT score requirements
Promotional techniques, such as 1st time scholarships
4 year vs. 2 year colleges
College admission policies
College tuition planning
Distance education
Diploma mills
Online porn vs. freedom of speech
Stalking, invasion of privacy vs. reasonable access
Hacking crimes–workable solutions?
What are the latest ways to steal identity and money?
From where does spam email come and can we stop it?
How do computer viruses spread and in what ways do they affect computers?
Cyber security
Securing Internet commerce: is it possible in today’s arms’ race of hackers and evolving technology?
Is downloading of media (music, videos, software) infringing on the rights of media producers and causing economic hardships on media creators?
Should media producers prosecute students and individuals that they suspect of downloading copyrighted materials?
Programs such as SPOTIFY and PANDORA
Copyright Law
Age limitations on surgery
Addiction to surgery
Demand for beauty by society
The dangers of breast implants for teenagers
The cost of cosmetic surgery
Plastic surgery
Weight loss surgery
Are surgeons “scissor happy,” and are surgeries widely unnecessarily
Negative texting, instant messaging, email
Is cyber-bullying as bad as face-to-face?
Kinds of punishment for cyber-bullying
Media response
Should the state or federal government put laws into place to prevent bullying?
Is homosexuality a choice, or are people born gay?
Evolution vs. Creationism.
Should “under God” remain in the Pledge of Allegiance?
Is healthcare a right or a privilege?
Fossil fuels vs. alternative energy.
Transgender bathroom policies.
Capitalism vs. socialism.
Should parents be allowed to spank their children?
Should sanctuary cities lose their federal funding?
The pros and cons of gun control.
Should the U.S. continue drone strikes in foreign countries?
Was the U.S. justified in going to war with Iraq?
How to solve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
The pros and cons of animal testing.
Do pro athletes have the right to sit during the national anthem?
Incarceration rates in the U.S.
Technology and the criminal justice system.
Police brutality and minorities.
Should the police wear body cameras?
In what circumstances should the death penalty be allowed?
Should we have stiffer penalties for drunk driving?
Should those who text while driving be put in jail?
White-collar crime and punishment.
Criminalizing protests and activism.
The rise of wrongful convictions.
Mutual consent vs. exploitation
Campuses with “no touch” policy
Drugs associated to Date Rape
Violence and Rape
Government support vs. parental financing
Benefits vs. harmful effects
Trump’s unconventional presidential campaign.
The psychology of Donald Trump.
Who is behind Trump’s political rise?
Donald Trump and evangelical voters.
Donald Trump the businessman.
Trump’s war on the press (aka “fake news”).
The Trump Organization and conflicts of interest.
The border wall and illegal immigration policy.
Global warming and climate change policy.
Trump-Russia collusion.
The rapid rise of “The Resistance.”
Trump’s legislative agenda; e.g., health care, tax policy, deregulation, etc.
Trump’s “America First” trade and foreign policy.
The case for (or against) the Trump presidency.
Punishment vs. treatment
Family reactions
Social acceptance
Community safety vs. legalization
United States military involvement in Colombian drug trade?
Drug legalization
Abstinence Program: Do they work?
Should the federal government legalize the use of marijuana?
What is the true key to happiness?
What is the cause of America’s obesity crisis?
Why sleep is necessary.
Are plastic bottles really bad for you?
How to encourage people to recycle more.
How 3D printers benefit everyone.
How do GPS systems on smartphones work?
How have oil spills impacted the environment?
Verbal vs. nonverbal communication.
The accuracy of lie detector tests.
How Bill Gates and Steve Jobs changed the world.
The pros and cons of hitchhiking.
The PC vs. the Mac.
What causes tornadoes?
Pollution, air, and water
Endangered species
What are the risks of climate change and global warming?
Rain forests
Alternative energy
Alternative fuel/hybrid vehicles
Conservation
Deforestation
Greenhouse effect
Marine pollution
How have oil spills affected the planet and what steps are being taken to prevent them?
Sustainability of buildings
Recycling programs
Cost of “green” programs
Wind turbines
Landfill issues
Renewable fuels
Radioactive waste disposal
Soil pollution
Wildlife conservation: what efforts are being taken to protect endangered wildlife?
Excessive burden on industries?
Drilling for oil in Alaska’s ANWR (Arctic National Wildlife Refuge)
Gasoline consumption vs. SUV’s popularity
Wildlife protection vs. rights of developers
Clean air and water standards–weakened vs. strengthened
What are the dangers of scuba diving and underwater exploration?
Should the use of coal be subjected to stricter environmental regulations than other fuels?
Is global warming a hoax? Is it being exaggerated?
How much is too much noise? What, if anything, should we do to curb it?
Protecting victims vs. rights of the accused
Women who kill abusive husbands vs. punishment for murder
Marital rape?
How to protect children vs. respect for parental rights
Children who kill abusive parents
Child abuse–workable solutions?
Child abuse
Domestic abuse
Organic farming vs. mainline use of chemical sprays
How to best protect the environment; conservation
Family vs. corporate farms
Food production costs
Interventionism?
Third world debt and World Bank/International Monetary Fund
Military support vs. economic development of third world countries
Human rights violations
European Union in competition with the U.S.
Unilateralism
Relevance of the United Nations
Neocon role in foreign policy
Christian right influence on foreign policy
Pentagon vs. State Department
Nation building as a policy
Arms control
Obama’s National Strategy for Counterterrorism
Control of al Qaeda
Drawdown of U.S. Armed Forces in the Middle East
Cats vs. dogs: which makes the better pet?
My pet can live forever: why I love animal clones.
According to my social media profile, my life is perfect.
Football vs. baseball: which sport is America’s favorite pastime?
Starbucks vs. Caribou: whose coffee is better?
What does your dog really think of you?
Why millennials deserve lower pay.
What makes people end up with so many mismatched socks?
How to become a research paper master.
How reading Tuesdays with Morrie can make you wiser.
Easy way to earn revenues vs. social damage
Individual freedom vs. social damage
Do lotteries actually benefit education or is it a scam?
Can gamblers ever acquire a statistical advantage over the house in casino games?
Should there be a constitutional amendment that allows gays and lesbians to legally marry?
Adoption rights?
Need special rights for protection?
College campus response
Gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender
Gay parenting
Elderly to share in the tax burden vs. government support of elderly
Future of social security
Job discrimination
Child rearing
Employment issues
Generational differences
Community and police safety vs. unrestricted right to bear arms
NRA (National Rifle Association)
2nd Amendment
Do states that allow citizens to carry guns have higher or lower crime rates?
Community safety vs. freedom of Speech
Punishment inequities
Persecution of alternative lifestyles
Church Arson: Hate crime?
Prevention of hazing
Greek organizations and rituals of hazing
Statistics of death or injury due to Hazing
High Schools and Hazing
What happened during the Salem witch trials?
How did trains and railroads change life in America?
What may have occurred during the Roswell UFO incident of 1947?
What Olympic events were practiced in ancient Greece?
How did Cleopatra come to power in Egypt? What did she accomplish during her reign?
What are the origins of the conflict in Darfur?
What was the women’s suffrage movement and how did it change America?
How was the assassination of Abraham Lincoln plotted and executed?
How did Cold War tension affect the US and the world?
What happened to the lost settlers at Roanoke?
How did Julius Caesar affect Rome?
How did the Freedom Riders change society?
What was the code of the Bushido and how did it affect samurai warriors?
How did Joan of Arc change history?
What dangers and hardships did Lewis and Clark face when exploring the Midwest?
How are the Great Depression and the Great Recession similar and different?
What was the Manhattan Project and what impact did it have on the world?
Why did Marin Luther protest against the Catholic Church?
How did the Roman Empire fall?
How did the black plague affect Europe?
How did Genghis Khan conquer Persia?
How did journalists influence US war efforts in Vietnam?
Who is Vlad the Impaler and what is his connection to Count Dracula?
Who was a greater inventor, Leonardo di Vinci or Thomas Edison?
What was the role of African Americans during the Revolutionary War?
What was Britain’s view of India during British rule?
What were the factors in the China-Tibet conflict?
Research and analyze the emergence of the Catholic Church as a political force following the collapse of the Roman Empire.
Investigate Dr. Eileen Powers’ claim that the Roman Empire was lost primarily due to an inability to perceive itself as subject to the change inevitable to all governments, or her “force of nature” theory.
Explore and discuss the actual cooperation occurring through the centuries of Barbarian conquest of Rome.
Examine the differences and similarities between Western and Eastern concepts and practices of kingship.
Investigate and explain the trajectory of ALEXANDER THE GREAT’s empire, with minimal emphasis on personal leadership.
To what extent did commerce first link Eastern and Western cultures, and how did this influence early international relations?
Research and analyze how Japan moved from a feudalistic to a modern state, and how geographic isolation played a role in the process.
Analyze the process and effects of Romanization on the Celtic people of ancient England: benefits, conflicts, influences.
Overview of British dominance of Ireland, Wales, and Scotland! How was this justified in each case, and what motivated the attempts over centuries of rebellion and failure?
Investigate the known consequences of Guttenberg’s printing press within the first 30 years of its invention, and only in regard to the interaction between European nations.
Identify and analyze the point at which the Reformation became fused with European politics and nationalist agendas.
To what extent did Henry VIII promote the Reformation, despite his vigorous persecution of heretics in England?
Trace and discuss the uses of papal power as a military and political device in the 14th and 15th centuries.
Research the city/state of Florence from the 13th to the 16th centuries, discussing how and why it evolved as so fiercely republican.
Compare and contrast the Russian Czarism of Peter, Elizabeth, and Catherine with the monarchies of England and France in the 18th and 19th centuries.
Investigate the enormous significance of Catholic Orthodoxy as the dominant faith in Russia, and its meaning and influence in an empire populated by a minimal aristocracy and predominant serfdom.
To what extent did Philip II’s religious convictions shape European policy and conflict in the 16th century?
Trace the path leading to the convocation of the Estates in France in the late 18th century, leading to the Revolution. Assess political and social errors responsible.
What eventually ended serfdom in Russia, and why were numerous attempts to end it by the Czars in power consistently unsuccessful?
Research and report on how England was transformed in the 19th century by the industrial revolution and the advent of the railroad.
Compare and contrast the consequences of the industrial revolutions in England and America in terms of urbanization.
What were the circumstances leading to World War I, and how might the war have been averted?
Assess the Cold War of the 20th century in an historical context: can any parallels be made between this conflict and other ongoing tensions between major powers in earlier centuries?
Analyze Roosevelt’s decisions in implementing the New Deal, beginning with the closing of the banks. Suggest alternative strategies, or reinforce the rationale of the actions.
What architectural marvels were found in Tenochtitlan, capital of the Aztec Empire?
What was the cultural significance of the first moon landing?
Food programs
Welfare reform
Governmental supplementation
Homeless: urban restrictions vs. needs of the destitute
Workable solutions?
Realistic limits vs. openness toward people in need
English as official language vs. respect for diversity
Should illegal immigrants be made legal citizens?
Access to public school and public programs for Illegal Aliens
Policing borders–workable solutions?
Employment and/or taxation for Illegal Aliens
International trade
Democratization
“Shock and awe”
U.S. occupation vs. liberation
Iraqi run vs. U.S. puppet state
Oil and Gas prices-Control of resources
Effective self-government
War on Terrorism
Is America winning or losing the War? What is the measurement of success? Have the benefits outweighed the costs?
Parental leave for both parents
FMLA (Family Medical Leave Act)
Bonding time
Preemptive strike policy
Precision weapons
Intelligence reliability
Afghanistan – a success or stalemate
Should the U.S. have mandatory military conscriptions? For whom?
Governmental support
Preparedness
School emergency plans
Community warning systems
Damage costs
U.S. presidential elections should be decided by the popular vote, rather than the Electoral College.
The minimum wage should be increased to provide a “livable” wage for working families.
There should be stiffer penalties for those who commit animal cruelty.
School vouchers increase competition and create better quality schools.
The corporate tax rate should be lowered to create more jobs.
Social Security should be privatized.
Human torture should be banned in all circumstances.
Affirmative action is still needed to ensure racial and gender equality.
The U.S. dollar should go back on the gold standard.
Euthanasia and assisted suicide should be outlawed.
Police brutality vs. dangers that police face
Racially motivated brutality?
Politician’s right to privacy vs. the public’s right to know
Amount of money going into presidential campaigns
Views on abortion, gay marriage, and other controversial topics
Political debates throughout history
Third-party candidates at presidential debates
Rights of religious citizens vs. freedom from imposition (e.g. prayer in schools)
Religious motivation for political involvement vs. cultural pluralism
Christian Right’s influence on foreign policy
How serious? Causes? Workable solutions?
Funding abortion as a form of birth control in third world countries?
What would happen globally if the demand for natural resources is greater than the supply?
Limitation of social deterioration vs. freedom of speech
Definition of Pornography
Child Pornography
Building prisons vs. alternative sentencing
Adjusted sentencing for lesser crimes
Community service
Diversion Programs for inmates
How does the prison population in America compare to other nations?
Prostitution laws in the US and abroad
Benefits and drawbacks to legalizing prostitution
Psychological effect on prostitutes and former prostitutes
Sex slavery, buying and selling
Should the government be allowed to wire tap without permission?
What limitations, if any, should be applied to the paparazzi?
What medical information should be confidential? Who, if anybody, should have access to medical records?
Does the public have a right to know about a public figure’s private life?
Privacy rights
Do harsher punishments mean fewer convictions?
Date rape: consent vs. exploitation
Drugs-Rohypnol, GHB, KETAMINE
Legalization of Date Rape Drugs
Recently, a 17-year-old boy was sentenced to 10 years in prison for having consensual oral sex with a 15-year-old girl. Are statutory rape laws patronizing to girls and discriminatory to boys?
Acquaintance rape
Is there one true religion?
Freedom of religion
Offer distinct reasons why the Bible should be studied as literature, removed from religious significance.
From Hollywood to the White House: the political rise of Ronald Reagan.
The Great Communicator: how Reagan captured the hearts of Americans.
1981 assassination attempt: bullet wound leaves Reagan inches away from death.
Reagan appoints the first female Supreme Court justice.
The PATCO breakup and decline of the labor unions.
Tax cuts and “Reaganomics.”
The “Iran-Contra” scandal.
Reagan, Gorbachev, and the end of the Cold War.
The final act: Reagan’s Alzheimer’s disease diagnosis and long goodbye.
How has airport security intensified since September 11th, 2001?
Identity theft
Homeland Security: Are we safer since the creation of this department?
Should the government use invasive pat-downs and body scans to ensure passenger safety or are there better methods?
Is arming Pilots a good idea?
What responsibilities do secret service agents have?
Student loan scams
How to avoid student loan debt
Managing student loan debt
Driverless cars and the future of transportation.
Breaking the glass ceiling: the impact of the women’s rights movement.
How seniors contribute to societal well-being.
How disabled individuals are viewed by society.
The modern-day civil rights movement.
Has technology made us more detached from society?
The role of religion in society.
In today’s society, are we better off or worse off than previous generations?
Popular music and its impact on the culture.
Class and geographical segregation.
The differences between life in the city, suburbs, and/or rural areas.
Should parents be able to create designer babies?
Should microchips be implanted inside humans for better tracking and security?
Will smart watches eventually replace cell phones?
The pros and cons of being a global citizen.
Progressive vs. flat tax
Excessive taxes vs. worthwhile programs
Is text messaging contributing to teen illiteracy?
How eating disorders impact teens.
Tablets vs. textbooks.
Do standardized tests improve teen education?
Are violent video games contributing to juvenile delinquency?
Is English literature relevant for today’s teens?
Should the HPV vaccine be required for teen girls?
Do teachers inflate grades so students can pass?
Should advertisers be allowed to target teens?
How to encourage teens to stop smoking.
The causes and effects of teen alcohol and drug abuse.
How to prevent teen pregnancy.
Osama Bin Laden
World Trade Center and Pentagon bombings
September 11, 2001
War on terrorism
Afghanistan
Bioterrorism
Al Qaida: Has U.S. policy actually spread terrorism rather than contained it? Will it get better or worse? Why and how?
Can terrorism ever be justified?
What kind of person becomes a suicide bomber?
What were the circumstances surrounding the death of Osama Bin Laden?
Has the Patriot Act prevented or stopped terrorist acts in America?
How is text messaging affecting teen literacy?
Cell Phones: How have they changed us socially?
Does the Information Age mean we are losing important historical information?
Where did hip-hop music originate?
A day in the life of a Buddhist monk.
How does the brain store and retrieve memories?
What life is like inside an ant colony.
The case for and against the existence of UFOs.
Can virtual reality adequately substitute for actual reality?
Are dreams hidden messages or just hot air?
Why do people collect the most ridiculous things?
When is it time to get out of an abusive relationship?
The art of pretending to care.
Public attitudes toward veterans
Health issues caused by service time
Organizations for veterans
Governmental support for veterans
What programs are available to help war veterans get back into society?
Iraq War Vets: Are they being cheated on medical benefits?
Is there a glass ceiling?
Obstacles to women running for political office?
Should women be priests, pastors, ministers, and rabbis?
What differences, if any, are there in children who are raised by stay-at-home moms and working moms? Does society today still discriminate against working mothers who wish to have flexible work schedules?
Should stay-at-home moms get a salary from the government?
Why do we sleep?
How do GPS systems work?
Who was the first person to reach the North Pole?
Did anybody ever escape Alcatraz?
What was life like for a gladiator?
Are there any effective means of repelling insects?
How is bulletproof clothing made?
How was the skateboard invented and how has it changed over the years?
What is life like inside of a beehive?
Where did hip hop originate and who were its founders?
What makes the platypus a unique and interesting mammal?
What is daily life like for a Buddhist monk?
How did gunpowder change warfare?
How were cats and dogs domesticated and for what purposes?
What do historians know about ninjas?
Are humans still evolving?
What is the curse of the pharaohs?
Why was Socrates executed?
How did ancient sailors navigate the globe?
How are black holes formed?
How do submarines work?
Do lie detector tests accurately determine truthful statements?
How does a hybrid car save energy?
What ingredients can be found in a hotdog?
How does a shark hunt?
How does the human brain store and retrieve memories?
How does stealth technology shield aircraft from radar?
What causes tornados?
How does night vision work?
What causes desert mirages, and how do they affect wanderers?
What are sinkholes, and how are they formed?
What are the major theories explaining the disappearance of the dinosaurs?
Should we reform laws to make it harder to get a divorce?
Divorce rates
Family relationships
Family values
Race relations
Marriage and Divorce
A view of home life and its effect on child development
How 4 generations in the workplace can work together.
Building positive employee relationships
Modern work environments
Business leadership
Workforce regulations
Small business and taxation
Corporate law
Issues in modern Human Resources: Are today’s corporations patronizing employees or being more responsible for them?
Cultural conflict in globalization: Strategies for successfully establishing a presence in a foreign culture
Corporate abuse: How can executives so successfully manipulate corporations criminally?
Identifying stakeholders in non-public companies: is the corporate responsibility the same as for public offerings?
Devise a new model of leadership for business today, incorporating elements of existing leadership models and theories.
Examine the actual impact of social media as a business promotion instrument.
Devise a scenario in which traditionally unethical business practices may be justified.
Should newspaper reporters be required to reveal their sources?
Do the media (both print and broadcast) report fairly? Do they ever cross the line between reporting the news and creating the news?
Does news coverage favor whites?
What steps are involved in creating a movie or television show?
How have the film and music industries dealt with piracy?
Media conglomerates/ownership
Minorities in mass media
Portrayal of women
Reality television
Television violence
Media portrayals
Sensationalized media
Examine the issues of responsibility in pharmaceutical companies’ promotion of drugs in the media.
Forensic science technology
What are the current capabilities and future goals of genetic engineers?
What obstacles faced scientists in breaking the sound barrier?
What is alchemy and how has it been attempted?
What technologies are available to home owners to help them conserve energy?
Nuclear energy
Clean energy resources
Wind energy: Is wind energy really that inexpensive? Is it effective? Is it practical?
What are the dangers and hazards of using nuclear power?
Investigate Freud’s contributions to psychology as they exist today: what value remains?
Are there gender foundations to psychology and behavior that are removed from cultural considerations? To what extent does gender actually dictate thought process?
To what extent is sexual orientation dictated by culture, and is there an orientation not subject to social and cultural influences?
Investigate the psychological process in group dynamics with regard to the emergence of leaders and the compliance of others.
Compare and contrast Jung, Freud, and Adler: explore distinctions and commonalities.
What is “normal,” and to what extent is psychology reliant on culture to define this?
Research and assess the effectiveness of radical psychotherapies and unconventional treatments.
Research the concept of human will as both a component of individual psychology and a process or element removed from it.
To what extent is self-image influenced by culture in regard to eating disorders? Are external factors entirely to blame?
How do centuries-old beliefs of madness and dementia relate to modern conceptions of mental illness?
Is psychology itself inevitably a non-science in that virtually any theory may be substantiated, or is there a foundation of science to the subject to which all theorists must conform?
Examine Euripides and gender psychology: what do the Trojan Women and Medea reveal?
Using three characters, explore Chaucer’s insight into human behavior in The Canterbury Tales.
Identify the true relationship between Dante and Virgil in The Divine Comedy, emphasizing Dante’s reliance on the poet.
Research and discuss the English fascination for euphemism and ornate narratives in the 16th century, beginning with John Lyly.
Examine any existing controversies regarding Shakespearean authorship, citing arguments on both sides.
Analyze similarities and differences between Marlowe and Shakespeare in regard to Tamburlaine and Titus Andronicus.
Defend or support Bloom’s assertion of Shakespeare as the “inventor of the human being.”
To what degree are Shakespeare’s plays influenced by, or reflective, of the Elizabethan era? Identify specific cultural and national events linked to at least 3 plays.
Analyze the unusual construction of A Winter’s Tale in regard to transition from comedy to drama. Is this valid? Does the transition benefit or harm the play?
Support the belief that Shakespeare is representing himself as Prospero through evidence, or similarly refute the belief.
Why was extreme violence so popular in English Reformation drama? Cite Marlowe, Kyd, Webster, and Shakespeare.
Analyze the metaphysical in Donne’s poetry: is it spiritual, existential, or both?
What is Shelley seeking to say in Frankenstein? Support your answer with passages from the novel.
Compare and contrast Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina with Flaubert’s Madame Bovary, noting the characters of the heroines.
It is argued that Dickens failed when he turned to serious, romantic narrative in his novels. Using Copperfield, Great Expectations, and Dombey and Son, defend or refute this claim.
Assess Dickens’ stance as a moralist in Bleak House and Hard Times: to what extent does he seek reform, and to what does he comment on the human condition?
Was the Harry Potter phenomenon warranted by quality of storytelling or more a matter of public receptivity at the time combined with media exposure?

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20 thoughts on “717 Good Research Paper Topics”

How has music evolved? How has music effected history? Music of the past vs music of the present. How has the music industry effected the music’s quality?

Do you think abortion is legal? Why they do abortion?

Why are people instinctively afraid of animals that are not mammals?

Should abortion be legalized? Should domestic abuse and child abuse victims be granted clemency for killing their abuser?

Jewish holocaust and its contribution to European History, specifically Germany

What is the most popular college in the United States?

The Black Knight: Space Waste or Alien Satellite? The Moon Landing: Real or Hollywood Hoax? Have We Become Too Politically Correct? Paranormal Research: Real? Fake? Should it be offered in college? Who really was Jack the Ripper? Can a zombie apocalypse truly occur? Who is the best or worst president of the USA? The Men in Black: real or hoax?

Why Marching Band is a sport.

Marching band is not a sport

how did aids start?

Topic : Alternative medicine Research question : Does the alternative medicine is safe and standardized Hypothesis : analyse the quality controle of alternative medicine formulations

Does our nostalgic music/childhood songs affect our present lifestyle, and in what ways?

reverse discriminations is still discrimination so there’s no such thing as that. like reverse racism isn’t a thing because that is still racism

Men on birth control and not women.

You forget the topic Islamophobia 😉

You should add a music section. Is Muzio Clementi overshadowed by Mozart? The Toccata and Fugue in D- really wasn’t written by Bach The use of the “Dies Irae” in cinema Why is modern music so repetitive and simple compared to classical music?

I want to do a research project on Education

I want to research but not get a perfect topic help me give me a best topic about current affairs

Topic: History. Are the Crusades oversimplified? where they justified? If so, how? Topic: Current affairs. Is the term “conspiracy theory” used to discredit any non-mainstream, controversial opinions. Topic: Gun control. Does limiting magazine capacity for firearms have any effect on gun crime? Are high-capacity magazines ever necessary for self-defense? Topic: Economics. Are minimum wage laws necessary to guarantee “decent”, or do the laws of supply and demand automatically ensure that?

Are women funny?

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100 Interesting Research Paper Topics for High Schoolers

What’s covered:, how to pick the right research topic, elements of a strong research paper.

Interesting Research Paper Topics

Composing a research paper can be a daunting task for first-time writers. In addition to making sure you’re using concise language and your thoughts are organized clearly, you need to find a topic that draws the reader in.

CollegeVine is here to help you brainstorm creative topics! Below are 100 interesting research paper topics that will help you engage with your project and keep you motivated until you’ve typed the final period.

A research paper is similar to an academic essay but more lengthy and requires more research. This added length and depth is bittersweet: although a research paper is more work, you can create a more nuanced argument, and learn more about your topic. Research papers are a demonstration of your research ability and your ability to formulate a convincing argument. How well you’re able to engage with the sources and make original contributions will determine the strength of your paper.

You can’t have a good research paper without a good research paper topic. “Good” is subjective, and different students will find different topics interesting. What’s important is that you find a topic that makes you want to find out more and make a convincing argument. Maybe you’ll be so interested that you’ll want to take it further and investigate some detail in even greater depth!

For example, last year over 4000 students applied for 500 spots in the Lumiere Research Scholar Program , a rigorous research program founded by Harvard researchers. The program pairs high-school students with Ph.D. mentors to work 1-on-1 on an independent research project . The program actually does not require you to have a research topic in mind when you apply, but pro tip: the more specific you can be the more likely you are to get in!

Introduction

The introduction to a research paper serves two critical functions: it conveys the topic of the paper and illustrates how you will address it. A strong introduction will also pique the interest of the reader and make them excited to read more. Selecting a research paper topic that is meaningful, interesting, and fascinates you is an excellent first step toward creating an engaging paper that people will want to read.

Thesis Statement

A thesis statement is technically part of the introduction—generally the last sentence of it—but is so important that it merits a section of its own. The thesis statement is a declarative sentence that tells the reader what the paper is about. A strong thesis statement serves three purposes: present the topic of the paper, deliver a clear opinion on the topic, and summarize the points the paper will cover.

An example of a good thesis statement of diversity in the workforce is:

Diversity in the workplace is not just a moral imperative but also a strategic advantage for businesses, as it fosters innovation, enhances creativity, improves decision-making, and enables companies to better understand and connect with a diverse customer base.

The body is the largest section of a research paper. It’s here where you support your thesis, present your facts and research, and persuade the reader.

Each paragraph in the body of a research paper should have its own idea. The idea is presented, generally in the first sentence of the paragraph, by a topic sentence. The topic sentence acts similarly to the thesis statement, only on a smaller scale, and every sentence in the paragraph with it supports the idea it conveys.

An example of a topic sentence on how diversity in the workplace fosters innovation is:

Diversity in the workplace fosters innovation by bringing together individuals with different backgrounds, perspectives, and experiences, which stimulates creativity, encourages new ideas, and leads to the development of innovative solutions to complex problems.

The body of an engaging research paper flows smoothly from one idea to the next. Create an outline before writing and order your ideas so that each idea logically leads to another.

The conclusion of a research paper should summarize your thesis and reinforce your argument. It’s common to restate the thesis in the conclusion of a research paper.

For example, a conclusion for a paper about diversity in the workforce is:

In conclusion, diversity in the workplace is vital to success in the modern business world. By embracing diversity, companies can tap into the full potential of their workforce, promote creativity and innovation, and better connect with a diverse customer base, ultimately leading to greater success and a more prosperous future for all.

Reference Page

The reference page is normally found at the end of a research paper. It provides proof that you did research using credible sources, properly credits the originators of information, and prevents plagiarism.

There are a number of different formats of reference pages, including APA, MLA, and Chicago. Make sure to format your reference page in your teacher’s preferred style.

Analyze the benefits of diversity in education.
Are charter schools useful for the national education system?
How has modern technology changed teaching?
Discuss the pros and cons of standardized testing.
What are the benefits of a gap year between high school and college?
What funding allocations give the most benefit to students?
Does homeschooling set students up for success?
Should universities/high schools require students to be vaccinated?
What effect does rising college tuition have on high schoolers?
Do students perform better in same-sex schools?
Discuss and analyze the impacts of a famous musician on pop music.
How has pop music evolved over the past decade?
How has the portrayal of women in music changed in the media over the past decade?
How does a synthesizer work?
How has music evolved to feature different instruments/voices?
How has sound effect technology changed the music industry?
Analyze the benefits of music education in high schools.
Are rehabilitation centers more effective than prisons?
Are congestion taxes useful?
Does affirmative action help minorities?
Can a capitalist system effectively reduce inequality?
Is a three-branch government system effective?
What causes polarization in today’s politics?
Is the U.S. government racially unbiased?
Choose a historical invention and discuss its impact on society today.
Choose a famous historical leader who lost power—what led to their eventual downfall?
How has your country evolved over the past century?
What historical event has had the largest effect on the U.S.?
Has the government’s response to national disasters improved or declined throughout history?
Discuss the history of the American occupation of Iraq.
Explain the history of the Israel-Palestine conflict.
Is literature relevant in modern society?
Discuss how fiction can be used for propaganda.
How does literature teach and inform about society?
Explain the influence of children’s literature on adulthood.
How has literature addressed homosexuality?
Does the media portray minorities realistically?
Does the media reinforce stereotypes?
Why have podcasts become so popular?
Will streaming end traditional television?
What is a patriot?
What are the pros and cons of global citizenship?
What are the causes and effects of bullying?
Why has the divorce rate in the U.S. been declining in recent years?
Is it more important to follow social norms or religion?
What are the responsible limits on abortion, if any?
How does an MRI machine work?
Would the U.S. benefit from socialized healthcare?
Elderly populations
The education system
State tax bases
How do anti-vaxxers affect the health of the country?
Analyze the costs and benefits of diet culture.
Should companies allow employees to exercise on company time?
What is an adequate amount of exercise for an adult per week/per month/per day?
Discuss the effects of the obesity epidemic on American society.
Are students smarter since the advent of the internet?
What departures has the internet made from its original design?
Has digital downloading helped the music industry?
Discuss the benefits and costs of stricter internet censorship.
Analyze the effects of the internet on the paper news industry.
What would happen if the internet went out?
How will artificial intelligence (AI) change our lives?
What are the pros and cons of cryptocurrency?
How has social media affected the way people relate with each other?
Should social media have an age restriction?
Discuss the importance of source software.
What is more relevant in today’s world: mobile apps or websites?
How will fully autonomous vehicles change our lives?
How is text messaging affecting teen literacy?

Mental Health

What are the benefits of daily exercise?
How has social media affected people’s mental health?
What things contribute to poor mental and physical health?
Analyze how mental health is talked about in pop culture.
Discuss the pros and cons of more counselors in high schools.
How does stress affect the body?
How do emotional support animals help people?
What are black holes?
Discuss the biggest successes and failures of the EPA.
How has the Flint water crisis affected life in Michigan?
Can science help save endangered species?
Is the development of an anti-cancer vaccine possible?

Environment

What are the effects of deforestation on climate change?
Is climate change reversible?
How did the COVID-19 pandemic affect global warming and climate change?
Are carbon credits effective for offsetting emissions or just marketing?
Is nuclear power a safe alternative to fossil fuels?
Are hybrid vehicles helping to control pollution in the atmosphere?
How is plastic waste harming the environment?
Is entrepreneurism a trait people are born with or something they learn?
How much more should CEOs make than their average employee?
Can you start a business without money?
Should the U.S. raise the minimum wage?
Discuss how happy employees benefit businesses.
How important is branding for a business?
Discuss the ease, or difficulty, of landing a job today.
What is the economic impact of sporting events?
Are professional athletes overpaid?
Should male and female athletes receive equal pay?
What is a fair and equitable way for transgender athletes to compete in high school sports?
What are the benefits of playing team sports?
What is the most corrupt professional sport?

Where to Get More Research Paper Topic Ideas

If you need more help brainstorming topics, especially those that are personalized to your interests, you can use CollegeVine’s free AI tutor, Ivy . Ivy can help you come up with original research topic ideas, and she can also help with the rest of your homework, from math to languages.

Disclaimer: This post includes content sponsored by Lumiere Education.

271 Strong Argumentative Research Paper Topics You Must Know

Writing good argumentative research paper topics can always place you in a rock and a hard place. Writing from scratch can be daunting, but writing to a deadline is worse. Creating a terrific academic argumentative research paper takes a few tweaks. Through them, you will eventually craft a standardized paper that would earn you all points and, if not all, perhaps better grades.

This article will discuss the various angles you could take flawlessly to finish an argumentative research paper. Consequently, do not let terror take over you when writing a research paper.

Instead, it will be your forte after reading through this article’s steps.

What Is An Argumentative Research Paper?

An argumentative research paper is a paper that is structured in a way that allows you to present and defend your ideas about the topic, and that’s what definitional argument paper topics involve. The main purpose of an argumentative research paper is to make it possible for you to demonstrate your arguments. They may be based on either scientific knowledge or personal experience.

College argumentative research paper topics can be a single paper or a collection of several papers that you have written. Alternatively, it can be a series of papers in which you have analyzed different aspects of the topic. It will take you a while of introspection to understand this.

An award-winning research paper or one that could earn you better grades must be deeply rooted in facts. Generally, you must employ extensive evidence to defend your opinion or point.

What Are The Different Types Of Argumentative Research Paper Topics?

The are many different types of argumentative research paper topics. Here we explore the classic classification of the topics and their characteristics

Classical Western Argument These types of classical argument paper topics have always been footed on two bases: to convince the audience that they are right and give well-reasoned answers to questionsThey are easy argument paper topics. Topics for argumentative research paper tasks do not necessarily have to be complicated. An introduction is imperative for a classical western argument since it welcomes the audience and builds goodwill and a connection with the readers. It also announces the overall theme or thesis of the argument.It must have a narration that portrays necessary background facts. It is intended to inform the listener about the setting and occurrences that produced the argument.A classic western argument must have confirmation, refutation, and summation. Remember, the summary must be concrete, echoing the gravity of the argument and equally reflecting the best solution to the readers.
Toulon Argument The primary goal of a Toulmin argument is frequently to gather the most compelling proof in favor of the presented statements. For example, if you take “Philosophy argument paper topics”, you have to work through this topic well and understand it.The goal of a Toulmin argument is precise, unlike the previous types. It is made up of six parts, namely: introduction, data, warrants, qualifiers, rebuttal, and backing. It has a conclusion intended to trigger evocative thought among the readers.
Rogerian Argument The Rogerian argument seeks the greatest plausible solution based on the wants and preferences of everyone concerned, or, in other words, some form of unanimity. The essay structure of this type of argument does not bear innate disparities to the different types. It has a structure that aims at reaching a consensus amidst the contest.The Rogerian argument topics for a paper focus on expanding comprehension between conflicting viewpoints by noting that an issue can be viewed from various perspectives. Its building blocks are; an introduction, an acknowledgement of the opposition, a thesis statement, support for the thesis, and a conclusion.Notably, the summary has to highlight the imperatives of a classical argument paper topic, even if it cannot resolve the problem wholly. Also, it has to acknowledge that more work needs to be done in the future to find lasting remedies.

How To Write A Strong Thesis Statement

A thesis statement outlines the topic of your assignments, that is, argumentative research essay topics, and provides a summary of the article’s content, particularly your position on the subject. It is helpful to pose a concern before making your assertion in a thesis, so that your thesis can provide a resolution.

This is a powerful strategy for getting the reader interested in your subject and the viewpoint you advocate. The basic custom of any argument should be briefly covered in a thesis. By accomplishing this-getting thesis writing help, you can assist the reader in becoming ready for the essay’s main body.

When writing a thesis statement, you must include: A question A provocative statement A well-laid description An anecdote that compels the readers to find out more about the essay

Whenever you start writing, make an effort to define your aim explicitly. This is what argumentative research paper topics college institutions demand. Constantly write on your subject if you cannot express your purpose effectively.

How To Select A Topic For An Argumentative Essay

You might occasionally find yourself debating points you do not particularly agree with. That is just good – making a convincing argument does not need you to believe what you are saying fervently.

However, picking a subject you are passionate about is a fantastic option when you have complete freedom over it. A strong perspective and various supporting arguments are the two essential elements of a high quality successful argumentative essay.

It will be simpler for a student to obtain proof to back up an argument if they are fascinated and enthusiastic about the issue that they chose. The evidence itself is what matters most.

Decide on a topic by considering issues that are important to you, irrespective of whether they are good or bad. Create a list of concepts, and then pick a couple to focus on. You will then elaborate upon such concepts by addressing a few compensatory picks.

Making these lists may lead you to discover that a few are more powerful than others. The greater the issue, the more proof you have and the more compelling you believe that proved to be.

Again, choosing a different argument research topic is acceptable if you think one issue would have more verifiable data, but you would prefer not to pen about it. If you are enthusiastic about our topic, it might be much simpler to uncover solid arguments and evidence to support your claims than if you are not.

Well, here is a list of sample argumentative research paper topics you could decide to choose from and develop a terrific essay.

Good Argument Paper Topics On Education

Here are some ingenious argumentative essay sample topics touching on matters of education:

Can parents be able to alter their unborn children’s characteristics?
Should pupils need to be immunized to attend a public school?
Should global governments take action to combat climate change?
Should physical education classes have an impact on a student’s grades?
Is free college a good idea?
Should Greek life be banned from academic institutions?
Should comprehensive sex education be given to scholars?
It should be possible for pupils to choose the high school curriculum.
The importance of physical education in education.
Schools should not permit the use of cell phones.
Like scholars, teachers need to pass a professional exam.
Less work should be assigned to pupils in schools.
High schools should be required to include sex education.
The Best Alternative to Regular School is Home Schooling
Scholars should only spend three months studying and nine months vacationing.
Sporting Activities Can Help You Change Your Life.
Lies Are a Vital Component of a Healthy Relationship
There Are Aliens
Keeping a Journal Is a Fun Stress Reduction Technique
Colleges need medical facilities to aid scholars in overcoming stress and depression.
You Can Learn Important Life Skills from Video Games
Having a pet is a way to improve your happiness.
Better Off Renting Than Buying a Home
Is the American educational system ideal for the modern world?

Interesting Argument Paper Topics On Ethics

When faced with an argumentative essay touching on ethics, here are samples to jog your mind:

Do GMOs benefit or hurt humans?
Should Facebook be permitted to gather user data?
Should autonomous vehicles be made legal?
Is it moral to use automation to replace human labor?
Should use a cell phone while driving is prohibited by law?
Has the Internet had a good or bad impact on society?
Should college athletes receive compensation for playing on teams?
Must fracking be permitted?
Same-sex couples ought to be permitted to wed.
Death Penalties: Are They Still Valid in the Twenty-First Century?
Benefits of Medical Marijuana Legalization
Without organized religion, the world might be a better place.
More harm than good is caused by technology.
What would life be like if animals ruled the world?
What if scholars and teachers switched places?
How will having flying automobiles affect our daily lives?
The most prosperous people are school dropouts.
Why drinking is advisable before a test
What if humans were to view the world as dogs do?
The causes behind Starbucks’ delicious flavor
How defying your parents can help you succeed?
Why passing the driving test is crucial
The top pupils are those who do not attend class.
The best visitors are those who arrived already stuffed.
Why I enjoy junk mail
Why setting your school on fire is not an option
Clowns are not as terrifying as you would imagine.
The reason why your washing won’t do itself
Why you should continue to wear a mask even after COVID-19
Which film has ever been the worst?
How playing video games can benefit your career search
Why I don’t like country music
Why films are superior to books
Is it wrong to show sex scenes on television?
Should learning institutions condone cheating?
Should young people have access to birth control?
Is religion a valid justification for terrorism?
Does bullying make one stronger?
Do you think young kids should have access to cell phones and tablets?
Should minors be allowed to obtain contraception without their parent’s permission?
Is it time for single-payer healthcare in the US?
Should assisted suicide be allowed to exist?
Should nutritional supplements and products for weight loss, such as teas, be allowed to use influencer marketing?
Should physicians be permitted to promote medications?
Is the electoral college still a useful mechanism in contemporary America?
Should Puerto Rico gain statehood?
Is automatic voter registration a good idea?
Should prisoners have the right to vote?
Should justices of the Supreme Court be voted into power?
Children should not be served soda at restaurants.
Should sexual labor be made legal?
Should Indigenous Peoples’ Day take the place of Columbus Day?
Should executions be permitted?
Are uniforms for schools a good idea?
Should using animals for clinical tests be permitted?
Should the crime of drug possession be dropped?
Must unpaid internships be permitted?
Must abortion be outlawed?
Do individuals misuse their freedom to carry weapons?
Is there a racial component to police violence?
It is time to raise the legal drinking age.
A child’s sexual orientation is established when they are young.
All around the world, same-sex unions should be permitted.
Inmates should not be kept as illegal immigrants.
Should all women have access to reproductive health care and birth control?
Would anyone benefit equally from our tax system?
Is vaping just as dangerous as cigarette smoking?
Is global consumption a serious problem?
Is social media a privacy infringement?
Does everyone need to get vaccinated?
Do food firms have a say in what we eat?
Does our system of education fit our culture?
Why should certain languages be recognized as official in the US?
Is the death penalty ever justified?
Victims of rape ought to abort their unborn children.
Equal paternity leave should be granted to fathers.
Do trouble-making behaviors among teenagers stem from boredom?
Parents who have failed their children should be disciplined.
Animal testing ought to be prohibited.
Gaming that is violent needs to be prohibited.
Adopting parents with mental impairments should not be permitted.
Islamist nations should allow alcohol usage.
Everyone should receive the COVID-19 vaccine.
School dress codes ought to be abolished
Assignments should not be required
Pets ought to be allowed in learning institutions
Cellphone use should be permitted in class for scholars.
The daily schooling hours ought to be cut shorter
Why longer school breaks are necessary
Every classroom needs a TV.
We must extend our summer vacation.
Schools ought to have recess in between class sessions.
A pet belongs in every classroom.
Is a College Education Still Required?
Should High School Graduates Have a Gap Year?
Cyberbullying in High School Is a Serious Problem
Scholars ought to be permitted to dress however they like.
The Existing Grading System Does Not Reflect Scholars’ Knowledge in the Contemporary World
Is a Lower Voting Age Needed?
The Benefits of Offering Free Condoms to Scholars
Partners expecting a child ought to take parenting classes
Sex education ought to be taught in schools.
Should the legal drinking age be lowered?
Standardized Tests Need to Be Banned
Scholar loans: Are They Favorable or Bad?
Is drug use on campuses a test or a genuine issue?
Do College Relationships Last a Long Time?
Children should not be permitted to attend college classes by scholars.
Fraternities’ detrimental effects on scholars’ behavior and performance
When Is a Gap Year a Welcomed Idea?
There should be more benefits for college athletes when schooling.
Most college units are already obsolete and unfit for the contemporary world.
The cost of lodging in universities ought to be zero.
Celebs ought not to serve as teenage girls’ role models.
Diet obsession can result in a variety of eating conditions and health complications.
School uniforms ought to be required.
Males and females can have friendships that are limited to just that.
The vegetarian lifestyle is not practical
Democracy is currently the sanest form of government.
GMO diets aren’t as risky as we once thought
Horror films may harm one’s mental health.
Junk food ought not to be offered in school lunches.

Easy Argument Paper Topics On Sports

Sports argumentative essay topics can prove hard to formulate. Here are samples:

Should there be a gender divide in sports?
Should baseball’s designated hitter system be eliminated?
Should American sports treat soccer with more respect?
Should players and coaches receive the same compensation?
Girls should be urged to participate in sports and put just as much effort into their studies as boys do.
College Sports Players Must Be Paid
Sports should allow women to compete against men.
Countries benefit economically and socially by hosting the Olympic Games.
Media coverage of female athletes is still sexist.
Certain sports can encourage violent behavior.
Injury Has a Significant Impact on an Athlete’s Mental Health
Among Athletes, Eating Disorders Are a Common Issue
Schools and Colleges should emphasize physical education more
Taking part in sports can have calming, resonant effects on the body and mind.
Motivating girls to participate in sports is important.

Argument Paper Topics On Religion

Argumentative essay topics on religion could prove contentious. Below are samples:

Should religious institutions be subject to taxation?
Should schools allow religious clubs?
Should the pledge of allegiance include “one nation under God”?
Should religion be covered in the classroom?
Should clerics be permitted to wed?

Professional Argument Paper Topics On Economics

Argumentative topics in economics essays are easy. Here are some examples:

Is raising the minimum wage necessary?
Do monopolies deserve to exist?
Is the concept of universal basic income wisely?
Should the tax rate on companies be higher or cheap?

Argument Paper Topics On Society And Culture

Formulating argumentative essay topics on culture and society, in general, should not bother you that much. Here are samples. But if you have problems with your writing you can order a dissertation online .

Is graffiti considered destruction or art?
Should books with offensive language be prohibited?
Should YouTube content be more strictly regulated?
Is the study of art important?
Should people be able to share their art and music online?
Current assessments do not match the scholar’s ability.
Breastfeeding in public should be permitted for women.
To bring about change, the Internet was developed.
When it comes to giving their kids a nutritious diet, parents should be accountable.
Churches ought to be taxed as well.
The Contribution of Art to the Evolution of Our World
Using Art Therapy to Treat Mental Illness
Scholars that participate in the arts excel academically.
Unlike traditional art, digital art lacks soul.
Everybody ought to enrol in art classes in school
Is Art Actually Required?
What Inner Fears Do Children Express in Their Art?
What Is Art For?
How Has the Representation of Women in Art Changed Over the Centuries?
Most art forms were created in ancient Greece, which is where they originated.
A potent treatment for psychological issues is music.
Hard Rock Harmfully influences teenage Behavior
If You Pay Attention, You Can Hear Music in the Natural World
Billie Eilish Is Not Your Average Teen Pop Star-Star
The Human Brain is Positively affected by Music
The Calming Power of Celtic Music
Modern music is largely commercial rather than artistic.
Rap music encourages aggression.
A better pregnancy can be ensured by classical music.
College scholars’ academic performance is improved through music

Technology Argument Paper Topics

Many learners avoid technology-related argumentative topics due to their technicality. Below are samples:

Owners of social media platforms should keep an eye on and delete comments that use offensive language.
Does technology contribute to individuals feeling more alone?
Will there ever be a moment when no new technological developments take place?
Vlogging is not a legitimate career.
Is LinkedIn useful in terms of job search?
The number of business opportunities has significantly increased thanks to social media.
Is Java going out of style?
Are social media profiles of candidates something employers should look through?
Social media cause teenage despair.

Science Argument Paper Topics

Below are argumentative topics touching on the science field:

The Morality of Cloning the Benefits of Genetic Engineering and How They Can Change the World the Potential Benefits of Investing in Space Exploration
Universities should spend more money on scientific programs.
How Do New Scientific Discoveries Affect Our Everyday Lives?
Do New Technologies Pose Health Risks?
The use of animals in scientific research should be prohibited
The Science of Medical Marijuana’s Healing Effect
Food that has been genetically modified: Is it healthy for us or not?
Why Science Should Be Taught to Everyone.

Argument Paper Topics On The Environment

Argumentative topics on the environment tend to be broad. Here are useful samples:

Existing environmental statutes do not avert human encroachment and habitat obliteration
Human encroachment endangers the lives of plants and animals
Climate change is real
Developed nations primarily cause global warming
A change in farming practices is required to cease environmental obliteration.
Environment-friendly effects of vegetarianism
The worst polluters of air and water are industrial by-products and farming additives
Overpopulation is the root cause of city pollution
We must protect the world’s resources.
Hunting is a sinful activity.
Is using animals in a circus acceptable?
Evil dogs ought to be put to sleep.
Recycling ought to be required.
Should recycling be made required?
Is competition advantageous?
Does blogging as a profession have a future?
Is it possible for people to ever exist without the Internet?
Should everyone volunteer and donate to charities?
Does the media infringe on famous people’s privacy?

Argument Paper Topics On Government

Politics is not everyone. Below are argumentative topics on governance you could exploit:

In wealthy nations, unlawful immigration is a serious problem.
Citizenship should always be granted to persons sired within a particular country’s borders. Stricter immigration laws should be enforced against illegal immigration
Border restrictions should be tightened to stop illegal immigration.
The main driver of unlawful immigration is poverty.
Deporting illegal immigrants to their nations of origin is usually pointless.
High Illegal Immigration Rates May Encourage Prostitution
High levels of unlawful immigration are one of the main causes of terrorism.
Lowering immigration costs may help avert illegal immigration
Refugee applicants ought not to be viewed as unauthorized immigrants.
Is Racial Profiling Still Appropriate in Today’s World?
Euthanasia for terminally ill patients should be made legal.
All should have access to free higher education.
Is Donald Trump’s presidency detrimental to the US and the rest of the world, or beneficial?
In colleges and schools, energy drinks have to be prohibited.
In the US, gambling ought to be outlawed.
Should abortion be outlawed globally?
Should the death penalty be carried out universally?
Certain kinds of animal experimentation and other forms of study ought to be prohibited.
Should the government take additional steps to provide accessibility for the physically challenged?
Are people born with the skill to be a politician, or do they learn it?

High Quality Argument Paper Topics On Health

There are numerous argumentative topics on health to choose from. Below are samples:

Everyone should have access to free health care.
It is possible to discover a working cure for AIDs
Art therapy can be effective for a wide range of health issues
Healthy alternatives: benefits and drawbacks
The negative consequences of a head injury
Does the media accurately represent the risk of coronavirus?
Are electronic cigarettes more harmless than smoke?
Could 3D printing help the medical field?
Nanotechnology can aid in cancer treatment
How would stem cells reduce cardiac arrest patients’ mortality rates?
Pro-life vs. Pro-choice views on abortion
Alcoholism harms all aspects of life, not just health
The production and sale of tobacco should be prohibited
Vaping is safer than cigarette smoking.
The risks of the COVID-19 vaccine outweigh the benefits.

Get Professional Help

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50+ Research Topics for Psychology Papers

How to Find Psychology Research Topics for Your Student Paper

Specific Branches of Psychology
Topics Involving a Disorder or Type of Therapy
Human Cognition
Human Development
Critique of Publications
Famous Experiments
Historical Figures
Specific Careers
Case Studies
Literature Reviews
Your Own Study/Experiment

Are you searching for a great topic for your psychology paper ? Sometimes it seems like coming up with topics of psychology research is more challenging than the actual research and writing. Fortunately, there are plenty of great places to find inspiration and the following list contains just a few ideas to help get you started.

Finding a solid topic is one of the most important steps when writing any type of paper. It can be particularly important when you are writing a psychology research paper or essay. Psychology is such a broad topic, so you want to find a topic that allows you to adequately cover the subject without becoming overwhelmed with information.

I can always tell when a student really cares about the topic they chose; it comes through in the writing. My advice is to choose a topic that genuinely interests you, so you’ll be more motivated to do thorough research.

In some cases, such as in a general psychology class, you might have the option to select any topic from within psychology's broad reach. Other instances, such as in an abnormal psychology course, might require you to write your paper on a specific subject such as a psychological disorder.

As you begin your search for a topic for your psychology paper, it is first important to consider the guidelines established by your instructor.

Research Topics Within Specific Branches of Psychology

The key to selecting a good topic for your psychology paper is to select something that is narrow enough to allow you to really focus on the subject, but not so narrow that it is difficult to find sources or information to write about.

One approach is to narrow your focus down to a subject within a specific branch of psychology. For example, you might start by deciding that you want to write a paper on some sort of social psychology topic. Next, you might narrow your focus down to how persuasion can be used to influence behavior .

Other social psychology topics you might consider include:

Prejudice and discrimination (i.e., homophobia, sexism, racism)
Social cognition
Person perception
Social control and cults
Persuasion, propaganda, and marketing
Attraction, romance, and love
Nonverbal communication
Prosocial behavior

Psychology Research Topics Involving a Disorder or Type of Therapy

Exploring a psychological disorder or a specific treatment modality can also be a good topic for a psychology paper. Some potential abnormal psychology topics include specific psychological disorders or particular treatment modalities, including:

Eating disorders
Borderline personality disorder
Seasonal affective disorder
Schizophrenia
Antisocial personality disorder
Profile a type of therapy (i.e., cognitive-behavioral therapy, group therapy, psychoanalytic therapy)

Topics of Psychology Research Related to Human Cognition

Some of the possible topics you might explore in this area include thinking, language, intelligence, and decision-making. Other ideas might include:

False memories
Speech disorders
Problem-solving

Topics of Psychology Research Related to Human Development

In this area, you might opt to focus on issues pertinent to early childhood such as language development, social learning, or childhood attachment or you might instead opt to concentrate on issues that affect older adults such as dementia or Alzheimer's disease.

Some other topics you might consider include:

Language acquisition
Media violence and children
Learning disabilities
Gender roles
Child abuse
Prenatal development
Parenting styles
Aspects of the aging process

Do a Critique of Publications Involving Psychology Research Topics

One option is to consider writing a critique paper of a published psychology book or academic journal article. For example, you might write a critical analysis of Sigmund Freud's Interpretation of Dreams or you might evaluate a more recent book such as Philip Zimbardo's The Lucifer Effect: Understanding How Good People Turn Evil .

Professional and academic journals are also great places to find materials for a critique paper. Browse through the collection at your university library to find titles devoted to the subject that you are most interested in, then look through recent articles until you find one that grabs your attention.

Topics of Psychology Research Related to Famous Experiments

There have been many fascinating and groundbreaking experiments throughout the history of psychology, providing ample material for students looking for an interesting term paper topic. In your paper, you might choose to summarize the experiment, analyze the ethics of the research, or evaluate the implications of the study. Possible experiments that you might consider include:

The Milgram Obedience Experiment
The Stanford Prison Experiment
The Little Albert Experiment
Pavlov's Conditioning Experiments
The Asch Conformity Experiment
Harlow's Rhesus Monkey Experiments

Topics of Psychology Research About Historical Figures

One of the simplest ways to find a great topic is to choose an interesting person in the history of psychology and write a paper about them. Your paper might focus on many different elements of the individual's life, such as their biography, professional history, theories, or influence on psychology.

While this type of paper may be historical in nature, there is no need for this assignment to be dry or boring. Psychology is full of fascinating figures rife with intriguing stories and anecdotes. Consider such famous individuals as Sigmund Freud, B.F. Skinner, Harry Harlow, or one of the many other eminent psychologists .

Psychology Research Topics About a Specific Career

Another possible topic, depending on the course in which you are enrolled, is to write about specific career paths within the field of psychology . This type of paper is especially appropriate if you are exploring different subtopics or considering which area interests you the most.

In your paper, you might opt to explore the typical duties of a psychologist, how much people working in these fields typically earn, and the different employment options that are available.

Topics of Psychology Research Involving Case Studies

One potentially interesting idea is to write a psychology case study of a particular individual or group of people. In this type of paper, you will provide an in-depth analysis of your subject, including a thorough biography.

Generally, you will also assess the person, often using a major psychological theory such as Piaget's stages of cognitive development or Erikson's eight-stage theory of human development . It is also important to note that your paper doesn't necessarily have to be about someone you know personally.

In fact, many professors encourage students to write case studies on historical figures or fictional characters from books, television programs, or films.

Psychology Research Topics Involving Literature Reviews

Another possibility that would work well for a number of psychology courses is to do a literature review of a specific topic within psychology. A literature review involves finding a variety of sources on a particular subject, then summarizing and reporting on what these sources have to say about the topic.

Literature reviews are generally found in the introduction of journal articles and other psychology papers , but this type of analysis also works well for a full-scale psychology term paper.

Topics of Psychology Research Based on Your Own Study or Experiment

Many psychology courses require students to design an actual psychological study or perform some type of experiment. In some cases, students simply devise the study and then imagine the possible results that might occur. In other situations, you may actually have the opportunity to collect data, analyze your findings, and write up your results.

Finding a topic for your study can be difficult, but there are plenty of great ways to come up with intriguing ideas. Start by considering your own interests as well as subjects you have studied in the past.

Online sources, newspaper articles, books , journal articles, and even your own class textbook are all great places to start searching for topics for your experiments and psychology term papers. Before you begin, learn more about how to conduct a psychology experiment .

What This Means For You

After looking at this brief list of possible topics for psychology papers, it is easy to see that psychology is a very broad and diverse subject. While this variety makes it possible to find a topic that really catches your interest, it can sometimes make it very difficult for some students to select a good topic.

If you are still stumped by your assignment, ask your instructor for suggestions and consider a few from this list for inspiration.

Hockenbury, SE & Nolan, SA. Psychology. New York: Worth Publishers; 2014.
Santrock, JW. A Topical Approach to Lifespan Development. New York: McGraw-Hill Education; 2016.

By Kendra Cherry, MSEd Kendra Cherry, MS, is a psychosocial rehabilitation specialist, psychology educator, and author of the "Everything Psychology Book."

How To Choose A Research Topic

Step-By-Step Tutorial With Examples + Free Topic Evaluator

By: Derek Jansen (MBA) | Expert Reviewer: Dr Eunice Rautenbach | April 2024

Choosing the right research topic is likely the most important decision you’ll make on your dissertation or thesis journey. To make the right choice, you need to take a systematic approach and evaluate each of your candidate ideas across a consistent set of criteria. In this tutorial, we’ll unpack five essential criteria that will help you evaluate your prospective research ideas and choose a winner.

Overview: The “Big 5” Key Criteria

Topic originality or novelty
Value and significance
Access to data and equipment
Time limitations and implications
Ethical requirements and constraints

Criterion #1: Originality & Novelty

As we’ve discussed extensively on this blog, originality in a research topic is essential. In other words, you need a clear research gap . The uniqueness of your topic determines its contribution to the field and its potential to stand out in the academic community. So, for each of your prospective topics, ask yourself the following questions:

What research gap and research problem am I filling?
Does my topic offer new insights?
Am I combining existing ideas in a unique way?
Am I taking a unique methodological approach?

To objectively evaluate the originality of each of your topic candidates, rate them on these aspects. This process will not only help in choosing a topic that stands out, but also one that can capture the interest of your audience and possibly contribute significantly to the field of study – which brings us to our next criterion.

Criterion #2: Value & Significance

Next, you’ll need to assess the value and significance of each prospective topic. To do this, you’ll need to ask some hard questions.

Why is it important to explore these research questions?
Who stands to benefit from this study?
How will they benefit, specifically?

By clearly understanding and outlining the significance of each potential topic, you’ll not only be justifying your final choice – you’ll essentially be laying the groundwork for a persuasive research proposal , which is equally important.

Criterion #3: Access to Data & Equipment

Naturally, access to relevant data and equipment is crucial for the success of your research project. So, for each of your prospective topic ideas, you’ll need to evaluate whether you have the necessary resources to collect data and conduct your study.

Here are some questions to ask for each potential topic:

Will I be able to access the sample of interest (e.g., people, animals, etc.)?
Do I have (or can I get) access to the required equipment, at the time that I need it?
Are there costs associated with any of this? If so, what are they?

Keep in mind that getting access to certain types of data may also require special permissions and legalities, especially if your topic involves vulnerable groups (patients, youths, etc.). You may also need to adhere to specific data protection laws, depending on the country. So, be sure to evaluate these aspects thoroughly for each topic. Overlooking any of these can lead to significant complications down the line.

Free Webinar: How To Find A Dissertation Research Topic

Criterion #4: Time Requirements & Implications

Naturally, having a realistic timeline for each potential research idea is crucial. So, consider the scope of each potential topic and estimate how long each phase of the research will take — from literature review to data collection and analysis, to writing and revisions. Underestimating the time needed for a research project is extremely common , so it’s important to include buffer time for unforeseen delays.

Remember, efficient time management is not just about the duration but also about the timing . For example, if your research involves fieldwork, there may specific times of the year when this is most doable (or not doable at all). So, be sure to consider both time and timing for each of your prospective topics.

Criterion #5: Ethical Compliance

Failing to adhere to your university’s research ethics policy is a surefire way to get your proposal rejected . So, you’ll need to evaluate each topic for potential ethical issues, especially if your research involves human subjects, sensitive data, or has any potential environmental impact.

Remember that ethical compliance is not just a formality – it’s a responsibility to ensure the integrity and social responsibility of your research. Topics that pose significant ethical challenges are typically the first to be rejected, so you need to take this seriously. It’s also useful to keep in mind that some topics are more “ethically sensitive” than others , which usually means that they’ll require multiple levels of approval. Ideally, you want to avoid this additional admin, so mark down any prospective topics that fall into an ethical “grey zone”.

If you’re unsure about the details of your university’s ethics policy, ask for a copy or speak directly to your course coordinator. Don’t make any assumptions when it comes to research ethics!

Key Takeaways

In this post, we’ve explored how to choose a research topic using a systematic approach. To recap, the “Big 5” assessment criteria include:

Topic originality and novelty
Time requirements
Ethical compliance

Be sure to grab a copy of our free research topic evaluator sheet here to fast-track your topic selection process. If you need hands-on help finding and refining a high-quality research topic for your dissertation or thesis, you can also check out our private coaching service .

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Last Updated: September 13, 2024
In AI Mysteries

Top Machine Learning Research Papers

by Dr. Nivash Jeevanandam

Advances in machine learning and deep learning research are reshaping our technology. Machine learning and deep learning have accomplished various astounding feats, and key research articles have resulted in technical advances used by billions of people. The research in this sector is advancing at a breakneck pace and assisting you to keep up. Here is a collection of the most important scientific study papers in machine learning.

Rebooting ACGAN: Auxiliary Classifier GANs with Stable Training

The authors of this work examined why ACGAN training becomes unstable as the number of classes in the dataset grows. The researchers revealed that the unstable training occurs due to a gradient explosion problem caused by the unboundedness of the input feature vectors and the classifier’s poor classification capabilities during the early training stage. The researchers presented the Data-to-Data Cross-Entropy loss (D2D-CE) and the Rebooted Auxiliary Classifier Generative Adversarial Network to alleviate the instability and reinforce ACGAN (ReACGAN). Additionally, extensive tests of ReACGAN demonstrate that it is resistant to hyperparameter selection and is compatible with a variety of architectures and differentiable augmentations.

This article is ranked #1 on CIFAR-10 for Conditional Image Generation.

For the research paper, read here .

For code, see here .

Dense Unsupervised Learning for Video Segmentation

The authors presented a straightforward and computationally fast unsupervised strategy for learning dense spacetime representations from unlabeled films in this study. The approach demonstrates rapid convergence of training and a high degree of data efficiency. Furthermore, the researchers obtain VOS accuracy superior to previous results despite employing a fraction of the previously necessary training data. The researchers acknowledge that the research findings may be utilised maliciously, such as for unlawful surveillance, and that they are excited to investigate how this skill might be used to better learn a broader spectrum of invariances by exploiting larger temporal windows in movies with complex (ego-)motion, which is more prone to disocclusions.

This study is ranked #1 on DAVIS 2017 for Unsupervised Video Object Segmentation (val).

Temporally-Consistent Surface Reconstruction using Metrically-Consistent Atlases

The authors offer an atlas-based technique for producing unsupervised temporally consistent surface reconstructions by requiring a point on the canonical shape representation to translate to metrically consistent 3D locations on the reconstructed surfaces. Finally, the researchers envisage a plethora of potential applications for the method. For example, by substituting an image-based loss for the Chamfer distance, one may apply the method to RGB video sequences, which the researchers feel will spur development in video-based 3D reconstruction.

This article is ranked #1 on ANIM in the category of Surface Reconstruction.

EdgeFlow: Achieving Practical Interactive Segmentation with Edge-Guided Flow

The researchers propose a revolutionary interactive architecture called EdgeFlow that uses user interaction data without resorting to post-processing or iterative optimisation. The suggested technique achieves state-of-the-art performance on common benchmarks due to its coarse-to-fine network design. Additionally, the researchers create an effective interactive segmentation tool that enables the user to improve the segmentation result through flexible options incrementally.

This paper is ranked #1 on Interactive Segmentation on PASCAL VOC

Learning Transferable Visual Models From Natural Language Supervision

The authors of this work examined whether it is possible to transfer the success of task-agnostic web-scale pre-training in natural language processing to another domain. The findings indicate that adopting this formula resulted in the emergence of similar behaviours in the field of computer vision, and the authors examine the social ramifications of this line of research. CLIP models learn to accomplish a range of tasks during pre-training to optimise their training objective. Using natural language prompting, CLIP can then use this task learning to enable zero-shot transfer to many existing datasets. When applied at a large scale, this technique can compete with task-specific supervised models, while there is still much space for improvement.

This research is ranked #1 on Zero-Shot Transfer Image Classification on SUN

CoAtNet: Marrying Convolution and Attention for All Data Sizes

The researchers in this article conduct a thorough examination of the features of convolutions and transformers, resulting in a principled approach for combining them into a new family of models dubbed CoAtNet. Extensive experiments demonstrate that CoAtNet combines the advantages of ConvNets and Transformers, achieving state-of-the-art performance across a range of data sizes and compute budgets. Take note that this article is currently concentrating on ImageNet classification for model construction. However, the researchers believe their approach is relevant to a broader range of applications, such as object detection and semantic segmentation.

This paper is ranked #1 on Image Classification on ImageNet (using extra training data).

SwinIR: Image Restoration Using Swin Transformer

The authors of this article suggest the SwinIR image restoration model, which is based on the Swin Transformer . The model comprises three modules: shallow feature extraction, deep feature extraction, and human-recognition reconstruction. For deep feature extraction, the researchers employ a stack of residual Swin Transformer blocks (RSTB), each formed of Swin Transformer layers, a convolution layer, and a residual connection.

This research article is ranked #1 on Image Super-Resolution on Manga109 – 4x upscaling.

Artificial Replay: A Meta-Algorithm for Harnessing Historical Data in Bandits

Ways to incorporate historical data are still unclear: initialising reward estimates with historical samples can suffer from bogus and imbalanced data coverage, leading to computational and storage issues—particularly in continuous action spaces. The paper addresses the obstacles by proposing ‘Artificial Replay’, an algorithm to incorporate historical data into any arbitrary base bandit algorithm.

Read the full paper here .

Bootstrapped Meta-Learning

Author(s) – Sean R. Sinclair et al.

The paper proposes an algorithm in which the meta-learner teaches itself to overcome the meta-optimisation challenge. The algorithm focuses on meta-learning with gradients, which guarantees performance improvements. Furthermore, the paper also looks at how bootstrapping opens up possibilities.

Read the full paper here .

LaMDA: Language Models for Dialog Applications

Author(s) – Sebastian Flennerhag et al.

The research describes the LaMDA system which caused chaos in AI this summer when a former Google engineer claimed that it had shown signs of sentience. LaMDA is a family of large language models for dialogue applications based on Transformer architecture. The interesting feature of the model is its fine-tuning with human-annotated data and the possibility of consulting external sources. This is a very interesting model family, which we might encounter in many applications we use daily.

Competition-Level Code Generation with AlphaCode

Author(s) – Yujia Li et al.

Systems can help programmers become more productive. The following research addresses the problems with incorporating innovations in AI into these systems. AlphaCode is a system that creates solutions for problems that require deeper reasoning.

Privacy for Free: How does Dataset Condensation Help Privacy?

Author(s) – Tian Dong et al.

The paper focuses on Privacy Preserving Machine Learning, specifically deducting the leakage of sensitive data in machine learning. It puts forth one of the first propositions of using dataset condensation techniques to preserve the data efficiency during model training and furnish membership privacy.

Why do tree-based models still outperform deep learning on tabular data?

Author(s) – Léo Grinsztajn, Edouard Oyallon and Gaël Varoquaux

The research answers why deep learning models still find it hard to compete on tabular data compared to tree-based models. It is shown that MLP-like architectures are more sensitive to uninformative features in data compared to their tree-based counterparts.

Multi-Objective Bayesian Optimisation over High-Dimensional Search Spaces

Author(s) – Samuel Daulton et al.

The paper proposes ‘MORBO’, a scalable method for multiple-objective BO as it performs better than that of high-dimensional search spaces. MORBO significantly improves the sample efficiency and, where existing BO algorithms fail, MORBO provides improved sample efficiencies over the current approach.

A Path Towards Autonomous Machine Intelligence Version 0.9.2

Author(s) – Yann LeCun

The research offers a vision about how to progress towards general AI. The study combines several concepts: a configurable predictive world model, behaviour driven through intrinsic motivation, and hierarchical joint embedding architectures trained with self-supervised

learning.

TranAD: Deep Transformer Networks for Anomaly Detection in Multivariate Time Series Data

Author(s) – Shreshth Tuli, Giuliano Casale and Nicholas R. Jennings

This is a specialised paper applying transformer architecture to the problem of unsupervised anomaly detection in multivariate time series. Many architectures which were successful in other fields are, at some point, also being applied to time series. The research shows improved performance on some known data sets.

Differentially Private Bias-Term only Fine-tuning of Foundation Models

Author(s) – Zhiqi Bu et al.

In the paper, researchers study the problem of differentially private (DP) fine-tuning of large pre-trained models—a recent privacy-preserving approach suitable for solving downstream tasks with sensitive data. Existing work has demonstrated that high accuracy is possible under strong privacy constraints yet requires significant computational overhead or modifications to the network architecture.

ALBERT: A Lite BERT

Usually, increasing model size when pretraining natural language representations often result in improved performance on downstream tasks, but the training times become longer. To address these problems, the authors in their work presented two parameter-reduction techniques to lower memory consumption and increase the training speed of BERT. The authors also used a self-supervised loss that focuses on modelling inter-sentence coherence and consistently helped downstream tasks with multi-sentence inputs. According to results, this model established new state-of-the-art results on the GLUE, RACE, and squad benchmarks while having fewer parameters compared to BERT-large.

Check the paper here .

Beyond Accuracy: Behavioral Testing of NLP Models with CheckList

Microsoft Research, along with the University of Washington and the University of California, in this paper, introduced a model-agnostic and task agnostic methodology for testing NLP models known as CheckList. This is also the winner of the best paper award at the ACL conference this year. It included a matrix of general linguistic capabilities and test types that facilitate comprehensive test ideation, as well as a software tool to generate a large and diverse number of test cases quickly.

Linformer is a Transformer architecture for tackling the self-attention bottleneck in Transformers. It reduces self-attention to an O(n) operation in both space- and time complexity. It is a new self-attention mechanism which allows the researchers to compute the contextual mapping in linear time and memory complexity with respect to the sequence length.

Plug and Play Language Models

Plug and Play Language Models ( PPLM ) are a combination of pre-trained language models with one or more simple attribute classifiers. This, in turn, assists in text generation without any further training. According to the authors, model samples demonstrated control over sentiment styles, and extensive automated and human-annotated evaluations showed attribute alignment and fluency.

Reformer

The researchers at Google, in this paper , introduced Reformer. This work showcased that the architecture of a Transformer can be executed efficiently on long sequences and with small memory. The authors believe that the ability to handle long sequences opens the way for the use of the Reformer on many generative tasks. In addition to generating very long coherent text, the Reformer can bring the power of Transformer models to other domains like time-series forecasting, music, image and video generation.

An Image is Worth 16X16 Words

The irony here is that one of the popular language models, Transformers have been made to do computer vision tasks. In this paper , the authors claimed that the vision transformer could go toe-to-toe with the state-of-the-art models on image recognition benchmarks, reaching accuracies as high as 88.36% on ImageNet and 94.55% on CIFAR-100. For this, the vision transformer receives input as a one-dimensional sequence of token embeddings. The image is then reshaped into a sequence of flattened 2D patches. The transformers in this work use constant widths through all of its layers.

Unsupervised Learning of Probably Symmetric Deformable 3D Objects

Winner of the CVPR best paper award, in this work, the authors proposed a method to learn 3D deformable object categories from raw single-view images, without external supervision. This method uses an autoencoder that factored each input image into depth, albedo, viewpoint and illumination. The authors showcased that reasoning about illumination can be used to exploit the underlying object symmetry even if the appearance is not symmetric due to shading.

Generative Pretraining from Pixels

In this paper, OpenAI researchers examined whether similar models can learn useful representations for images. For this, the researchers trained a sequence Transformer to auto-regressively predict pixels, without incorporating knowledge of the 2D input structure. Despite training on low-resolution ImageNet without labels, the researchers found that a GPT-2 scale model learns strong image representations as measured by linear probing, fine-tuning, and low-data classification. On CIFAR-10, it achieved 96.3% accuracy with a linear probe, outperforming a supervised Wide ResNet, and 99.0% accuracy with full fine-tuning and matching the top supervised pre-trained models. An even larger model, trained on a mixture of ImageNet and web images, is competitive with self-supervised benchmarks on ImageNet, achieving 72.0% top-1 accuracy on a linear probe of their features.

Deep Reinforcement Learning and its Neuroscientific Implications

In this paper, the authors provided a high-level introduction to deep RL , discussed some of its initial applications to neuroscience, and surveyed its wider implications for research on brain and behaviour and concluded with a list of opportunities for next-stage research. Although DeepRL seems to be promising, the authors wrote that it is still a work in progress and its implications in neuroscience should be looked at as a great opportunity. For instance, deep RL provides an agent-based framework for studying the way that reward shapes representation, and how representation, in turn, shapes learning and decision making — two issues which together span a large swath of what is most central to neuroscience.

Dopamine-based Reinforcement Learning

Why humans doing certain things are often linked to dopamine , a hormone that acts as the reward system (think: the likes on your Instagram page). So, keeping this fact in hindsight, DeepMind with the help of Harvard labs, analysed dopamine cells in mice and recorded how the mice received rewards while they learned a task. They then checked these recordings for consistency in the activity of the dopamine neurons with standard temporal difference algorithms. This paper proposed an account of dopamine-based reinforcement learning inspired by recent artificial intelligence research on distributional reinforcement learning. The authors hypothesised that the brain represents possible future rewards not as a single mean but as a probability distribution, effectively representing multiple future outcomes simultaneously and in parallel.

Lottery Tickets In Reinforcement Learning & NLP

In this paper, the authors bridged natural language processing (NLP) and reinforcement learning (RL). They examined both recurrent LSTM models and large-scale Transformer models for NLP and discrete-action space tasks for RL. The results suggested that the lottery ticket hypothesis is not restricted to supervised learning of natural images, but rather represents a broader phenomenon in deep neural networks.

What Can Learned Intrinsic Rewards Capture

In this paper, the authors explored if the reward function itself can be a good locus of learned knowledge. They proposed a scalable framework for learning useful intrinsic reward functions across multiple lifetimes of experience and showed that it is feasible to learn and capture knowledge about long-term exploration and exploitation into a reward function.

AutoML- Zero

The progress of AutoML has largely focused on the architecture of neural networks, where it has relied on sophisticated expert-designed layers as building blocks, or similarly restrictive search spaces. In this paper , the authors showed that AutoML could go further with AutoML Zero, that automatically discovers complete machine learning algorithms just using basic mathematical operations as building blocks. The researchers demonstrated this by introducing a novel framework that significantly reduced human bias through a generic search space.

Rethinking Batch Normalization for Meta-Learning

Batch normalization is an essential component of meta-learning pipelines. However, there are several challenges. So, in this paper, the authors evaluated a range of approaches to batch normalization for meta-learning scenarios and developed a novel approach — TaskNorm. Experiments demonstrated that the choice of batch normalization has a dramatic effect on both classification accuracy and training time for both gradient-based and gradient-free meta-learning approaches. The TaskNorm has been found to be consistently improving the performance.

Meta-Learning without Memorisation

Meta-learning algorithms need meta-training tasks to be mutually exclusive, such that no single model can solve all of the tasks at once. In this paper, the authors designed a meta-regularisation objective using information theory that successfully uses data from non-mutually-exclusive tasks to efficiently adapt to novel tasks.

Understanding the Effectiveness of MAML

Model Agnostic Meta-Learning (MAML) consists of optimisation loops, from which the inner loop can efficiently learn new tasks. In this paper, the authors demonstrated that feature reuse is the dominant factor and led to ANIL (Almost No Inner Loop) algorithm — a simplification of MAML where the inner loop is removed for all but the (task-specific) head of the underlying neural network.

Your Classifier is Secretly an Energy-Based Model

This paper proposed attempts to reinterpret a standard discriminative classifier as an energy-based model. In this setting, wrote the authors, the standard class probabilities can be easily computed. They demonstrated that energy-based training of the joint distribution improves calibration, robustness, handout-of-distribution detection while also enabling the proposed model to generate samples rivalling the quality of recent GAN approaches. This work improves upon the recently proposed techniques for scaling up the training of energy-based models. It has also been the first to achieve performance rivalling the state-of-the-art in both generative and discriminative learning within one hybrid model.

Reverse-Engineering Deep ReLU Networks

This paper investigated the commonly assumed notion that neural networks cannot be recovered from its outputs, as they depend on its parameters in a highly nonlinear way. The authors claimed that by observing only its output, one could identify the architecture, weights, and biases of an unknown deep ReLU network. By dissecting the set of region boundaries into components associated with particular neurons, the researchers showed that it is possible to recover the weights of neurons and their arrangement within the network.

Cricket Analytics and Predictor

Authors: Suyash Mahajan, Salma Shaikh, Jash Vora, Gunjan Kandhari, Rutuja Pawar,

Abstract: The paper embark on predicting the outcomes of Indian Premier League (IPL) cricket match using a supervised learning approach from a team composition perspective. The study suggests that the relative team strength between the competing teams forms a distinctive feature for predicting the winner. Modeling the team strength boils down to modeling individual player‘s batting and bowling performances, forming the basis of our approach.

Research Methodology: In this paper, two methodologies have been used. MySQL database is used for storing data whereas Java for the GUI. The algorithm used is Clustering Algorithm for prediction. The steps followed are as

Begin with a decision on the value of k being the number of clusters.
Put any initial partition that classifies the data into k clusters.
Take every sample in the sequence; compute its distance from centroid of each of the clusters. If sample is not in the cluster with the closest centroid currently, switch this sample to that cluster and update the centroid of the cluster accepting the new sample and the cluster losing the sample.

For the research paper, read here

2.Real Time Sleep / Drowsiness Detection – Project Report

Author : Roshan Tavhare

Institute : University of Mumbai

Abstract : The main idea behind this project is to develop a nonintrusive system which can detect fatigue of any human and can issue a timely warning. Drivers who do not take regular breaks when driving long distances run a high risk of becoming drowsy a state which they often fail to recognize early enough.

Research Methodology : A training set of labeled facial landmarks on an image. These images are manually labeled, specifying specific (x, y) -coordinates of regions surrounding each facial structure.

Priors, more specifically, the probability on distance between pairs of input pixels. The pre-trained facial landmark detector inside the dlib library is used to estimate the location of 68 (x, y)-coordinates that map to facial structures on the face.

A Study of Various Text Augmentation Techniques for Relation Classification in Free Text

Authors: Chinmaya Mishra Praveen Kumar and Reddy Kumar Moda, Syed Saqib Bukhari and Andreas Dengel

Institute: German Research Center for Artiﬁcial Intelligence (DFKI), Kaiserslautern, Germany

Abstract: In this paper, the researchers explore various text data augmentation techniques in text space and word embedding space. They studied the effect of various augmented datasets on the efficiency of different deep learning models for relation classiﬁcation in text.

Research Methodology: The researchers implemented ﬁve text data augmentation techniques (Similar word, synonyms, interpolation, extrapolation and random noise method) and explored the ways in which we could preserve the grammatical and the contextual structures of the sentences while generating new sentences automatically using data augmentation techniques.

Smart Health Monitoring and Management Using Internet of Things, Artificial Intelligence with Cloud Based Processing

Author : Prateek Kaushik

Institute : G D Goenka University, Gurugram

Abstract : This research paper described a personalised smart health monitoring device using wireless sensors and the latest technology.

Research Methodology: Machine learning and Deep Learning techniques are discussed which works as a catalyst to improve the performance of any health monitor system such supervised machine learning algorithms, unsupervised machine learning algorithms, auto-encoder, convolutional neural network and restricted boltzmann machine .

Internet of Things with BIG DATA Analytics -A Survey

Author : A.Pavithra, C.Anandhakumar and V.Nithin Meenashisundharam

Institute : Sree Saraswathi Thyagaraja College,

Abstract : This article we discuss about Big data on IoT and how it is interrelated to each other along with the necessity of implementing Big data with IoT and its benefits, job market

Research Methodology : Machine learning, Deep Learning, and Artificial Intelligence are key technologies that are used to provide value-added applications along with IoT and big data in addition to being used in a stand-alone mod.

Single Headed Attention RNN: Stop Thinking With Your Head

Author: Stephen Merity

In this work of art, the Harvard grad author, Stephen “Smerity” Merity, investigated the current state of NLP, the models being used and other alternate approaches. In this process, he tears down the conventional methods from top to bottom, including etymology.

The author also voices the need for a Moore’s Law for machine learning that encourages a minicomputer future while also announcing his plans on rebuilding the codebase from the ground up both as an educational tool for others and as a strong platform for future work in academia and industry.

EfficientNet: Rethinking Model Scaling for Convolutional Neural Networks

Authors: Mingxing Tan and Quoc V. Le

In this work, the authors propose a compound scaling method that tells when to increase or decrease depth, height and resolution of a certain network.

Convolutional Neural Networks(CNNs) are at the heart of many machine vision applications.

EfficientNets are believed to superpass state-of-the-art accuracy with up to 10x better efficiency (smaller and faster).

Deep Double Descent By OpenAI

Authors: Mikhail Belkin, Daniel Hsu, Siyuan Ma, Soumik Mandal

In this paper , an attempt has been made to reconcile classical understanding and modern practice within a unified performance curve.

The “double descent” curve overtakes the classic U-shaped bias-variance trade-off curve by showing how increasing model capacity beyond the point of interpolation results in improved performance.

The Lottery Ticket Hypothesis

Authors: Jonathan Frankle, Michael Carbin

Neural network pruning techniques can reduce the parameter counts of trained networks by over 90%, decreasing storage requirements and improving computational performance of inference without compromising accuracy.

The authors find that a standard pruning technique naturally uncovers subnetworks whose initializations made them capable of training effectively. Based on these results, they introduce the “lottery ticket hypothesis:”

On The Measure Of Intelligence

Authors: Francois Chollet

This work summarizes and critically assesses the definitions of intelligence and evaluation approaches, while making apparent the historical conceptions of intelligence that have implicitly guided them.

The author, also the creator of keras, introduces a formal definition of intelligence based on Algorithmic Information Theory and using this definition, he also proposes a set of guidelines for what a general AI benchmark should look like.

Zero-Shot Word Sense Disambiguation Using Sense Definition Embeddings via IISc Bangalore & CMU

Authors: Sawan Kumar, Sharmistha Jat, Karan Saxena and Partha Talukdar

Word Sense Disambiguation (WSD) is a longstanding but open problem in Natural Language Processing (NLP). Current supervised WSD methods treat senses as discrete labels and also resort to predicting the Most-Frequent-Sense (MFS) for words unseen during training.

The researchers from IISc Bangalore in collaboration with Carnegie Mellon University propose Extended WSD Incorporating Sense Embeddings (EWISE), a supervised model to perform WSD by predicting over a continuous sense embedding space as opposed to a discrete label space.

Deep Equilibrium Models

Authors: Shaojie Bai, J. Zico Kolter and Vladlen Koltun

Motivated by the observation that the hidden layers of many existing deep sequence models converge towards some fixed point, the researchers at Carnegie Mellon University present a new approach to modeling sequential data through deep equilibrium model (DEQ) models.

Using this approach, training and prediction in these networks require only constant memory, regardless of the effective “depth” of the network.

IMAGENET-Trained CNNs are Biased Towards Texture

Authors: Robert G, Patricia R, Claudio M, Matthias Bethge, Felix A. W and Wieland B

Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs) are commonly thought to recognise objects by learning increasingly complex representations of object shapes. The authors in this paper , evaluate CNNs and human observers on images with a texture-shape cue conflict. They show that ImageNet-trained CNNs are strongly biased towards recognising textures rather than shapes, which is in stark contrast to human behavioural evidence.

A Geometric Perspective on Optimal Representations for Reinforcement Learning

Authors: Marc G. B , Will D , Robert D , Adrien A T , Pablo S C , Nicolas Le R , Dale S, Tor L, Clare L

The authors propose a new perspective on representation learning in reinforcement learning

based on geometric properties of the space of value functions. This work shows that adversarial value functions exhibit interesting structure, and are good auxiliary tasks when learning a representation of an environment. The authors believe this work to open up the possibility of automatically generating auxiliary tasks in deep reinforcement learning.

Weight Agnostic Neural Networks

Authors: Adam Gaier & David Ha

In this work , the authors explore whether neural network architectures alone, without learning any weight parameters, can encode solutions for a given task. In this paper, they propose a search method for neural network architectures that can already perform a task without any explicit weight training.

Stand-Alone Self-Attention in Vision Models

Authors: Prajit Ramachandran, Niki P, Ashish Vaswani,Irwan Bello Anselm Levskaya, Jonathon S

In this work, the Google researchers verified that content-based interactions can serve the vision models . The proposed stand-alone local self-attention layer achieves competitive predictive performance on ImageNet classification and COCO object detection tasks while requiring fewer parameters and floating-point operations than the corresponding convolution baselines. Results show that attention is especially effective in the later parts of the network.

High-Fidelity Image Generation With Fewer Labels

Authors: Mario Lucic, Michael Tschannen, Marvin Ritter, Xiaohua Z, Olivier B and Sylvain Gelly

Modern-day models can produce high quality, close to reality when fed with a vast quantity of labelled data. To solve this large data dependency, researchers from Google released this work , to demonstrate how one can benefit from recent work on self- and semi-supervised learning to outperform the state of the art on both unsupervised ImageNet synthesis, as well as in the conditional setting.

The proposed approach is able to match the sample quality of the current state-of-the-art conditional model BigGAN on ImageNet using only 10% of the labels and outperform it using 20% of the labels.

ALBERT: A Lite BERT for Self-Supervised Learning of Language Representations

Authors: Zhenzhong Lan, Mingda Chen, Sebastian Goodman, Kevin G, Piyush Sharma and Radu S

The authors present two parameter-reduction techniques to lower memory consumption and increase the training speed of BERT and to address the challenges posed by increasing model size and GPU/TPU memory limitations, longer training times, and unexpected model degradation

As a result, this proposed model establishes new state-of-the-art results on the GLUE, RACE, and SQuAD benchmarks while having fewer parameters compared to BERT-large.

GauGANs-Semantic Image Synthesis with Spatially-Adaptive Normalization

Author: Taesung Park, Ming-Yu Liu, Ting-Chun Wang and Jun-Yan Zhu

Nvidia in collaboration with UC Berkeley and MIT proposed a model which has a spatially-adaptive normalization layer for synthesizing photorealistic images given an input semantic layout.

This model retained visual fidelity and alignment with challenging input layouts while allowing the user to control both semantic and style.

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10 Research Question Examples to Guide Your Research Project

10 Research Question Examples to Guide your Research Project

Published on October 30, 2022 by Shona McCombes . Revised on October 19, 2023.

The research question is one of the most important parts of your research paper , thesis or dissertation . It’s important to spend some time assessing and refining your question before you get started.

The exact form of your question will depend on a few things, such as the length of your project, the type of research you’re conducting, the topic , and the research problem . However, all research questions should be focused, specific, and relevant to a timely social or scholarly issue.

Once you’ve read our guide on how to write a research question , you can use these examples to craft your own.

Research question	Explanation
	The first question is not enough. The second question is more , using .
	Starting with “why” often means that your question is not enough: there are too many possible answers. By targeting just one aspect of the problem, the second question offers a clear path for research.
	The first question is too broad and subjective: there’s no clear criteria for what counts as “better.” The second question is much more . It uses clearly defined terms and narrows its focus to a specific population.
	It is generally not for academic research to answer broad normative questions. The second question is more specific, aiming to gain an understanding of possible solutions in order to make informed recommendations.
	The first question is too simple: it can be answered with a simple yes or no. The second question is , requiring in-depth investigation and the development of an original argument.
	The first question is too broad and not very . The second question identifies an underexplored aspect of the topic that requires investigation of various to answer.
	The first question is not enough: it tries to address two different (the quality of sexual health services and LGBT support services). Even though the two issues are related, it’s not clear how the research will bring them together. The second integrates the two problems into one focused, specific question.
	The first question is too simple, asking for a straightforward fact that can be easily found online. The second is a more question that requires and detailed discussion to answer.
? dealt with the theme of racism through casting, staging, and allusion to contemporary events?	The first question is not — it would be very difficult to contribute anything new. The second question takes a specific angle to make an original argument, and has more relevance to current social concerns and debates.
	The first question asks for a ready-made solution, and is not . The second question is a clearer comparative question, but note that it may not be practically . For a smaller research project or thesis, it could be narrowed down further to focus on the effectiveness of drunk driving laws in just one or two countries.

Note that the design of your research question can depend on what method you are pursuing. Here are a few options for qualitative, quantitative, and statistical research questions.

Type of research	Example question
Qualitative research question
Quantitative research question
Statistical research question

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GPT-fabricated scientific papers on Google Scholar: Key features, spread, and implications for preempting evidence manipulation

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Academic journals, archives, and repositories are seeing an increasing number of questionable research papers clearly produced using generative AI. They are often created with widely available, general-purpose AI applications, most likely ChatGPT, and mimic scientific writing. Google Scholar easily locates and lists these questionable papers alongside reputable, quality-controlled research. Our analysis of a selection of questionable GPT-fabricated scientific papers found in Google Scholar shows that many are about applied, often controversial topics susceptible to disinformation: the environment, health, and computing. The resulting enhanced potential for malicious manipulation of society’s evidence base, particularly in politically divisive domains, is a growing concern.

Swedish School of Library and Information Science, University of Borås, Sweden

Department of Arts and Cultural Sciences, Lund University, Sweden

Division of Environmental Communication, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Sweden

Research Questions

Where are questionable publications produced with generative pre-trained transformers (GPTs) that can be found via Google Scholar published or deposited?
What are the main characteristics of these publications in relation to predominant subject categories?
How are these publications spread in the research infrastructure for scholarly communication?
How is the role of the scholarly communication infrastructure challenged in maintaining public trust in science and evidence through inappropriate use of generative AI?

research note Summary

A sample of scientific papers with signs of GPT-use found on Google Scholar was retrieved, downloaded, and analyzed using a combination of qualitative coding and descriptive statistics. All papers contained at least one of two common phrases returned by conversational agents that use large language models (LLM) like OpenAI’s ChatGPT. Google Search was then used to determine the extent to which copies of questionable, GPT-fabricated papers were available in various repositories, archives, citation databases, and social media platforms.
Roughly two-thirds of the retrieved papers were found to have been produced, at least in part, through undisclosed, potentially deceptive use of GPT. The majority (57%) of these questionable papers dealt with policy-relevant subjects (i.e., environment, health, computing), susceptible to influence operations. Most were available in several copies on different domains (e.g., social media, archives, and repositories).
Two main risks arise from the increasingly common use of GPT to (mass-)produce fake, scientific publications. First, the abundance of fabricated “studies” seeping into all areas of the research infrastructure threatens to overwhelm the scholarly communication system and jeopardize the integrity of the scientific record. A second risk lies in the increased possibility that convincingly scientific-looking content was in fact deceitfully created with AI tools and is also optimized to be retrieved by publicly available academic search engines, particularly Google Scholar. However small, this possibility and awareness of it risks undermining the basis for trust in scientific knowledge and poses serious societal risks.

Implications

The use of ChatGPT to generate text for academic papers has raised concerns about research integrity. Discussion of this phenomenon is ongoing in editorials, commentaries, opinion pieces, and on social media (Bom, 2023; Stokel-Walker, 2024; Thorp, 2023). There are now several lists of papers suspected of GPT misuse, and new papers are constantly being added. 1 See for example Academ-AI, https://www.academ-ai.info/ , and Retraction Watch, https://retractionwatch.com/papers-and-peer-reviews-with-evidence-of-chatgpt-writing/ . While many legitimate uses of GPT for research and academic writing exist (Huang & Tan, 2023; Kitamura, 2023; Lund et al., 2023), its undeclared use—beyond proofreading—has potentially far-reaching implications for both science and society, but especially for their relationship. It, therefore, seems important to extend the discussion to one of the most accessible and well-known intermediaries between science, but also certain types of misinformation, and the public, namely Google Scholar, also in response to the legitimate concerns that the discussion of generative AI and misinformation needs to be more nuanced and empirically substantiated (Simon et al., 2023).

Google Scholar, https://scholar.google.com , is an easy-to-use academic search engine. It is available for free, and its index is extensive (Gusenbauer & Haddaway, 2020). It is also often touted as a credible source for academic literature and even recommended in library guides, by media and information literacy initiatives, and fact checkers (Tripodi et al., 2023). However, Google Scholar lacks the transparency and adherence to standards that usually characterize citation databases. Instead, Google Scholar uses automated crawlers, like Google’s web search engine (Martín-Martín et al., 2021), and the inclusion criteria are based on primarily technical standards, allowing any individual author—with or without scientific affiliation—to upload papers to be indexed (Google Scholar Help, n.d.). It has been shown that Google Scholar is susceptible to manipulation through citation exploits (Antkare, 2020) and by providing access to fake scientific papers (Dadkhah et al., 2017). A large part of Google Scholar’s index consists of publications from established scientific journals or other forms of quality-controlled, scholarly literature. However, the index also contains a large amount of gray literature, including student papers, working papers, reports, preprint servers, and academic networking sites, as well as material from so-called “questionable” academic journals, including paper mills. The search interface does not offer the possibility to filter the results meaningfully by material type, publication status, or form of quality control, such as limiting the search to peer-reviewed material.

To understand the occurrence of ChatGPT (co-)authored work in Google Scholar’s index, we scraped it for publications, including one of two common ChatGPT responses (see Appendix A) that we encountered on social media and in media reports (DeGeurin, 2024). The results of our descriptive statistical analyses showed that around 62% did not declare the use of GPTs. Most of these GPT-fabricated papers were found in non-indexed journals and working papers, but some cases included research published in mainstream scientific journals and conference proceedings. 2 Indexed journals mean scholarly journals indexed by abstract and citation databases such as Scopus and Web of Science, where the indexation implies journals with high scientific quality. Non-indexed journals are journals that fall outside of this indexation. More than half (57%) of these GPT-fabricated papers concerned policy-relevant subject areas susceptible to influence operations. To avoid increasing the visibility of these publications, we abstained from referencing them in this research note. However, we have made the data available in the Harvard Dataverse repository.

The publications were related to three issue areas—health (14.5%), environment (19.5%) and computing (23%)—with key terms such “healthcare,” “COVID-19,” or “infection”for health-related papers, and “analysis,” “sustainable,” and “global” for environment-related papers. In several cases, the papers had titles that strung together general keywords and buzzwords, thus alluding to very broad and current research. These terms included “biology,” “telehealth,” “climate policy,” “diversity,” and “disrupting,” to name just a few. While the study’s scope and design did not include a detailed analysis of which parts of the articles included fabricated text, our dataset did contain the surrounding sentences for each occurrence of the suspicious phrases that formed the basis for our search and subsequent selection. Based on that, we can say that the phrases occurred in most sections typically found in scientific publications, including the literature review, methods, conceptual and theoretical frameworks, background, motivation or societal relevance, and even discussion. This was confirmed during the joint coding, where we read and discussed all articles. It became clear that not just the text related to the telltale phrases was created by GPT, but that almost all articles in our sample of questionable articles likely contained traces of GPT-fabricated text everywhere.

Evidence hacking and backfiring effects

Generative pre-trained transformers (GPTs) can be used to produce texts that mimic scientific writing. These texts, when made available online—as we demonstrate—leak into the databases of academic search engines and other parts of the research infrastructure for scholarly communication. This development exacerbates problems that were already present with less sophisticated text generators (Antkare, 2020; Cabanac & Labbé, 2021). Yet, the public release of ChatGPT in 2022, together with the way Google Scholar works, has increased the likelihood of lay people (e.g., media, politicians, patients, students) coming across questionable (or even entirely GPT-fabricated) papers and other problematic research findings. Previous research has emphasized that the ability to determine the value and status of scientific publications for lay people is at stake when misleading articles are passed off as reputable (Haider & Åström, 2017) and that systematic literature reviews risk being compromised (Dadkhah et al., 2017). It has also been highlighted that Google Scholar, in particular, can be and has been exploited for manipulating the evidence base for politically charged issues and to fuel conspiracy narratives (Tripodi et al., 2023). Both concerns are likely to be magnified in the future, increasing the risk of what we suggest calling evidence hacking —the strategic and coordinated malicious manipulation of society’s evidence base.

The authority of quality-controlled research as evidence to support legislation, policy, politics, and other forms of decision-making is undermined by the presence of undeclared GPT-fabricated content in publications professing to be scientific. Due to the large number of archives, repositories, mirror sites, and shadow libraries to which they spread, there is a clear risk that GPT-fabricated, questionable papers will reach audiences even after a possible retraction. There are considerable technical difficulties involved in identifying and tracing computer-fabricated papers (Cabanac & Labbé, 2021; Dadkhah et al., 2023; Jones, 2024), not to mention preventing and curbing their spread and uptake.

However, as the rise of the so-called anti-vaxx movement during the COVID-19 pandemic and the ongoing obstruction and denial of climate change show, retracting erroneous publications often fuels conspiracies and increases the following of these movements rather than stopping them. To illustrate this mechanism, climate deniers frequently question established scientific consensus by pointing to other, supposedly scientific, studies that support their claims. Usually, these are poorly executed, not peer-reviewed, based on obsolete data, or even fraudulent (Dunlap & Brulle, 2020). A similar strategy is successful in the alternative epistemic world of the global anti-vaccination movement (Carrion, 2018) and the persistence of flawed and questionable publications in the scientific record already poses significant problems for health research, policy, and lawmakers, and thus for society as a whole (Littell et al., 2024). Considering that a person’s support for “doing your own research” is associated with increased mistrust in scientific institutions (Chinn & Hasell, 2023), it will be of utmost importance to anticipate and consider such backfiring effects already when designing a technical solution, when suggesting industry or legal regulation, and in the planning of educational measures.

Recommendations

Solutions should be based on simultaneous considerations of technical, educational, and regulatory approaches, as well as incentives, including social ones, across the entire research infrastructure. Paying attention to how these approaches and incentives relate to each other can help identify points and mechanisms for disruption. Recognizing fraudulent academic papers must happen alongside understanding how they reach their audiences and what reasons there might be for some of these papers successfully “sticking around.” A possible way to mitigate some of the risks associated with GPT-fabricated scholarly texts finding their way into academic search engine results would be to provide filtering options for facets such as indexed journals, gray literature, peer-review, and similar on the interface of publicly available academic search engines. Furthermore, evaluation tools for indexed journals 3 Such as LiU Journal CheckUp, https://ep.liu.se/JournalCheckup/default.aspx?lang=eng . could be integrated into the graphical user interfaces and the crawlers of these academic search engines. To enable accountability, it is important that the index (database) of such a search engine is populated according to criteria that are transparent, open to scrutiny, and appropriate to the workings of science and other forms of academic research. Moreover, considering that Google Scholar has no real competitor, there is a strong case for establishing a freely accessible, non-specialized academic search engine that is not run for commercial reasons but for reasons of public interest. Such measures, together with educational initiatives aimed particularly at policymakers, science communicators, journalists, and other media workers, will be crucial to reducing the possibilities for and effects of malicious manipulation or evidence hacking. It is important not to present this as a technical problem that exists only because of AI text generators but to relate it to the wider concerns in which it is embedded. These range from a largely dysfunctional scholarly publishing system (Haider & Åström, 2017) and academia’s “publish or perish” paradigm to Google’s near-monopoly and ideological battles over the control of information and ultimately knowledge. Any intervention is likely to have systemic effects; these effects need to be considered and assessed in advance and, ideally, followed up on.

Our study focused on a selection of papers that were easily recognizable as fraudulent. We used this relatively small sample as a magnifying glass to examine, delineate, and understand a problem that goes beyond the scope of the sample itself, which however points towards larger concerns that require further investigation. The work of ongoing whistleblowing initiatives 4 Such as Academ-AI, https://www.academ-ai.info/ , and Retraction Watch, https://retractionwatch.com/papers-and-peer-reviews-with-evidence-of-chatgpt-writing/ . , recent media reports of journal closures (Subbaraman, 2024), or GPT-related changes in word use and writing style (Cabanac et al., 2021; Stokel-Walker, 2024) suggest that we only see the tip of the iceberg. There are already more sophisticated cases (Dadkhah et al., 2023) as well as cases involving fabricated images (Gu et al., 2022). Our analysis shows that questionable and potentially manipulative GPT-fabricated papers permeate the research infrastructure and are likely to become a widespread phenomenon. Our findings underline that the risk of fake scientific papers being used to maliciously manipulate evidence (see Dadkhah et al., 2017) must be taken seriously. Manipulation may involve undeclared automatic summaries of texts, inclusion in literature reviews, explicit scientific claims, or the concealment of errors in studies so that they are difficult to detect in peer review. However, the mere possibility of these things happening is a significant risk in its own right that can be strategically exploited and will have ramifications for trust in and perception of science. Society’s methods of evaluating sources and the foundations of media and information literacy are under threat and public trust in science is at risk of further erosion, with far-reaching consequences for society in dealing with information disorders. To address this multifaceted problem, we first need to understand why it exists and proliferates.

Finding 1: 139 GPT-fabricated, questionable papers were found and listed as regular results on the Google Scholar results page. Non-indexed journals dominate.

Most questionable papers we found were in non-indexed journals or were working papers, but we did also find some in established journals, publications, conferences, and repositories. We found a total of 139 papers with a suspected deceptive use of ChatGPT or similar LLM applications (see Table 1). Out of these, 19 were in indexed journals, 89 were in non-indexed journals, 19 were student papers found in university databases, and 12 were working papers (mostly in preprint databases). Table 1 divides these papers into categories. Health and environment papers made up around 34% (47) of the sample. Of these, 66% were present in non-indexed journals.


Indexed journals*	5	3	4	7	19
Non-indexed journals	18	18	13	40	89
Student papers	4	3	1	11	19
Working papers	5	3	2	2	12
Total	32	27	20	60	139

Finding 2: GPT-fabricated, questionable papers are disseminated online, permeating the research infrastructure for scholarly communication, often in multiple copies. Applied topics with practical implications dominate.

The 20 papers concerning health-related issues are distributed across 20 unique domains, accounting for 46 URLs. The 27 papers dealing with environmental issues can be found across 26 unique domains, accounting for 56 URLs. Most of the identified papers exist in multiple copies and have already spread to several archives, repositories, and social media. It would be difficult, or impossible, to remove them from the scientific record.

As apparent from Table 2, GPT-fabricated, questionable papers are seeping into most parts of the online research infrastructure for scholarly communication. Platforms on which identified papers have appeared include ResearchGate, ORCiD, Journal of Population Therapeutics and Clinical Pharmacology (JPTCP), Easychair, Frontiers, the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineer (IEEE), and X/Twitter. Thus, even if they are retracted from their original source, it will prove very difficult to track, remove, or even just mark them up on other platforms. Moreover, unless regulated, Google Scholar will enable their continued and most likely unlabeled discoverability.


Environment	researchgate.net (13)	orcid.org (4)	easychair.org (3)	ijope.com* (3)	publikasiindonesia.id (3)
Health	researchgate.net (15)	ieee.org (4)	twitter.com (3)	jptcp.com** (2)	frontiersin.org (2)

A word rain visualization (Centre for Digital Humanities Uppsala, 2023), which combines word prominences through TF-IDF 5 Term frequency–inverse document frequency , a method for measuring the significance of a word in a document compared to its frequency across all documents in a collection. scores with semantic similarity of the full texts of our sample of GPT-generated articles that fall into the “Environment” and “Health” categories, reflects the two categories in question. However, as can be seen in Figure 1, it also reveals overlap and sub-areas. The y-axis shows word prominences through word positions and font sizes, while the x-axis indicates semantic similarity. In addition to a certain amount of overlap, this reveals sub-areas, which are best described as two distinct events within the word rain. The event on the left bundles terms related to the development and management of health and healthcare with “challenges,” “impact,” and “potential of artificial intelligence”emerging as semantically related terms. Terms related to research infrastructures, environmental, epistemic, and technological concepts are arranged further down in the same event (e.g., “system,” “climate,” “understanding,” “knowledge,” “learning,” “education,” “sustainable”). A second distinct event further to the right bundles terms associated with fish farming and aquatic medicinal plants, highlighting the presence of an aquaculture cluster. Here, the prominence of groups of terms such as “used,” “model,” “-based,” and “traditional” suggests the presence of applied research on these topics. The two events making up the word rain visualization, are linked by a less dominant but overlapping cluster of terms related to “energy” and “water.”

The bar chart of the terms in the paper subset (see Figure 2) complements the word rain visualization by depicting the most prominent terms in the full texts along the y-axis. Here, word prominences across health and environment papers are arranged descendingly, where values outside parentheses are TF-IDF values (relative frequencies) and values inside parentheses are raw term frequencies (absolute frequencies).

Finding 3: Google Scholar presents results from quality-controlled and non-controlled citation databases on the same interface, providing unfiltered access to GPT-fabricated questionable papers.

Google Scholar’s central position in the publicly accessible scholarly communication infrastructure, as well as its lack of standards, transparency, and accountability in terms of inclusion criteria, has potentially serious implications for public trust in science. This is likely to exacerbate the already-known potential to exploit Google Scholar for evidence hacking (Tripodi et al., 2023) and will have implications for any attempts to retract or remove fraudulent papers from their original publication venues. Any solution must consider the entirety of the research infrastructure for scholarly communication and the interplay of different actors, interests, and incentives.

We searched and scraped Google Scholar using the Python library Scholarly (Cholewiak et al., 2023) for papers that included specific phrases known to be common responses from ChatGPT and similar applications with the same underlying model (GPT3.5 or GPT4): “as of my last knowledge update” and/or “I don’t have access to real-time data” (see Appendix A). This facilitated the identification of papers that likely used generative AI to produce text, resulting in 227 retrieved papers. The papers’ bibliographic information was automatically added to a spreadsheet and downloaded into Zotero. 6 An open-source reference manager, https://zotero.org .

We employed multiple coding (Barbour, 2001) to classify the papers based on their content. First, we jointly assessed whether the paper was suspected of fraudulent use of ChatGPT (or similar) based on how the text was integrated into the papers and whether the paper was presented as original research output or the AI tool’s role was acknowledged. Second, in analyzing the content of the papers, we continued the multiple coding by classifying the fraudulent papers into four categories identified during an initial round of analysis—health, environment, computing, and others—and then determining which subjects were most affected by this issue (see Table 1). Out of the 227 retrieved papers, 88 papers were written with legitimate and/or declared use of GPTs (i.e., false positives, which were excluded from further analysis), and 139 papers were written with undeclared and/or fraudulent use (i.e., true positives, which were included in further analysis). The multiple coding was conducted jointly by all authors of the present article, who collaboratively coded and cross-checked each other’s interpretation of the data simultaneously in a shared spreadsheet file. This was done to single out coding discrepancies and settle coding disagreements, which in turn ensured methodological thoroughness and analytical consensus (see Barbour, 2001). Redoing the category coding later based on our established coding schedule, we achieved an intercoder reliability (Cohen’s kappa) of 0.806 after eradicating obvious differences.

The ranking algorithm of Google Scholar prioritizes highly cited and older publications (Martín-Martín et al., 2016). Therefore, the position of the articles on the search engine results pages was not particularly informative, considering the relatively small number of results in combination with the recency of the publications. Only the query “as of my last knowledge update” had more than two search engine result pages. On those, questionable articles with undeclared use of GPTs were evenly distributed across all result pages (min: 4, max: 9, mode: 8), with the proportion of undeclared use being slightly higher on average on later search result pages.

To understand how the papers making fraudulent use of generative AI were disseminated online, we programmatically searched for the paper titles (with exact string matching) in Google Search from our local IP address (see Appendix B) using the googlesearch – python library(Vikramaditya, 2020). We manually verified each search result to filter out false positives—results that were not related to the paper—and then compiled the most prominent URLs by field. This enabled the identification of other platforms through which the papers had been spread. We did not, however, investigate whether copies had spread into SciHub or other shadow libraries, or if they were referenced in Wikipedia.

We used descriptive statistics to count the prevalence of the number of GPT-fabricated papers across topics and venues and top domains by subject. The pandas software library for the Python programming language (The pandas development team, 2024) was used for this part of the analysis. Based on the multiple coding, paper occurrences were counted in relation to their categories, divided into indexed journals, non-indexed journals, student papers, and working papers. The schemes, subdomains, and subdirectories of the URL strings were filtered out while top-level domains and second-level domains were kept, which led to normalizing domain names. This, in turn, allowed the counting of domain frequencies in the environment and health categories. To distinguish word prominences and meanings in the environment and health-related GPT-fabricated questionable papers, a semantically-aware word cloud visualization was produced through the use of a word rain (Centre for Digital Humanities Uppsala, 2023) for full-text versions of the papers. Font size and y-axis positions indicate word prominences through TF-IDF scores for the environment and health papers (also visualized in a separate bar chart with raw term frequencies in parentheses), and words are positioned along the x-axis to reflect semantic similarity (Skeppstedt et al., 2024), with an English Word2vec skip gram model space (Fares et al., 2017). An English stop word list was used, along with a manually produced list including terms such as “https,” “volume,” or “years.”

Artificial Intelligence
/ Search engines

Cite this Essay

Haider, J., Söderström, K. R., Ekström, B., & Rödl, M. (2024). GPT-fabricated scientific papers on Google Scholar: Key features, spread, and implications for preempting evidence manipulation. Harvard Kennedy School (HKS) Misinformation Review . https://doi.org/10.37016/mr-2020-156

/ Appendix B

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This research has been supported by Mistra, the Swedish Foundation for Strategic Environmental Research, through the research program Mistra Environmental Communication (Haider, Ekström, Rödl) and the Marcus and Amalia Wallenberg Foundation [2020.0004] (Söderström).

Competing Interests

The authors declare no competing interests.

The research described in this article was carried out under Swedish legislation. According to the relevant EU and Swedish legislation (2003:460) on the ethical review of research involving humans (“Ethical Review Act”), the research reported on here is not subject to authorization by the Swedish Ethical Review Authority (“etikprövningsmyndigheten”) (SRC, 2017).

This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License , which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided that the original author and source are properly credited.

Data Availability

All data needed to replicate this study are available at the Harvard Dataverse: https://doi.org/10.7910/DVN/WUVD8X

Acknowledgements

The authors wish to thank two anonymous reviewers for their valuable comments on the article manuscript as well as the editorial group of Harvard Kennedy School (HKS) Misinformation Review for their thoughtful feedback and input.

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55 Research Paper Topics to Jump-Start Your Paper. Matt Ellis. Updated on October 9, 2023 Students. Coming up with research paper topics is the first step in writing most papers. While it may seem easy compared to the actual writing, choosing the right research paper topic is nonetheless one of the most important steps.
1000+ Research Topics & Research Title Examples For Students
A strong research topic comprises three important qualities: originality, value and feasibility.. Originality - a good topic explores an original area or takes a novel angle on an existing area of study.; Value - a strong research topic provides value and makes a contribution, either academically or practically.; Feasibility - a good research topic needs to be practical and manageable ...
301+ Research Topic Examples For Students [Updated 2024]
301+ Research Topic Examples For Students [Updated 2024] General / By StatAnalytica / 12th January 2024. Embarking on a research journey is a crucial aspect of academic growth for students. Selecting the right research topic is like choosing the key that unlocks the door to a world of academic exploration and discovery.
Top 100 Research Paper Topics: Start Smart
Top 10 Technology Research Paper Topics: See topics related to the cutting-edge technology or dive into history of electronics, or even early advances in agriculture. Food Preservation: Freeze Drying, Irradiation, and Vacuum Packing. Tissue Culturing.
200 Research Paper Topics Across Disciplines [2024 Update]
17 College Research Paper Topics. 18 Health Research Paper Topics. 19 Politics Research Paper Topics. 20 History Research Paper Topics. 21 Music Research Paper Topics. 22 Literature Research Paper Topics. 22.1 After Choosing the Research Topic. 22.2 Closing Thoughts. When students approach the final stage of their academic journey, they ...
170+ Research Topics In Education (+ Free Webinar)
The use of student data to inform instruction. The role of parental involvement in education. The effects of mindfulness practices in the classroom. The use of technology in the classroom. The role of critical thinking in education. The use of formative and summative assessments in the classroom.
101 Research Paper Topics
If you are interested in your topic, learning about it will be more pleasurable and you will write with greater passion, so choose your topic thoughtfully. Use the following list of 101 research paper topics as a starting point for your paper. As you begin learning and writing about your topic, you should revise or amend your research question ...
Research Topic Mega List
If you're trying to find a suitable research topic for your dissertation, thesis or research project, this is for you. The list provides 1000+ topic ideas across 25 research areas, including: Accounting & finance. Artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning.
500 Good Research Paper Topics
A good research paper topic often starts with the question words—why, how, what, who, and where. Remember to make it as specific as possible! ... We take a look at each prompt, then analyze a real University of Chicago sample essay to… Colleges that Require SAT/ACT Scores 2024/2025. August 7, 2024.
Good Research Paper Topics You Can Really Use, With Examples and Ideas
Research Topic Examples You Can Use. Let's say the topic example is: Abortion Dilemmas Faced by Adults. Keep the overall structure of the topic example, but make significant changes in both of the main ideas. Examples of adaptations for this topic might include: Life-Stage Dilemmas Faced by Older Adults. or.
717 Good Research Paper Topics [Updated September 2024 ]
Some examples of common research paper styles include: Argumentative Research Papers. Persuasive Research Papers. Education Research Papers. Analytical Research Papers. Informative Research Papers. Your research essay topic may also need to be related to the specific class you are taking. For example, an economics class may require a business ...
100 Interesting Research Paper Topics for High Schoolers
Composing a research paper can be a daunting task for first-time writers. In addition to making sure you're using concise language and your thoughts are organized clearly, you need to find a topic that draws the reader in. CollegeVine is here to help you brainstorm creative topics! Below are 100 interesting research paper topics that will ...
271 Strong Argumentative Research Paper Topics
What are argumentative research paper topics? Here are 271 college argumentative research paper topics and not only. Toll-free: +1 (877) 401-4335. Order Now. About; ... Well, here is a list of sample argumentative research paper topics you could decide to choose from and develop a terrific essay.
50+ Research Topics for Psychology Papers
Topics of Psychology Research Related to Human Cognition. Some of the possible topics you might explore in this area include thinking, language, intelligence, and decision-making. Other ideas might include: Dreams. False memories. Attention. Perception.
100 Science Topics for Research Papers
Research Sources. Science: As a premier publication in the field, Science publishes peer-reviewed research and expert-curated information. Nature: Publishes peer-reviewed articles on biology, environment, health, and physical sciences. Nature is an authoritative source for current information. If articles are difficult to read, you can search ...
How To Choose A Research Topic: FULL TUTORIAL & Examples
To recap, the "Big 5" assessment criteria include: Topic originality and novelty. Value and significance. Access to data and equipment. Time requirements. Ethical compliance. Be sure to grab a copy of our free research topic evaluator sheet here to fast-track your topic selection process.
100 Great Research Paper Topics
Answer: Your topic would be better if it was a bit more specific. Try: 1. How to become a successful businessman. 2. 5 Steps for becoming a successful mom. 3. Ways to become a successful entrepreneur. 4. 6 Steps to successfully making a perfect pie. Question: I want to write a research paper on depression or autism.
Writing a Research Paper Introduction
Table of contents. Step 1: Introduce your topic. Step 2: Describe the background. Step 3: Establish your research problem. Step 4: Specify your objective (s) Step 5: Map out your paper. Research paper introduction examples. Frequently asked questions about the research paper introduction.
How to Write a Research Paper
Choose a research paper topic. Conduct preliminary research. Develop a thesis statement. Create a research paper outline. Write a first draft of the research paper. Write the introduction. Write a compelling body of text. Write the conclusion. The second draft.
How to Create a Structured Research Paper Outline
How to write a research paper outline. Follow these steps to start your research paper outline: Decide on the subject of the paper. Write down all the ideas you want to include or discuss. Organize related ideas into sub-groups.
100 Current Events Research Paper Topics With Research Links
100 Current Events Research Paper Topics With Research Links. Virginia Kearney. Updated: Oct 31, 2023 2:12 PM EDT. Here's a list of current events/issues to write about in your next research paper. roobcio via Canva Pro.
Top Machine Learning Research Papers 2024
Take every sample in the sequence; compute its distance from centroid of each of the clusters. If sample is not in the cluster with the closest centroid currently, switch this sample to that cluster and update the centroid of the cluster accepting the new sample and the cluster losing the sample. For the research paper, read here
10 Research Question Examples to Guide your Research Project
The first question asks for a ready-made solution, and is not focused or researchable. The second question is a clearer comparative question, but note that it may not be practically feasible. For a smaller research project or thesis, it could be narrowed down further to focus on the effectiveness of drunk driving laws in just one or two countries.
GPT-fabricated scientific papers on Google Scholar: Key features
Academic journals, archives, and repositories are seeing an increasing number of questionable research papers clearly produced using generative AI. They are often created with widely available, general-purpose AI applications, most likely ChatGPT, and mimic scientific writing. Google Scholar easily locates and lists these questionable papers alongside reputable, quality-controlled research ...