Many times the topic of your research paper will be assigned to you by your instructor. Other times, you will be required to choose a topic and develop it on your own. It helps (since you are going to be working on this for some time) to choose a topic that interests you. This study guide has some sources that will help you find topic ideas.
Note: These resources will help you identify topics related to current issues and news events. The articles you retrieve may not necessarily be from peer-reviewed journals. If your instructor requires that your resources be peer reviewed, use the databases below as idea sources only.
- Student Resource Center - College Edition
- The SRC (Student Resource Center) contains current events material from journals and magazines, reference books, primary source documents, video and other media. There are several ways to explore topic ideas here. You can choose from the topics listed on the home page of this database, OR select the "Topic Trees" from the menu bar. Either way, you will be connected to many resources to read and consider for your topic.
- Topic Search
- This current events database allows researchers to explore social, political & economic issues, scientific discoveries and other popular topics discussed in today's classrooms including controversial opinions and viewpoints. Look under the light green "limit your results" bar. There are pull down menus for TOPICS and another for CURRENT EVENTS. Select one and click the search button. You don't need to put anything in the search box. Your results will show you related magazine and journal articles to the topic or current event you chose.
- Consumer Health Complete
- If you want to explore a health related topic, the Consumer Health Complete is a great place to start. Starting with the topic list in the lower right hand corner of the home page of this database, you can select a health-related topic. Then you will get a list of sub-topics related to the broader topic. Final results will be from medical reports, journals and news articles related to the topic selected.
- Victoria Advocate/Newsbank
- Although this database is used for searching the Victoria Advocate, the creator of this database has provided a handy "HOT TOPIC" and "SPECIAL REPORTS" feature on the left hand side of the home page. The hot topics links will send to you a brief paragraph about the topic and give you some keywords to use in searching the Advocate database (or any other). The special reports links will send you to articles, websites, and other related information
- CQ Researcher
- Founded in 1923 as Editorial Research Reports, CQ Researcher is noted for its in-depth, unbiased coverage of health, social trends, criminal justice, international affairs, education, the environment, technology, and the economy. There are several ways to explore topics in the CQ Researcher. Select from the "Browse by Topic", "Pro/Con", or "Issue Tracker" links on the left side of the home page.
- Academic Search Complete
- After searching a topic in Academic Search Complete, look on the right side of the search results page for "Research Starters." For example, search computers and see Personal Computers in Business under "Research Starters - Business" and Computers in the Classroom under "Research Starters - Education." If you click on Computers in the Classroom, there will be a link on the upper right side of the page for "more articles like this."
- The Idea Generator - Old Dominion University Libraries
- The librarians at Old Dominion have created this topic generator. Select a broad topic from the nine categories on the main page. The link will take you to a large list of current topics under the category you selected. Then come back to the VC/UHV Library web page, select an appropriate database and start searching.
These a just a few places to start. Contact your instructor or the Library Reference Desk for more help.