: Utilize statistical data and official research findings from government websites (.gov).
: Access freely available educational materials on organizational sites (.org).
: Refer to scientific books, journals, textbooks, and conference recordings for credible information.
Pro Tip : Search engines often tailor search results based on your past browsing history, known as a “filter bubble.” To avoid biased searches, clear your browser history and cookies and switch to incognito mode to access a broader range of information.
When you’ve gathered sufficient data, enhance your outline. This involves expanding your preliminary outline by integrating new findings, facts, examples, quotes, or expert opinions. Consider how these additions fit into different sections of your paper.
So, how to start a term paper? This process can be approached in various ways, but preparation is key. Ensure you have a definitive purpose, a strong thesis statement, ample background information, and a detailed plan. If you struggle with selecting a topic, consider using tools like essay title generators to spark more ideas.
This initial section should outline the essence of your research. Write the abstract after completing the rest of the paper to summarize the significant findings better and make it understandable even to those unfamiliar with the subject. Aim for clarity and conciseness in your presentation.
Components of an effective abstract:
To craft an abstract, revisit your paper to pinpoint pivotal statements that reflect the research objectives, methods, results, and conclusions. Extract these key sentences to form the initial draft of your abstract.
Pro Tip : Typically, an abstract should be between 120 and 250 words, though the exact length may vary according to specific assignment guidelines.
What differs abstract from introduction? The abstract is a concise summary of your paper, highlighting the main findings and conclusions, serving as a snapshot of the research. In contrast, the introduction sets the stage by providing necessary background information, articulating the thesis statement, and outlining the central issues that will be explored throughout the paper.
A compelling introduction can significantly enhance the reader’s interest. Consider how to effectively “sell” your paper:
The introduction should only offer a broad view of the term paper, laying the groundwork without delving into detailed examples, quotations, or extensive information.
Pro Tip : Avoid mundane or overly general openings. Engage swiftly with the core of the topic to draw the reader further into the discussion.
After gathering your research findings and notes, examine what you’ve collected. Document the results of your research and eliminate any extra material.
Draft topic sentences based on your outline to begin crafting the body of your paper. Expand these topic sentences into complete sentences and enhance them with detailed support.
The extent of the body sections will vary depending on the topic and the specific requirements of the assignment. Typically, the body of a term paper includes a literature review and the research presentation itself.
Pro Tip : Start each paragraph with a clear topic sentence that introduces the main idea of that paragraph.
How to write a literature review? In the literature review, analyze the research you’ve uncovered related to your topic. Discuss the materials you’ve found and how they relate to your research context. Summarize the arguments and theories from various authors that you find credible while pointing out any gaps or overlooked elements in their research.
Term paper guidelines for writing body sections:
As you conclude the main sections of your term paper, it’s essential to summarize the information gathered and discuss the implications of your findings. Keep these aspects in mind for your conclusion:
How might my findings be evaluated further?
What significance does my research hold?
Are there intersections between my topic and other areas?
For instance: “While forgiveness therapy is still in its nascent stages within psychology and requires more empirical testing, it holds substantial promise for treating a variety of psychological disorders.”
If you have completed your first draft and still have time, it’s essential to proofread your work. Revisiting the term paper is crucial, as many professors view misspellings, punctuation, and grammar mistakes as a lack of diligence. These errors can overshadow your original thoughts and important findings. So, how can you enhance the appearance of your text?
First, carefully read through your initial draft to see how you might refine and strengthen your paper. Identify any ideas that are out of place or need modification. Determine which arguments require more robust backing. Introduce transitional phrases to weave your ideas together more cohesively.
Second, once you ensure that the content is logical and well-organized, proceed to the proofreading stage. Diligently correct any grammar, punctuation, and spelling mistakes.
Finally, verify the format and layout of your paper. Check that all pages are correctly numbered and that images, tables, diagrams, and other visual elements are also correctly numbered and titled. Ensure these elements are as meticulously checked as they would be in your essay writing routine.
Instructors often provide a list of suggested topics for term papers. However, you might also have the opportunity to choose your own topic.
Starting with a broad concept, such as “body image,” can initially seem overwhelming due to the vast amount of available information. To refine your focus, consider related subtopics that limit the scope of your research, making it more manageable. For example:
Adding more specificity or limitations to your research topic will significantly streamline your investigative process. For example:
If selecting a topic independently proves challenging, here are several intriguing term paper topics across various fields:
Legal Issues:
Below is a segment of a term paper crafted by a professional academic writer. This sample will illustrate previously discussed theoretical frameworks and include annotations for further clarity.
What is the appropriate formatting for a term paper?
Commonly used styles include MLA, APA, and Chicago/Turabian. The structure of a term paper typically incorporates a title page, abstract, introduction, body, conclusion, and references.
What is the ideal length for a term paper?
A standard term paper should be 10-12 double-spaced pages. While longer papers of 15-20 pages are acceptable, the focus should remain on content quality rather than length.
How does a term paper differ from a research paper?
The main distinction lies in their scope and depth. A research paper involves a comprehensive analysis and is structured with sections including methods, results, and discussion. A term paper summarizes the knowledge obtained during the academic term, structured more simply with an introduction, body, and conclusion.
What is the quickest way to compose a term paper?
If under a tight deadline, begin with a swift brainstorming session and proceed directly to researching your topic. Draft the paper immediately after and forego detailed outlining. If time permits, briefly review your draft for major errors, otherwise prioritize completion.
What is the recommended number of citations for a term paper?
The appropriate number of citations in a term paper varies depending on the subject matter and the specific requirements of the discipline. Experienced writers generally recommend incorporating at least five citations but not exceeding ten to maintain a balanced approach.
You may also read : How to Write the First Sentences of Your Essay? , How to Write a Thesis Paper: Tricks for Structure and Writing Guide?
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We, the APA Style team, are not robots. We can all pass a CAPTCHA test , and we know our roles in a Turing test . And, like so many nonrobot human beings this year, we’ve spent a fair amount of time reading, learning, and thinking about issues related to large language models, artificial intelligence (AI), AI-generated text, and specifically ChatGPT . We’ve also been gathering opinions and feedback about the use and citation of ChatGPT. Thank you to everyone who has contributed and shared ideas, opinions, research, and feedback.
In this post, I discuss situations where students and researchers use ChatGPT to create text and to facilitate their research, not to write the full text of their paper or manuscript. We know instructors have differing opinions about how or even whether students should use ChatGPT, and we’ll be continuing to collect feedback about instructor and student questions. As always, defer to instructor guidelines when writing student papers. For more about guidelines and policies about student and author use of ChatGPT, see the last section of this post.
If you’ve used ChatGPT or other AI tools in your research, describe how you used the tool in your Method section or in a comparable section of your paper. For literature reviews or other types of essays or response or reaction papers, you might describe how you used the tool in your introduction. In your text, provide the prompt you used and then any portion of the relevant text that was generated in response.
Unfortunately, the results of a ChatGPT “chat” are not retrievable by other readers, and although nonretrievable data or quotations in APA Style papers are usually cited as personal communications , with ChatGPT-generated text there is no person communicating. Quoting ChatGPT’s text from a chat session is therefore more like sharing an algorithm’s output; thus, credit the author of the algorithm with a reference list entry and the corresponding in-text citation.
When prompted with “Is the left brain right brain divide real or a metaphor?” the ChatGPT-generated text indicated that although the two brain hemispheres are somewhat specialized, “the notation that people can be characterized as ‘left-brained’ or ‘right-brained’ is considered to be an oversimplification and a popular myth” (OpenAI, 2023).
OpenAI. (2023). ChatGPT (Mar 14 version) [Large language model]. https://chat.openai.com/chat
You may also put the full text of long responses from ChatGPT in an appendix of your paper or in online supplemental materials, so readers have access to the exact text that was generated. It is particularly important to document the exact text created because ChatGPT will generate a unique response in each chat session, even if given the same prompt. If you create appendices or supplemental materials, remember that each should be called out at least once in the body of your APA Style paper.
When given a follow-up prompt of “What is a more accurate representation?” the ChatGPT-generated text indicated that “different brain regions work together to support various cognitive processes” and “the functional specialization of different regions can change in response to experience and environmental factors” (OpenAI, 2023; see Appendix A for the full transcript).
The in-text citations and references above are adapted from the reference template for software in Section 10.10 of the Publication Manual (American Psychological Association, 2020, Chapter 10). Although here we focus on ChatGPT, because these guidelines are based on the software template, they can be adapted to note the use of other large language models (e.g., Bard), algorithms, and similar software.
The reference and in-text citations for ChatGPT are formatted as follows:
Let’s break that reference down and look at the four elements (author, date, title, and source):
Author: The author of the model is OpenAI.
Date: The date is the year of the version you used. Following the template in Section 10.10, you need to include only the year, not the exact date. The version number provides the specific date information a reader might need.
Title: The name of the model is “ChatGPT,” so that serves as the title and is italicized in your reference, as shown in the template. Although OpenAI labels unique iterations (i.e., ChatGPT-3, ChatGPT-4), they are using “ChatGPT” as the general name of the model, with updates identified with version numbers.
The version number is included after the title in parentheses. The format for the version number in ChatGPT references includes the date because that is how OpenAI is labeling the versions. Different large language models or software might use different version numbering; use the version number in the format the author or publisher provides, which may be a numbering system (e.g., Version 2.0) or other methods.
Bracketed text is used in references for additional descriptions when they are needed to help a reader understand what’s being cited. References for a number of common sources, such as journal articles and books, do not include bracketed descriptions, but things outside of the typical peer-reviewed system often do. In the case of a reference for ChatGPT, provide the descriptor “Large language model” in square brackets. OpenAI describes ChatGPT-4 as a “large multimodal model,” so that description may be provided instead if you are using ChatGPT-4. Later versions and software or models from other companies may need different descriptions, based on how the publishers describe the model. The goal of the bracketed text is to briefly describe the kind of model to your reader.
Source: When the publisher name and the author name are the same, do not repeat the publisher name in the source element of the reference, and move directly to the URL. This is the case for ChatGPT. The URL for ChatGPT is https://chat.openai.com/chat . For other models or products for which you may create a reference, use the URL that links as directly as possible to the source (i.e., the page where you can access the model, not the publisher’s homepage).
You may have noticed the confidence with which ChatGPT described the ideas of brain lateralization and how the brain operates, without citing any sources. I asked for a list of sources to support those claims and ChatGPT provided five references—four of which I was able to find online. The fifth does not seem to be a real article; the digital object identifier given for that reference belongs to a different article, and I was not able to find any article with the authors, date, title, and source details that ChatGPT provided. Authors using ChatGPT or similar AI tools for research should consider making this scrutiny of the primary sources a standard process. If the sources are real, accurate, and relevant, it may be better to read those original sources to learn from that research and paraphrase or quote from those articles, as applicable, than to use the model’s interpretation of them.
We’ve also received a number of other questions about ChatGPT. Should students be allowed to use it? What guidelines should instructors create for students using AI? Does using AI-generated text constitute plagiarism? Should authors who use ChatGPT credit ChatGPT or OpenAI in their byline? What are the copyright implications ?
On these questions, researchers, editors, instructors, and others are actively debating and creating parameters and guidelines. Many of you have sent us feedback, and we encourage you to continue to do so in the comments below. We will also study the policies and procedures being established by instructors, publishers, and academic institutions, with a goal of creating guidelines that reflect the many real-world applications of AI-generated text.
For questions about manuscript byline credit, plagiarism, and related ChatGPT and AI topics, the APA Style team is seeking the recommendations of APA Journals editors. APA Style guidelines based on those recommendations will be posted on this blog and on the APA Style site later this year.
Update: APA Journals has published policies on the use of generative AI in scholarly materials .
We, the APA Style team humans, appreciate your patience as we navigate these unique challenges and new ways of thinking about how authors, researchers, and students learn, write, and work with new technologies.
American Psychological Association. (2020). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association (7th ed.). https://doi.org/10.1037/0000165-000
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Table of contents. Step 1: Restate the problem. Step 2: Sum up the paper. Step 3: Discuss the implications. Research paper conclusion examples. Frequently asked questions about research paper conclusions.
Generate the conclusion outline: After entering all necessary details, click on 'generate'. Paperpal will then create a structured outline for your conclusion, to help you start writing and build upon the outline. Write your conclusion: Use the generated outline to build your conclusion.
Write the conclusion: The conclusion should summarize your main points and restate your thesis statement. Avoid introducing new information in the conclusion. ... Prepare for future research: Writing a term paper can help prepare students for future research, by teaching them how to conduct a literature review, evaluate sources, and formulate ...
Step 1: Return to your thesis. To begin your conclusion, signal that the essay is coming to an end by returning to your overall argument. Don't just repeat your thesis statement —instead, try to rephrase your argument in a way that shows how it has been developed since the introduction. Example: Returning to the thesis.
Restate your thesis: remind readers of your main point. Reiterate your supporting points: remind readers of your evidence or arguments. Wrap everything up by tying it all together. Write a clincher: with the last sentence, leave your reader with something to think about. For many, the conclusion is the most dreaded part of essay writing.
6 Conciseness. Above all, every research paper conclusion should be written with conciseness. In general, conclusions should be short, so keep an eye on your word count as you write and aim to be as succinct as possible. You can expound on your topic in the body of your paper, but the conclusion is more for summarizing and recapping.
The point of a conclusion to a research paper is to summarize your argument for the reader and, perhaps, to call the reader to action if needed. 5. Make a call to action when appropriate. If and when needed, you can state to your readers that there is a need for further research on your paper's topic.
Strong conclusion examples pave the way for the perfect paper ending. See how to write a good conclusion for a project, essay or paper to get the grade.
A good conclusion will review the key points of the thesis and explain to the reader why the information is relevant, applicable, or related to the world as a whole. Make sure to dedicate enough of your writing time to the conclusion and do not put it off until the very last minute. Organize your papers in one place. Try Paperpile.
Step 1: Restate the problem. Always begin by restating the research problem in the conclusion of a research paper. This serves to remind the reader of your hypothesis and refresh them on the main point of the paper. When restating the problem, take care to avoid using exactly the same words you employed earlier in the paper.
1. Review the thesis statement. Start your conclusion by reviewing your thesis statement and the research question, if there was one. Your goal is to remind the reader of the problem you were aiming to solve in relation to previous research and to show the development of the solution or argument. As you review, use different words.
Here's a breakdown of how to write a conclusion for an essay: Restate Your Thesis: Briefly remind the reader of your central point. Don't simply copy and paste your thesis statement, but rephrase it using different words. Summarize Key Points: Revisit the main arguments or evidence you presented throughout your writing.
Let's go through each step. 1. Understand the Purpose. The conclusion is your final opportunity to leave an impact. It should tie together your main ideas, reinforce your message, and give the reader a sense of closure. Wrap Up Your Main Ideas. The conclusion should succinctly wrap up the main points of your writing.
4. Write your abstract. Because the abstract is a summary of your entire paper, it's usually best to write it after you complete your first draft. Typically, an abstract is only 150-250 words, so focus on highlighting the key elements of your term paper like your thesis, main supporting evidence, and findings.
Writing a Conclusion. A conclusion is an important part of the paper; it provides closure for the reader while reminding the reader of the contents and importance of the paper. It accomplishes this by stepping back from the specifics in order to view the bigger picture of the document. In other words, it is reminding the reader of the main ...
Here are some steps you can follow to write an effective research paper conclusion: Restate the research problem or question: Begin by restating the research problem or question that you aimed to answer in your research. This will remind the reader of the purpose of your study. Summarize the main points: Summarize the key findings and results ...
Creating an outline for your term paper is an important step in the writing process. An outline will help you organize your thoughts and ensure that you stay on track. Your outline should include an introduction, body paragraphs, and a conclusion. You should also include a list of the sources you plan to use.
The conclusion is where you describe the consequences of your arguments by justifying to your readers why your arguments matter (Hamilton College, 2014). Derntl (2014) also describes conclusion as the counterpart of the introduction. Using the Hourglass Model (Swales, 1993) as a visual reference, Derntl describes conclusion as the part of the ...
Conclusions. Conclusions wrap up what you have been discussing in your paper. After moving from general to specific information in the introduction and body paragraphs, your conclusion should begin pulling back into more general information that restates the main points of your argument. Conclusions may also call for action or overview future ...
Step 2: Summarize and reflect on your research. Step 3: Make future recommendations. Step 4: Emphasize your contributions to your field. Step 5: Wrap up your thesis or dissertation. Full conclusion example. Conclusion checklist. Other interesting articles. Frequently asked questions about conclusion sections.
Highlight the "so what". At the beginning of your paper, you explain to your readers what's at stake—why they should care about the argument you're making. In your conclusion, you can bring readers back to those stakes by reminding them why your argument is important in the first place. You can also draft a few sentences that put ...
A conclusion is the final paragraph of a research paper and serves to help the reader understand why your research should matter to them. The conclusion of a conclusion should: Restate your topic and why it is important. Restate your thesis/claim. Address opposing viewpoints and explain why readers should align with your position.
Learn More. Below are only a few simple steps that can allow you to write the most persuasive research paper. STEP #1. Remind about the topic. The trick is to make the statement as coherent and short as possible. In only one sentence, there should be information about your topic and its importance. STEP #2.
However, many writers fall into the same mistakes when writing a conclusion for an essay. Here are some points to avoid when writing your next conclusion. 1. Introducing New Arguments. Your conclusion should wrap up your essay, not present new points or evidence. Introducing new arguments can confuse the reader and dilute the impact of your ...
The article "Understanding How to Start a Term Paper and Write It" provides valuable guidance and comprehensive advice on crafting an effective term paper. It also clarifies the standard structure of term papers and includes a sample section for reference, making the writing process clearer and more approachable. ... Conclusion: The conclusion ...
For literature reviews or other types of essays or response or reaction papers, you might describe how you used the tool in your introduction. In your text, provide the prompt you used and then any portion of the relevant text that was generated in response. ... and students learn, write, and work with new technologies. Reference. American ...