Selecting a topic for a research paper might be difficult, but there are some characteristics that can help an author to avoid wrong research topics. A topic should be fascinating to the writer/author and helpful to an audience, however; there are some topics that should definitely be avoided. For example personal information and personal stories, topics with a lack of approachable information, too narrow topics, too broad topics and controversial/political topics, same-sex marriage, religion/race, etc.
Below is a list of topics that one should avoid while picking up the research topic:
- Beyond scientific comprehension
Some issues, such as those relating to theology, are beyond the purview of scientific understanding; you may be interested in one of these areas, but there will be no outcome.
- Personal data and narratives
Unless you’re famous or have at least one book written about you, you can’t write a research paper based on your own biography or life stories. A research paper necessitates conducting research, which necessitates having certain sources to draw from in order to complete it properly.
- Topics about which no information is available
This may seem self-evident, but you can’t create a research report about a topic if you don’t have any data. As a result, you won’t have enough information to produce a good report.
- Topics that are too narrow
You don’t want to choose a topic that is difficult, if not impossible, to write about simply because it is too restricted. You can simply write about “volcanoes as a future source of energy,” but writing about “how deep Vesuvius is and why it is thus” will be far more difficult because it is just too precise.
- Topics that are too broad
You may feel as like you are drowning with information on your subject, yet you are unable to write anything down. That’s because there’s so much information out there that it’s difficult to tell what’s vital from what’s not. In contrast to writing on the economy in general, the free-enterprise system might be a good topic to choose. The economy is a broad term that encompasses a wide range of data and concepts to write about.
- Topics that have been proven in the past
Not every research paper needs to make a ground-breaking discovery. However, picking a topic that is apparent or has previously been established isn’t exactly difficult. Choose a topic that is intriguing and requires multiple sources to support it, rather than one that is based on popular information.
- Topics with untrustworthy sources
Strong, dependable sources are used in high-quality research articles. They’re no longer reliable if you can only discover information from one source or if the sources you’re using are extremely biased. Make sure you don’t choose a topic that is based on a single point of view, as this can be readily refuted or debunked.
Conclusion
To summarize, you should keep in mind that you will be given a limited amount of time to create a research paper and will have to do it entirely on your own. You can seek assistance from others, but ultimately, writing the research paper is your responsibility, and you must complete it on your own. So pick a realistic topic and limit it down to a manageable size so you can complete it in the allotted time. Before you choose a topic, consider your interests, but bear in mind that if the issue you’re interested in isn’t practical, it’s probably not a smart choice for your research paper. Choose your topic, but rely on your instructor to help you finalize it because she can assist you based on her experience, which you lack.
