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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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1000+ FREE Research Topics & Title Ideas

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PS – You can also check out our free topic ideation webinar for more ideas

How To Find A Research Topic

If you’re struggling to get started, this step-by-step video tutorial will help you find the perfect research topic.

Research Topic FAQs

What (exactly) is a research topic.

A research topic is the subject of a research project or study – for example, a dissertation or thesis. A research topic typically takes the form of a problem to be solved, or a question to be answered.

A good research topic should be specific enough to allow for focused research and analysis. For example, if you are interested in studying the effects of climate change on agriculture, your research topic could focus on how rising temperatures have impacted crop yields in certain regions over time.

To learn more about the basics of developing a research topic, consider our free research topic ideation webinar.

What constitutes a good research topic?

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, given the resource constraints you face.

To learn more about what makes for a high-quality research topic, check out this post .

What's the difference between a research topic and research problem?

A research topic and a research problem are two distinct concepts that are often confused. A research topic is a broader label that indicates the focus of the study , while a research problem is an issue or gap in knowledge within the broader field that needs to be addressed.

To illustrate this distinction, consider a student who has chosen “teenage pregnancy in the United Kingdom” as their research topic. This research topic could encompass any number of issues related to teenage pregnancy such as causes, prevention strategies, health outcomes for mothers and babies, etc.

Within this broad category (the research topic) lies potential areas of inquiry that can be explored further – these become the research problems . For example:

What factors contribute to higher rates of teenage pregnancy in certain communities?
How do different types of parenting styles affect teen pregnancy rates?
What interventions have been successful in reducing teenage pregnancies?

Simply put, a key difference between a research topic and a research problem is scope ; the research topic provides an umbrella under which multiple questions can be asked, while the research problem focuses on one specific question or set of questions within that larger context.

How can I find potential research topics for my project?

There are many steps involved in the process of finding and choosing a high-quality research topic for a dissertation or thesis. We cover these steps in detail in this video (also accessible below).

How can I find quality sources for my research topic?

Finding quality sources is an essential step in the topic ideation process. To do this, you should start by researching scholarly journals, books, and other academic publications related to your topic. These sources can provide reliable information on a wide range of topics. Additionally, they may contain data or statistics that can help support your argument or conclusions.

Identifying Relevant Sources

When searching for relevant sources, it’s important to look beyond just published material; try using online databases such as Google Scholar or JSTOR to find articles from reputable journals that have been peer-reviewed by experts in the field.

You can also use search engines like Google or Bing to locate websites with useful information about your topic. However, be sure to evaluate any website before citing it as a source—look for evidence of authorship (such as an “About Us” page) and make sure the content is up-to-date and accurate before relying on it.

Evaluating Sources

Once you’ve identified potential sources for your research project, take some time to evaluate them thoroughly before deciding which ones will best serve your purpose. Consider factors such as author credibility (are they an expert in their field?), publication date (is the source current?), objectivity (does the author present both sides of an issue?) and relevance (how closely does this source relate to my specific topic?).

By researching the current literature on your topic, you can identify potential sources that will help to provide quality information. Once you’ve identified these sources, it’s time to look for a gap in the research and determine what new knowledge could be gained from further study.

How can I find a good research gap?

Finding a strong gap in the literature is an essential step when looking for potential research topics. We explain what research gaps are and how to find them in this post.

How should I evaluate potential research topics/ideas?

When evaluating potential research topics, it is important to consider the factors that make for a strong topic (we discussed these earlier). Specifically:

Originality
Feasibility

So, when you have a list of potential topics or ideas, assess each of them in terms of these three criteria. A good topic should take a unique angle, provide value (either to academia or practitioners), and be practical enough for you to pull off, given your limited resources.

Finally, you should also assess whether this project could lead to potential career opportunities such as internships or job offers down the line. Make sure that you are researching something that is relevant enough so that it can benefit your professional development in some way. Additionally, consider how each research topic aligns with your career goals and interests; researching something that you are passionate about can help keep motivation high throughout the process.

How can I assess the feasibility of a research topic?

When evaluating the feasibility and practicality of a research topic, it is important to consider several factors.

First, you should assess whether or not the research topic is within your area of competence. Of course, when you start out, you are not expected to be the world’s leading expert, but do should at least have some foundational knowledge.

Time commitment

When considering a research topic, you should think about how much time will be required for completion. Depending on your field of study, some topics may require more time than others due to their complexity or scope.

Additionally, if you plan on collaborating with other researchers or institutions in order to complete your project, additional considerations must be taken into account such as coordinating schedules and ensuring that all parties involved have adequate resources available.

Resources needed

It’s also critically important to consider what type of resources are necessary in order to conduct the research successfully. This includes physical materials such as lab equipment and chemicals but can also include intangible items like access to certain databases or software programs which may be necessary depending on the nature of your work. Additionally, if there are costs associated with obtaining these materials then this must also be factored into your evaluation process.

Potential risks

It’s important to consider the inherent potential risks for each potential research topic. These can include ethical risks (challenges getting ethical approval), data risks (not being able to access the data you’ll need), technical risks relating to the equipment you’ll use and funding risks (not securing the necessary financial back to undertake the research).

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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.

Custom Research Paper Writing Service

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.

24/7 you can contact us and order your paper. We never miss the deadline and always provide our clients with a top-notch quality. When you feel that you cannot handle it on your own, a bit of assistance will do no harm. All our writers are experts with years of experience. They are aware of all the subtleties of academic writing and they know all the recent college requirements. You can turn to us for help any time and we will get down to work immediately. From choosing the topic to writing the whole paper – this is what we have to offer. Getting top grades is much easier when the real professionals help you.

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Research Paper Topics - Best Picks

Did you know that more than 2.5 million research papers are published worldwide every year? This huge number highlights the vast array of topics students and researchers can explore.

Below, you will find 200 interesting research topics to help spark your creativity and get you started on your next academic venture. Additionally, you can browse essay topics that can also help set your research in the right duration.

Research Paper Topics on Math

Applications of machine learning algorithms in data analysis and prediction.
Mathematical modeling of biological systems and population dynamics.
Cryptography and its applications in secure communication and data protection.
Theoretical advances in number theory and their practical implications.
Optimization techniques and their applications in engineering and operations research.
Chaos theory and its applications in weather forecasting and complex systems.
Graph theory and its applications in network analysis and social networks.
Mathematical aspects of game theory and decision-making in economics.
Topological methods in data analysis and pattern recognition.
Fractal geometry and its applications in computer graphics and image compression.
Statistical methods for analyzing large datasets and drawing meaningful conclusions.
Algebraic geometry and its applications in computer vision and robotics.
Pricing models for derivatives and risk management strategies.
Computational methods for solving partial differential equations and fluid dynamics problems.
Mathematical biology: Modeling biological processes and ecosystems.
Discrete mathematics and its applications in computer science and information theory.
Theoretical aspects of machine learning algorithms and their optimization.
Mathematical logic and its role in computer science and artificial intelligence.
Combinatorial optimization and its applications in logistics and resource allocation.
Quantum computing: Mathematical foundations and potential applications in cryptography.

Research Paper Topics on Business

The impact of remote work on organizational culture and productivity.
Modern diversity and inclusion initiatives for businesses.
Digital marketing strategies for small businesses in the post-pandemic era.
The role of corporate social responsibility in enhancing brand reputation and consumer loyalty.
Supply chain disruptions: Strategies for building resilience and mitigating risks.
The rise of e-commerce and its implications for traditional brick-and-mortar businesses.
Entrepreneurship and innovation for fostering a culture of creativity and growth.
The future of retail: Trends and challenges in a digital-first world.
Sustainable business practices: Balancing profitability with environmental responsibility.
Leadership in times of crisis: Managing uncertainty and driving organizational change.
Financial management strategies for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
Employee engagement and retention: Strategies for cultivating a motivated workforce.
Strategic partnerships and alliances: Leveraging collaboration for business success.
Digital transformation: Adopting new technologies to stay competitive in the market.
The gig economy: Implications for workforce management and talent acquisition.
Business ethics and corporate governance: Principles for ethical decision-making and accountability.
International expansion: Challenges and strategies for entering new markets.
Customer relationship management: Building lasting connections in a digital world.
Data-driven decision-making: Harnessing analytics for business growth and optimization.
Crisis management and business continuity planning: Preparing for unexpected challenges.

Research Paper Topics on Psychology

Psychological implications of social media use across different age groups and cultures.
The psychology of risk-taking behavior: Understanding motivations and consequences.
Cognitive biases and their impact on decision-making in various contexts.
Psychological aspects of online learning: Motivation, engagement, and academic performance.
The role of self-compassion in mental health and resilience.
Exploring the psychology of conspiracy theories: Beliefs, motivations, and consequences.
Cultural differences in emotion regulation and expression: Implications for mental health interventions.
Psychological perspectives on environmental sustainability and pro-environmental behaviors.
The psychology of procrastination: Underlying factors and strategies for change.
Psychological effects of gaming and esports: Benefits, risks, and implications.
The role of pets in human mental health and well-being.
Psychological aspects of body image and eating behaviors across diverse populations.
Exploring the psychology of humor: Effects on mood, social connections, and well-being.
Psychological resilience in the face of natural disasters and traumatic events.
The impact of color psychology on mood, behavior, and decision-making.
Psychological factors influencing the adoption of sustainable lifestyle choices.
The psychology of music: Emotional responses, preferences, and therapeutic applications.
Understanding and addressing mental health stigma within healthcare systems.
Psychological perspectives on aging and successful aging: Factors contributing to well-being in later life.
The psychology of creativity in problem-solving and innovation across disciplines.

Research Paper Topics on Literature

Love and loss in Shakespeare's sonnets.
Gender representation in Jane Austen's novels.
Mythology in Greek tragedies.
Colonialism in post-colonial literature.
"The Great Gatsby" and the American Dream.
Identity in Toni Morrison's novels.
Magical realism in García Márquez's "One Hundred Years of Solitude."
War in Hemingway's novels.
Alienation and existentialism in Kafka's works.
Race and racism in African-American literature.
Folklore and fairy tales in the Brothers Grimm's works.
Nature in Romantic poetry.
Political allegory in Orwell's "Animal Farm."
Heroism in Homer's "The Odyssey."
Satire in Swift's "Gulliver's Travels."
Social class and inequality in Dickens' novels.
Surrealism in García Lorca's poetry.
Madness in Shakespeare's tragedies.
Religion and morality in Dostoevsky's works.
Modernity in the Harlem Renaissance literature.

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Well, why not order our collection of funny research paper topics and let the hilarity begin? Your grades will thank you later!

Research Paper Topics on Environment

The interplay between urbanization and environmental sustainability.
Technological innovations for addressing climate change challenges.
Social, economic, and environmental implications of renewable energy transitions.
Ecotourism as a tool for conservation and community development.
Indigenous knowledge and practices in environmental management.
The role of public policy in promoting sustainable development.
Sustainable transportation solutions for reducing carbon emissions.
The impact of consumer behavior on environmental sustainability.
Green building technologies and their contribution to energy efficiency.
The potential of circular economy models in waste reduction and resource conservation.
Water scarcity and management strategies in arid regions.
The nexus between agriculture, food security, and environmental sustainability.
The role of citizen science in monitoring and addressing environmental issues.
Environmental education and its influence on public awareness and behavior.
Natural resource management and conflicts over land and water resources.
The effects of pollution on ecosystems and human health.
Indigenous rights and environmental conservation efforts.
Environmental governance mechanisms at local, national, and international levels.
The impact of globalization on natural resource exploitation and conservation.
Resilience and adaptation strategies for communities vulnerable to environmental hazards.

Research Paper Topics on Biology

The genetic basis of human diseases and potential therapeutic interventions.
Evolutionary mechanisms driving biodiversity and speciation.
Ecological impacts of climate change on species distribution and ecosystems.
Cellular mechanisms underlying cancer development and progression.
Genetic engineering and its applications in agriculture, medicine, and industry.
Neurobiology of learning and memory formation in humans and animals.
Biodiversity conservation strategies and their effectiveness in preserving ecosystems.
Microbial communities and their role in human health and disease.
Molecular mechanisms of aging and potential interventions for lifespan extension.
Adaptations of extremophiles to extreme environmental conditions.
Epigenetics and its role in gene expression regulation and disease susceptibility.
The immune system and its response to pathogens and vaccines.
Plant-microbe interactions and their impact on plant health and productivity.
Population genetics and its implications for conservation biology and evolutionary studies.
Genetic basis of behavior and its evolutionary significance.
Biotechnology applications in environmental remediation and pollution control.
Comparative genomics and evolutionary relationships among different species.
Physiological adaptations of organisms to changing environmental conditions.
Bioinformatics tools and their role in analyzing genomic and proteomic data.
Ethical considerations in biotechnological research and applications.

Research Paper Topics on Health and Medicine

The global impact of telemedicine on healthcare access and patient outcomes.
Genetic advancements and their role in personalized medicine worldwide.
Mental health awareness initiatives and their effectiveness across cultures.
The influence of dietary patterns on chronic disease management in different populations.
Comparative analysis of universal healthcare systems in various countries.
The role of vaccines in preventing global infectious diseases.
Physical activity's effects on mental health and well-being in diverse populations.
The effectiveness of alternative medicine in various cultural settings.
Socioeconomic disparities and their impact on global healthcare access.
International strategies for combating antibiotic resistance.
Public health campaigns and their success in reducing lifestyle-related diseases globally.
Environmental determinants of health outcomes in different regions.
Mental health intervention effectiveness in multicultural contexts.
Innovations in cancer treatment and their global impact on survival rates.
Emerging medical technologies and their role in enhancing surgical outcomes.
The effects of health policies on managing non-communicable diseases worldwide.
The challenges and opportunities of aging populations on healthcare systems globally.
Primary care's role in chronic disease management across various healthcare systems.
Global perspectives on stress management techniques and health outcomes.
International health initiatives and their success in reducing global health disparities.

Research Paper Topics on Education

The impact of technology on education systems globally.
Teacher-student relationships and their effect on academic success.
The influence of standardized testing on student learning and motivation.
Innovative strategies for improving literacy rates in various educational settings.
Benefits and challenges of inclusive education for students with diverse needs.
The impact of parental involvement on student academic achievement and behavior.
The role of arts education in fostering creativity and critical thinking.
Comparing the effectiveness of online learning and traditional classroom education.
Socioeconomic status and its influence on educational opportunities and outcomes.
The impact of school leadership on teacher performance and student success.
Benefits of bilingual education programs in diverse communities.
The role of extracurricular activities in student development and academic performance.
Long-term academic benefits of early childhood education programs.
Strategies for closing the achievement gap in different types of schools.
Effects of classroom environment on student learning and engagement.
The role of vocational education in preparing students for various career paths.
School policies' impact on bullying prevention and student safety.
Importance of teacher professional development for enhancing instructional quality.
Cultural diversity's influence on teaching practices and student learning.
The role of educational technology in supporting personalized and adaptive learning.

Research Paper Topics on Sports

Mental health benefits of regular sports participation.
The role of proper nutrition in enhancing athletic performance.
Gender differences in sports performance and participation rates.
The ethical and health implications of doping in competitive sports.
How different coaching styles influence team success and player development.
The relationship between adequate sleep and peak athletic performance.
The impact of modern technology on sports training and athlete performance.
The physical and social benefits of participation in youth sports programs.
The role of sports in building stronger, more cohesive communities.
Effects of climate and weather conditions on outdoor sports performance.
The importance of injury prevention strategies in competitive sports.
Psychological effects of winning and losing on athletes.
The evolution and impact of sports equipment design on performance.
The role of regular sports participation in promoting overall physical fitness.
The influence of media coverage on public perception of professional athletes.
Historical development and significance of the Olympic Games.
Economic impacts of hosting major sports events on local communities.
Unique challenges faced by female athletes in male-dominated sports.
The effect of crowd support on the performance of athletes and teams.
The relationship between participation in sports and academic performance in students.

Seven Signs of Good Topics for Research Paper

Here are the main characteristics of engaging research paper ideas:

Relevance	The topic should be timely and relevant to current issues, trends, or debates in the field of study.
Significance	The topic should address an important research question or problem that has implications for theory, practice, or policy.
Feasibility	The topic should be feasible to research within the constraints of time, resources, and access to data or information.
Originality	The topic should offer a fresh perspective or innovative approach to existing research or fill a gap in the literature.
Scope	The topic should be appropriately scoped to allow for in-depth analysis and exploration without being too broad or too narrow.
Interest	The topic should be interesting and engaging to the researcher and potential readers or stakeholders in the field.
Contribution	The topic should have the potential to contribute new insights, knowledge, or solutions to the field of study and advance scholarship.

If you don’t feel that your topic meets the abovementioned criteria and the time is too short to brainstorm more research topic ideas, simply say, ‘ write my paper ,’ and one of our experts will be there to help you shortly.

How to Choose a Quality Research Paper Topic

Always select a topic that genuinely interests you and aligns with your passion. Your enthusiasm will fuel your motivation and commitment throughout the research process.

Stay Current

Choose a relevant and timely topic. Look for emerging trends, pressing issues, or gaps in the literature that your research can address. Consult this guide if you need more information about how to research a topic .

Consider Your Audience

Think about who your audience is and what topics would be most engaging and relevant to them. Tailor your topic selection to the interests and needs of your audience.

Be Specific

Narrow down your focus to a specific research question or problem. This will help you avoid tackling overly broad topics and ensure your research is focused and manageable.

Assess Feasibility

Consider the resources, time, and access to data or information available for your research. Choose a topic that you can feasibly research within the constraints of your academic program or timeline.

Seek Inspiration

Look for inspiration from miscellaneous sources, including academic journals, news articles, conferences, and conversations with peers or mentors. Explore different perspectives and ideas to spark your creativity.

Gather Feedback

Discuss your potential topics with your peers, instructors, or academic advisors. They can provide valuable feedback, offer different perspectives, and help you refine your research paper ideas. If you want to join forces with a subject-relevant professor, use our research proposal writing service to entice them to work with you.

Access Significance

Measure the significance of your chosen topic in the context of your field of study. Consider its relevance, potential contributions to existing knowledge, and implications for theory, practice, or policy.

Remain Flexible

Be open to adjusting your research topic ideas as you conduct further analysis and gain new insights. Research is an iterative process, and your topic may evolve as you delve deeper into the literature and data.

Stay True to Yourself

Choose a topic that resonates with you and reflects your academic interests, values, and goals. Your research paper is an opportunity to contribute meaningfully to your field and showcase your expertise and passion. If that doesn’t help, buy a research paper from our writing specialists to save time and nerves.

Students often find it difficult to generate research paper topic ideas due to factors such as a lack of clarity on their interests, limited access to relevant resources, and time constraints.

A solution to this challenge is to consider utilizing a professional writing service, which can provide expert guidance and assistance in selecting a research paper topic tailored to the student's interests and requirements.

To bring your academic writing prowess to the next level, please consider the following guide on how to write a reflective essay .

Looking for A+ Argumentative Research Paper Topics?

Let our research essay service be your guide to crafting compelling essays that win debates and top grades!

What Are 5 Good Research Questions for Students?

What are the best research topics, what topic should i use for my research paper.

Daniel Parker

is a seasoned educational writer focusing on scholarship guidance, research papers, and various forms of academic essays including reflective and narrative essays. His expertise also extends to detailed case studies. A scholar with a background in English Literature and Education, Daniel’s work on EssayPro blog aims to support students in achieving academic excellence and securing scholarships. His hobbies include reading classic literature and participating in academic forums.

is an expert in nursing and healthcare, with a strong background in history, law, and literature. Holding advanced degrees in nursing and public health, his analytical approach and comprehensive knowledge help students navigate complex topics. On EssayPro blog, Adam provides insightful articles on everything from historical analysis to the intricacies of healthcare policies. In his downtime, he enjoys historical documentaries and volunteering at local clinics.

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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:

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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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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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Research paper

How to Write a Research Paper | A Beginner's Guide

A research paper is a piece of academic writing that provides analysis, interpretation, and argument based on in-depth independent research.

Research papers are similar to academic essays , but they are usually longer and more detailed assignments, designed to assess not only your writing skills but also your skills in scholarly research. Writing a research paper requires you to demonstrate a strong knowledge of your topic, engage with a variety of sources, and make an original contribution to the debate.

This step-by-step guide takes you through the entire writing process, from understanding your assignment to proofreading your final draft.

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Understand the assignment, 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, the revision process, research paper checklist, free lecture slides.

Completing a research paper successfully means accomplishing the specific tasks set out for you. Before you start, make sure you thoroughly understanding the assignment task sheet:

Read it carefully, looking for anything confusing you might need to clarify with your professor.
Identify the assignment goal, deadline, length specifications, formatting, and submission method.
Make a bulleted list of the key points, then go back and cross completed items off as you’re writing.

Carefully consider your timeframe and word limit: be realistic, and plan enough time to research, write, and edit.

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There are many ways to generate an idea for a research paper, from brainstorming with pen and paper to talking it through with a fellow student or professor.

You can try free writing, which involves taking a broad topic and writing continuously for two or three minutes to identify absolutely anything relevant that could be interesting.

You can also gain inspiration from other research. The discussion or recommendations sections of research papers often include ideas for other specific topics that require further examination.

Once you have a broad subject area, narrow it down to choose a topic that interests you, m eets the criteria of your assignment, and i s possible to research. Aim for ideas that are both original and specific:

A paper following the chronology of World War II would not be original or specific enough.
A paper on the experience of Danish citizens living close to the German border during World War II would be specific and could be original enough.

Note any discussions that seem important to the topic, and try to find an issue that you can focus your paper around. Use a variety of sources , including journals, books, and reliable websites, to ensure you do not miss anything glaring.

Do not only verify the ideas you have in mind, but look for sources that contradict your point of view.

Is there anything people seem to overlook in the sources you research?
Are there any heated debates you can address?
Do you have a unique take on your topic?
Have there been some recent developments that build on the extant research?

In this stage, you might find it helpful to formulate some research questions to help guide you. To write research questions, try to finish the following sentence: “I want to know how/what/why…”

A thesis statement is a statement of your central argument — it establishes the purpose and position of your paper. If you started with a research question, the thesis statement should answer it. It should also show what evidence and reasoning you’ll use to support that answer.

The thesis statement should be concise, contentious, and coherent. That means it should briefly summarize your argument in a sentence or two, make a claim that requires further evidence or analysis, and make a coherent point that relates to every part of the paper.

You will probably revise and refine the thesis statement as you do more research, but it can serve as a guide throughout the writing process. Every paragraph should aim to support and develop this central claim.

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A research paper outline is essentially a list of the key topics, arguments, and evidence you want to include, divided into sections with headings so that you know roughly what the paper will look like before you start writing.

A structure outline can help make the writing process much more efficient, so it’s worth dedicating some time to create one.

Your first draft won’t be perfect — you can polish later on. Your priorities at this stage are as follows:

Maintaining forward momentum — write now, perfect later.
Paying attention to clear organization and logical ordering of paragraphs and sentences, which will help when you come to the second draft.
Expressing your ideas as clearly as possible, so you know what you were trying to say when you come back to the text.

You do not need to start by writing the introduction. Begin where it feels most natural for you — some prefer to finish the most difficult sections first, while others choose to start with the easiest part. If you created an outline, use it as a map while you work.

Do not delete large sections of text. If you begin to dislike something you have written or find it doesn’t quite fit, move it to a different document, but don’t lose it completely — you never know if it might come in useful later.

Paragraph structure

Paragraphs are the basic building blocks of research papers. Each one should focus on a single claim or idea that helps to establish the overall argument or purpose of the paper.

Example paragraph

George Orwell’s 1946 essay “Politics and the English Language” has had an enduring impact on thought about the relationship between politics and language. This impact is particularly obvious in light of the various critical review articles that have recently referenced the essay. For example, consider Mark Falcoff’s 2009 article in The National Review Online, “The Perversion of Language; or, Orwell Revisited,” in which he analyzes several common words (“activist,” “civil-rights leader,” “diversity,” and more). Falcoff’s close analysis of the ambiguity built into political language intentionally mirrors Orwell’s own point-by-point analysis of the political language of his day. Even 63 years after its publication, Orwell’s essay is emulated by contemporary thinkers.

Citing sources

It’s also important to keep track of citations at this stage to avoid accidental plagiarism . Each time you use a source, make sure to take note of where the information came from.

You can use our free citation generators to automatically create citations and save your reference list as you go.

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The research paper introduction should address three questions: What, why, and how? After finishing the introduction, the reader should know what the paper is about, why it is worth reading, and how you’ll build your arguments.

What? Be specific about the topic of the paper, introduce the background, and define key terms or concepts.

Why? This is the most important, but also the most difficult, part of the introduction. Try to provide brief answers to the following questions: What new material or insight are you offering? What important issues does your essay help define or answer?

How? To let the reader know what to expect from the rest of the paper, the introduction should include a “map” of what will be discussed, briefly presenting the key elements of the paper in chronological order.

The major struggle faced by most writers is how to organize the information presented in the paper, which is one reason an outline is so useful. However, remember that the outline is only a guide and, when writing, you can be flexible with the order in which the information and arguments are presented.

One way to stay on track is to use your thesis statement and topic sentences . Check:

topic sentences against the thesis statement;
topic sentences against each other, for similarities and logical ordering;
and each sentence against the topic sentence of that paragraph.

Be aware of paragraphs that seem to cover the same things. If two paragraphs discuss something similar, they must approach that topic in different ways. Aim to create smooth transitions between sentences, paragraphs, and sections.

The research paper conclusion is designed to help your reader out of the paper’s argument, giving them a sense of finality.

Trace the course of the paper, emphasizing how it all comes together to prove your thesis statement. Give the paper a sense of finality by making sure the reader understands how you’ve settled the issues raised in the introduction.

You might also discuss the more general consequences of the argument, outline what the paper offers to future students of the topic, and suggest any questions the paper’s argument raises but cannot or does not try to answer.

You should not :

Offer new arguments or essential information
Take up any more space than necessary
Begin with stock phrases that signal you are ending the paper (e.g. “In conclusion”)

There are four main considerations when it comes to the second draft.

Check how your vision of the paper lines up with the first draft and, more importantly, that your paper still answers the assignment.
Identify any assumptions that might require (more substantial) justification, keeping your reader’s perspective foremost in mind. Remove these points if you cannot substantiate them further.
Be open to rearranging your ideas. Check whether any sections feel out of place and whether your ideas could be better organized.
If you find that old ideas do not fit as well as you anticipated, you should cut them out or condense them. You might also find that new and well-suited ideas occurred to you during the writing of the first draft — now is the time to make them part of the paper.

The goal during the revision and proofreading process is to ensure you have completed all the necessary tasks and that the paper is as well-articulated as possible. You can speed up the proofreading process by using the AI proofreader .

Global concerns

Confirm that your paper completes every task specified in your assignment sheet.
Check for logical organization and flow of paragraphs.
Check paragraphs against the introduction and thesis statement.

Fine-grained details

Check the content of each paragraph, making sure that:

each sentence helps support the topic sentence.
no unnecessary or irrelevant information is present.
all technical terms your audience might not know are identified.

Next, think about sentence structure , grammatical errors, and formatting . Check that you have correctly used transition words and phrases to show the connections between your ideas. Look for typos, cut unnecessary words, and check for consistency in aspects such as heading formatting and spellings .

Finally, you need to make sure your paper is correctly formatted according to the rules of the citation style you are using. For example, you might need to include an MLA heading or create an APA title page .

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Checklist: Research paper

I have followed all instructions in the assignment sheet.

My introduction presents my topic in an engaging way and provides necessary background information.

My introduction presents a clear, focused research problem and/or thesis statement .

My paper is logically organized using paragraphs and (if relevant) section headings .

Each paragraph is clearly focused on one central idea, expressed in a clear topic sentence .

Each paragraph is relevant to my research problem or thesis statement.

I have used appropriate transitions to clarify the connections between sections, paragraphs, and sentences.

My conclusion provides a concise answer to the research question or emphasizes how the thesis has been supported.

My conclusion shows how my research has contributed to knowledge or understanding of my topic.

My conclusion does not present any new points or information essential to my argument.

I have provided an in-text citation every time I refer to ideas or information from a source.

I have included a reference list at the end of my paper, consistently formatted according to a specific citation style .

I have thoroughly revised my paper and addressed any feedback from my professor or supervisor.

I have followed all formatting guidelines (page numbers, headers, spacing, etc.).

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Top 300+ Ideas For Research Paper Topics in 2024

Updated 28 Aug 2024

Some say the most difficult part of writing a text – is to start. But topic selection even precedes this starting point. This activity takes off a lot of time, and sometimes, imagination just doesn’t work in your favor. That’s where our list of best research paper topics will be useful.

Our research paper writing service collected the most unhacked and powerful ideas to turn the average piece of writing into a research paper. Discover what is a research paper and how to choose suitable and interesting research topics with our help.

Writing a research topic on your own requires either producing one from scratch (based on your interests and goals and, potentially, on some brainstorming) or getting inspiration from a number of sources, like preassembled topic lists, course material, teachers, real-life, news headlines, published research in the respective field, etc.

What are the 3 Types of Research Questions?

Before formulating your research questions ideas, note that there are 3 important types of research questions:

Descriptive – these employ careful and comprehensive observation of a phenomenon/ event, subject, trait, etc. in order to characterize it in detail and to reveal important/ interesting/ undescribed aspects or patterns potentially.

Causal – these investigate whether altering some variables leads to changes in other variables, suggesting a causal relationship.

Comparative – these look into similarities and differences between two or more entities.

What is a Good Research Paper Topic?

Good research paper topics are characterized by several features that make them suitable for engaging and successful research papers. Features that tend to characterize good research questions are as follows:

specific and concrete – investigation goals and (expected results) have to be clear and focused

original – investigating aspects/ entities/ relationships that have not been researched before

highly important /impactful for the community/ society/ a professional field.

highly relevant for potential readers/ reviewers

trending – emerging disciplines/ topics spark more interest due to their novelty and yet unexplored potential

Choosing an appropriate topic influences various components of the research process, including the research question and methodology, ultimately affecting the quality and relevance of the findings.

College Research Paper Topics

The bias in the selection of the college internships and scholarships
The problems of reverse discrimination in post-college employment
Should multicultural education concepts be implemented at a greater depth?
The drug and alcohol abuse on college campuses
Does social media help students to find appropriate information and learn?
The psychological disorders and the support groups in modern colleges
Should people with ADHD and Autism be separated from the other students?
The art of college political campaigns
Pros and cons of religious colleges
Should college athletes be paid and provided with additional advantages?
The Influence of Social Media on College Students' Academic Performance and Well-being
Evaluating the Effectiveness of Online Learning Platforms in Higher Education
The Role of College Education in Fostering Entrepreneurial Skills
The Impact of Student Loan Debt on Career Choices Among Graduates
Analyzing the Shift in College Admissions Criteria in the Post-COVID Era

Health Research Paper Topics

The challenges of deafness and communication difficulties among special needs students
The concept of global health security
The ways to decrease household air pollution
How the information about infectious diseases is distributed online
Should people be allowed to know more about climate change issues?
The privacy factor and the personal health issues
The role of fitness ads in exercising practices
The healthy food standards are not always unbiased
The role of social media in the medical care system
The psychological aspect in the perception of allergies
The Long-term Effects of COVID-19 on Respiratory Health
Mental Health Outcomes of Prolonged Social Media Use Among Adolescents
The Efficacy of Plant-based Diets in Preventing Chronic Diseases
The Role of Telemedicine in Improving Accessibility to Healthcare
Analyzing the Impact of Sleep Quality on Daily Cognitive Functioning

Research Paper Topics on Medicine

Is life-sustaining therapy needed when it’s futile?
The role of placebo treatment
How to avoid animal testing?
Pros and contras of medical marijuana
Is being a vegetarian useful for child’s health?
How obesity affects our health?
Vaccines for kids: their usefulness or damage
Should prescription drugs be advertised directly to consumers?
Do doctors turn their patients into drug addicts?
Advancements in Gene Editing: Ethical Implications and Future Prospects
The Role of Artificial Intelligence in Diagnostic Medicine
Personalized Medicine: Tailoring Drug Therapies to Genetic Profiles
The Impact of Microbiome Diversity on Human Health
Stem Cell Therapy: Current Applications and Ethical Considerations
The Challenges and Successes of Vaccine Development in the 21st Century

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Education Research Paper Topics

How can standardized tests improve education?
Does college graduates make more money?
Should education be cheaper?
How will modern technologies change the way of teaching in the future?
The creation of particular learning methods for blind children
Social networking and school
Metal detectors at schools
The effects of contemporary teaching methods
The role of technology in lesson planning
How to manage bullies and take actions against bullying at education institutions?
The Effects of Bilingual Education on Cognitive Development in Children
Evaluating the Long-term Impact of Early Childhood Education Programs
The Role of Technology in Enhancing Special Education
Standardized Testing: Measuring Intelligence or Memorization?
The Influence of Teacher-Student Relationships on Academic Achievement

Read also: 150+ Best Sociology Research Topics

Environmental Research Paper Topics

How to reduce global warming?
How to stop wasting paper and save trees?
Can overpopulation be managed?
Should more films about environmental issues be produced?
Human impacts on forests
Underground effects of earthquakes
How to elaborate the optimal adaptation of buildings threatened by hurricanes?
Is it possible to predict hurricane impacts?
Is nuclear power safe for humans?
How dangerous is GMO food?
Assessing the Impact of Urban Sprawl on Local Ecosystems
The Effectiveness of Plastic Ban Policies on Ocean Health
Carbon Capture Technology: Viability and Potential in Mitigating Climate Change
The Role of Indigenous Knowledge in Biodiversity Conservation
Analyzing the Environmental Consequences of Fast Fashion

Research Topics on Entertainment and Sport

Are social networks good for our society?
Do violent video games make kids angry and cruel?
Is it necessary to forbid using animals for entertainment?
Do beauty contests set the non-achievable beauty standards?
Are newspapers going to be replaced by online sources of information?
How gaming consoles influence the youth?
Should women be allowed to compete against men?
What television programs should be banned?
How tv shows impose fake moral standards?
Can the use of social media, such as Facebook, lower teens’ self-esteem?
The Psychological Impact of Competitive Sports on Young Athletes
The Influence of Celebrity Endorsements on Consumer Behavior
E-Sports: The Rise of Competitive Gaming and Its Recognition as a Legitimate Sport
The Role of Sports in Promoting Intercultural Dialogue and Understanding
The Economic Impact of Major Sporting Events on Host Cities

Research Paper Topics on Media and Communication

Should the media programming of ads aimed at children be made illegal?
The role of mediation in the media
Should bloggers be considered as journalists?
The ethical side of modern news reports
The freedom of speech online
The copyright law restrictions and the vague concepts
The importance of psychology and communicative skills in journalism
The role of gender in interpersonal communication
The modern standards of nonverbal communication
The negative influence of Instagram and body image distortion
The Evolution of News Consumption: Impact of Social Media on Traditional Media
The Role of Media in Shaping Public Opinion During Political Campaigns
The Ethics of Surveillance and Privacy in Digital Communication
The Effects of Smartphone Usage on Face-to-Face Communication Skills
Virtual Reality: The Future of Immersive Journalism

Research Paper Topics on Politics

Should the drinking age be lowered?
Should adults have the right to carry a concealed handgun?
More gun control laws should be enacted
How can the international community prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons?
How can ethnic killings be stopped?
Current prospect for peace between Israel and the Palestinians
What world would be like without wars?
How to avoid workforce reduction?
Should the death penalty be allowed?
Is socialism possible?
The Influence of Social Media on Political Mobilization and Public Protests
Campaign Finance Reform: The Effects on Political Representation and Elections
The Role of Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) in Shaping Global Policy
The Impact of Populism on Traditional Political Party Systems
Cybersecurity in Elections: Protecting the Integrity of Democracy

Psychology Research Paper Topics

Is autism a disease or a development idiosyncrasy?
How to forecast and shape behavioral patterns?
How to manage child violence?
How to deal with a mental breakdown?
The impact of classical music on the work of the brain
How insomnia affects our health?
How bad dreams influence our mood?
Is stress really harmful?
How depression impacts the immune system?
Intellectually gifted people: how is it possible?
The Psychological Effects of Social Isolation in the Digital Age
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy vs. Mindfulness: Comparative Outcomes in Treating Anxiety
The Role of Resilience in Recovery from Trauma
The Impact of Parenting Styles on Child Personality Development
Neuroplasticity: How Learning and Experience Shape Brain Function

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Science & Technology Research Paper Ideas

How is light being used to treat cancer and other diseases?
What is the current evidence that Mars has had water and maybe life?
Can nanomedicine potentially extend the human lifespan?
What is the future of computing and artificial intelligence?
The role cryogenics may play in future
Can alternative energy effectively replace fossil fuels?
Is it beneficial for wild animals to have interactions with people?
What evidence do we have that CMB is the result of the big bang?
How will self-driving cars change the way people live?
Can using system like bitcoin help protect identity theft?
The Potential of CRISPR and Gene Therapy in Curing Genetic Diseases
Nanotechnology in Medicine: The Next Frontier for Drug Delivery Systems
The Role of Quantum Computing in the Future of Cybersecurity
The Ethical Implications of Humanoid Robots in Society
Renewable Energy Technologies: Assessing the Efficiency and Sustainability of Solar Power Solutions

Research Topics Ideas on Culture

A new comprehension of past events
The origin of racial discrimination
The roots of antisemitism
The impact of advertisements and commercials on modern art
The most remarkable cultural achievements of the 20th century and their influence on our society
Cultural revolutions throughout history
How pop culture trends influence youth?
Should pregnant celebrities be exposed on magazine’s covers?
Why was Greek cultural influence so important for the ancient Mediterranean world?
Why was the Victorian period a time of cultural change?
Cultural Impact on Climate Change Response: A Comparative Study
The Preservation of Folklore and Oral Traditions in the Digital Age
Cross-Cultural Communication: Overcoming Language and Ethical Barriers
The Influence of Globalization on Indigenous Cultures
Cultural Diplomacy and Its Role in International Relations

Research Paper Topics on Math

The influence of algorithms
Is it possible to build a winning monopoly strategy?
Why is 'x' the unknown?
How math changed the world?
What's the solution to the McDonald's math problem?
How do math geniuses understand extremely hard math concepts so quickly?
Should high school math contests be banned?
What is the relationship between music and math?
Are math formulas ever used in real life?
What are some of the most confusing math problems ever?
The Role of Mathematics in Cryptography and Cybersecurity
Mathematical Models in Predicting Pandemic Outcomes: A Case Study of COVID-19
The Application of Game Theory in Economic and Social Decision Making
Chaos Theory and Its Implications in Weather Forecasting and Climate Science
The Impact of Big Data on the Evolution of Statistical Methods and Theories

Research Paper Topics on Business

How do dirty business tactics work?
Can business be started without money?
Notorious business leaders
Entrepreneurship and family business
Ethical decision making in everyday work situations
What are the most effective strategies for promoting a small business?
Is it worth it to expand the business into a new region or country?
How to build a successful startup
The role of international business and sustainable development
The impact of climate change on international business strategies
Corporate Social Responsibility: Measuring the Impact on Business Performance
The Gig Economy: Challenges and Opportunities for the Modern Workforce
Innovative Business Models in the Age of Sustainable Development
The Influence of Organizational Culture on Employee Productivity and Satisfaction
The Role of Artificial Intelligence in Shaping Consumer Behavior and Marketing Strategies

Research Paper Topics For Middle School

Is going vegan the healthiest choice for you?
Is the greenhouse effect artificial or natural?
The causes, effects, and consequences of earthquakes
How much computer games can one play without getting addicted
Princess Diana and her dynasty
Why is competition so critical for humans?
How did poetry evolve?
Methods used by ancient sailors to navigate the globe
Gender roles in children’s books and cartoons
Who is the greatest general who has lived on the planet?
The Science Behind Video Games: How Gaming Affects Reflexes and Learning
The History and Cultural Significance of a Popular Holiday
The Impact of Recycling Programs in Schools
Animal Habitats: How Urban Development Affects Local Wildlife
The Role of Social Media in Modern Communication Among Teens

High School Research Paper Ideas

The ways to address drug addiction cases in high school
The physical vs digital communications
The body image and the K-Pop culture
The importance of school volunteering and social work
The changes to the academic process due to Covid-19
The legacy of the Trail of Tears
The role of motivation in becoming a better student
The role of books in print and the libraries
The ways to improve school safety
The role of parental involvement in school work
Exploring the Psychological Effects of Social Media on Teen Self-Esteem
The Physics of Sports: Analyzing the Science Behind Athletic Performance
Climate Change and Its Effects on Local Ecosystems
The Evolution of Language in the Digital Age
The Rise of Cryptocurrency: Economic Education and the Future of Money

History Research Paper Topics

What were the impacts of World War II on the rights of women?
What factors initiated the WWII
Is liberalism the most optimal solution?
What were the consequences of women suffrage movements
What was the impact of Martin Luther King’s protest against the Catholic church
What is the most effective military strategy of all time
How has Asian art influenced contemporary art
How have different monetary systems affected the development of humanity
What is the correlation between the Roman and Greek culture?
Aztec empire and its architecture
The Role of Women in World War II and Its Impact on Gender Roles
The Influence of the Silk Road on the Cultural Exchange between East and West
The Effects of the Cold War on Space Exploration Competition
The Historical Accuracy of Popular Historical Films: A Case Study
The Impact of the Printing Press on the Renaissance and European Society

Art Research Paper Ideas

The reasons why digital museums must be present and made available
The peculiarities of the Flemish artists
Should Japanese anime be considered as a separate art form?
The role of Photoshop and similar digital solutions in the perception of modern art
The history of photography and the artistic expression forms
The challenges of the modern artists during social distancing times
The Middle Eastern perception of color and the light
Ancient Rome's role in the creation of the sculptures
Should the artists be allowed to represent their works in public parks?
The importance of art education in middle schools
The Evolution of Street Art and Its Acceptance into Mainstream Art Culture
The Influence of Digital Media on Traditional Painting Techniques
The Role of Patronage in the Development of Renaissance Art
The Psychological Impact of Color in Abstract Art
Cultural Representation and Diversity in Modern Art Museums

Literature Research Paper Topics

The American dream literature
How does harry potter reflects the ideal of the time
Can you show a new aspect of prose based on the independent investigation
The prose of women suffrage movements
The dawn of literature on modern society
Why do authors use metaphors and similes
Evaluate and discuss the allegory of 2 random novels
What factors are helpful in allowing you to identify the genre of a novel you are reading
Is fanfiction considered an independent literature
Romance and sex in Renaissance
Fiction as an instrument of propaganda
The Representation of Gender Roles in Victorian Literature
Postcolonial Voices: How Literature Has Shaped National Identity
The Journey Motif in Classic American Road Novels
Dystopian Visions: What Modern Dystopian Literature Tells Us About Today's Society

Law Research Paper Topics

How is the Islamic law perceived around the globe
Is ECOLEX a pathway to environmental law
Why is it critical to learn the GATT documents?
What does the European patent office do?
Mass communication law
Impact of women’s authority in different countries on the planet
Evaluate the effectiveness of the international criminal law court tools
Detailed analysis and report of the comparative criminal procedure
Exciting outtakes from the inter-American human rights library
Does the US copyright office really help writers defend their businesses?
The Impact of International Law on Human Rights Practices in Developing Countries
Cyber Law: The Challenges of Regulating Online Behavior and Privacy
Intellectual Property Rights in the Digital Age: Balancing Innovation and Protection
The Effectiveness of Rehabilitation in Juvenile Justice Systems
Comparative Analysis of Gun Control Legislation and Its Impact on Violent Crime Rates

Religion Research Paper Topics

The Role of Religion in Modern Secular Societies
Interfaith Dialogue: Benefits and Challenges in a Pluralistic Society
The Influence of Religious Beliefs on Ethical Decision-Making in Business
Religion and Politics: An Analysis of Their Intersections in Contemporary World Affairs
The Impact of Religious Education on Tolerance and Cultural Understanding
The Evolution of Religious Practices and Their Adaptation in the Digital Age
The Psychological Effects of Religious Rituals and Traditions
Comparative Study of Creation Myths Across Different Cultures
The Role of Women in Organized Religions: A Historical Perspective
Secularization: The Decline of Religious Influence in Western Societies
Religious Extremism: Understanding the Causes and Seeking Solutions
The Impact of Pilgrimage on Religious and Spiritual Life
Religious Symbols in Public Spaces: Freedom of Expression or a Call for Regulation?
The Relationship Between Religion and Morality in Contemporary Ethical Debates
The Effects of Globalization on Indigenous Religions and Spiritual Practices

Argumentative Research Paper Topics

Should education be made free for everyone?
The influencers and bloggers cannot be considered as a job
The role of military service is the way towards maturity
Should Internet access be limited during college lectures?
The death penalty service is not an ethical solution
Fashion industry creates a bad influence on young people
The Fairplay concept should be rewarded financially
Should tobacco be made illegal indoors?
Religious differences often become the cause of wars
The majority of mobile applications represent the invasion of privacy
Universal Basic Income: Economic Savior or Road to Dependency?
Mandatory Vaccinations: Public Health Requirement or Personal Choice Infringement?
The Death Penalty: A Necessary Deterrent or a Violation of Human Rights?
Climate Change Policies: Economic Hindrance or Long-term Investment?
Animal Testing in Medical Research: Ethical Consideration or Scientific Necessity?

These are the 200+ topics on various subjects, which you might find useful when creating your own. In case you need help aside from creating topics, you can also order the original research on Politics, Media & Communication, to do my Math homework , Law, and even Nursing papers for sale on nursing essay writing service Edubirdie.

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How to Choose a Good Research Paper Topic?

While it may seem challenging to come up with a good research paper topic as you try your best to narrow things down, the trick is to choose something that influences you because you know it well and can support your arguments with relevant evidence. When you write a research paper, the subject should be well-structured and relevant to your thesis statement. Always take time to research the list of sources to compose your topic sentences as well to make them relate to your thesis part. It’s always best to check a good research paper introduction example before you start working on the paper and choosing your topic, or contact our essay writing service for help. Conducting preliminary research is essential at this stage to gauge the availability of information and the feasibility of potential topics. Here are the steps to consider:

Start With Observing Your Interests.

If you are confused with a variety of interesting topics for writing a creative essay, it’s better to decide what interests you the most. Don’t stick to easy research paper topics just to complete the task fast. If you are allowed to freely choose what to write an essay about, use the opportunity to create something unique. Write down the list of your interests and break down every idea into small certain topics. When you have a list in front of your eyes, it will be easier to make up your mind and start considering a particular issue.

Then you should examine what aspect of the topic is preferable for you to outline in your research paper. A list will save you here again. Use pros/cons template to include all the arguments and objections to the issues.

Come Up With an Argumentative Research Question.

The most challenging part of choosing a competitive research paper topic is finding an aspect that poses some importance for your course and the subject per se. While it may seem that it is sufficient to make a general statement, your argumentation should include a clear research question. Consider asking yourself why you have chosen a particular topic and how your research will make it clearer or provide innovative solutions.

Study Available Research Topic Ideas.

Since we have already mentioned the dangers of choosing something too broad, it is vital to narrow things down and brainstorm the list of possible research paper ideas that deal with the same subject. In other words, you can write down at least five different subjects and see whether you can find sufficient information to support them with the sources or statistical data. Remember the importance of your topic’s wording!

Compose Strong Thesis Statement.

It must be done at the same time as you choose your research paper topic because these two concepts must be interconnected. Engaging with the writing process, including refining the topic, conducting thorough research, and developing a strong thesis statement, directly influences the overall effectiveness and enjoyment of crafting academic work. Make sure that you have the list of sources prepared in advance to incorporate relevant information in your body paragraphs. As always, they must be the supporting evidence for your thesis statement’s idea and the research purpose.

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David is one of those experienced content creators from the United Kingdom who has a high interest in social issues, culture, and entrepreneurship. He always says that reading, blogging, and staying aware of what happens in the world is what makes a person responsible. He likes to learn and share what he knows by making things inspiring and creative enough even for those students who dislike reading.

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Examples of Research Paper Topics in Different Study Areas

Posted by Rene Tetzner | Sep 19, 2021 | How To Get Published | 0 |

72 Examples of Research Paper Topics in 18 Different Study Areas The examples of research paper topics listed in this post range across disciplines and fields of study to help a wide range of academics, scientists and students choose and develop topics with true research potential that will prove engaging not only for those authors, but also for their readers. A topic of particular personal interest & relevance to the researcher & his or her life tends to make the research and writing processes more exciting and enjoyable. It can also be helpful to know a little about a topic in advance, but prior knowledge is never as important as a true passion for a topic.

The topic chosen for a research paper must be appropriate for the field of study and observe any specific guidelines or requirements associated with the intended paper. The editor of a literary journal, for instance, or the instructor of a literature course will want a paper exploring some aspect of literature, usually the literature of a particular period, genre, style or author, and the same kind of focus will also be required in other research areas. The length and scope of the paper as well as the time available to complete the research and writing should certainly be considered when choosing a topic, and it is always wise to preview recently published sources on a topic to determine how the topic has been treated in scholarship and whether there is enough material to enable the new research. Topics that are of concern to both specialists and more general readers tend to be particularly successful, so I have aimed for topics of this kind in the list below. Areas of interest appear in alphabetical order, and helpful tips are offered amidst the example topics.

ANIMALS & ANIMAL RIGHTS 1. Consider animal testing in relation to animal rights. Do the benefits of animal testing outweigh the suffering of laboratory animals or not? This topic could be wide and general or very closely focussed on one kind of animal or the testing that takes place in a single laboratory. 2. Should animals be used by humans as food? This could include a study of slaughterhouses and processing facilities and perhaps an argument for or against a vegetarian or vegan diet. 3. There should (or should not) be greater penalties for cruelty to animals. Specific instances and their legal ramifications could be described and discussed as meaningful case studies. 4. Is it right to use animals in sports and entertainment? Animals that become hunting trophies, captive cetaceans entertaining tourists, rodeo horses, circus elephants, animals in film, etc. – the possibilities for discussion are virtually endless. Tip: Always be sure to support whatever argument you pursue with convincing evidence acquired through sound research methods. Opinions and feelings may play a part in choosing a research topic and formulating ideas, but they are not enough on their own, no matter how strong or fashionable they may be.

ART & ART HISTORY 1. Art is (or is not) a vital aspect of a primary (or secondary) school education and should (or should not) be included in the curriculum. Discuss. Tip: Since most authors of research papers are well educated, this is the type of topic that could easily include evidence derived from the researcher’s own experiences, whether positive or negative. 2. The importance (or perhaps role) of illustrations in children’s books. A selection of different examples to compare and contrast or a close focus on a particular book, series or author would prove effective. Alternatively, the use of art in books written for adults could be considered. 3. Discuss a work of art in relation to a poem or story, a piece of music, a remarkable building or some other product of human creativity. This topic encourages an interdisciplinary approach that can be particularly interesting, but careful thought should be given to choosing the pieces for comparison. 4. Art history courses often define and describe art periods, styles, schools and the like, so exploring the characteristics, development or impact of any of those or of a particular artist makes a good topic. If specialised terminology is required for this topic, it should be carefully explained and used both accurately and consistently.

COMPUTERS & COMPUTER SCIENCE 1. Mac versus PC: which computer is better and why? Opinions tend to be strong and in many cases uninformed on this issue, which can be an important point for discussion, but it is essential in a research paper to investigate and discuss the facts about the two types of computer. 2. Do spell checkers, grammar checkers and autocorrect functions strengthen or weaken the writing skills of computer users? Consider more than one of these tools in the investigation. 3. Identify the next great development in computer science and discuss why you think it will be so very important. 4. What role or roles do you think artificial intelligence is now playing and/or will in the future play in human evolution?

ECONOMICS & BUSINESS STUDIES 1. Is the wealth of the world distributed equally among its people? What could be done to promote greater equality? 2. Consider the consequences of some aspect of salaries or pay that is currently in the news, such as early-career professionals working for free, promotions given without raises or unacceptably low minimum wages. 3. In what ways and to what degree do social media and networking sites function as instruments for business promotion? 4. Are large corporations able to break the law and get away with it in ways that small businesses and individuals cannot? Why or why not? Tip: Topic 4 here is the type of topic for which there may be far more opinions than actual facts available, so it is important to be especially careful about the quality of evidence used to support an argument.

EDUCATION & SCHOOLS 1. Explore the benefits and drawbacks of a ‘no child left behind’ educational policy. 2. Bullying occurs in the schools of many countries. How serious do you think the problem is in your area, and what, if anything, could be done to improve the situation? 3. Plagiarism is on the rise in modern universities, yet many accused students appear not to understand their error. Explore the concept of plagiarism in the twenty-first century and discuss its consequences. 4. Does religion have a valid place in public schools? If so, what might its role be? If not, why not?

ENGLISH LITERATURE 1. Compare and contrast two different literary texts or the writing of two different authors. Consider a number of aspects such as genre, style, character development, metaphor, imagery and word play in examining and discussing the texts. Tip: Comparing and contrasting two or more things, events or problems in a research paper can be a useful approach for initiating and focussing an investigation. The secret to success is to choose the items for comparison with care and to narrow the topic as much as necessary for the intended paper. 2. Discuss the role, suppression and/or rediscovery of pre-twentieth-century women authors in the English literary canon as it is usually taught in schools. 3. Investigate and discuss the sophisticated use of irony to establish character and communicate potentially unwelcome concepts to readers in the writing of a major author such as Chaucer, Shakespeare or Dickens. 4. Does quality literature have a positive effect on society? Does it make readers wiser, more perceptive, more empathetic or perhaps better writers? Views can be supported with both personal and research-based evidence.

ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES & GLOBAL WARMING 1. Is global warming a reality or a hoax? If it really is happening, what are the primary causes? Can humanity make a difference? 2. Oil and mineral exploration has recently taken place in and very close to wildlife reserves and national parks. Consider whether this should be allowed or not. 3. Investigate power sources in your region or country. Are they environmentally sound? What sources of alternate energy might be especially well suited to the area and why? 4. Learn all you can about an endangered wildlife species or group in your locality. Consider the current state of the animals, the reasons why they have become endangered and the actions that have been used and could be used to increase their chances of survival. Tip: A great deal of propaganda is generated around certain issues of current concern, and environmental matters are certainly among them. It is therefore imperative to look for the signs of authoritative scientific reporting as you conduct your research and to be both specific and precise in discussing subjects and events.

FAMILIES, FOOD & NUTRITION 1. Explore the relationship between nutrition and family health. This topic could easily be narrowed to focus, for instance, on breastfeeding and baby health or perhaps the health and social benefits of a family sitting down together over a home-cooked meal. 2. How have fast-food restaurants affected family nutrition and health? Should the menus of such restaurants be regulated? 3. Investigate local family farms and food producers in your area to determine how much of your diet could be acquired from these sources. What would be missing? Would an attempt to purchase as much of your food from local sources as possible result in changes to your diet? 4. Should parents be able to spank their children? Why or why not?

HEALTH & MEDICINE 1. Explore one of the health problems that currently pose particular challenges for humanity and are under intense investigation in the published scholarship: depression, Alzheimer’s, cancer, AIDS and autism are good examples. Consider how the condition affects individuals and society and what might be done to alleviate suffering and cost. 2. Study a group of teenagers under treatment for depression to discover common predictors of the disease and suggest how this information could help in the prevention of teenage depression. Tip: As the first two topics here indicate, when writing a research paper about human health an author should usually dedicate part of the discussion to improving the lives of the people under investigation. 3. Do the benefits of vaccinating children outweigh the risks? Consider different types of vaccinations, the frequency and nature of complications, and the risks to society. 4. Should healthcare and medication be available free of charge to all people? Why or why not?

HISTORY 1. Investigate and discuss the importance of a major historical event, such as the first moon landing or the assassination of J.F. Kennedy, of some decisive battle or war, such as the Battle of Hastings or the American Civil War, or of some revolutionary document, such as Magna Carta or the Declaration of Independence. Why was it so very important? 2. Did Columbus really ‘discover’ America first? Consider other voyagers – the Vikings and Chinese, for instance – as well as native populations. 3. Explore the role and importance of salt in world history. This topic could be productively narrowed to focus on a particular region or period. 4. Learn about a historical individual, family or group through their books. The extensive devotional library of a twelfth-century monastery, the single anthology of romances owned by a fifteenth-century merchant family or the esoteric book collection cherished by a renaissance scholar could be considered in terms of content and examined for reader responses. The possibilities are endless as long as the books can be firmly connected with their historical readers.

THE INTERNET 1. Has the internet affected the ways in which academic and scientific research is published and made available to readers? Consider factors such as open access, publisher paywalls, article retractions and scholarly blogs. 2. Does frequent use of the internet enhance or undermine a child’s health, development, education and/or social skills? Consider what children are doing online as well as what they might be doing were they not online. 3. How big an issue is online security or cyber security as far as you are concerned? What makes you feel safe and secure about your online activities? What might make you feel safer? 4. Examine one or more of the major problems associated with the internet such as child pornography, erroneous information or copyright infringement. Are there effective ways to prevent or eliminate such problems?

LAW 1. Look into the incarceration rates in your country. Are they higher or lower than the rates in other countries? Can you detect a reason for any significant differences? Do you think incarceration is an effective solution for managing crime and promoting the rehabilitation of criminals? 2. Gun control has been an issue of hot debate in recent years. Consider a variety of perspectives as you argue your view of the matter. 3. Should people be legally able to take their own lives when they are suffering from a debilitating terminal disease? Discuss. 4. Despite negative publicity and dire consequences, drivers continue to text while operating vehicles. Why do you think this happens and what would be the most effective way to prevent the problem?

MARKETING & COMMUNICATIONS 1. Marketing invades nearly every aspect of modern life. Based on your own experience and that of friends and family, do you think the impact of these impersonal communications is predominantly positive or negative? 2. What kind of regulations or limitations apply to marketing products to children in your country or region? Are they appropriate, inadequate or excessive? 3. Discuss the pros and cons of outsourcing customer services. Comparing the views of customers with that of businesses will no doubt prove enlightening. 4. Has all the communicating we do via text messaging, email, social media, blog sites and professional online platforms improved our ability to communicate in person? Be sure to share your reasoning and support your viewpoint.

POLITICS 1. Investigate and discuss the unique nature of the Trump presidency and its implications both within the United States and beyond. Tip: For many research paper topics, including the one above, it is essential to recognise your own national and political perspective (Republican American, Liberal Canadian, etc.), to achieve some level of objectivity and to support your argument with research-based evidence. 2. Examine the conditions and forces associated with the rise of Nazi Germany. Was WWII inevitable? The focus of this topic could be shifted to any major war, such as WWI, the Battle of Hastings or the American Civil War. Discussion of a war’s aftermath can be of interest as well. 3. An enormous amount of money is spent on political advertising during election campaigns, which usually leaves neighbourhoods cluttered with flyers and posters. Is this a legitimate expense? Should parties be responsible for cleaning up the litter after a campaign? 4. Choose a significant political scandal or event that has recently occurred in your country or region and discuss how it began or occurred, how news of it was spread and how it affected individuals and society in the area.

RELIGION & BELIEFS 1. Are dreams meaningful or simply games of the sleeping mind? Research a variety of perspectives on the matter and consider the possible functions and causes of dreams such as prophecy, therapy, eating before bed or falling asleep in an anxious or troubled state. 2. Why are religious cults so appealing and powerful? Consider individual cases in your discussion. 3. Does the regular attendance of citizens at formal religious services have an impact on crime in a region? This topic could be narrowed by choosing a specific type of crime or focussing on children, teenagers or families. 4. Education rather than indoctrination is an ideal for the role of religion in schools. How might this ideal be achieved? Tip: When discussing religion and beliefs, be sure to avoid unsubstantiated value judgements. Instead, base your interpretations firmly on the evidence gleaned from sound research practices.

SOCIOLOGY & SOCIAL CONCERNS 1. Should parents be allowed to engineer designer babies? Different situations and reasons for genetic manipulation should be considered along with a variety of perspectives on the matter. 2. The successful settlement of immigrants in a new country often depends upon the social services immediately available to them. What sort of financial, medical and educational assistance does your country provide for immigrants and refugees when they arrive? Should more or less be provided? 3. Terrorism creates a fear culture that can become a society’s own unintentional terrorist. Explore and discuss how this is true or false of the effects of terrorism in the twenty-first century. 4. Discuss gay rights in relation to your own community. Consider whether gay marriage is permitted, whether gay couples can adopt children, whether gay individuals are welcome at religious services and social events, whether gay pride is publicly displayed and other telltale signs. Could the situation be better?

TECHNOLOGY & INDUSTRIALISATION 1. How did the steel sword, the long bow, gunpowder, airplanes, biological warfare or the atomic bomb change the nature of warfare forever? The focus could be on one of these technological developments or two or more could be compared in a single paper. 2. Investigate how home computers, tablets and smart phones have changed human beings, their behaviours and their culture. Be sure to consult published scholarship on the topic as well as your own experience. Tip: The first of the topics above focuses on historical impacts, whereas the second investigates a current impact, but both should be approached in a research paper context with an equally formal and objective perspective. 3. Railroads and trains have been identified as primary forces in the exploitation, settlement and industrialisation of countries and continents. How is this true or not of your homeland? 4. How has the use of fossil fuels shaped the modern world? This topic could be narrowed to focus on a particular or local area or on one major effect of the predominance of fossil fuels, such as pollution from oil spills or the slow development of alternate energy sources.

WOMEN’S STUDIES 1. Many young women suffer from anorexia and bulimia. Learn all you can about these eating disorders, their causes and their symptoms. How significant is the impact and what might improve the situation? 2. Investigate a major event or development in women’s history, such as the suffrage movement, the admission of women to institutes of higher education, the Salem witch trials or the legalisation of birth control or abortion. What were the immediate and lasting implications of the event or development? 3. Women still tend to earn less money than men for performing the same jobs and duties. Consider specific examples as you discuss why this is the case and suggest how the problem might be realistically remedied. 4. Do beauty contests empower or objectify women? This topic might be shifted to focus instead on female strippers, nude centrefolds or the women who act in pornographic films.

Tip: When writing about research of the kind outlined in the last topic here, do remember to be tactful and professional when presenting evidence. The point is to persuade, not offend your readers.

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Summary This post provides seventy-two examples of engaging research paper topics arranged in eighteen different study areas

Examples of Research Paper Topics

About the author.

Rene Tetzner

Rene Tetzner's blog posts dedicated to academic and scientific writing and publishing. Although the focus is on publishing research papers in peer-reviewed journals, many other important aspects of research-based writing, editing and publishing are addressed in helpful detail.

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For additional free resources (such as article summaries, podcasts, and more), please visit the Highlights in Psychological Research page.

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Moving While Black: Intergroup Attitudes Influence Judgments of Speed (PDF, 71KB) Journal of Experimental Psychology: General February 2016 by Andreana C. Kenrick, Stacey Sinclair, Jennifer Richeson, Sara C. Verosky, and Janetta Lun
Recognition Without Awareness: Encoding and Retrieval Factors (PDF, 116KB) Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition September 2015 by Fergus I. M. Craik, Nathan S. Rose, and Nigel Gopie
The Tip-of-the-Tongue Heuristic: How Tip-of-the-Tongue States Confer Perceptibility on Inaccessible Words (PDF, 91KB) Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition September 2015 by Anne M. Cleary and Alexander B. Claxton
Cognitive Processes in the Breakfast Task: Planning and Monitoring (PDF, 146KB) Canadian Journal of Experimental Psychology / Revue canadienne de psychologie expérimentale September 2015 by Nathan S. Rose, Lin Luo, Ellen Bialystok, Alexandra Hering, Karen Lau, and Fergus I. M. Craik
Searching for Explanations: How the Internet Inflates Estimates of Internal Knowledge (PDF, 138KB) Journal of Experimental Psychology: General June 2015 by Matthew Fisher, Mariel K. Goddu, and Frank C. Keil
Client Perceptions of Corrective Experiences in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and Motivational Interviewing for Generalized Anxiety Disorder: An Exploratory Pilot Study (PDF, 62KB) Journal of Psychotherapy Integration March 2017 by Jasmine Khattra, Lynne Angus, Henny Westra, Christianne Macaulay, Kathrin Moertl, and Michael Constantino
Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder Developmental Trajectories Related to Parental Expressed Emotion (PDF, 160KB) Journal of Abnormal Psychology February 2016 by Erica D. Musser, Sarah L. Karalunas, Nathan Dieckmann, Tara S. Peris, and Joel T. Nigg
The Integrated Scientist-Practitioner: A New Model for Combining Research and Clinical Practice in Fee-For-Service Settings (PDF, 58KB) Professional Psychology: Research and Practice December 2015 by Jenna T. LeJeune and Jason B. Luoma
Psychotherapists as Gatekeepers: An Evidence-Based Case Study Highlighting the Role and Process of Letter Writing for Transgender Clients (PDF, 76KB) Psychotherapy September 2015 by Stephanie L. Budge
Perspectives of Family and Veterans on Family Programs to Support Reintegration of Returning Veterans With Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PDF, 70KB) Psychological Services August 2015 by Ellen P. Fischer, Michelle D. Sherman, Jean C. McSweeney, Jeffrey M. Pyne, Richard R. Owen, and Lisa B. Dixon
"So What Are You?": Inappropriate Interview Questions for Psychology Doctoral and Internship Applicants (PDF, 79KB) Training and Education in Professional Psychology May 2015 by Mike C. Parent, Dana A. Weiser, and Andrea McCourt
Cultural Competence as a Core Emphasis of Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy (PDF, 81KB) Psychoanalytic Psychology April 2015 by Pratyusha Tummala-Narra
The Role of Gratitude in Spiritual Well-Being in Asymptomatic Heart Failure Patients (PDF, 123KB) Spirituality in Clinical Practice March 2015 by Paul J. Mills, Laura Redwine, Kathleen Wilson, Meredith A. Pung, Kelly Chinh, Barry H. Greenberg, Ottar Lunde, Alan Maisel, Ajit Raisinghani, Alex Wood, and Deepak Chopra
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150 Research Paper Topics

Whether you’re in high school or college, there will come a time when you’ll be required to write a research paper. For many students, writing a research paper can be a challenging task.

Writing the research paper might seem like it’s the hardest part of the entire paper, but for many students, it’s picking out what topic to write about.

If you’re having a difficult time figuring out what topic to write your research paper about, we’ve compiled a list of 150 topics for you to choose from!

How to Choose a Topic for a Research Paper

Pick a few areas or topics that you’re interested in and narrow it down to the topic that you like the best. You’ll be able to put together an insightful paper if you’re interested in the topic you chose.
Make sure you have enough references for your topic. Doing a quick search will help you see if your topic is discussed enough for you to do research.
Make sure your topic fits within your teacher’s guidelines. Your teacher may have set restrictions on certain topics or even requirements that they may want in your paper.

Health Topics

How can lifestyle habits influence overall health?
How does breastfeeding improve the infant’s health?
Reasons why the flu virus is different from year to year.
Different types of stem cells and their usage.
Sleep disorders’ impact on the overall health condition.
The healthiest diet does not exist.
Stop smoking to improve mental health.
Why are carbs bad for people who are insulin resistant?
Why is the skin on a face more sensitive to breakouts and touch than on any other part of the body?
Low carbohydrate vs. low-fat diets.

Science Topics

How has the earth’s climate changed in the past few decades?
What are the pros and cons of fracking?
Should the US rely on nuclear energy more?
How are black holes created?
Why is “dark matter” important?
Is global warming a hoax? Is it being exaggerated?
What are the main sources of marine pollution?
Endangered species – How can we preserve them?
What did you do to make the world a better place?
What have NASA’s biggest successes and failures been?

Psychology Topics

What Are Psychological Effects of Technology Addiction?
What Causes Eating Disorders?
How Do Certain People Become Leaders?
How Important Is Love for the Child’s Development?
How Does Lack of Sleep Affect Our Mental Health?
Insomnia and its Effects on Human Health.
Physical and Mental Violence on Children and Domestic Abuse.
How dangerous are eating disorders?
Post-traumatic stress syndrome.
What causes depression?

Ethics Topics

How and why have divorce rates changed over time?
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?
Importance of following ethics in psychological research.

Social Media Topics

Are social networks making us lonely and unsociable?
How to protect children online?
Is there such a thing as social media addiction?
Who are world-famous influencers on social media?
Does social media affect our relationships?
Are teens who spend more time on social media more likely to suffer anxiety and/or depression?
Has social media made people more or less connected?
How does social media influence interpersonal communication?
How can one defend privacy issues on Facebook and other social media?
Impacts of social media on youth.

Legal Issues Topics

Should marijuana be legalized at the national level?
Should there be a law preventing cyber-bullying?
What can be done to improve family law?
What countries have the worst legal systems?
What countries have the best legal systems?
What are the main flaws of the legal system in the USA?
Does police brutality contribute to the onset of hate crimes?
Why should the minimum legal drinking age be kept at eighteen years?
Does drug legalization contribute to the increased crime rate?
How do torrenting sites influence creativity and copyright?

Technology Topics

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?
What are some advances in technology related to medicine?
Can everything be solar powered?
How is text messaging affecting teen literacy?
How can technology help in preventing terrorist attacks?

Government Topics

Several states have legalized recreational marijuana. What positive and negative impacts have they experienced as a result?
Has the increase in US airport security made passengers safer?
Should the federal government be allowed to regulate information on the internet?
Should the United States of America reform its Immigration policies?
Which prison reforms have proven most effective?

Education Topics

Do students from wealthier backgrounds score higher on standardized tests?
How does giving each student access to an iPad or laptop affect their studies?
Do children who attend preschool do better in school later on?
What impact does mandatory physical education classes have on students’ health?
Which methods are most effective at reducing bullying in schools?
How does college debt affect future life choices of students?
E-Learning at home VS traditional education.
The Effectiveness and Flaws of the No Child Left Behind Act.
General tests and their effectiveness in various institutions.
How to encourage students to study what they are passionate about?

Business Topics

How has business etiquette changed in the past few years?
Features that define a true business leader.
Things that make young startups fail during the first couple of years.
Does franchising make it easier to run a business?
Pros & cons of outsourcing services.

Sports Topics

Importance of physical exercise in school.
Is cheerleading a sport?
Do sports influence an individual’s emotional well-being?
Safest exercises for students with disabilities.
Collaboration on a sports field. What is the most effective communication strategy among sports team members?
Differences in the Italian Renaissance and Northern Renaissance.
Impacts famous artists had on the world.
The art of Ancient Egypt.
Censorship in art.
Analyze the impact a famous artist had on the world.

Entertainment Topics

Are violent video games really to blame for problems in children’s behavior?
Are beauty contests making beauty standards even more unachievable?
Are modern media gradually replacing newspapers?
Reasons why we cannot do without the mass media.
Compare and contrast the benefits of mass media to society.
How have shows like “Project Runway” influenced fashion? Have they motivated people to become more creative and personal in what they wear?
Are newspapers going extinct?
Do TV shows impose unreal moral standards?
Women competing against men: is it really fair?
How fake moral standards are imposed by television

Current Events Topics

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?
Is the U.S. economy becoming stronger or weaker?
Is there a better way to fight the war against drugs internationally?
Can Bitcoin really become the currency of the future in America?
Preventing police brutality: history and what citizens can do.
History of the electoral college system of voting.

History Topics

What events led to the fall of the Roman Empire?
Was the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki necessary?
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 Factors Caused the Stock Market Crash in 1929?
What Were the Social Consequences of the Vietnam War?
What Is the Role of Women in the Military?

Physics and Astronomy Topics

What Is Pluto if It’s not a Planet?
Can We Determine How Old the Universe Is?
What Are Dark Holes?
Could People Survive on Mars?
Is Space Exploration Really Necessary?
Can We Prevent a Large Comet from Striking the Earth?
What are the physics behind the creation of rainbows?
The importance of robots in industries.
The evolution of the self-driving car and its impact on the economy.
The role of physics in the healthcare industry.

Animals Topics

Do animals express love?
Is animal testing a kind of animal cruelty?
Should environments be protected if endangered species live there?
How have humans bred domestic animals to be different from their original wild counterparts?
What is the current genetic and fossil evidence that chickens, dogs, and other domestic animals were much different even a few hundred years ago?

Medical Topics

The use of medical marijuana: pros and cons
Is it safe for children to be vegetarians?
How the society views on vaccines change
Can pharmaceutical companies advertise prescription drugs directly to buyers?
The role of doctors in the growing nation’s drug addiction
How many treatments to Autism are there?
How is ageism impacting mental health and addictions?
What are the pros and cons of antipsychotics?
Should alternative medicine be legalized?
Is the relationship between the FDA and the pharmaceutical industry a good one?

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The Causes and Consequences of U.S. Teacher Strikes

The U.S. has witnessed a resurgence of labor activism, with teachers at the forefront. We examine how teacher strikes affect compensation, working conditions, and productivity with an original dataset of 772 teacher strikes generating 48 million student days idle between 2007 and 2023. Using an event study framework, we find that, on average, strikes increase compensation by 8% and lower pupil-teacher ratios by 0.5 students, driven by new state revenues. We find little evidence of sizable impacts on student achievement up to five years post-strike, though strikes lasting 10 or more days decrease math achievement in the short-term.

Correspondence regarding the manuscript can be sent to Melissa Arnold Lyon: Rockefeller College of Public Affairs and Policy, University at Albany, 135 Western Avenue, Albany, NY 12222 ([email protected]). We are very grateful for research assistance from Zoe Beckman, Eunice Chong, Summer Dai, Stephanie Tu, Sarah Newberger, Hyesang Noh, Adam Shephardson, and Natalie Truong. This research also benefited immensely from the helpful feedback of Jesse Bruhn, Jake Rosenfeld, Sarah Anzia, and the seminar participants at Michigan State University, the 2023 APSA Comparative Labor Politics Workshop, and the 2023 APSA and 2022 AEFP Annual Meetings. This research was supported by a NAEd/Spencer Postdoctoral Fellowship awarded to Lyon. This research was completed before Matthew Kraft joined the Council of Economic Advisers as a senior economist in July of 2024. The views expressed herein are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Bureau of Economic Research.

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How to Write and Publish a Research Paper for a Peer-Reviewed Journal

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Published: 30 April 2020
Volume 36 , pages 909–913, ( 2021 )

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Clara Busse ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-0178-1000 1 &
Ella August ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0001-5151-1036 1 , 2

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Communicating research findings is an essential step in the research process. Often, peer-reviewed journals are the forum for such communication, yet many researchers are never taught how to write a publishable scientific paper. In this article, we explain the basic structure of a scientific paper and describe the information that should be included in each section. We also identify common pitfalls for each section and recommend strategies to avoid them. Further, we give advice about target journal selection and authorship. In the online resource 1 , we provide an example of a high-quality scientific paper, with annotations identifying the elements we describe in this article.

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Introduction

Writing a scientific paper is an important component of the research process, yet researchers often receive little formal training in scientific writing. This is especially true in low-resource settings. In this article, we explain why choosing a target journal is important, give advice about authorship, provide a basic structure for writing each section of a scientific paper, and describe common pitfalls and recommendations for each section. In the online resource 1 , we also include an annotated journal article that identifies the key elements and writing approaches that we detail here. Before you begin your research, make sure you have ethical clearance from all relevant ethical review boards.

Select a Target Journal Early in the Writing Process

We recommend that you select a “target journal” early in the writing process; a “target journal” is the journal to which you plan to submit your paper. Each journal has a set of core readers and you should tailor your writing to this readership. For example, if you plan to submit a manuscript about vaping during pregnancy to a pregnancy-focused journal, you will need to explain what vaping is because readers of this journal may not have a background in this topic. However, if you were to submit that same article to a tobacco journal, you would not need to provide as much background information about vaping.

Information about a journal’s core readership can be found on its website, usually in a section called “About this journal” or something similar. For example, the Journal of Cancer Education presents such information on the “Aims and Scope” page of its website, which can be found here: https://www.springer.com/journal/13187/aims-and-scope .

Peer reviewer guidelines from your target journal are an additional resource that can help you tailor your writing to the journal and provide additional advice about crafting an effective article [ 1 ]. These are not always available, but it is worth a quick web search to find out.

Identify Author Roles Early in the Process

Early in the writing process, identify authors, determine the order of authors, and discuss the responsibilities of each author. Standard author responsibilities have been identified by The International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) [ 2 ]. To set clear expectations about each team member’s responsibilities and prevent errors in communication, we also suggest outlining more detailed roles, such as who will draft each section of the manuscript, write the abstract, submit the paper electronically, serve as corresponding author, and write the cover letter. It is best to formalize this agreement in writing after discussing it, circulating the document to the author team for approval. We suggest creating a title page on which all authors are listed in the agreed-upon order. It may be necessary to adjust authorship roles and order during the development of the paper. If a new author order is agreed upon, be sure to update the title page in the manuscript draft.

In the case where multiple papers will result from a single study, authors should discuss who will author each paper. Additionally, authors should agree on a deadline for each paper and the lead author should take responsibility for producing an initial draft by this deadline.

Structure of the Introduction Section

The introduction section should be approximately three to five paragraphs in length. Look at examples from your target journal to decide the appropriate length. This section should include the elements shown in Fig. 1 . Begin with a general context, narrowing to the specific focus of the paper. Include five main elements: why your research is important, what is already known about the topic, the “gap” or what is not yet known about the topic, why it is important to learn the new information that your research adds, and the specific research aim(s) that your paper addresses. Your research aim should address the gap you identified. Be sure to add enough background information to enable readers to understand your study. Table 1 provides common introduction section pitfalls and recommendations for addressing them.

The main elements of the introduction section of an original research article. Often, the elements overlap

Methods Section

The purpose of the methods section is twofold: to explain how the study was done in enough detail to enable its replication and to provide enough contextual detail to enable readers to understand and interpret the results. In general, the essential elements of a methods section are the following: a description of the setting and participants, the study design and timing, the recruitment and sampling, the data collection process, the dataset, the dependent and independent variables, the covariates, the analytic approach for each research objective, and the ethical approval. The hallmark of an exemplary methods section is the justification of why each method was used. Table 2 provides common methods section pitfalls and recommendations for addressing them.

Results Section

The focus of the results section should be associations, or lack thereof, rather than statistical tests. Two considerations should guide your writing here. First, the results should present answers to each part of the research aim. Second, return to the methods section to ensure that the analysis and variables for each result have been explained.

Begin the results section by describing the number of participants in the final sample and details such as the number who were approached to participate, the proportion who were eligible and who enrolled, and the number of participants who dropped out. The next part of the results should describe the participant characteristics. After that, you may organize your results by the aim or by putting the most exciting results first. Do not forget to report your non-significant associations. These are still findings.

Tables and figures capture the reader’s attention and efficiently communicate your main findings [ 3 ]. Each table and figure should have a clear message and should complement, rather than repeat, the text. Tables and figures should communicate all salient details necessary for a reader to understand the findings without consulting the text. Include information on comparisons and tests, as well as information about the sample and timing of the study in the title, legend, or in a footnote. Note that figures are often more visually interesting than tables, so if it is feasible to make a figure, make a figure. To avoid confusing the reader, either avoid abbreviations in tables and figures, or define them in a footnote. Note that there should not be citations in the results section and you should not interpret results here. Table 3 provides common results section pitfalls and recommendations for addressing them.

Discussion Section

Opposite the introduction section, the discussion should take the form of a right-side-up triangle beginning with interpretation of your results and moving to general implications (Fig. 2 ). This section typically begins with a restatement of the main findings, which can usually be accomplished with a few carefully-crafted sentences.

Major elements of the discussion section of an original research article. Often, the elements overlap

Next, interpret the meaning or explain the significance of your results, lifting the reader’s gaze from the study’s specific findings to more general applications. Then, compare these study findings with other research. Are these findings in agreement or disagreement with those from other studies? Does this study impart additional nuance to well-accepted theories? Situate your findings within the broader context of scientific literature, then explain the pathways or mechanisms that might give rise to, or explain, the results.

Journals vary in their approach to strengths and limitations sections: some are embedded paragraphs within the discussion section, while some mandate separate section headings. Keep in mind that every study has strengths and limitations. Candidly reporting yours helps readers to correctly interpret your research findings.

The next element of the discussion is a summary of the potential impacts and applications of the research. Should these results be used to optimally design an intervention? Does the work have implications for clinical protocols or public policy? These considerations will help the reader to further grasp the possible impacts of the presented work.

Finally, the discussion should conclude with specific suggestions for future work. Here, you have an opportunity to illuminate specific gaps in the literature that compel further study. Avoid the phrase “future research is necessary” because the recommendation is too general to be helpful to readers. Instead, provide substantive and specific recommendations for future studies. Table 4 provides common discussion section pitfalls and recommendations for addressing them.

Follow the Journal’s Author Guidelines

After you select a target journal, identify the journal’s author guidelines to guide the formatting of your manuscript and references. Author guidelines will often (but not always) include instructions for titles, cover letters, and other components of a manuscript submission. Read the guidelines carefully. If you do not follow the guidelines, your article will be sent back to you.

Finally, do not submit your paper to more than one journal at a time. Even if this is not explicitly stated in the author guidelines of your target journal, it is considered inappropriate and unprofessional.

Your title should invite readers to continue reading beyond the first page [ 4 , 5 ]. It should be informative and interesting. Consider describing the independent and dependent variables, the population and setting, the study design, the timing, and even the main result in your title. Because the focus of the paper can change as you write and revise, we recommend you wait until you have finished writing your paper before composing the title.

Be sure that the title is useful for potential readers searching for your topic. The keywords you select should complement those in your title to maximize the likelihood that a researcher will find your paper through a database search. Avoid using abbreviations in your title unless they are very well known, such as SNP, because it is more likely that someone will use a complete word rather than an abbreviation as a search term to help readers find your paper.

After you have written a complete draft, use the checklist (Fig. 3 ) below to guide your revisions and editing. Additional resources are available on writing the abstract and citing references [ 5 ]. When you feel that your work is ready, ask a trusted colleague or two to read the work and provide informal feedback. The box below provides a checklist that summarizes the key points offered in this article.

Checklist for manuscript quality

Data Availability

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Brett M, Kording K (2017) Ten simple rules for structuring papers. PLoS ComputBiol. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pcbi.1005619

Lang TA (2017) Writing a better research article. J Public Health Emerg. https://doi.org/10.21037/jphe.2017.11.06

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Acknowledgments

Ella August is grateful to the Sustainable Sciences Institute for mentoring her in training researchers on writing and publishing their research.

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Busse, C., August, E. How to Write and Publish a Research Paper for a Peer-Reviewed Journal. J Canc Educ 36 , 909–913 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13187-020-01751-z

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Published : 30 April 2020

Issue Date : October 2021

DOI : https://doi.org/10.1007/s13187-020-01751-z

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Insights from 20 years (2004–2023) of supply chain disruption research: trends and future directions based on a bibliometric analysis.

1. Introduction

2. literature review, 3. materials and methods, 3.1. sample creation.

Only papers published in international journals were retrieved, while other types of publications were not considered;
Similarly, only papers written in English were considered.
The paper’s metadata: authors, journal, bibliographic data, publication year, document title, and document type (article vs. review);
The authors’ keywords;
The publication option (traditional vs. open access);
Funding information.

3.2. Descriptive Analyses

3.3. keyword analysis and trend.

Authors often use slightly different terms to express the same concept. This is the case for singular or plural forms, British or American spelling of words, usage of capital letters/lower case letters, usage of hyphenation, or abbreviations (e.g., COVID vs. Coronavirus);
Acronyms can sometimes be used as keywords instead of the full text.
Well-established (‘core’), with high frequency and high persistence. They are expected to denote themes that have long been studied by many authors in the field;
Intermittent, with low frequency and high persistence. Terms in this category denote themes that have been known for many years, but have been studied with low continuity;
Phantom/emerging, with low frequency and low persistence. These topics could be relatively new to the research field or could describe themes that have progressively disappeared;
Trendy, with high frequency and low persistence. These topics are relatively new but have already attracted the attention of many researchers.
The subset of keywords that were observed in all periods of analysis, as these terms are expected to reflect relevant themes to the selected field of research. For those terms, their classification across the four periods was mapped, so as to delineate a trend in the interest toward the specific theme;
The subset of keywords with a minimum frequency of 30, thus indicating a high recurrence of the related topics in the targeted field of research. These keywords were first grouped by macro-areas; then, their trend in time was evaluated jointly with that of some core topics of the targeted field of research to identify possible correlations.

4.1. Descriptive Analyses

4.2. keyword analysis and trend.

Query-related terms: as the query settings expressively included terms such as “supply chain” and “disruption”, these terms (and their combination “supply chain disruption”) were grouped in a single query-related category;
COVID-relates terms: this category includes the terms “COVID-19” and “COVID-19 pandemic”;
Disruption-related terms: these terms are semantically related to the topic of “disruption”, which, however, is not necessarily used as a keyword. Those terms are supply disruption; pandemic; disruption risk; disruption management; uncertainty; ripple effect; demand disruption; and disaster;
Risk- or resilience-related terms: this category includes terms that were not used in the query settings but that appear to be related to the more general theme of risk management or resilience, whose relationship with supply chain disruptions is obvious. These terms include (supply chain) resilience, (supply chain) risk management, (supply chain) risk, robustness; resilient supply chain, supply risk, reliability, risk assessment; or vulnerability;
Supply chain-related terms: as per the classification made previously, these terms do not strictly refer to disruptions, but to more general problems in the area of supply chain or supply chain management. These terms include supply chain management, supplier selection, logistics, supply chain design, supply chain network, global supply chain, supply chain network design, collaboration, supply chain coordination, or inventory management;
Sustainability-related terms: the sustainability perspective includes four terms, namely sustainability, closed-loop supply chain, climate change, and circular economy;
Technology-related terms: this category includes terms such as Industry 4.0, artificial intelligence, machine learning, additive manufacturing, or blockchain;
Tools and methodologies: this group of terms includes typical engineering tools and techniques, such as simulation, game theory, (robust) optimization, stochastic programming, system dynamics, case study, or multi-criteria decision making;
Interrelated topics: terms in this category do not strictly refer to the area of supply chain disruptions, nor the more general area of risk or supply chain management. Rather, they introduce complementary topics, such as food security, food supply chain, small and medium enterprises, innovation, agility, or systematic review.

5. Discussion

6. conclusions, supplementary materials, author contributions, institutional review board statement, informed consent statement, data availability statement, conflicts of interest.

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Reference	Number of Papers	Period	Main Topic
[ ]	101	2006–2019	Supply chain resilience in Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SME)
[ ]	46	2012–2022	Supply chain resilience in SMEs in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic
[ ]	517	2020–2022	Trends in sustainability during and post the COVID-19 pandemic
[ ]	151	2004–2021	Coordination issues in the return supply chain
[ ]	40	2002–2021	Identification of key drivers for supply chain digitalization readiness
[ ]	35	2020–2022	Resilience strategies for disruption management in healthcare supply chains during the COVID-19 pandemic
[ ]	191	2019–2021	Effects of COVID-19 on the supply chain management
[ ]	52	2017–2022	Resilience practices in healthcare supply chain management, with a focus on purchasing challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic
[ ]	68	2009–2020	Artificial Intelligence and Big Data Analytics in Supply Chain Risk Management
[ ]	50	2011–2020	Ripple effect in supply chains
[ ]	50	2020–2021	Supply chains under disruptions due to COVID-19 pandemic, with a focus on the production and distribution of COVID-19 vaccine
[ ]	135	2011–2021	Practice and research gaps related to supply chains, and what characteristics should a supply chain have to be survivable
[ ]	33	2011–2020	Contribution of Industry 4.0 integration into supply chains to the enhancement of resilience
[ ]	469	2020–2021	Potential disruption-management strategies during the COVID-19 pandemic
[ ]	87	2006–2021	Impacts of additive manufacturing on the structure and dynamics of supply chains
[ ]	173	2009–2021	Main impacts of pandemics and epidemics on food supply chains and policies that can minimize these impacts
[ ]	147	2019–2021	How smart city solutions and technologies have contributed to enhancing resilience in cities during the COVID-19 pandemic
[ ]	68	2019–2021	COVID-19 impact on livestock systems and food security in developing countries
[ ]	62	2020	Delays and disruptions to cancer health care services due to COVID-19 pandemic
[ ]	112	2020–2021	How technology has tackled food supply chain challenges related to quality, safety, and sustainability
[ ]	192	2017–2020	Potential of blockchain for privacy and security challenges related to supply chain disruptions
[ ]	32	2010–2020	Impacts on the business environment of supply chains of previous epidemic outbreaks
[ ]	455	2010–2019	Supply chain risk management: review of the existing literature and exploration of risk factors
[ ]	53	2000–2020	Integration of lean and resilience paradigms
[ ]	306	n.d.–2020	Inventory models with multiple sourcing options
[ ]	2402	2008–2020	Integration of sustainable supply chain management with organizational ambidexterity to manage disruptions effectively
[ ]	77	2004–2018	Review of the methods that are currently used for mitigating supply chain disruptions
[ ]	1310	1999–2019	Disruption risks in supply chain management
[ ]	55	2004–2018	Use of information technology in supply chain risk management
[ ]	157	2000–2019	How collaborations help supply chains respond and recover from a disruption
[ ]	93	2008–2015	Review of simulation methods that deal with risks in supply chain and types of data integration employed
[ ]	27	2009–2020	Psychological causes of panic buying
[ ]	94	2017–2019	Resilience analytics in supply chain management and modeling of the supply chain network dependence on other networks
[ ]	77	2010–2019	Use of machine learning algorithms for demand forecasting
[ ]	1625	2009–2018	Analysis of the most adopted theories in supply chain management, marketing and management
[ ]	200	n.d.–2017	Multidisciplinary review about the concepts of agility and resilience
[ ]	54	2000–2018	Analysis of resilience focusing on upstream disruptions in agricultural value chains
[ ]	27	2008–2018	Use of blockchain in supply chain management context
[ ]	41	1997–2017	Cyber risk management in supply chain contexts
[ ]	689	2010–2018	Research themes on IoT and big data analytics in the field of supply chain management
This study	4239	2004–2023	Supply chain disruptions

	2004–2008	2009–2013	2014–2018	2019–2023
Number of keywords	251	847	1746	6687
Average frequency	1.63	1.68	1.87	2.36
Frequency boundary	2	2	2	3

Number of Periods	Number of Keywords	Percentage
1	7251	88.15%
2	714	8.68%
3	192	2.33%
4	69	0.84%

From/to	Final Classification (2019–2023)
From/to	Emerging/Phantom	Intermittent	Trendy	Well-Established
	2 (supply chain planning; quantity discount)	10 (supply risk management; buyback contract; supply management; dynamic programming; radio frequency identification; asymmetric information; coordination mechanism; safety stock; sourcing strategy; revenue sharing contract)	0	13 (service level; transportation disruption; bullwhip effect; modelling; flexibility; analytic hierarchy process; inventory management; innovation; demand disruption; global supply chain; robustness; closed loop supply chain; stochastic programming)
	2 (contract; Petri net)	6 (integration; terrorism; backup supplier; empirical research; contingency planning; business continuity planning)	1 (sourcing)	15 (supply uncertainty; resilience; agent-based model; visibility; coordination; information sharing; supply chain risk management; dual sourcing; supply chain vulnerabilities; agility; disaster; risk assessment; vulnerability; supply chain network; logistics)
	0	0	0	2 (inventory; supply chain design)
	1 (security)	0	0	17 (supply chain; purchasing; supply chain disruption; supply chain management; disruption; risk management; supply chain coordination; supply disruption; supply chain risk; simulation; disruption management; uncertainty; risk; game theory; optimization; case study; supply risk)

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Solari, F.; Lysova, N.; Romagnoli, G.; Montanari, R.; Bottani, E. Insights from 20 Years (2004–2023) of Supply Chain Disruption Research: Trends and Future Directions Based on a Bibliometric Analysis. Sustainability 2024 , 16 , 7530. https://doi.org/10.3390/su16177530

Solari F, Lysova N, Romagnoli G, Montanari R, Bottani E. Insights from 20 Years (2004–2023) of Supply Chain Disruption Research: Trends and Future Directions Based on a Bibliometric Analysis. Sustainability . 2024; 16(17):7530. https://doi.org/10.3390/su16177530

Solari, Federico, Natalya Lysova, Giovanni Romagnoli, Roberto Montanari, and Eleonora Bottani. 2024. "Insights from 20 Years (2004–2023) of Supply Chain Disruption Research: Trends and Future Directions Based on a Bibliometric Analysis" Sustainability 16, no. 17: 7530. https://doi.org/10.3390/su16177530

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Collection 12 March 2023

Journal Top 100 - 2022

This collection highlights our most downloaded* research papers published in 2022. Featuring authors from around the world, these papers highlight valuable research from an international community.

You can also check out the Top 100 across various subject areas here .

*Data obtained from SN Insights, which is based on Digital Science’s Dimensions.

mRNA vaccine-induced antibodies more effective than natural immunity in neutralizing SARS-CoV-2 and its high affinity variants

Dominic Esposito

Cats learn the names of their friend cats in their daily lives

Saho Takagi
Atsuko Saito
Hika Kuroshima

Metformin administration is associated with enhanced response to transarterial chemoembolization for hepatocellular carcinoma in type 2 diabetes patients

Woo Jin Jung
Sangmi Jang
Jin-Wook Kim

The impact of digital media on children’s intelligence while controlling for genetic differences in cognition and socioeconomic background

Bruno Sauce
Magnus Liebherr
Torkel Klingberg

Life tables of annual life expectancy and mortality for companion dogs in the United Kingdom

Kendy Tzu-yun Teng
Dave C. Brodbelt
Dan G. O’Neill

Bioarchaeological and palaeogenomic portrait of two Pompeians that died during the eruption of Vesuvius in 79 AD

Gabriele Scorrano
Serena Viva
Fabio Macciardi

Reading on a smartphone affects sigh generation, brain activity, and comprehension

Motoyasu Honma
Yuri Masaoka
Masahiko Izumizaki

Principal Component Analyses (PCA)-based findings in population genetic studies are highly biased and must be reevaluated

Eran Elhaik

The determinants of COVID-19 morbidity and mortality across countries

Dianna Chang
Kelvin Jui Keng Tan

Birdsongs alleviate anxiety and paranoia in healthy participants

J. Sundermann

Identification of ADS024, a newly characterized strain of Bacillus velezensis with direct Clostridiodes difficile killing and toxin degradation bio-activities

Michelle M. O’Donnell
James W. Hegarty
Laurent Chesnel

Multiple sclerosis genetic and non-genetic factors interact through the transient transcriptome

Renato Umeton
Gianmarco Bellucci
Giovanni Ristori

The effect of metformin on the survival of colorectal cancer patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus

Zeinab Tarhini
Kamelia Manceur
Niki Christou

Chemical characterisation of the vapour emitted by an e-cigarette using a ceramic wick-based technology

M. Isabel Pinto

Large-magnitude (VEI ≥ 7) ‘wet’ explosive silicic eruption preserved a Lower Miocene habitat at the Ipolytarnóc Fossil Site, North Hungary

Dávid Karátson
Imre Szarvas

Far-UVC (222 nm) efficiently inactivates an airborne pathogen in a room-sized chamber

Waseem Hiwar
Kenneth Wood

Low dose aspirin associated with greater bone mineral density in older adults

Hongzhan Liu
Xungang Xiao

First direct evidence of adult European eels migrating to their breeding place in the Sargasso Sea

Rosalind M. Wright
Adam T. Piper
David Righton

Infections with the SARS-CoV-2 Delta variant exhibit fourfold increased viral loads in the upper airways compared to Alpha or non-variants of concern

Christian J. H. von Wintersdorff
Jozef Dingemans
Paul H. M. Savelkoul

Inappropriate sinus tachycardia in post-COVID-19 syndrome

Júlia Aranyó
Victor Bazan
Roger Villuendas

The microstructure and the origin of the Venus from Willendorf

Gerhard W. Weber
Alexander Lukeneder

COVID-19 reinfections among naturally infected and vaccinated individuals

Sezanur Rahman
M. Mahfuzur Rahman
Mustafizur Rahman

Lockdown measures during the COVID-19 pandemic strongly impacted the circulation of respiratory pathogens in Southern China

Heping Wang
Yuejie Zheng
Wenjian Wang

Alzheimer’s disease large-scale gene expression portrait identifies exercise as the top theoretical treatment

Mason A. Hill
Stephen C. Gammie

COVID-19 symptoms are reduced by targeted hydration of the nose, larynx and trachea

Carolin Elizabeth George
Gerhard Scheuch
David A. Edwards

SARS-CoV-2 spike protein induces cognitive deficit and anxiety-like behavior in mouse via non-cell autonomous hippocampal neuronal death

Junyoung Oh
Woo-Hyun Cho
Sung Joong Lee

Abdominal pain patterns during COVID-19: an observational study

Alexandre Balaphas
Kyriaki Gkoufa
Christian Toso

Detection of human pathogenic bacteria in rectal DNA samples from Zalophus californianus in the Gulf of California, Mexico

Francesco Cicala
David Ramírez-Delgado
Alexei F. Licea-Navarro

Industrialised fishing nations largely contribute to floating plastic pollution in the North Pacific subtropical gyre

Laurent Lebreton
Sarah-Jeanne Royer
Matthias Egger

Hypertension and diabetes including their earlier stage are associated with increased risk of sudden cardiac arrest

Seung Young Roh
Young-Hoon Kim

Utility of an artificial intelligence system for classification of esophageal lesions when simulating its clinical use

Ayaka Tajiri
Ryu Ishihara
Tomohiro Tada

Prevalence, age of decision, and interpersonal warmth judgements of childfree adults

Zachary P. Neal
Jennifer Watling Neal

Acute and protracted abstinence from methamphetamine bidirectionally changes intrinsic excitability of indirect pathway spiny projection neurons in the dorsomedial striatum

Sanghoon Choi
Steven M. Graves

Indeterminacy of cannabis impairment and ∆ 9 -tetrahydrocannabinol (∆ 9 -THC) levels in blood and breath

Gregory T. Wurz
Michael W. DeGregorio

High rates of plasmid cotransformation in E. coli overturn the clonality myth and reveal colony development

Delia Tomoiaga
Jaclyn Bubnell
Paul Feinstein

Metformin sensitizes leukemic cells to cytotoxic lymphocytes by increasing expression of intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1)

Nerea Allende-Vega
Joaquin Marco Brualla
Martin Villalba

Incorporation of machine learning and deep neural network approaches into a remote sensing-integrated crop model for the simulation of rice growth

Seungtaek Jeong
Jong-min Yeom

Perceiving societal pressure to be happy is linked to poor well-being, especially in happy nations

Egon Dejonckheere
Joshua J. Rhee
Brock Bastian

The earliest Pleistocene record of a large-bodied hominin from the Levant supports two out-of-Africa dispersal events

Alon Barash
Miriam Belmaker

Generation mechanism and prediction of an observed extreme rogue wave

Johannes Gemmrich

Fitness tracking reveals task-specific associations between memory, mental health, and physical activity

Jeremy R. Manning
Gina M. Notaro
Paxton C. Fitzpatrick

Domestic dogs ( Canis familiaris ) grieve over the loss of a conspecific

Stefania Uccheddu
Lucia Ronconi
Federica Pirrone

Human transgenerational observations of regular smoking before puberty on fat mass in grandchildren and great-grandchildren

Jean Golding
Steve Gregory
Matthew Suderman

Chlamydia pneumoniae can infect the central nervous system via the olfactory and trigeminal nerves and contributes to Alzheimer’s disease risk

Jenny A. K. Ekberg

Oxycodone/naloxone versus tapentadol in real-world chronic non-cancer pain management: an observational and pharmacogenetic study

Jordi Barrachina
Cesar Margarit
Ana M. Peiró

Cooking methods are associated with inflammatory factors, renal function, and other hormones and nutritional biomarkers in older adults

Montserrat Rodríguez-Ayala
José Ramón Banegas
Pilar Guallar-Castillón

Classification of pig calls produced from birth to slaughter according to their emotional valence and context of production

Elodie F. Briefer
Ciara C.-R. Sypherd
Céline Tallet

Higher emotional awareness is associated with greater domain-general reflective tendencies

Michelle Persich
William D. S. Killgore

A large Megaraptoridae (Theropoda: Coelurosauria) from Upper Cretaceous (Maastrichtian) of Patagonia, Argentina

Alexis M. Aranciaga Rolando
Matias J. Motta
Fernando E. Novas

Long COVID occurrence in COVID-19 survivors

Aya Sugiyama
Junko Tanaka

Water activated disposable paper battery

Alexandre Poulin
Xavier Aeby
Gustav Nyström

Intestinal preservation in a birdlike dinosaur supports conservatism in digestive canal evolution among theropods

Yichuan Liu

Antiviral effect of cetylpyridinium chloride in mouthwash on SARS-CoV-2

Hirofumi Sawa

Evidence of an oceanic impact and megatsunami sedimentation in Chryse Planitia, Mars

J. Alexis P. Rodriguez
Darrel K. Robertson
Mario Zarroca

Curcumin and metformin synergistically modulate peripheral and central immune mechanisms of pain

Peththa Wadu Dasuni Wasana
Pasarapa Towiwat

The first occurrence of an avian-style respiratory infection in a non-avian dinosaur

D. Cary Woodruff
Ewan D. S. Wolff
Lawrence M. Witmer

Optimal linear estimation models predict 1400–2900 years of overlap between Homo sapiens and Neandertals prior to their disappearance from France and northern Spain

Igor Djakovic
Alastair Key
Marie Soressi

The influence of time on the sensitivity of SARS-CoV-2 serological testing

Arturo Torres Ortiz
Fernanda Fenn Torrente
Louis Grandjean

Online misinformation is linked to early COVID-19 vaccination hesitancy and refusal

Francesco Pierri
Brea L. Perry
John Bryden

A distinct symptom pattern emerges for COVID-19 long-haul: a nationwide study

Melissa D. Pinto
Charles A. Downs
Natalie Lambert

SARS-CoV-2-reactive IFN-γ-producing CD4 + and CD8 + T cells in blood do not correlate with clinical severity in unvaccinated critically ill COVID-19 patients

Beatriz Olea
Eliseo Albert
David Navarro

Classification of 74 facial emoji’s emotional states on the valence-arousal axes

Gaku Kutsuzawa
Hiroyuki Umemura
Yoshiyuki Kobayashi

The emergence of a new sex-system (XX/XY 1 Y 2 ) suggests a species complex in the “monotypic” rodent Oecomys auyantepui (Rodentia, Sigmodontinae)

Willam Oliveira da Silva
Celina Coelho Rosa
Cleusa Yoshiko Nagamachi

Detection of COVID-19 using multimodal data from a wearable device: results from the first TemPredict Study

Ashley E. Mason
Frederick M. Hecht
Benjamin L. Smarr

Spinal degeneration is associated with lumbar multifidus morphology in secondary care patients with low back or leg pain

Jeffrey R. Cooley
Tue S. Jensen
Jeffrey J. Hebert

Phenomenology and content of the inhaled N , N -dimethyltryptamine ( N , N -DMT) experience

David Wyndham Lawrence
Robin Carhart-Harris
Christopher Timmermann

A gigantic bizarre marine turtle (Testudines: Chelonioidea) from the Middle Campanian (Late Cretaceous) of South-western Europe

Oscar Castillo-Visa
Àngel H. Luján
Albert Sellés

The first experience with fully endoscopic posterior cervical foraminotomy and discectomy for radiculopathy performed in Viet Duc University Hospital

Son Ngoc Dinh
Hung The Dinh

Mapping the “catscape” formed by a population of pet cats with outdoor access

Richard Bischof
Nina Rosita Hansen
Torbjørn Haugaasen

Investigation of humans individual differences as predictors of their animal interaction styles, focused on the domestic cat

Lauren R. Finka
Lucia Ripari
Marnie L. Brennan

Genesis of fecal floatation is causally linked to gut microbial colonization in mice

Syed Mohammed Musheer Aalam
Daphne Norma Crasta
Nagarajan Kannan

Young children’s screen time during the first COVID-19 lockdown in 12 countries

Christina Bergmann
Nevena Dimitrova
Nivedita Mani

Cichlids and stingrays can add and subtract ‘one’ in the number space from one to five

V. Schluessel

Elevated estradiol levels in frozen embryo transfer have different effects on pregnancy outcomes depending on the stage of transferred embryos

Liming Ruan

Group VR experiences can produce ego attenuation and connectedness comparable to psychedelics

David R. Glowacki
Rhoslyn Roebuck Williams
Mike Chatziapostolou

New therizinosaurid dinosaur from the marine Osoushinai Formation (Upper Cretaceous, Japan) provides insight for function and evolution of therizinosaur claws

Yoshitsugu Kobayashi
Ryuji Takasaki
Yoshinori Hikida

Smartphone-based ecological momentary assessment reveals mental health benefits of birdlife

Ryan Hammoud
Stefania Tognin
Andrea Mechelli

Long-term outcomes of cataract surgery with toric intraocular lens implantation by the type of preoperative astigmatism

Tetsuro Oshika
Shinichiro Nakano
Tsutomu Kaneko

Forest fire detection system using wireless sensor networks and machine learning

Udaya Dampage
Lumini Bandaranayake
Bathiya Jayasanka

Misinformation of COVID-19 vaccines and vaccine hesitancy

Sun Kyong Lee
Juhyung Sun
Shane Connelly

Deep language algorithms predict semantic comprehension from brain activity

Charlotte Caucheteux
Alexandre Gramfort
Jean-Rémi King

Children with autism spectrum disorder show atypical electroencephalographic response to processing contextual incongruencies

Amparo V. Márquez-García
Vasily A. Vakorin
Sam M. Doesburg

A generalizable one health framework for the control of zoonotic diseases

Ria R. Ghai
Ryan M. Wallace
Casey Barton Behravesh

HS3ST2 expression induces the cell autonomous aggregation of tau

M. B. Huynh
N. Rebergue
D. Papy-Garcia

Exceptional warming over the Barents area

Ketil Isaksen
Øyvind Nordli
Tatiana Karandasheva

A new Early Cretaceous lizard in Myanmar amber with exceptionally preserved integument

Andrej Čerňanský
Edward L. Stanley
Susan E. Evans

Coffee consumption and diabetic retinopathy in adults with diabetes mellitus

Hak Jun Lee
Daniel Duck-Jin Hwang

Shifts in the foraging tactics of crocodiles following invasion by toxic prey

Abhilasha Aiyer
Richard Shine
Georgia Ward-Fear

Production of high loading insulin nanoparticles suitable for oral delivery by spray drying and freeze drying techniques

Alberto Baldelli
Anubhav Pratap-Singh

Cable news and COVID-19 vaccine uptake

Matteo Pinna
Christoph Goessmann

Estimating the time of last drinking from blood ethyl glucuronide and ethyl sulphate concentrations

Zhongyuan Guo

COVID-19 infections in infants

Małgorzata Sobolewska-Pilarczyk
Maria Pokorska-Śpiewak
Małgorzata Pawłowska

COVID-19 increases the risk for the onset of atrial fibrillation in hospitalized patients

Jakob Wollborn
Sergey Karamnov
Jochen D. Muehlschlegel

Childhood temperament and adulthood personality differentially predict life outcomes

Amanda J. Wright
Joshua J. Jackson

Antivirus applied to JAR malware detection based on runtime behaviors

Ricardo P. Pinheiro
Sidney M. L. Lima
Wellington P. dos Santos

Therapeutic enzyme engineering using a generative neural network

Andrew Giessel
Athanasios Dousis
Stuart Licht

Identification of genes associated with human-canine communication in canine evolution

Akiko Tonoike
Ken-ichi Otaki
Miho Nagasawa

Breath chemical markers of sexual arousal in humans

G. Pugliese
J. Williams

A 5-km-thick reservoir with > 380,000 km 3 of magma within the ancient Earth's crust

Rais Latypov
Sofya Chistyakova
Mauritz van der Merwe

Return of large fin whale feeding aggregations to historical whaling grounds in the Southern Ocean

Helena Herr
Sacha Viquerat
Bettina Meyer

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New method sheds light on the hidden world of solvation shells

by Max Planck Society

New study sheds light on the hidden world of solvation shells

Scientists from the Fritz Haber Institute, Sorbonne University, and Uppsala University have made a discovery that can help to improve our understanding of the behavior of ions in solutions. Their paper, titled "The solvation shell probed by resonant intermolecular Coulombic decay," has been published in the journal Nature Communications .

When substances dissolve in a liquid, a solvation shell is formed—a layer of solvent molecules that surround the dissolved particles. The solvent molecules that constitute these solvation shells can acquire wildly different properties from the other, free solvent molecules.

However, studying these solvation shells has always been a challenge due to their complex nature and the difficulty of specifically targeting the solvent molecules that make up the solvation shells but not the many other solvent molecules.

The research team has developed a novel method to probe these elusive solvation shells using a process called resonant intermolecular Coulombic decay (ICD). Their method involves exciting the molecules with X-rays and observing how they interact with their neighbors during the decay process. By doing so, scientists can gain detailed insights into the properties of the solvation shell.

The study revealed that a specific ICD process is a powerful indicator of ion pair formation. The researchers were also able to measure the electron binding energies of water molecules in the first solvation shell. This is a significant achievement, as these measurements were previously unattainable.

Understanding solvation shells is essential for a wide range of scientific fields, including chemistry, biology, materials science , atmospheric science , and electrochemistry. This new method provides a powerful tool for scientists to study these shells in greater detail, which is of relevance for these broad scientific and engineering fields.

Journal information: Nature Communications

Provided by Max Planck Society

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A collection of prescription drug bottles and pills

Study combines data, molecular simulations to accelerate drug discovery

New research involving the uc college of medicine may lead to finding effective therapies faster.

Researchers from the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine and Cincinnati Children’s Hospital have found a new method to increase both speed and success rates in drug discovery.

The study, published Aug. 30 in the journal Science Advances, offers renewed promise when it comes to discovering new drugs.

“The hope is we can speed up the timeline of drug discovery from years to months,” said Alex Thorman, PhD, co-first author and a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Environmental and Public Health Sciences in the College of Medicine.

Researchers combined two approaches for screening potential new drugs. First, they used a database from the Library of Integrated Network-based Cellular Signatures (LINCS) to screen tens of thousands of small molecules with potential therapeutic effects simultaneously. Then they combined the search with targeted docking simulations used to model the interaction between small molecules and their protein targets to find compounds of interest. That sped up the timing of the work from months to minutes — taking weeks of work required for initial screening down to an afternoon.

“Accuracy will only improve, hopefully offering new hope to many people who have diseases with no known cure, including those with cancer."

Alex Thorman, PhD Co-first author and postdoctoral fellow

Thorman said this faster screening method for compounds that could become drugs accelerates the drug research process. But it’s not only speed that is crucial.

He added that this newer approach is more efficient at identifying potentially effective compounds.

“And the accuracy will only improve, hopefully offering new hope to many people who have diseases with no known cure, including those with cancer,” Thorman said.

It can also create more targeted treatment options in precision medicine, an innovative approach to tailoring disease prevention and treatment that takes into account differences in people's genes, environments and lifestyles.

“An accelerated drug discovery process also could be a game changer in the ability to respond to public health crises, such as the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Thorman. “The timeline for developing effective drugs could be expedited.”

Feature image at top: Collection of prescription drug bottles and pills. Photo/Provided.

Innovation Lives Here

The University of Cincinnati is leading public urban universities into a new era of innovation and impact. Our faculty, staff and students are saving lives, changing outcomes and bending the future in our city's direction. Next Lives Here.

Other co-first authors included Jim Reigle, PhD, a postdoctoral fellow at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital, and Somchai Chutipongtanate, PhD, an associate professor in the Department of Environmental and Public Health Sciences in the College of Medicine.

The corresponding authors of the study were Jarek Meller, PhD, a professor of biostatistics, health informatics and data sciences in the College of Medicine, and Andrew Herr, PhD, a professor of immunobiology in the Department of Pediatrics in the College of Medicine.

Other co-investigators included Mario Medvedovic, PhD, professor and director of the Center for Biostatistics and Bioinformatics Services in the College of Medicine, and David Hildeman, PhD, professor of immunobiology in the College of Medicine. Both Herr and Hildeman have faculty research labs at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital.

This research was funded in part by grants from the National Institutes of Health, a Department of Veterans Affairs merit award, a UC Cancer Center Pilot Project Award and a Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Innovation Fund award.

Those involved in the research are also co-inventors on three U.S. patents that are related to their work and have been filed by Cincinnati Children’s Hospital.

Faculty Staff
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Biomedical Informatics

UC researchers significantly shorten drug development time

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Speaker 1: One of the most frequently asked questions that I am asked all the time across my social media platforms, across my YouTube, across my comments, is about the research process. So how do you start? Where do you even begin? You need to submit a dissertation, you need to submit a research proposal, you need to think of a hypothesis, you need to think of a problem statement, you need to find a gap in literature where do you even begin with the whole research process now it isn't as hard as it seems it's just one of those things that you're never told or you're never taught how to do it's one of those things that you just kind of figure out so hopefully in today's video i will be talking to you about the overview and kind of a quick beginner's guide to the research process, giving you the steps of how you get from zero to having something, having a question, having a hypothesis, having somewhere to start. I'm going to be making this into a bit of a series so in today's video I'm going to be giving you an overview as to the different chapters, the different sections of the process, how you get from nothing to something and then in the following videos I will be going through each of those sections in a bit more detail and hopefully if you are someone who is within one of those kind of parts you can just jump to that video and have a have a quick quick watch if you are someone who is just starting off then this is the best place for you to begin have a little think about how you're going to navigate your research process and how you're going to get from the start to the end it is not difficult but it does require a few steps, a few technicalities, which I'll talk you through today. I'll leave the timestamps down below so you feel free to go and jump to the different sections that you are interested in watching. And if you do enjoy this kind of video and you want to see the rest of the videos from me, then don't forget to subscribe to see more on my channel. So step number one is to choose a topic. Now this is the beginning of something beautiful. This is where you choose what you're actually going to be studying and when you're actually going to be reading about now it's really important that you have chosen a topic that you are interested in that there is an interest in within the research space that has something missing so you don't want to choose a topic that we know everything about you want to choose a topic that we don't know everything about and there are things that we want to try to find more about you want to choose a topic that is within your university guidelines so as much as i would love to do a research on the solar system about space well if my course is to do with cell biology well then i can't so you have to think about your limits think about what you are allowed to do within your university guidelines as well but you do need to think about taking that broad topic and making it into something a bit more narrow so it's not good enough to just say i want to do research on alzheimer's okay alzheimer's fine you've got a topic, but you now need to narrow it down. So what about it are you looking at? Are you looking at the risk factors? Are you looking at what happens once you have Alzheimer's? Are you looking at a specific group of people? Are you looking at a specific cell type? What is it that you are looking at? You need to narrow that down. In order to narrow it down, you need to do a bit of a literature search. So whilst choosing a topic, whilst in this first stage, you need to look at literature. So to find literature you want to go to different websites where you have literature and this could be for example Google Scholar is a good place to start, PubMed is a good place to start. These are places where you can find literature about that topic and kind of read around the subject and identify whether firstly is it something that you are actually interested in and secondly is there enough information for you to gather to be able to write your literature review in the future so that first step your first step of your research process is thinking about the topic because without a topic you there's nothing you can't do anything else so the first step has to always be to find a topic and think about it now once you've thought about a topic and you've narrowed it down to the thing that you're interested in at this stage you will then go to your supervisor to your lecturer to your professor to your mentor to your tutor and you will ask them do you think this is a good topic and that is where you will get some feedback and most likely you'll have to go back have another think or try to refine a bit more or try to think about it in a different way but that is always the first step. In the video that I make about finding a good topic we'll talk about it in a lot more depth but to start off with to introduce this is always the first step. So the second step is to identify a problem and this is what we like to call in as you know in research the gap in literature. So a problem slash gap in literature is the part of research that we that is missing. So when you do research in fact in order to graduate from a PhD you have to and this is one of the criteria you have to produce research it has to be in a thesis or in a in a published paper it has to be research it has to be a finding that is new something that we do not know before we did not know before your research right and that is the number one criteria for for actually getting a phd it is the fact that it has to be something new has to be something novel that you have discovered okay so you need to think about the gap in literature where is there a missing piece i understand this i understand that we know this we know that but what is there that we don't quite know and that is the bit that you are then going to try to identify during your research process right chosen a topic now we need to find the problem where is the missing information now in order to do this you need to have read a lot of papers around your topic. So that's why I said initially, you need to have had approval from your committee, from your tutor, your supervisor to say, right, that's okay. It's good for me to go there. Now you've got that topic that you're looking at. You then want to try to find the gap. Where are you going to slot in? What is it that you are going to provide in terms of knowledge? Now, the identifying a problem is actually quite an important and quite critical part of the research process it's almost impossible you to continue on with your research without having identified the problem because if you don't have a problem you don't know what it is you're looking at you don't know what methods you're using you don't know what your research question is going to be or your hypothesis so at this stage you have to have a very well-defined research problem and your question in order to continue on to the next steps so when i say research problem and we'll talk about this more in in the following video that i'm going to produce about it but when i talk about research problem it could be a number of different things so it could be that we understand or we have the knowledge of a certain situation but now you're comparing it to a different situation so it could be more theoretical where you're comparing two things to each other that haven't been compared before so that would be fine as long as what you have is something original or you may be trying to explore a specific relationship let's say for example in my case with my PhD I was looking at two different proteins and the relationship between them so that is one type of research that you can do as well and so just think about your topic and think about where the gap is in the literature you have to read a lot to be able to find this and a question I get a lot emailed to me and directed to me is about this problem so how do I find a problem like how do i find a gap in literature and it's almost impossible for me to to give you any answers because i have to have read all the papers within your topic in order to answer that question which is almost impossible so it's something that you have to do independently and you can always discuss with me you can discuss kind of trying to refine that question but for the most part you need to read around your subject yourself to get that question then step number three is to actually write down your research question now this is usually in the form maybe of a hypothesis or maybe it could be just a you know a standalone question so this is just you saying this is what i'm looking at so i'm looking at whether actin and myosin bind together to have an impact on the motility of the cortex like that is my question and then i'll have a hypothesis saying actin and myosin bind together and they do this so this is just my question and you're just following on from your problem so you've identified your topic you found the problem the gap in literature and then you write down what your question is so what it is exactly that you are looking for and this will be like your guiding star this will be the thing the question the statement that you have at the top you know at the top of your mind whenever you are looking at literature whenever you're writing a literature review whenever you speak to someone you have that question in mind and so that needs to be something that's really well defined it should also be really specific so it can't just be saying is obesity caused by i don't know fatty food i'm just giving a random example that is too vague is obesity in children in male in female different ages what fatty foods what like you need to be very very specific so specific that someone else should be able to pick up your research question and know what it is you're looking at they need to be able to know sort of what methods you're using is it qualitative or is it quantitative what type of research are you actually doing that should really be in the research question so a good research question is one where that is really well defined then step number four is to write a research design so this is where you're kind of creating a bit of a method a bit of a process within a process so you are now writing down and you're now thinking about how you're going to conduct this research so to follow this will be the research proposal but at this stage here you're just thinking about your research design so how are you going to get this research done what are the factors that you need to think about who are the people the participants that you may need are you doing a lab-based thing do you need cells are you you know what do you need humans do you need animals is it just a review paper so do you just need to think about researchers out there what kind of study are you going to conduct in order to find out the results and the answer to your question essentially the research design is a practical framework so it's giving laying out that frame for you in order to answer your research question. And here, it's more of a thinking process. It's more of a discussion. You might want to ask your supervisor, you might want to ask your tutor to talk about it. How are we going to get the answer to this question? And then to finish off the research process, you now want to write a research proposal. And I have a really good video about this, and I'll leave the link for it down below, where you are detailing all the steps for your research so you're detailing your the background of your research the literature review and you're justifying that there is a need for this research you then want to detail your methods your materials the aim your you know your timeline how long it's going to take you to do these things and then that document is what you take with you to your supervisor and say look this is my research proposal you might take it to a potential phd supervisor and say look this is what i've found and this is what i'm really interested in and here is the proposal and you have it all outlined there for you or it's a document that you're able to use in order to build upon your dissertation and so if you're writing an essay dissertation you are able to use that as well so with your research proposal you are detailing the context you are detailing the purpose the plan and your aims the whole process going from finding a topic finding a problem finding the research question defining the actual research and then now you're compiling all of that and you're putting it into a document called the research proposal and all of this information is in there someone should be able to pick that up see what you found find the review of the literature and say right this is a good study this is a good bit of research we are going to approve this and then you can go on and plan the rest of your research so i hope this video helped you summarizing the steps of the research process to begin with and as i mentioned i'm going to be doing each of these five steps as single videos so i can expand on them and i'll make it into a playlist so you're able to sort of follow up and click on the next couple videos but for now i hope this did help with thinking about the research process and thinking about maybe what stage you are at if you are at any of them if you do want further support you can contact me on thepagedoctor.com where i give support and we have a team of consultants top consultants and top editors that can support you through the process of writing your research proposal or even through the post process of thinking about how you're going to find a gap in literature how you're going to find you know your hypothesis and define that for you so don't forget to leave me a comment and let me know if this was helpful and don't forget to leave me a thumbs up and subscribe to see more from me and I'll see you in my next one. Bye.

NASA Earth Science Education Collaborative Member Co-Authors Award-Winning Paper in Insects

On August 13, 2024, the publishers of the journal Insects notified authors of three papers selected to receive “Insects 2022 Best Paper Award” for research and review articles published in Insects from January 1 to December 31, 2022.

One of the winning papers was co-authored by Russanne Low, PhD, Institute for Global Environmental Strategies (IGES). Low is a member of the NASA Earth Science Education Collaborative (NESEC), a NASA Science Activation project, and science lead for the Global Learning & Observations to Benefit the Environment (GLOBE) Mosquito Habitat Mapper .

The paper – Integrating global citizen science platforms to enable next-generation surveillance of invasive and vector mosquitoes – was published as part of a special issue of Insects on Citizen Science Approaches to Vector Surveillance. It is in the top 5% of all research outputs scored by Altmetric, which is a high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. The scoring algorithm takes various factors into account, such as the relative reach of the different sources of attention. The paper has been cited 23 times .

Papers were selected by the journal’s Award Committee according to the following criteria:

Scientific merit and broad impact;
Originality of the research objectives and/or the ideas presented;
Creativity of the study design or uniqueness of the approaches and concepts;
Clarity of presentation;
Citations and downloads.

Each winner of the best paper award will receive CHF 500 and a chance to publish a paper free of charge in Insects in 2024 after peer review.

The paper is a result of a collaboration by IGES with University of South Florida, Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, and iNaturalist.

Following is the full citation: Ryan M. Carney, Connor Mapes, Russanne D. Low, Alex Long, Anne Bowser, David Durieux, Karlene Rivera, Berj Dekramanjian, Frederic Bartumeus, Daniel Guerrero, Carrie E. Seltzer, Farhat Azam, Sriram Chellappan, John R. B. Palmer. Role of Insects in Human Society Citizen Science Approaches to Vector Surveillance. Insects 2022, 13(8), 675; https://doi.org/10.3390/insects13080675 - 27 Jul 2022

NESEC is supported by NASA under cooperative agreement award number NNX16AE28A and is part of NASA’s Science Activation Portfolio. Learn more about how Science Activation connects NASA science experts, real content, and experiences with community leaders to do science in ways that activate minds and promote deeper understanding of our world and beyond: https://science.nasa.gov/learn

A world map with dots showing locations where over 200,000 citizen scientist observations of mosquitos have been submitted using GLOBE Observer, Mosquito Alert, and iNaturalist.

Related Terms

Earth Science
Science Activation

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Proyecto de la NASA en Puerto Rico capacita a estudiantes en biología marina

Read this story in English here. Tainaliz Marie Rodríguez Lugo respiró hondo, se ajustó la máscara de buceo y se sumergió en el océano, metiendo primero sus pies cubiertos por aletas. Tres semanas antes, Rodríguez Lugo no sabía nadar. Pero ahora, esta estudiante universitaria recopilaba datos sobre la calidad del agua y los arrecifes de […]

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James Webb Space Telescope

$The image is divided horizontally by an undulating line between a cloudscape forming a nebula along the bottom portion and a comparatively clear upper portion. Speckled across both portions is a starfield, showing innumerable stars of many sizes. The smallest of these are small, distant, and faint points of light. The largest of these appear larger, closer, brighter, and more fully resolved with 8-point diffraction spikes. The upper portion of the image is blueish, and has wispy translucent cloud-like streaks rising from the nebula below. The orangish cloudy formation in the bottom half varies in density and ranges from translucent to opaque. The stars vary in color, the majority of which have a blue or orange hue. The cloud-like structure of the nebula contains ridges, peaks, and valleys – an appearance very similar to a mountain range. Three long diffraction spikes from the top right edge of the image suggest the presence of a large star just out of view.$

Perseverance Rover

Parker Solar Probe

Open access
Published: 28 August 2024

Global trends and hotspots in the study of the effects of PM2.5 on ischemic stroke

Qian Liu 1 , 2 ,
Shijie Yang 3 &
HeCheng Chen 1 , 2

Journal of Health, Population and Nutrition volume 43 , Article number: 133 ( 2024 ) Cite this article

1 Altmetric

Metrics details

The objective of this study was to visually analyse global research trends and hotspots regarding the role of PM2.5 in ischemic stroke.

The Web of Science core collection database was used to search the literature on PM2.5 and ischemic stroke from 2006 to 2024. Visualization analysis was conducted using CiteSpace, VOSviewer, and an online bibliometric platform.

The analysis comprises 190 articles published between 2006 and 2024 by 1229 authors from 435 institutions in 39 countries, across 78 journals. Wellenius GA has the highest number of published and cited papers. China has the highest number of papers, while Canada has the highest citation frequency. Capital Medical University published the highest number of papers, and Harvard University had the highest citation frequency for a single paper. The study investigated the impact of PM2.5 on ischemic stroke in three phases. The first phase analysed hospitalisation rates for correlations. The second phase utilised large-scale multi-cohort data from around the world. The third phase involved studying global exposure risk through machine learning and model construction. Currently, there is limited research on the mechanisms involved, and further in-depth investigation is required.

This paper presents a bibliometric analysis of the research framework and hotspots concerning the effect of PM2.5 on ischemic stroke. The analysis aims to provide a comprehensive understanding of this field for researchers. It is expected that research on the effect of PM2.5 on ischemic stroke will remain an important research topic in the future.

Introduction

Ischemic stroke is the leading cause of death and disability worldwide, posing a great threat to human health [ 1 ]. Air pollution is an individual risk factor for ischemic stroke independent of smoking, poor diet, and physical inactivity in the United States. Air pollution accounts for more than a quarter of the stroke burden. [ 2 ]. Airborne fine particulate matter (PM2.5, aerodynamic diameter < 2.5 μm) is the main component of air pollution. At present, a large number of studies have shown that air pollution are highly associated with an increased risk of ischemic stroke, especially PM2.5 [ 3 , 4 , 5 ]. Gu et al. found that for every 10 µg/ m 3 increase in the PM2.5 level in China, hospitalizations for acute cerebrovascular disease and Transient Ischemic Attacks increased by 0.20% and 0.33%, respectively [ 6 ]. Therefore, reducing air pollution and improving air quality are of great significance for reducing the incidence of ischemic stroke.

Bibliometric analysis is a widely used method for evaluating the quality and impact of academic research in various fields [ 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 ]. It presents the knowledge structure and research status of a field more intuitively through quantitative analysis of published literature, making it a faster and more accurate way to study trends and hotspots compared to systematic and wide-ranging reviews and other types of literature research. [ 11 , 12 , 13 ].

Research on the impact of global air pollution on human health has led to a gradual deepening of our understanding of the effect of air pollution on stroke. Specifically, research on the impact of PM2.5 on ischemic stroke has been ongoing for decades, resulting in significant developments and high-quality research results. To date, no bibliometric study has been conducted on the impact of PM2.5 on ischemic stroke to explore the distribution characteristics and trends in this research field. Therefore, this study aims to bibliometrically the relevant literature on the effect of PM2.5 on ischemic stroke, explore the current hotspots and possible future trends in this research field, identify potential research gaps, and provide an important reference for researchers and institutions in this field.

Materials and methods

Data sources and search strategy.

The Web of Science (WOS) is an extensive, multidisciplinary database encompassing all high-impact scientific journals and distinguished indexes [ 14 , 15 , 16 ]. In comparison with Scopus or MEDLINE/PubMed, the literature measurement analysis facilitated by the WOS database can retrieve more comprehensive information [ 17 ]. A literature search using the Web Science Core (WoSCC) database on February 18, 2024. The articles were retrieved from January 1, 2000, to February 18, 2024.The search strategy employed was as follows:

(((((((((((((((((((((((TS=(Ischemic Strokes)) OR TS=(Stroke, Ischemic)) OR TS=(Ischaemic Stroke)) OR TS=(Ischaemic Strokes)) OR TS=(Stroke, Ischaemic)) OR TS=(Cryptogenic Ischemic Stroke)) OR TS=(Cryptogenic Ischemic Strokes)) OR TS=(Ischemic Stroke, Cryptogenic)) OR TS=(Stroke, Cryptogenic Ischemic)) OR TS=(Cryptogenic Stroke)) OR TS=(Cryptogenic Strokes)) OR TS=(Stroke, Cryptogenic)) OR TS=(Cryptogenic Embolism Stroke)) OR TS=(Cryptogenic Embolism Strokes))OR TS=(Embolism Stroke, Cryptogenic)) OR TS=(Stroke, Cryptogenic Embolism)) OR TS=(Wake-up Stroke)) OR TS=(Stroke, Wake-up)) OR TS=(Wake up Stroke)) OR TS=(Wake-up Strokes)) OR TS=(Acute Ischemic Stroke)) OR TS=(Acute Ischemic Strokes)) OR TS=(Ischemic Stroke, Acute)) OR TS=(Stroke, Acute Ischemic)

Step 1 AND Step 2, NOT TI = (“guideline” or “recommendation” or “consensus” or “case report” or “meta” or “review”), AND Language = English. A total of 308 relevant articles were searched.

After conducting an initial data search, two authors screened all manuscripts. Any discrepancies identified by the authors were then independently screened by a third author to ensure their relevance to the topic of this study. A total of 190 documents were retrieved and exported as ‘full records and citation references’ and ‘tabs separate files’ for further analysis.

Data analysis

The bibliometrics used in this study mainly include evaluation techniques and relational techniques [ 18 ]. Evaluation techniques are employed to assess the productivity and impact of scientific papers. These include the number of publications, which is used to assess productivity [ 19 ]; the number of citations, which is used to measure the impact of publications [ 20 ]; the h-index [ 21 ], which is used to measure the number of citations to “h” papers; the g-index, which is used to identify the largest number such that the top g articles receive at least g2 citations [ 22 ]; and the m-index, which takes into account the number of years since the article was published [ 23 ]. These techniques have been employed in the analysis of the PM2.5 effect on ischemic stroke, which has been conducted in collaboration with the most prolific authors and journals in this field. Concurrently, relational techniques are employed to investigate the co-occurrence of keywords and the co-citation of journals, with the generation of a visual graph. The term “co-citation” is used to describe the practice of multiple articles being cited jointly. The outcome of a keyword co-occurrence analysis is a network of topics and their interconnections. The content of a document is examined through the lens of a specific word, which can shed light on the relationship between concepts within a given field [ 24 ]. The higher the frequency of words, the stronger the conceptual connections [ 25 ].

The data in “tabs separate files” were imported into the bibliometric online analysis platform ( http://bibliometric.com ) to analyze the relationship between the collaborating countries/regions. CiteSpace [ 26 ] and VOSviewer [ 27 ], the two most commonly used visual tools analysis software in bibliometrics are mainly used to observe research hotspots and trends in a certain field and visualize them in graphical form [ 27 , 28 ]. We applied CiteSpace (version 6.2.R4) and VOSviewer (version 1.6.20) software to visualize bibliometric data. Imported in “full record and citation reference” format and collaborated on the filtered literature between countries/regions, co-authored and co-citation, co-occurrence, clustering and burst analysis. The PRISMA flowchart illustrates the methodology employed in this study, delineating the procedures undertaken for data acquisition, cleaning, and inclusion (Fig. 1 ) [ 23 , 29 ].

PRISMA flowchart

Following a rigorous process of literature cleaning, inclusion, and exclusion, a total of 308 literature sources were downloaded. These sources were then filtered to exclude early access literature, correction literature, editorial materials, conference abstracts, and conference proceedings. The final number of literature sources included for analysis was 190. The literature spanned the period from 2006 to 2024 and included 78 journals, 1229 authors, 435 institutions, and 39 countries. There were 5775 references cited.

Publication review

Publication numbers.

The top 5 by number of publications by author, country, institution and journal, as well as by citations, are summarised in Table 1 . The top author by the number of publications and citations was Wellenius GA, with 8 publications and an average annual citation number of 88.875; this author focuses on the effect of duration of PM2.5 exposure on ischemic stroke and the relationship between air pollution exposure and ischemic stroke risk in women. The country with the most published studies was China with 106 publications and an average annual citation number of 37.831. Articles from the United States had the highest total number of citations and articles from Canada had the highest average number of citations at 106.077. Capital Medical University published the most articles, with a total of 16 articles, and the average citation of each article was 14.062. Harvard University had the highest average citations per article, which was 282.714. The Table 2 shows that the United States Department of Health and Human Services sponsored the highest number of articles in terms of funding sources. SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT published the most articles, but the average single citation of ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTION was the highest, which was 54.818.

Number of publications varies by year

By analyzing the number of papers published in a particular research field over the years and the countries in which they were published, we can determine the past development history of this field and the global attention to this field, and also predict the development prospects of this field.

The earliest study of PM2.5 on ischemic stroke was published by Paul J Villeneuve et al. in 2006 [ 30 ], and the number of publications has not increased significantly since then. A clear cut-off point was observed in 2014, and the number of published papers increased significantly thereafter (Fig. 2 ). The participation of countries and regions was an important factor affecting the number of papers published, and much of the contribution during this period was high-quality case-crossover analysis. In 2014, scholars in Taiwan published the first study on the effect of regional PM2.5 levels on ischemic stroke. Since then, the number of regional cooperation and broader studies has increased significantly. Subsequently, the length of PM2.5 exposure period, source methods, and different production scenarios were studied from multiple perspectives. The number of publications peaked in 2022. Therefore, the increase of multi-regional, multi-angle, multi-level research ideas and cooperation and exchange has greatly promoted the development of this research field.

Number of national publications per year

Inter-state cooperation

The United States had a large contribution to PM2.5 research. Four of the top five funding agencies were from the United States. Although the number of articles published in the United States was not the largest, the single cited number was the highest. Since 2013, China’s contribution to this field has become increasingly prominent, with the largest number of articles published in this field, and the National Natural Science Foundation of China has also funded the largest number of research projects in this field (Table 2 ). As a country with a large population and deeply affected by PM2.5, China has an extremely high prevalence of ischemic stroke. It has invested huge in this field and made outstanding contributions. It is believed that China will make greater contributions in this field in the future. China and the United States also have the most cooperation and exchanges in this field (Figure 3 ). The latest research results published by Wellenius GA in 2024 are cooperated with Chinese scholars [ 31 ], and there are many more such cooperation and exchanges.

Cooperation between countries

Distribution of citations between journals

The Dual-Map Overlay shows the distribution of citation relationships between journals (Fig. 4 ). The citing literature is on the left side of the graph, and the cited literature is on the right side of the graph. The colored path between the two represents the citation relationship. Two main citation pathways were found, indicating that studies published in veterinary, animal and natural sciences were mainly cited by studies published in environmental sciences, toxicology and nutrition. Studies published in neurology, kinesiology, and ophthalmology journals are primarily cited by studies published in health, nursing, and medical journals.

Dual-Map Overlay

Co-citation analysis

Author co-citation network analysis.

Lotka’s law was used to determine the minimum number of co-citations. [ 37 ]. Fifty-seven authors met the criteria, with Pope Ca, Wellenius GA, and Tian YH being the top three co-cited authors. The authors were divided into three clusters (Fig. 5 ).

Co-citation author analysis Red : cluster1; Green : cluster2; Blue : cluster3

Professor Pope Ca from Brigham Young University has conducted comprehensive research on the multifaceted, multi-regional, and multi-level impact of PM2.5 on disease. His team has made a substantial contribution to the assessment of the global burden of disease caused by fine particulate matter. Wellenius, a professor at Boston University, has been engaged in research in the field of environmental and health sciences for an extended period. His contributions to the field include a significant impact on the understanding of the influence of PM2.5 on cardiovascular and cerebrovascular disease. His research has been based on a thorough examination of the local area of PM2.5, the duration of exposure, and the factors influencing the PM2.5 exposure. Professor Tian YH of Beijing University has conducted extensive research on the impact of PM2.5 in China. His studies have covered a vast area, encompassing up to 184 cities, and have focused on the effects of PM2.5 on ischemic cerebral apoplexy. The findings have been used to inform national policy.

Journals co-citation network analysis

If at least one article from both journals is cited in the cited article, two journals are considered to be cited simultaneously [ 38 ]. Seventy journals met the criteria, with ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH PERSPECTIVES , STROKE , and ENVIRONMENT INTERNATIONAL being the top three cited journals (Fig. 6 ). The total number of citations for ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH PERSPECTIVES was high, and the average number of citations per article was as high as 211.14.

Co-citation Jour analysis Red : cluster1; Green : cluster2; Blue : cluster3

Literature co-citation network analysis

Literature were cited analysis is a widely used to study the knowledge in certain areas framework method [ 39 ]. Figure 7 shows the literature co-citation network in the field of PM2.5 effect on ischemic stroke. In the figure, a node represents a document/article, while the connecting line between the two nodes represents the co-cited association between the two articles. The larger the node, the more citations an article has. The smaller the distance between two nodes, the higher the citation frequency of the literature.

Co-citation reference analysis Red : cluster1; Green : cluster2; Blue : cluster3

There were 24 literatures that met the criteria (Fig. 7 ), and the top 3 cited references were Brook Robert D et al. 2010, Wellenius GA et al. 2012, and Wellenius GA et al. 2005. Brook Robert D et al. conducted a review of the effects of particulate air pollution on cardiovascular disease and concluded that the longer the exposure to PM2.5, the greater the risk of cardiovascular mortality and that lower levels of PM2.5 were associated with lower cardiovascular mortality [ 40 ]. Wellenius GA et al. found that exposure to PM2.5, a level considered generally safe by the US Environmental Protection Agency’s, increased the risk of ischemic stroke within hours of exposure. This means that lower levels of PM2.5 are not safe [ 41 ]. Wellenius GA et al. in 2005 found that PM2.5 levels increased the risk of ischemic but not hemorrhagic stroke [ 42 ]. The above three articles reached the same conclusion from different perspectives: exposure to PM2.5 may increase the risk of ischemic stroke. This provides a solid basis for further research.

Co-occurrence network and analysis of keywords

According to Lotka’s law, 88 keywords were included in the co-occurrence network analysis (Fig. 8 ). The co-occurrence network was divided into 6 clusters. A total of 10 bursts were identified, with the highest intensity being ‘hospital admissions’ (strength, 4.27), followed by ‘global burden’ (strength, 4.14). The last burst was “PM2.5” (strength, 3.89; Fig. 9 ). In order to better analyse the annual research hotspots and the overall trend of change in the research area, citespace was used to perform a timezone analysis of the keywords (Fig. 10 ). The whole graph was divided into several vertical blocks from 2006 to 2024, with an interval of one year. Each block had several nodes, and each node represented a keyword. The nodes are composed of one or more colours, and each colour represents a year. The colour in the outer circle of the node represents the closest to the present, and the width of the colour represents the popularity of the year. If the node is all red, it represents the central hot word. The connection between the nodes represents the connection between two keywords. As you can see from the figure, the study of PM2.5 and ischemic stroke only started in 2006, less than 20 years ago. From 2006 to 2008, a large number of studies on air pollution, ischemic stroke, cardiovascular disease, hospital admissions and exposure were carried out in this area and continue to this day. In 2022, PM2.5 became a central buzzword in the field. From 2011 to 2014, this field focused on the global health burden of PM2.5, using a large number of case-crossover analysis methods, and a large number of Chinese scholars began to pay attention to this field. From 2016 to 2018, this field began to focus on national and regional research, and there were a large number of studies on the effect of PM2.5 on ischemic stroke in China. At the same time, since 2016, this area has received more and more attention, reaching a peak in 2023. From 2018, more in-depth research will be conducted on PM2.5 as a risk factor, and attention to this area will become more popular. By 28 February 2024, the number of research articles in 2024 will have reached the level of the whole year 2014. Research on the effect of PM2.5 on ischemic stroke is expected to show an increasing trend in the future.

Co-Occurrence of key words Red : cluster1; Green : cluster2; Blue : cluster3; Yellow : cluster4; Purple: cluster5; Light blue: cluster6

Key words with the strongest citation bursts

Timezone of key words

Bibliometrics can help people understand the research focus, framework and trend of a certain field intuitively and comprehensively. PM2.5 has been widely studied as a risk factor for ischemic stroke, and reducing the level of PM2.5 can effectively reduce the occurrence of ischemic stroke. A summary of previous studies in this field has occasionally been reported, but there has been no bibliometric description of the literature in this field.

A bibliometric analysis of the study found that the most published author was Wellenius GA, who is affiliated with the Department of Environmental Health at the Boston University School of Public Health. The most cited article is a study by Burnett, Richard T et al., on risk estimation models for PM2.5 exposure. The research integrates the relative risk (RR) information of PM2.5 from different global scenarios and sources of different combustion types to construct and fit a sustainable and updated comprehensive exposure-response model, which can provide important reference for the regulation of PM2.5 32 . Air pollution from PM2.5 is a global problem that has caused a global health burden. In the early stage, almost all the studies on PM2.5 came from developed countries such as Europe and the United States. However, the worst affected areas of PM2.5 pollution are mainly in developing countries. However, the research in this field from developing countries starts very late, and there is a lack of primary epidemiological investigation. From Fig. 2 , we can find that the first study on China was reported in 2013, which was a study published by scholars in Taiwan on the relationship between PM2.5 level and hospitalization rate of ischemic stroke in Taipei City, Taiwan Province [ 43 ]. The initial study in this field was published in mainland China in 2014, although it was a Meta analysis [ 44 ]. This indicated that mainland China was also beginning to focus on the field. In India, another large developing country, the first study on PM2.5 within the country was not published until 2016 [ 45 ]. Furthermore, Burnett et al. not only included global PM2.5 data from various areas but also considered different sources of PM2.5 production, such as smoking, second-hand smoke, and household fuels. These sources are prevalent in daily life, which enhances the generalisation and wide application of the study’s conclusions. This also better illustrates the global PM2.5 exposure risk worldwide. At that time, the study by Burnett, Richard T et al. made a significant contribution to the global PM2.5 exposure problem and was undoubtedly a major achievement. A global integrated exposure-response risk assessment has been applied similarly, providing a crucial reference for policymakers in the field of global climate policy [ 46 , 47 , 48 ].

Co-citation analysis offers valuable insights into the structural characteristics of a research area. The authors were divided into three clusters based on their citations. Cluster 1 authors focused on studying the impact of PM2.5 levels on the risk of ischemic stroke in various regions of the world. Cluster 2 authors conducted a study on the relationship between PM2.5 levels and ischemic stroke risk in various regions of China. These researches included multiple perspectives on different exposure periods, surrounding environments, and different subtypes of ischemic stroke. Chen Gongbo et al. [ 49 ], Liang, Ruiming et al. [ 50 ] and Zhang, Yi et al. [ 51 ] conducted studies on the effects of long-term and short-term exposure to PM2.5 on the risk of ischemic stroke. They concluded that PM2.5 is associated with a high risk of ischemic stroke, regardless of the duration of exposure. Furthermore, studies have been conducted on the various components of PM2.5. Zhang et al. [ 51 ] discovered that exposure to NH4 + was linked to the highest risk of ischemic stroke, while polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PHS) were primarily associated with ischemic stroke. NH4 + originated mainly from residential and agricultural emissions, while PHS mainly came from automobiles and other related fuel combustion [ 52 , 53 ]. Many of these studies are based on large, multi-city samples, Tian Y et al. conducted a study based on data from the National Urban Workers’ Basic Medical Insurance database, which recorded 8,834,533 patients hospitalized for cardiovascular reasons in 184 cities in China from 1 January 2014 to 31 December 2017. The study found that short-term exposure to PM2.5 was associated with increased hospital admissions for all major cardiovascular diseases except hemorrhagic stroke in China. This association was observed even when exposure levels did not exceed current regulatory limit [ 54 ], Cai M et al. found that exposure to PM2.5 was highly associated with a high risk of ischemic stroke recurrence in China, based on data from more than 1 million stroke patients [ 55 ]. The authors of Cluster 3 focus on risk assessment and model construction related to PM2.5. This provides a reference for preventing and treating PM2.5 exposure in the future.

The top 3 cited references were Brook Robert D et al. 2010 [ 40 ], Wellenius GA et al. 2012 [ 41 ], and Wellenius GA et al. 2005 [ 42 ]. The papers represent early and pioneering research in the field, providing a solid theoretical foundation for subsequent studies. The journals in which they were published are of high quality and widely accepted by researchers. The authors are also leading scientists in the field, and their research results are significantly forward-looking and instructive. The co-cited articles were divided into three categories. Cluster 1 was constructed around Wellenius GA et al. 2012 and Wellenius GA et al. 2005. These studies mainly demonstrated that PM2.5 contributes to the risk of ischemic stroke. Cluster 2 was constructed around Brook Robert D et al. In 2010, multiple cohorts and large sample data further confirmed that PM2.5 increases the risk of ischemic stroke. Cluster 3, as analysed by Tian Yh et al. in 2018, provides insight into the development trend and pattern of ischemic stroke caused by PM2.5 from a time series perspective.

To gain a better understanding of the dynamic developmental changes and patterns in the field, this study utilized Citespace for burst word analysis and Timezone analysis. The findings indicate that between 2006–2016, the field primarily focused on the relationship between air pollution and hospital admissions. The study found that air pollution significantly affected cardiovascular disease admissions, and when ischemic stroke was included in the study of cardiovascular disease. Between 2013 and 2017, researchers increasingly focused on the significant role of particulate matter in air pollution, including the effect of PM2.5 levels on ischemic stroke. The buzzwords during this period were ‘hospital admissions’ and ‘cardiovascular disease’. Between 2017 and 2020, scholars in the field shifted their focus towards the worldwide impact of air pollution. This period also saw a significant increase in the number of articles published in the field, with many developing countries joining the research efforts. The term ‘global burden’ was coined to describe this phenomenon. Since then, researchers have subdivided air pollution into different types, with PM2.5 receiving significant attention as a risk factor. This focus began with the explosion in 2022, which saw a peak in publications on the topic. In recent years, advancements in research methods have enabled researchers to conduct large-scale exposure risk assessments around the world regarding PM2.5 as a risk factor. This has provided valuable insights for the development of global climate policies. Therefore, the key terms for 2020–2024 are “PM2.5”, “risk factor”, and “modelling”.

This bibliometric study examines the impact of PM2.5 on ischemic stroke and serves as a valuable reference for those interested in this field. However, there are some limitations to consider. Firstly, the study only includes research articles, excluding conferences, letters, and articles in non-English languages, which limits the scope of the articles included. Secondly, the search was restricted to the WoSCC database. The WoSCC database covers most research articles, but it is challenging to guarantee the inclusion of all articles in the field. Despite these limitations, they do not affect the broad applicability of the findings of this study. The analyses are based on real-world data, and the results are reliable. They reflect the structural characteristics and dynamics of the field and are valuable for a comprehensive understanding of the field. Additionally, they are highly informative for the study of future trends in the field. There is a significant amount of high-quality evidence from clinical studies, epidemiological investigations, and large-sample model construction regarding the effect of PM2.5 on ischemic stroke. However, the mechanism behind this effect remains unclear and requires further research in the future.

The study of the effects of PM2.5 on ischemic stroke is a relevant and attractive field. Environmentalists, neurologists, and other professionals will continue to advance this field. In recent years, the addition of computationalists and meteorologists has led to the development of models and the use of meteorological satellite remote sensing. Bibliometrics analyses the research framework and hotspots of PM2.5’s impact on ischemic stroke, which is a significant driver of ischemic stroke. The model construction, based on large samples and multiple cohorts, effectively assessed the global exposure risk of PM2.5. This provides an important reference for the development of global climate change response strategies and helps researchers to have a more comprehensive understanding of the field, providing ideas for future research.

Data availability

No datasets were generated or analysed during the current study.

Abbreviations

Airborne fine particulate matter aerodynamic diameter < 2.5 μm

Web Science Core

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons

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Acknowledgements

We thank all study participants and data collectors for their participation and. cooperation. We also thank the Cerebrovascular Disease Center of Gansu Provincial. Hospital for their comprehensive cooperation and data support. We would like to. Thank the Key Laboratory of Cerebrovascular Disease of Gansu Province, China. (20JR10RA431), the Scientific Research Foundation of Gansu Provincial Hospital, China (Key Discipline Project) (2019 − 395), and Inhalable fine particulate matter. Promotes the activation of DAPKI/ERK pathway in brain tissue and its effect on. Ischemic stroke /ZX-62000001-2023-457.

This study was funded by the Key Laboratory of Cerebrovascular Disease of Gansu Province, China (20JR10RA431),the Scientific Research Foundation of Gansu Provincial Hospital, China (Key Discipline Project) (2019 − 395) and Inhalable fine particulate matter promotes the activation of DAPKI/ERK pathway in brain tissue and its effect on ischemic stroke /ZX-62000001-2023-457. There were no roles in study design, data collection, analysis, decision to publish, or manuscript preparation.

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Qian Liu: conception, methodology, software, data collection, writing - original manuscript. Shijie Yang: methodology, software, data collection. Chen He Cheng: writing - revision, editing and financial support.

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Liu, Q., Yang, S. & Chen, H. Global trends and hotspots in the study of the effects of PM2.5 on ischemic stroke. J Health Popul Nutr 43 , 133 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1186/s41043-024-00622-3

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