It’s a common belief that summer is the right time just for swimming in a warm blue see, tanning under the hot blazing sun, backpacking, camping, flying a kite, building a sandcastle… in other words, anything that does not require particular mind work.
But you are greatly deluded if you are following the crowd. Summer is not for lazybones and coach potatoes. It might be a hot time for racking your brain a bit … over research papers!
It is not a joke. You are missing a lot if your summer vacation doesn’t imply papers and textbooks. Writing a research paper in summer can turn out to be more fun and rewarding than ever.
So what can be done in summer for the sake of future research papers?
You can accomplish the first and the most important stage in your preparations to writing a research paper, namely think of its topic and do the preliminary search of information. This work does not require strenuous work and still helps greatly in the future.
Getting down to choosing a research paper topic you should be selective and mindful of several principles.
The first criteria for choosing a successful and attention grabbing topic is to pick the one that is to your liking. If you do not feel like writing a research paper on “Recent Legal History of the Death Penalty”, leave it in peace and move forward to look for a research paper topic you will find thrilling and exciting.
Secondly, choose a topic that will be manageable for your level. You are likely to fail if your research paper topic is too technical, learned, or specialized, since research papers of this kind have only a very narrow range of source materials available in libraries. Therefore, do not even try to pull down monuments and pick the research paper topic with plenty of information on its account.
It is also important that your research paper topic is not too broad and vague. Narrow it down to specifics. For example, “American Folk Songs” could be narrowed down to “The English Origin of American Folk Songs”. It is vital, since broad research paper topics are boring for the reader and difficult to research for the author.
To avoid any further pitfalls, select more than one research paper topic from the start. Find three or four topics that interest you, and then conduct a preliminary search of each topic. Determine which of the research paper ideas can be supported with plenty of published material. This way, you will be able to select a final topic that is both interesting and feasible.
Your next step to writing a research paper in summer is to do a preliminary search on the research paper topic. And Internet – your favorite pastime of all seasons – is all that is needed, since it is full of exciting research paper ideas and tips for better writing.
You do not have to sit in front of the monitor for hours. Simply note the sites that might interest you, find the ones you will need to use later, like those for formatting or with research paper examples. But be careful as anyone can post information on the Internet and anyone can change what is up there, bringing up questions of authority and validity.
And, of course, you can pay a random visit to the cradle of knowledge – a library. It is up to you, but you should bear in mind that such a visit will pay off. Not only the library is not overcrowded and you can feel yourself at home, but also the librarians are not that tired of the visitors and will readily help you with your research paper.
It is better to go to the library by the end of summer, when you have a clear research paper topic and the libraries are starting to open after the refurbishment period.
Check out the following print materials there:
• almanacs, atlases, catalogues;
• encyclopaedias and dictionaries;
• government publications, guides, reports;
• magazines, newspapers;
• vertical files;
• yellow pages.
The information you will find in a library must be enough for your research paper topic. If not, turn to your friends’ and parents’ help. They will not be indifferent to your research and will readily help with whatever you need.
That would do for your summer vacation. You are not asked to strain yourself and think solely of your research paper. But it would be great to take the most out of your summer holidays, when your mind is rested. You will be amazed to find how many research paper ideas are wandering in your head. Simply seize the moment, when some brilliant idea comes to your mind, put it down and use it when the right time comes.
