Read your assignment closely. Make sure your topic meets your instructor’s requirements. Ask your instructor for clarification if you are unsure. Choose a topic that is interesting to you. This will make the research process more fun and engaging.
Here are some places to look for and refine basic topic ideas:
- For information on controversial topics or pro/con discussions of issues, try ProCon.org, New York Times Topics, or Issue Lab.
- If you have a general area that interests you, but you need to narrow it, try a Google search on your topic and add words like “news” or “controversy.”
- Look for your topic in Wikipedia to identify additional aspects or branches of your topic.
- Try some quick searches in Access World News for newspaper content, or in a database like Academic Search Complete to see what authors are saying about your topic in scholarly journals, magazines, or newspapers.
For more information, see our guide on refining your topic.
