Term Papers, a Real Drudgery!

As soon as your college professor assigns you a term paper to write a sense of dread usually sets in. You always feel doubtful whether term paper you write will be up to the specified mark. You simply cannot avoid writing term papers being whether you are an undergraduate student or post graduate. The nightmare of writing term papers will always be there as long as you are a part of academic studies. Term paper writing can be fun at times provided that you choose a topic of your interest and you adhere to the specified rules set by your college professor. You won’t even notice and your term paper will be completed in fun and joy. When you have an option to choose a topic avoid choosing the one that is too general. Choose the one which is specific as the more specific your topic the more appealing it will be for the readers. Before you move towards writing a real term paper let us explain what term papers basically are? Keep reading to explore about term papers.

What are Term Papers?

A term paper also known as a research paper is a compilation of facts, principles and ideas learned in a particular course. It is written by high school or college students and consists of various sources on a particular subject. It is written at the end of the term or semester and constitutes a major portion of the grade in a particular course.

Types of Term Papers

There are two broad categories of a term paper, an argumentative paper and analytical paper. An argumentative paper consists of facts based on the writer’s personal beliefs. These facts must be backed by solid arguments by the writer to make a stand for his/her beliefs. While analytical paper only deals with facts and not opinions. In this type of term papers the writer does not have to take sides rather he/she has to stay neutral taking both sides of an argument providing facts using analytical skills.

Choose a Referencing Format

Most of the term papers usually follow four types of different formats. The APA format (American Psychological Association) uses citations within the text rather than the footnotes. The MLA format (Modern Language Association of America) is another citation and referencing format that is popular among academic scholars, professors, graduate students, and other advanced-level writers. The Chicago Format, being used over a century uses simple and direct language and is the most common format among the publishers and writers. The Turabian format is usually the standard format for writing term papers using direct and simple language.

Steps to Success

1.Choosing a topic.
2.Gathering material and information from various sources.
3.Devising an outline and writing a draft.
4.Checking your paper for any possible grammatical, spelling and punctuation errors.
5.Running your term paper through a plagiarism detecting software to ensure that your term paper is completely original.

Take word count and readers into consideration when writing a term paper. Make sure your word count does not exceed the specified limit. Take a day or two to edit your term paper, make sure it is free of grammatical and spelling errors. Avoid procrastination and start your term paper as soon as possible. The earlier you complete your term paper the more time you will have for corrections and improvement of the main content.