Q&A for How to Write a Term Paper

It's important to narrow down your focus. You have to decide what your paper is going to be about, but also, what your paper is not going to be about. In the grand scheme of things, everything is related to everything else, so you have to determine what topics your paper will not be covering.

You would need an abstract, an introduction, body paragraphs and then a conclusion. Don't forget the references!

Before writing, make absolutely certain you have the specific topic you will cover, and know whether or not you have any flexibility if your written work ends up being on a topic of something close but not quite your original topic. Try placing your ideas on a large piece of paper to make a visual. When using the visual to think about what you want to do with each idea, attempt to put them in order of how you will present them. Then outline, both in brief and in sentence form. This will let you know further if your ideas are in the correct place.

Your professor should have a minimum and maximum word count or page count (minus cover page and bibliography) in the rubric or assignment description.

Take a few deep breathes; eat alertness boosting foods like almonds or fruit; and, if motivation is a problem, read a few articles on the topic to get inspired!

You cite your sources at the end of your report on a separate page. How you format your citations will depend on what style you are using: APA, MLA format, Chicago, etc. For more information, read: How to Write a Works Cited Page .

Unless you were specifically instructed to add pictures, then no, you should not include pictures in your term paper.

Ordinarily, you would write the introduction and the whole paper first, and the last thing to do is write an abstract.

Make an outline before you even start writing, featuring your main points, and then sub-points related to those main points. Then plan out your paragraphs, figuring out which points you want to make first, second, and so on. When you're finished writing, make sure you go back through and revise. You can even have someone else read through your paper and tell you if they think you should move or change anything.

No. If your paper later becomes a book you could add those, but they shouldn't be a requirement for an ordinary term paper.

A brief summary of the paper without sharing the findings of your study/research question and conclusions.

If you want your essay to look professional and polished, then it would be best to label things like the ones you've suggested. However, check with the teacher or lecturer if headings are permitted, as some courses don't use that approach.

If you're using MS Word and have used the headings in the top ribbon (which is great for writing papers since you can change everything fast and automatically), then you can ask the software to create a table of contents for you (it only requires two clicks to add any new changes of placement or headings). The feature is found in the references tab.

If you were given a topic you should probably stick to it, unless you think you have given you more freedom. If you want to use a different topic, ask the course professor first, just to be sure.