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The most common writing requirement in upper-division courses is the term paper. The importance of the term paper tends to be neglected. Why is a term paper so important? The main reason is that it will make up a big part of your final grade. You might be deceived as to its importance because most teachers will not give much class discussion time to these papers. When your instructor does not give you detailed instructions for your term paper writing, it is up to you to become informed on your own.

The first and perhaps the most important step towards writing an incisive and inquisitive term paper is choosing the topic of the term paper. When choosing a topic for your term paper consider the following points

1. Interest in the subject? Are you really interested in the subject?

Most well written term papers are borne out of student's pursuit to be aware of the subject. If a student is not interested in the subject than writing an interesting and thought provoking term paper is almost impossible.

2. Scope of the Topic

Before choosing the subject or topic of your college term papers, one must analyze the scope and importance of it. If the subject is too old or the topic has been discussed several times, your term paper may fail to get the attention.

The length of your term paper also considered when explaining the importance of term paper topic. If your term paper is 5 – 10 papers long, than you should narrow down the subject and address the specific topic but if it’s a 10 – 20 pages term paper than you may cover the topic in a broader way.

3. Research material

One more thing to consider before finalizing the topic for our term paper is the availability of the research material regarding the topic. If the pre research on the topic is too less than it may be difficult for you to get your term paper finish before the last date. You may search the internet and ask in your library about the books on the topic of your term paper so that you may find all the material you want.

Choosing the topic can make or break the scope of the paper and with it your academic performance. So make sure when you decide upon a topic for your college term paper, that you have answered all of the above questions with conviction. Once you finalized on the topic - make a proper format, scope of the topic and how you will go about doing research and what will be the prospective outcome and consult it with your professor.