When you face the reality of composing a term paper, the first thing you need to begin with is choosing the subject. Once you have finished with this task, you may start working on the already existing sources and outline your future paper. Remember that the paper needs to comply with the certain structuring rules. Every term paper, regardless of the scientific investigation topic and discipline, should have the following components:
- The Title Page – this is your term paper’s “face”, so it will be definitely judged by it. Be most accurate and double-check the Title. It should contain your name, topic of the term paper, discipline and, perhaps, the name of your scientific advisor. The Title Page is aimed at presenting your work to the entire audience.
- Introduction – is generally written to point the reader to the topic of your investigation, set the scenery and point out the actuality of the research. The hypothesis is also to be introduced. You need also to touch briefly on the questions that will be further discussed in your term paper.
- All the components following the Introduction (except for the Conclusion) may be considered as the Main Body of your term paper – the most substantial and important part of your research. Special attention should be given to its logic and style – scientific, formal and matter-of-fact.
- Background – this is the component of a term paper that clearly states the knowledge needed to determine the scientific methodology and consequent results of your paper.
- Methods – it is the part which presents the methodological basis of the paper and the results achieved by their application. You may choose different ways of presenting these two sides: enumerate the methods first and then describe all the results, or vice versa; first, establish all of the methods and then write about the scope of results afterwards.
- Discussion – in this part you are to narrate all the results that had been achieved on the basis of the primary thesis set.
- The Discussion, as the structural part of the term paper, is to be followed by the Conclusion – the last, but not least, section of the whole term paper. It is a kind of a summary for your investigation conducted, with possible ways of solving a problem (if there had been one according to your outline), or your own solutions. To cut a long story short, this structural component is to give the general statement of the paper combined with your goals. It demands no new information – just a slight paraphrasing of what was previously said.
Once your term paper is structured and composed correctly, do not forget to spell-check and proofread in order not to lose points due to vocabulary or grammar mistakes. Good luck!
