How to Write a Term Paper: Beginner’s Guide

Term papers are common among assignments for college students. Unlike regular essay assignments, term papers offer tutors a good analysis of your content mastery, and have a substantial impact on your final score. 

Many students often struggle with the complex nature of term papers with many opting to buy a term paper to avoid the arduous task of writing one. Fortunately, proper mastery of the structure and purpose of a term paper can help you develop an A-level assignment.

Read on for various tips for an analysis of the sections and information to tackle within your paper. 

What is a term paper?

Let us start with the term paper definition to establish the purpose of this assignment. A term paper is an academic essay required at the end of a term to test how well you have covered a given topic. 

These papers require an extensive amount of research to solve a topic problem while applying the concepts you have encountered in class. However, term papers are not limited to class content and thus require extensive research to tackle all perspectives regarding the topic at hand. 

Term paper outline

Like all academic papers, the term paper adheres to an outline that guides you on the manner in which to present ideas within your work. The key sections of your research paper are:

1. Cover page

The cover page of a term paper comprises your personal details, the paper’s title, your tutor’s name, and the due date. This helps avoid confusion and also to give your tutor a gist of your selected topic.

2. Abstract

Your term paper abstract covers the key portions making up your argument, to give the reader a gist of your discussion. Here, you should touch on the justification for your analysis, a validation of the research methods, and highlight your key results and conclusion.

This allows a reader to determine how well a topic has been approached and weigh the relevance of your paper to the assignment.

3. Literature review

The literature review section analyses all existing publications in your niche to highlight gaps that warrant your research. When going about your analysis, highlight how your work aims to fill knowledge gaps in the sources you have gathered.

This serves as a platform on which to justify your analysis and also offers you a base for establishing your term paper objectives. 

4. Introduction

The introduction of a term paper highlights the background information of a topic and introduces the objectives of your term paper. Your introduction is however different from the abstract and should not highlight your conclusion.

When going about the intro, include a hook relating to the paper and a thesis statement that captures your paper’s essence. You may also highlight some research objectives you intend to tackle and justify why your methods are best suited for the research. 

Doing this helps the reader approach the subject from your standpoint, and also allows one to gauge how well your paper has met its objectives. 

5. Methods

The methods section should outline any experimental approach used within your paper. If your paper is based on theoretical approaches, establish the criteria used in analyzing the problem and highlight how you approached data collection and analysis. 

6. Results

This chapter presents your results in a format that’s easy for a reader to analyze and draw relevant conclusions. 

7. Discussion

The discussion highlights how various results reflect on your hypothesis and presents your claims and how they overcome highlighted gaps. 

8. References

This is the list of the sum total of sources used within your paper. 

Term paper format

The term paper follows an APA or MLA format depending on the guidelines offered by your tutor. When approaching an APA term paper: 

• Insert the page number on the upper left corner of the title page header
• Add a left-aligned running head not exceeding fifty characters to the header of all pages but the title page
• Set all page margins to one inch. 
• All content, including headings, should be double-spaced. 
• Every paragraph’s first line should be indented by 0.5 inches. 
• Use a legible typeface (e.g., Times New Roman 12pt., Arial 11pt., or Georgia 11pt.). 
• Every page should have a page number. 

Ideally, consult an example of a term paper edited in your preferred style to familiarize yourself with the citations and structure of your paper. 

Final take

Writing a term paper should not trigger your fears and frustration. we hope this guide has helped you familiarize yourself with various components to highlight in your paper. Feel free to reach out for term paper help on various elements you may struggle with in your paper. 

Our team can also offer a custom term paper and editing help, helping you stay at par with your due date without compromising your paper’s quality.