Term papers are the most common form of assignment given to
students. They are an avenue through which the subject matter being discussed
can be expressed in a more understandable form by the student. Also, they help
the student to make more research about the topic and practice what has been
learnt so far.
Although term papers are regarded as the lecturer’s
instrument of measuring the understanding of students, they are sometimes not
taken very seriously. Some students just resort to copying and pasting from the
web, an action that will definitely not produce the required result and still
risk putting the student in trouble.
In order to make the most out of term papers, students need
to take note of some of these important tips:
1. The Cover Page
The cover page is the page that contains all the details of
the author, relevant to the submission of the term paper. The details on the
cover page should be neatly arranged, without mistakes.
2. The Abstract
An abstract is simply a summary. When writing a term paper,
students should endeavor to include the abstract because this helps to point
out, to the lecturer, that the student did the expected things and followed the
right processes. An abstract should contain a brief summary of what the term paper
is all about and how the study was carried out. This, therefore implies that
the abstract may not be the first thing to be written.
3. The Introduction
The introduction is an initial section of a book or article,
which presents the subject matter. In other words, the introduction is the part
of the term paper that enlightens the reader on what the term paper will be all
about. Much care should be taken to ensure that the introduction is not out of
context because most times, in trying to introduce the subject matter, the
student may end up talking about something else.
4. The Body
This is the most important part of the term paper. It
contains a complete description of what the term paper is all about. This part
of the term paper should contain minimal content from the internet to avoid
plagiarism. Instead, if you need to use the internet, it is more advisable that
you read through what you are about to write about and then rewrite it in your
own words. The body of the term paper can start with a definition of the key
words in the term paper topic, before going on to explain the topic.
5. The Conclusion
This is a statement that can be used to end the term paper.
It may be in the form of a closing statement, a decision reached after careful
thought or the outcome of a process, act or experiment. The conclusion does not
necessarily need to be long, neither does it need to be filled with definitions
or excerpts from the body. The conclusion should simply be your opinion of what
you’ve been discussing from the introduction.
6. References
References are simply a way of telling the reader (or
lecturer) that you did a good research on the topic before you wrote the term
paper. The references are a series of books, journals, etc. that were used in
writing the term paper. It is important to note that if all your sources were
from the internet, then you need to state all the website addresses you used,
in order not to commit plagiarism unknowingly.
Most importantly, try as much as possible not to copy and paste!
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