Choose a Research Topic & Establish a Research Plan

Step 1: Ideas

Where do you find ideas for a research project?

  • Your professor assigns a topic.
  • You saw an interesting topic discussed on a tv news program last night.
  • You were interested in an issue an instructor mentioned in passing during last week's class.
  • You have a personal interest or hobby that you'd like to write about.

What if you don't have an assigned topic or a subject of interest like these above in mind? There are several sources available to suggest interesting, workable topics for college research.

For current events topics, ideas for persuasive presentations, etc., try:

Facts on File: Issues and Controversies
You will need your NKU user name and password to access this subscription website.
Be sure to find the Issues and Controversies tab in this new reporting site. Here you will find organized discussions of great research topics.
CQ Researcher
Location: Steely Library, third floor Reference Collection. Also available in an online format.
Each week CQ Researcher covers a different subject that has recently been in the news. Recent topics include road rage, drinking on campus, diet aids, gender equity in sports, plea bargaining limits, and asthma epidemic.
Encyclopedia of Applied Ethics
Location: Steely Library, third floor, REF BJ63 .E44 1998
Many areas of human action and choice are discussed (advertising, educational opportunities for the disabled, courtroom procedures, business use of the environment, etc.)

For topics in specific academic fields (such as biology, music, civil war history, etc.), try browsing through:

  • Current issues of magazines and journals published for that field. You can locate titles of these periodicals through the library catalog - NKUIRE with a subject search for your field and the word "periodicals. (For example COMPUTER SCIENCE PERIODICALS.) Current issues of the publications you find through NKUIRE will be on the 3rd floor of Steely Library.
  • Subject encyclopedias - For many academic fields there are reference sources that provide summaries of the key issues being studied in that subject area. These reference sources can be excellent guides to workable topics for your research projects. In the library catalog - NKUIRE, search for your subject area along with the word "dictionaries." (For example, SPACE FLIGHT DICTIONARIES.)
  • A research librarian can assist you to quickly identify periodicals or reference sources in specific subject areas. In fact, working with a librarian in Steely Library would be an efficient approach to selecting a specific periodical or subject encyclopedia to browse. Contact a research librarian now at Ask Steely Library!