There are some confusion between term papers and research papers. While the titles are often interchanged, there is a genuine difference. A research paper is an academic research study that may take several years to complete if it is being written as part of being a requirement of a degree.

A term paper is limited to the length of time a school term or a semester takes and is used to determine the final grade of a particular student in a particular class. A term paper, while quite often an academic research form, does not have to be scholarly. A term paper serves to prove a matter of opinion or an attempt of proving a hypothesis.

The requirements for writing term paper are very similar to those of a research paper. One basic difference is that the topic of a term paper is often assigned to the student by the instructor or they are given a limited number of choices for their subject of study. Term paper writing is however, not as extensive as research paper writing. With having less time for completion, the term paper is generally a shorter work. However, your term paper would still require the same attention to detail and maintain the source materials and referencing techniques as the more scholarly research paper.

Always begin your term paper writing with study. Once you decide your topic it is recommended that you must first find out the basic principles underlying your subject. This helps to give you a general idea of what your topic is about, the ideas it can provide and how to direct your own term paper. Remember to keep notes and reference lists with you. A general encyclopedia would be good for your initial research. This way you will be able to focus on writings from the people mentioned and access the bibliography section to find for yourself more source materials that you can utilize.

Internet resources are handy for finding information about your topic. You must not write down the information that you get from the first website that you researched from, instead, compare several sources to determine which seems the most genuine to you.

Once you begin with the process of physically writing your term paper, start off with a general outline detailing the information that you are presenting and figure out the order in which you are going to present each new section of information. Stick to proper grammar and a writing pattern. Your term paper should explain the topic, not try to argue on it.

There are a number of styles and formats. It is essential that you are footnoting, indenting and spacing the way your professor wants it to be done.

Once you have done your first draft, begin with the proofreading stage. While searching for grammar errors and misspellings, you should also review the words you use and delete any superfluous, unnecessary words. Always avoid first person narrative in your term paper.

As a final check, you must go over all your footnotes and references to make sure that they are properly accredited and written in the correct form. Being found out to have plagiarized content or made up your references, might simply end up disqualifying your entire work.

Author Bio: Berkeley Term Papers provides custom term paper and research paper writing services.

Category: Education
Keywords: term papers, essays, research papers, thesis, dissertation, book report