How to Write a Term Paper Proposal

You’ve always jumped right into writing term papers before, but now your professor expects a proposal. At first glance, it seems like just another useless task, even if it adds points to your final grade. But there’s more to the term paper proposal than meets the eye. And the skill of proposal writing is of the same importance as learning how to write a term paper. Therefore, we share a few helpful tidbits to make this assignment less of a chore and more of a valuable learning experience.

What Is a Term Paper Proposal?

The name term paper proposal says it all. It’s a short document highlighting what you propose or plan to write in a term paper. While proposal structures differ, they usually cover the research goal and scope, methodology and tools, as well as expected results. Sometimes, you’ll need to include a rough outline and a list of references. 

Some term papers do not require a proposal, but lengthy assignments that carry the majority of your final grade usually do. The proposal guides your preliminary research and helps organize your plans. Besides, it elicits early feedback from professors and TAs who may suggest a better topic, additional sources, or improvements to your research methods. Getting this feedback before you start working on a term paper saves time and effort in the long run.

Why Bother Mastering Proposal Writing?

If you’re still unconvinced that learning how to write a term paper proposal is worth your time, consider this: research grants, book proposals, letters of inquiry, and funding prospectus are forms of a proposal. So crafting a concise and compelling proposal is a valuable skill you may need after graduation, whether you apply to a postgraduate program, continue your research career, or develop a startup. 

Step-by-step Guide to Term Paper Proposal Writing

You may feel lost if it’s your first time writing a term paper proposal. Ideally, you should request clear requirements or a proposal template from your professor. And while you’re waiting for a response, check out the typical sections which you may need to include in your proposal:

1. Goal and objectives. Specify the primary purpose of your research and the smaller objectives you plan to achieve. This section is a short list of one to four items.
2. Research question or thesis statement. Formulate the core message of the term paper in one sentence or question depending on your class, topic, and preferred style. 
3. Background information (literature review). Highlight the relevance of the chosen topic through existing contradictions and gaps in knowledge. This section should clarify why your research is necessary and span one to two paragraphs.
4. Research methodology summary. List all research and analytical methods you expect to use while working on your study without going into much detail. One paragraph should be enough to cover this section.
5. Expected results. Explain the results you expect to achieve based on your literature review and methodology, as well as initial hypothesis and objectives. One passage should be enough for this part because you don’t have any results while writing a proposal.
6. Term paper proposal outline. Plan a rough structure of the term paper using headings and subheadings of different levels to make your plans clear to the professor. The outline usually looks like a numbered list. 
7. List of references. Include sources you used for the literature review and methodology sections of the proposal. The number of sources depends on your professor’s requirements and is usually no less than ten references for a medium-length term paper.

Above are the usual proposal parts. Still, some projects may require a timetable and a budget. Others need a data collection section, ethical considerations for dealing with human subjects, or a study area definition to specify what will not be included in the paper.

Read also:

How to write a term paper in English literature

Bonus Tips for Writing a Term Paper Proposal

Based on the typical troubles students face working on a term paper proposal, we’ve developed guidelines to help you avoid mistakes and accelerate the proposal writing process:

• Get feedback regularly. Stay in touch with your TA and professor, and don’t be shy about asking questions because that will save your time and get you noticed in a good way.
• Pick your topic carefully. Depending on the deadline, you may select a well-researched or obscure issue to study. Either way, it should be interesting for you and relevant for your readers.
• Define the scope. It should fit the word count and other term paper requirements. You won’t cover too broad a topic in a short paper, and you’ll have trouble researching an issue that’s too narrow. Strive for the happy medium.
• Settle your terms. Pick a set of definitions and use them throughout the proposal to prevent confusion. Stick with the same terms throughout the paper to save time on editing.
• Screen the sources. Every reference cited should be relevant (no older than 5 to 10 years), credible (written by an expert and published in a respected journal), and unbiased (free of subjective judgments or conflict of interest).

Term Paper Proposal Example

Below you’ll find a term paper proposal sample that comprises some sections we’ve covered and follows the tips we’ve shared:

Title: Analyzing the Severity of SARS-CoV-2 and Its Complications in Children

Objectives:

• Examine the causes of Long Covid and multisystem inflammatory syndrome (MIS-C) among children.
• Analyze the role of children in transmitting SARS-CoV-2 at school and at home.
• Provide evidence in favor of vaccinating children against SARS-CoV-2 and highlight potential long-term imbalances in immune responses to virus variants.

Background:

The severity of SARS-CoV-2 in children is less pronounced than in adult patients. However, some children develop MIS-C and Long Covid, among other severe complications. The causes for these complications remain unclear due to the lack of evidence and research. Vaccinating children against SARS-CoV-2 may reduce the risks of severe complications following mild cases and mitigate the children’s impact on respiratory disease transmission. However, vaccination runs the risk of skewing the immune response as the virus continues to mutate. 

Methodology:

The term paper research will be based on analyzing current medical publications in respected journals and synthesizing conclusions based on cross-study data to achieve research objectives. As the investigation will be literature-based, no ethical considerations for dealing with human subjects apply. The study will use statistical analysis tools to uncover potential connections and correlations between different factors, including SARS-CoV-2 severity, the causes of severe complications, transmission rates, etc.

Outline:

Introduction

Current SARS-CoV-2 infection and severity rates among children

Causes of severe SARS-CoV-2 complications among some children

• The cases and causes of MIS-C among children
• The cases and causes of Long Covid among children

Vaccinating children against SARS-CoV-2 

• The role of the children in transmitting SARS-CoV-2
• The benefits of vaccinating children against SARS-CoV-2 
• The drawbacks of vaccinating children against SARS-CoV-2

Conclusion

References:

1. H. Q. McLean et al., Pediatrics 149, e2021054178 (2022).
2. C. A. Pierce et al., Sci. Transl. Med. 12, eabd5487 (2020).
3. C. A. Pierce et al., JCI Insight 6, e148694 (2021).
4. S. Madera et al., Sci. Rep. 11, 3044 (2021).
5. S. P. Weisberg et al., Nat. Immunol. 22, 25 (2021).

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