Selecting a topic is often one of the most difficult parts of doing research. If you have a choice of research topics, start by choosing a topic you like, or one you are curious about. Here are some more suggestions:

• Browse a subject encyclopedia (in print or online) for fast background on ideas, concepts, and vocabulary.  A good one to try is Gale Virtual Reference Library.
• Browse newspapers (in print or online) for topic ideas; but watch out, if the topic is extremely new there may not be enough written about it yet to satisfy your assignment.  Try a fast search in  Access World News.
• Do some exploratory searches in an article database like Academic Search Complete and read some abstracts there
• Talk to your TA or to a reference librarian — they can show you how to use online resources and help with your topic selection

The next step is to narrow your topic to something manageable. You will probably refine and refocus your topic several times before you finalize it.

Once you have your topic, write it out as a short sentence or question and look at the different components that make up your statement. Start compiling a list of the key words that you will use as you search for your topic. For example, the topic "Is memory loss related to aging?" might have key words that fall into two general categories: