Term papers are something that all students must write. It comes with the territory of being in college. You’ll want to make sure that the term paper you are handing in follows a general outline that all term papers have in order to get a good grade.
Every class and professor has slightly different requirements for their desired term papers. You will need to take a careful look at these specifications before your paper is complete. Before you get to that point though, here are some things that should always be included, plus some tips to answer your question ‘how long is a term paper?’.
Introduction
An introduction in a term paper doesn’t just mean that it’s one paragraph long. Although there should be an initial opening paragraph with something interesting about your topic to catch the reader’s eye. The introduction for a well-written and longer paper can be up to 2 pages long. There is no need to go over this limit.
It should include a preview to your topic thesis, as well as the thesis statement itself. It will give some background knowledge and some points that will be discussed in detail later on in the paper.
Body
The body of a term paper is the most important perhaps. This is the heart of your essay and should be the longest portion. Depending on the required style, you may want to include subheadings to make the paper more organized.
The body should hit on all your main points in detail. Each paragraph should have:
- A topic sentence. The first sentence of each paragraph should be a topic sentence. A topic sentence gives the reader the main idea of that paragraph.
- Arguments, examples, and supporting details. All of these need to be well planned and executed. They are for whatever case you are making, so they need to be strong and make sense.
A good paragraph is anywhere from 5 to 10 sentences long. There should be several paragraphs under each subheading, if you have them. The body can be up to 10 pages long depending on the requirements of your term paper, so you really need to outline all the points you want to make before you start writing in order to be able to fulfill the length requirement.
Conclusion
Last but not least would be the conclusion. The conclusion is very important because it sums up and recaps all the points you have been making throughout your entire paper. Therefore, it needs to be thorough and not too short.
In a term paper, a conclusion can be longer than a paragraph, especially if your term paper reflects research or an experiment you have carried out. It should include a summary, and some questions or ideas for further study on the particular topic.
A term paper can be anywhere from 8 to 15 pages! This means that you will be doing a lot of work, but in the end it will be worth it. Remember these tips for 3 main sections of your paper and you will do great!