Research Guides: Hot Topics: Pick a Topic

Introduction

This page walks you through the the process of choosing and refining a research topic. You can go through the steps in order, or circle back to previous ones if you're not happy with your topic or still need to narrow it down more.

1. Browse for Ideas

Topics are "hot" because they're being talked about! You can browse for them anywhere people share and talk about ideas, like social media and news outlets. Some of our library resources also highlight controversial issues, current events, and trending topics. Try the sources below to start browsing topic ideas:

CQ Researcher This link opens in a new window
Learn about major issues from current and historical perspectives and the inner workings of the U.S. government from authoritative, accessible, and unbiased sources.
Opposing Viewpoints: Gale In Context [GALE] This link opens in a new window
Contains contextual information and opinions on hundreds of today's hottest social issues. A rich resource for debaters- includes pro/con viewpoints, reference articles, interactive maps, infographics, and more.
Drawing on the acclaimed Greenhaven Press series, the solution features continuously updated viewpoints, topic overviews, full-text magazines, academic journals, news articles, primary source documents, statistics, images, videos, audio files and links to vetted websites organized into a user-friendly portal experience.
Global Issues: Gale In Context [GALE] This link opens in a new window
Ties together sources to present a rich analysis of issues - social, political, military, economic, environmental, science related, health related, cultural - and headlines in world hot spots. It provides information seekers with a framework to better understand 21st-century issues and events while highlighting global connections and the interdependence of all nations.
Supports global awareness and provides a global perspective while tying together a wealth of authoritative content, empowering learners to critically analyze and understand the most important issues of the modern world. Offers international viewpoints on a broad spectrum of global issues, topics, and current events. Featured are hundreds of continuously updated issue and country portals that bring together a variety of specially selected,relevant sources for analysis of these issues. Rich multimedia - including podcasts, video, and interactive graphs - enhance each portal.

Google Trends
Browse or search trends in people's Google searches since 2004. Use the menu on the left to view Trending Searches and the Year in Search.
Associated Press News
The Associated Press is not-for-profit news agency whose content comes from contributions by newspapers, radio, and TV stations around the country. Use the Topics menu at the top to browse by news category.

2. Pick a Topic

As you browse for topics, don't be afraid to click into and skim articles whose titles interest you. Pick a topic that you find interesting! You'll be working with it for awhile, so you might as well pick something you'll enjoy learning more about.

3. Do a Little Research

Read a few articles on your topic. They could be from the place you were browsing, news articles you find through Google, a library reference database such as Britannica Academic, or even a Wikipedia article.

► See the Find Sources page for links to library resources.

You want to get a bigger picture of the issues around your topic. For example, if I'm broadly interested in concussions in football, a quick search in different places shows more specific and related issues.

Source	Search Results / Article	Topics
Google	search on football concussions filtered to news	youth league, high school, and college football; new helmet technology; testing for concussions (see screenshot below)
Britannica Academic (library database)	search on concussions and football ⇒ "chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE)" article	other sports where CTE is an issue (e.g. ice hockey, baseball, boxing, soccer, wrestling)
Wikipedia	"Concussions in American football" article	concussion prevention, litigation against the NFL, efforts for improving recovery from concussions

4. Refine Your Topic

Based on the background research you've just done, narrow in on a more specific topic. Your project will be much more manageable if you focus on one piece of the larger topic. Here are some examples of narrower takes on my football concussions topic:

Youth football league response to the problem of concussions
Making high school football safer through helmet technology
How to support college athletes who have experienced repeated concussions
Whether football should continue to be so prominent as a youth sport
Or maybe you decide to research concussions related to ice hockey instead of football.