English 102: Topic of Your Choice

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Please direct questions to
Araby Greene

Updated 19 January 2008

English 102: Topic of your choice

If you are having a hard time picking a topic for your research paper, these links may help:

Academic Search Premier (EBSCOhost)
- Indexes 7,800+ scholarly journals, with full text for 4,000 titles. Covers social sciences, humanities, education, computer science and engineering, general science, medicine, ethnic studies, and more. Click Scholarly (peer-reviewed) Journals if you want to eliminate popular magazines and newspapers from your search. 1965- present for selected titles.
Masterfile Premier (EBSCOhost)
- Full text for 2,000 general publications, plus abstracts for 600+ titles. Covers business, education, health, science, multicultural issues, travel, and more. Also includes book reviews, biographies, images, World Almanac, and American Heritage Dictionary. 1975- present for selected titles.
Alt-Press Watch
- Indexes newspapers, magazines and journals of the alternative and independent press. Covers a broad range of critical issues confronting contemporary society. 1994- present.
Ethnic NewsWatch
- Articles, editorials, reviews, etc. from newspapers, magazines, and journals of the ethnic, minority, and native press. Search in English or Spanish. 1990- present.
GenderWatch Full text collection of articles covering women's and gender topics.
Lexis-Nexis Academic Universe
- Index and full text to news, business, legal, medical, and reference materials and links to congressional and statistical information.
For resources related to specific disciplines or subject areas see Databases, Web Sites, and Other Resources by Subject.

Webster's Third New International Dictionary, Unabridged
- A dictionary of the current vocabulary of standard written and spoken English language, from 1755-1996, containing 450,000 vocabulary entries.
Oxford English Dictionary
- Complete text of the 20-volume Second Edition OED. Quarterly updates of the in-progress third edition. Entries include etymology, usage quotes, and date charts.
Britannica Online
- Online version of the complete encyclopedia with more than 75,000 entries, links to related Internet sites, and Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary.
Merriam-Webster's Encyclopedia of Literature
- Over 10,000 entries for authors, works, literary landmarks, literary and critical terms, mythological and folkloric figures, fictional characters, literary movements and prizes.
Associations Unlimited
- Directory of more than 154,000 detailed listings for international, national, state, and regional organizations. IRS information for more than 300,00 nonprofit organizations.
CultureGrams
- Cultural information for 175+ countries of the world, including history, customs, lifestyle, and government.
Columbia Gazetteer of the World
- A database of geographical names, descriptions, and characteristics of over 165,000 places in the world. Search by place-name, type of place, or keyword.
More resources from the Library's Web Reference Shelf.

Style Guides
- See the section on MLA (Modern Language Association) style for help on "citing" your references in a bibliography or list of references.
Modern Language Association (MLA) Citation Guide
- Clear, concise guide with examples for printed resources. Ohio State University.
What is a Scholarly or Peer-reviewed Journal?
- If you're still uncertain about a particular journal, look it up in Ulrich's International Periodicals Directory. The icon indicates a refereed journal
What is a Primary Source?
- There are three types of sources used in research: primary, secondary, and finding tools. This short guide will help you tell the difference