When writing a paper, the first question to face is what to write? The choice of topic is crucial to the success or failure of a paper, therefore, careful consideration must be given when determining the topic of a paper.

The decision of the topic lies in providing a research direction that can be followed and defining a clear research scope. The selection of questions involves the author's experience and ability, as well as the writing deadline. Therefore, the first step in writing a paper is to select a topic that the author is interested in, willing to study, and worth spending time on. Of course, the title chosen by the author should not be too large, and there must be sufficient time to complete the manuscript within the deadline. However, the title should not be too small, and sufficient information must be found to avoid being meaningless. So, the first thing to do when writing a paper is to carefully choose the title. The choice of topic is related to the success or failure of a paper. When determining the topic of a paper, careful consideration and selection must be carried out. As the saying goes, "A good start is half the battle." Therefore, "cautious start" is the most important. In this chapter, we will only discuss some principles that should be taken into account when choosing a topic for writing general papers.

1、 Topic selection should be based on personal interests

How to discover or choose a paper title? When writing a handwritten paper, if the professor does not specify which type of topic to write and needs to choose a topic on their own, the first thing the author should consider is to have a strong interest in the chosen topic and be willing to delve deeper into it. The simplest reason is that the author needs to spend a considerable amount of time exploring and researching this issue. From reading books, searching for information, to analyzing and writing, if you are not interested, you will definitely achieve twice the result with half the effort. Interest is the driving force behind all actions. As the saying goes, "what is good is not as good as what is enjoyable." Only when it is enjoyable can one work tirelessly, be loyal and thorough. Only with interest can one unleash their potential and contribute. Therefore, if the professor does not specify the topic and scope of the research report, the author can weigh their own interests, academic background and conditions, and what courses they have taken in the past to determine the appropriate topic. When discussing scientific research, Mr. Tao Menghe once said, "A person's actual life often involves multiple interests, and many discoveries and inventions in history are also sparked by interests outside of research. A single interest only belongs to the characteristics of a few people and may not necessarily be a sound phenomenon. However, in research work, it is necessary to have an attitude of studying for the sake of research and striving for understanding." ① This spirit of exploring the interests of cosmic things and seeking scientific truth is an essential and most important condition for writing papers.

2、 Be well prepared for the chosen topic

People conducting academic research must have an appropriate understanding of the background for the chosen topic. Before writing a paper, although the author may not necessarily have a complete understanding of the chosen topic, they must have appropriate preparation. For example, in order to conduct research on the impact of Sino US trade on Taiwan's economy, it is necessary to have an appropriate understanding of economics and international trade; To study Ralph Waldo Emerson's "Transcendent mentalism" (1803-1882), it is necessary to have a fundamental understanding of American literature and Western philosophy. At the same time, attention should be paid to whether the selected topic involves foreign languages. If there is no sufficient foundation in the foreign language of the research topic and only the language of the country or region is known, so that the materials cannot be collected completely, the viewpoint will naturally become narrow, and the difficulties encountered during the research will inevitably increase. In addition, studying modern social and natural sciences requires appropriate research tools, such as statistical methods. If one engages in the study of such statistical survey data without proper training, it will inevitably be difficult and not pleasing.

3、 The question should be practical and not vague

When choosing a question, avoid being vague and unrealistic. If the topic is too broad in space, concepts are easily confused, it is not easy to draw clear conclusions, and it is also difficult to find the center of gravity, the result will inevitably be meaningless, aimless, and useless. This type of paper is not what modern science refers to as a paper, and although it is exaggerated, it has little value for the research itself.

In addition, some topics are often not worth spending time researching. We often hear of "making a big deal out of a small problem", where there is no need to make a big deal out of small details, especially things that are well-known to women and children; But when it comes to overturning the axioms that are generally known to women and children, not only is it necessary to make a big fuss, but it is also worth making a big fuss about. The most famous example is the Polish astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus (1473-1543) who overturned previous theories and proposed the theory of the Earth's Circle, which had significant historical significance at that time. For example, on February 15, 1898, during a friendly visit to the Spanish colonial port of Havana, Cuba, the American warship Maine sank due to an explosion, becoming a near cause of the war between the United States and Spain. Historians have accepted the investigation report proposed by the United States at that time, believing that the American warship Maine was destroyed by Spain. At that time, during the Spanish American War, the United States still had the slogan "Remember maine". Later, US Navy Admiral Hyman c. Rickover cited scientific evidence and wrote a book pointing out that the Maine sank due to an internal mechanical explosion that touched the gunpowder on board, rather than being damaged by external human factors. This kind of overturned article that presents new arguments is naturally not among the well-known facts mentioned earlier.

4、 The question should be novel and practical

The purpose of academic research has significance and value in carrying forward the past and opening up the future. Any research paper should aim to use it as its purpose. Therefore, when choosing a topic, it must be novel and practical, and it is best to choose one that can be related to real life. Academic research, if based on personal interests and completely disregarding the needs of the times, will inevitably become empty talk and have nothing to do with human life. Although we should not use narrow utilitarianism to criticize academic value, if academic research completely abandons its functional goals, it is easy to become mystical, absurd, and meaningless. Therefore, theory and practice must be mutually beneficial. Based on the above reasons, it would be great if the title of the paper could engage in new research on new problems, discover new theories, and create new principles. However, we can also use new methods to study old problems. When studying old problems, one must first ask in reverse. Does this question have any value for further research? Has the information been added? Is the method used by previous researchers to study this issue still feasible? For example, the writing of the Eight Part Essay has long been abolished. If someone were to engage in research on "how to write the Eight Part Essay well" now? Even if one can thoroughly study the methods of the Eight Part Essay, it is of no benefit to modern academia. In addition, it is important to avoid choosing topics that are too new, as they often result in insufficient information and prevent in-depth discussion, which may force the author to give up halfway. At the same time, a research report must have factual evidence and reference to many different sources, and cannot be fabricated out of thin air.

5、 Avoid controversial topics

Academic research places the primary emphasis on objectivity, and all abstract and stagnant issues are often influenced by subjective emotions and cannot be supported by objective scientific facts. For example, when discussing whether there is true friendship between men and women, it all depends on the attitude of both parties involved. Talking on paper is often irrelevant and irrelevant.

Therefore, we should avoid subjective or overly heated questions. Meanwhile, as the most important condition for research papers is objectivity, using scientific data as the basis for conclusions. If researchers have a strong subjective consciousness, such as choosing the topic of "Looking at Modern University Life from Toilet Literature", their attitude is difficult to be objective at the beginning of writing, because students who graffiti in the toilet are only a minority among college students, and reflecting the entire modern college student from the minority is inevitably biased. Unless this problem can be studied from another perspective, such as "Looking at the Life Changes of Extreme Students (or Bored Students) from Toilet Literature", but whether extreme students will inevitably graffiti in the toilet is another question that needs to be verified. Therefore, such questions should be avoided. In addition, in paper writing, it is important to avoid unrealistic personal opinions and not only state the surface of the problem, thereby losing the objectivity of the paper.

6、 Avoid highly technical questions

One of the important purposes of academic research is undoubtedly to explore new knowledge and open up new academic fields. However, we must act within our capabilities, otherwise we will have high expectations but low skills, and we will definitely achieve nothing. Therefore, in principle, it is advisable to avoid highly technical topics. Unless it is a research report by a few experts, writing a paper on the discovery and influence of J particles by a general physics student is at best just a superficial reflection or some superficial insights. For beginners, this is a laborious and thankless research task, and it is not an appropriate choice.

7、 Avoid directly summarizing biographies

A direct narrative biography can easily lead to an encyclopedia like article or become an attempt to make a definitive statement for someone in a very short amount of time, which is a very difficult and thankless job. It is usually more practical to choose a certain period of someone's life, a certain aspect of their work, or certain events that affect their life as part of a college student's term paper report. Because writing a biography for someone is not an easy task. Dr. Forrest O. Pogue, an American expert who studied the biography of General Marshall (1880-1959), traveled extensively to Taiwan to exchange views with government officials regarding Marshall's mediation of the Nationalist and Communist issues in China. This can demonstrate how difficult it is to truly write a good biography, let alone the work that a college student can accomplish in a semester.

8、 Avoid abstracted papers

The accumulation of knowledge certainly requires a comprehensive analysis, but if only the synthesis of data without new themes and arguments, it is not in line with the practice of modern papers. Therefore, unless there are new ideas, simply repeating the arguments that others have already discovered is just a cold job and has no academic value.

9、 The scope of the questions should not be too broad

The scope of the questions should be small, as they are too large and may not be easy to tackle. Some people often prefer to choose large topics when writing articles. They think that the scope of the topics is large and there must be more materials, but they do not realize that the larger the topics and the more materials, the harder it is to read them one by one, organize them into chapters, and have a more systematic approach. If one reluctantly gathers together a comprehensive statement, it is inevitable that all diseases will arise and there will be contradictions before and after. On the contrary, if the scope of the topic is small, the materials are easy to collect and organize, and the viewpoints are also easy to concentrate. Often, through detailed research, one can reach a creative realm beyond the knowledge field of predecessors.

The determination of the size of a question is mainly based on data, and the availability of data often varies over time and space. The author of the paper must have a sufficient understanding and knowledge of the nearby library and environment in order to know what topic has sufficient information to write about. As the ancient saying goes, "A clever woman cannot cook without rice." Without good materials, one cannot produce a good article. Research reports, like writing papers, require the author's unique insights, but the most important thing is still to have sufficient data as evidence. Due to our organization of materials and selection of concepts. The scope of the question will also increase and decrease accordingly.