A term paper is a

research Research is creative and systematic work undertaken to increase the stock of knowledge. It involves the collection, organization, and analysis of evidence to increase understanding of a topic, characterized by a particular attentiveness to ...

paper written by

student A student is a person enrolled in a school or other educational institution, or more generally, a person who takes a special interest in a subject. In the United Kingdom and most The Commonwealth, commonwealth countries, a "student" attends ...

s over an

academic term An academic term (or simply term) is a portion of an academic year during which an educational institution holds Class (education), classes. The school timetable, schedules adopted vary widely. Common terms such as semester, trimester, and quarte ...

, accounting for a large part of a grade.

Merriam-Webster Merriam-Webster, Incorporated is an list of companies of the United States by state, American company that publishes reference work, reference books and is mostly known for Webster's Dictionary, its dictionaries. It is the oldest dictionary pub ...

defines it as "a major written assignment in a school or college course representative of a student's achievement during a term". Term papers are generally intended to describe an event, a concept, or argue a point. It is a written original work discussing a topic in detail, usually several typed pages in length, and is often due at the end of a semester. There is much overlap between the terms: ''research paper'' and ''term paper''. A ''term paper'' was originally a written assignment (usually a research based paper) that was due at the end of the "term"—either a semester or quarter, depending on which unit of measure a school used. However, not all term papers involve academic research, and not all research papers are term papers.

History

Term papers date back to the beginning of the 19th century when print could be reproduced cheaply and written texts of all types (reports, memoranda, specifications, and scholarly articles) could be easily produced and disseminated. Moulton and Holmes (2003) write that during the years from 1870 to 1900 "American education was transformed as writing became a method of discourse and research the hallmark of learning." Russell (1991) writes that in the 1910s, "the research paper began to harden into its familiar form" adding that

plagiarism Plagiarism is the representation of another person's language, thoughts, ideas, or expressions as one's own original work.From the 1995 ''Random House Dictionary of the English Language, Random House Compact Unabridged Dictionary'': use or close ...

and the sale of research papers both became a problem during this time.Russell, David R. Writing in the Academic Disciplines, 1870–1990: A Curricular History. Southern Illinois University, 1991. p.87-8

Plagiarism in the computer era

In the present day an entire industry has sprung up to provide plagiarized, pre-written or custom written term papers for students of varying levels of education. There are many websites that sell term papers of all levels of quality and writing proficiency, but submission of a purchased paper would be considered a serious breach of the submitting student's academic integrity by any reputable academic institution. Also,

can be unknowingly committed by students.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Term Paper Educational assessment and evaluation

History

Plagiarism in the computer era

See also

References