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Research Topics:

1. Viral diseases

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2. Exploring sound

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3. Neurodegenerative diseases

387,000 views
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4. Psychedelic therapy

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22 articles

5. Circadian rhythms

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6. Covid-19 insights

320,000 views
84 articles

7. Vaccine safety

244,000 views
10 articles

8. Spirituality and healthcare

242,000 views
16 articles

9. Antiviral plants

208,000 views

10. Quaternary fossils

144,000 views

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Sat / act prep online guides and tips, 113 great research paper topics.

General Education

One of the hardest parts of writing a research paper can be just finding a good topic to write about. Fortunately we've done the hard work for you and have compiled a list of 113 interesting research paper topics. They've been organized into ten categories and cover a wide range of subjects so you can easily find the best topic for you.

In addition to the list of good research topics, we've included advice on what makes a good research paper topic and how you can use your topic to start writing a great paper.

What Makes a Good Research Paper Topic?

Not all research paper topics are created equal, and you want to make sure you choose a great topic before you start writing. Below are the three most important factors to consider to make sure you choose the best research paper topics.

#1: It's Something You're Interested In

A paper is always easier to write if you're interested in the topic, and you'll be more motivated to do in-depth research and write a paper that really covers the entire subject. Even if a certain research paper topic is getting a lot of buzz right now or other people seem interested in writing about it, don't feel tempted to make it your topic unless you genuinely have some sort of interest in it as well.

#2: There's Enough Information to Write a Paper

Even if you come up with the absolute best research paper topic and you're so excited to write about it, you won't be able to produce a good paper if there isn't enough research about the topic. This can happen for very specific or specialized topics, as well as topics that are too new to have enough research done on them at the moment. Easy research paper topics will always be topics with enough information to write a full-length paper.

Trying to write a research paper on a topic that doesn't have much research on it is incredibly hard, so before you decide on a topic, do a bit of preliminary searching and make sure you'll have all the information you need to write your paper.

#3: It Fits Your Teacher's Guidelines

Don't get so carried away looking at lists of research paper topics that you forget any requirements or restrictions your teacher may have put on research topic ideas. If you're writing a research paper on a health-related topic, deciding to write about the impact of rap on the music scene probably won't be allowed, but there may be some sort of leeway. For example, if you're really interested in current events but your teacher wants you to write a research paper on a history topic, you may be able to choose a topic that fits both categories, like exploring the relationship between the US and North Korea. No matter what, always get your research paper topic approved by your teacher first before you begin writing.

113 Good Research Paper Topics

Below are 113 good research topics to help you get you started on your paper. We've organized them into ten categories to make it easier to find the type of research paper topics you're looking for.

Arts/Culture

Discuss the main differences in art from the Italian Renaissance and the Northern Renaissance .
Analyze the impact a famous artist had on the world.
How is sexism portrayed in different types of media (music, film, video games, etc.)? Has the amount/type of sexism changed over the years?
How has the music of slaves brought over from Africa shaped modern American music?
How has rap music evolved in the past decade?
How has the portrayal of minorities in the media changed?

Current Events

What have been the impacts of China's one child policy?
How have the goals of feminists changed over the decades?
How has the Trump presidency changed international relations?
Analyze the history of the relationship between the United States and North Korea.
What factors contributed to the current decline in the rate of unemployment?
What have been the impacts of states which have increased their minimum wage?
How do US immigration laws compare to immigration laws of other countries?
How have the US's immigration laws changed in the past few years/decades?
How has the Black Lives Matter movement affected discussions and view about racism in the US?
What impact has the Affordable Care Act had on healthcare in the US?
What factors contributed to the UK deciding to leave the EU (Brexit)?
What factors contributed to China becoming an economic power?
Discuss the history of Bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies (some of which tokenize the S&P 500 Index on the blockchain) .
Do students in schools that eliminate grades do better in college and their careers?
Do students from wealthier backgrounds score higher on standardized tests?
Do students who receive free meals at school get higher grades compared to when they weren't receiving a free meal?
Do students who attend charter schools score higher on standardized tests than students in public schools?
Do students learn better in same-sex classrooms?
How does giving each student access to an iPad or laptop affect their studies?
What are the benefits and drawbacks of the Montessori Method ?
Do children who attend preschool do better in school later on?
What was the impact of the No Child Left Behind act?
How does the US education system compare to education systems in other countries?
What impact does mandatory physical education classes have on students' health?
Which methods are most effective at reducing bullying in schools?
Do homeschoolers who attend college do as well as students who attended traditional schools?
Does offering tenure increase or decrease quality of teaching?
How does college debt affect future life choices of students?
Should graduate students be able to form unions?

What are different ways to lower gun-related deaths in the US?
How and why have divorce rates changed over time?
Is affirmative action still necessary in education and/or the workplace?
Should physician-assisted suicide be legal?
How has stem cell research impacted the medical field?
How can human trafficking be reduced in the United States/world?
Should people be able to donate organs in exchange for money?
Which types of juvenile punishment have proven most effective at preventing future crimes?
Has the increase in US airport security made passengers safer?
Analyze the immigration policies of certain countries and how they are similar and different from one another.
Several states have legalized recreational marijuana. What positive and negative impacts have they experienced as a result?
Do tariffs increase the number of domestic jobs?
Which prison reforms have proven most effective?
Should governments be able to censor certain information on the internet?
Which methods/programs have been most effective at reducing teen pregnancy?
What are the benefits and drawbacks of the Keto diet?
How effective are different exercise regimes for losing weight and maintaining weight loss?
How do the healthcare plans of various countries differ from each other?
What are the most effective ways to treat depression ?
What are the pros and cons of genetically modified foods?
Which methods are most effective for improving memory?
What can be done to lower healthcare costs in the US?
What factors contributed to the current opioid crisis?
Analyze the history and impact of the HIV/AIDS epidemic .
Are low-carbohydrate or low-fat diets more effective for weight loss?
How much exercise should the average adult be getting each week?
Which methods are most effective to get parents to vaccinate their children?
What are the pros and cons of clean needle programs?
How does stress affect the body?
Discuss the history of the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians.
What were the causes and effects of the Salem Witch Trials?
Who was responsible for the Iran-Contra situation?
How has New Orleans and the government's response to natural disasters changed since Hurricane Katrina?
What events led to the fall of the Roman Empire?
What were the impacts of British rule in India ?
Was the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki necessary?
What were the successes and failures of the women's suffrage movement in the United States?
What were the causes of the Civil War?
How did Abraham Lincoln's assassination impact the country and reconstruction after the Civil War?
Which factors contributed to the colonies winning the American Revolution?
What caused Hitler's rise to power?
Discuss how a specific invention impacted history.
What led to Cleopatra's fall as ruler of Egypt?
How has Japan changed and evolved over the centuries?
What were the causes of the Rwandan genocide ?

Why did Martin Luther decide to split with the Catholic Church?
Analyze the history and impact of a well-known cult (Jonestown, Manson family, etc.)
How did the sexual abuse scandal impact how people view the Catholic Church?
How has the Catholic church's power changed over the past decades/centuries?
What are the causes behind the rise in atheism/ agnosticism in the United States?
What were the influences in Siddhartha's life resulted in him becoming the Buddha?
How has media portrayal of Islam/Muslims changed since September 11th?

Science/Environment

How has the earth's climate changed in the past few decades?
How has the use and elimination of DDT affected bird populations in the US?
Analyze how the number and severity of natural disasters have increased in the past few decades.
Analyze deforestation rates in a certain area or globally over a period of time.
How have past oil spills changed regulations and cleanup methods?
How has the Flint water crisis changed water regulation safety?
What are the pros and cons of fracking?
What impact has the Paris Climate Agreement had so far?
What have NASA's biggest successes and failures been?
How can we improve access to clean water around the world?
Does ecotourism actually have a positive impact on the environment?
Should the US rely on nuclear energy more?
What can be done to save amphibian species currently at risk of extinction?
What impact has climate change had on coral reefs?
How are black holes created?
Are teens who spend more time on social media more likely to suffer anxiety and/or depression?
How will the loss of net neutrality affect internet users?
Analyze the history and progress of self-driving vehicles.
How has the use of drones changed surveillance and warfare methods?
Has social media made people more or less connected?
What progress has currently been made with artificial intelligence ?
Do smartphones increase or decrease workplace productivity?
What are the most effective ways to use technology in the classroom?
How is Google search affecting our intelligence?
When is the best age for a child to begin owning a smartphone?
Has frequent texting reduced teen literacy rates?

How to Write a Great Research Paper

Even great research paper topics won't give you a great research paper if you don't hone your topic before and during the writing process. Follow these three tips to turn good research paper topics into great papers.

#1: Figure Out Your Thesis Early

Before you start writing a single word of your paper, you first need to know what your thesis will be. Your thesis is a statement that explains what you intend to prove/show in your paper. Every sentence in your research paper will relate back to your thesis, so you don't want to start writing without it!

As some examples, if you're writing a research paper on if students learn better in same-sex classrooms, your thesis might be "Research has shown that elementary-age students in same-sex classrooms score higher on standardized tests and report feeling more comfortable in the classroom."

If you're writing a paper on the causes of the Civil War, your thesis might be "While the dispute between the North and South over slavery is the most well-known cause of the Civil War, other key causes include differences in the economies of the North and South, states' rights, and territorial expansion."

#2: Back Every Statement Up With Research

Remember, this is a research paper you're writing, so you'll need to use lots of research to make your points. Every statement you give must be backed up with research, properly cited the way your teacher requested. You're allowed to include opinions of your own, but they must also be supported by the research you give.

#3: Do Your Research Before You Begin Writing

You don't want to start writing your research paper and then learn that there isn't enough research to back up the points you're making, or, even worse, that the research contradicts the points you're trying to make!

Get most of your research on your good research topics done before you begin writing. Then use the research you've collected to create a rough outline of what your paper will cover and the key points you're going to make. This will help keep your paper clear and organized, and it'll ensure you have enough research to produce a strong paper.

What's Next?

Are you also learning about dynamic equilibrium in your science class? We break this sometimes tricky concept down so it's easy to understand in our complete guide to dynamic equilibrium .

Thinking about becoming a nurse practitioner? Nurse practitioners have one of the fastest growing careers in the country, and we have all the information you need to know about what to expect from nurse practitioner school .

Want to know the fastest and easiest ways to convert between Fahrenheit and Celsius? We've got you covered! Check out our guide to the best ways to convert Celsius to Fahrenheit (or vice versa).

These recommendations are based solely on our knowledge and experience. If you purchase an item through one of our links, PrepScholar may receive a commission.

Christine graduated from Michigan State University with degrees in Environmental Biology and Geography and received her Master's from Duke University. In high school she scored in the 99th percentile on the SAT and was named a National Merit Finalist. She has taught English and biology in several countries.

Ask a Question Below

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HBR’s Most-Read Research Articles of 2022

Dagny Dukach

Insights on equity, leadership, and becoming your best self.

The new year is a great time to set ambitious goals. But alongside our plans for the future, it’s also helpful to acknowledge all the challenges we’ve faced — and the progress we’ve made — in the last 12 months. In this end-of-year roundup, we share key insights and trends from HBR’s most-read research articles of 2022, exploring topics from embracing a new identity to fostering equity in the workplace and beyond.

For many of us, the arrival of a new year can be equal parts inspiring and daunting. While the promise of a fresh start is often welcome, it’s also a reminder of all the challenges we faced in the last 12 months — and all those still awaiting us, that we have yet to overcome.

Dagny Dukach is a former associate editor at Harvard Business Review.

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Home » 300+ Interesting Research Topics

300+ Interesting Research Topics

Research is a vital component of any academic pursuit, and the process of choosing an interesting research topic can be both exciting and daunting. With countless subjects and themes to explore, it can be challenging to narrow down your focus and find a topic that resonates with you. However, the right research topic can inspire you, engage your curiosity, and drive you to discover new insights and knowledge. In this post, we’ll explore some interesting research topics across a variety of disciplines, providing you with a starting point for your next academic project.

Interesting Research Topics

Some Interesting Research Topics are as follows:

The impact of mindfulness meditation on creativity and innovative problem-solving abilities
The relationship between social media use and political activism among young adults
The effectiveness of virtual reality therapy for treating specific phobias
The role of nutrition in preventing and managing anxiety disorders
The impact of cultural factors on perceptions and experiences of workplace harassment and discrimination
The relationship between personality traits and successful entrepreneurship
The effects of outdoor education programs on academic achievement and environmental attitudes in middle school students
The role of physical activity in improving cognitive function and memory in older adults
The impact of cultural factors on perceptions and experiences of aging and technology use
The relationship between social support and mental health outcomes in individuals with chronic illnesses
The effects of cognitive-behavioral therapy for eating disorders in males
The role of nutrition in preventing and managing osteoporosis in postmenopausal women
The impact of cultural factors on attitudes towards organ donation and transplantation
The relationship between sleep and athletic performance in professional athletes
The effects of mindfulness-based interventions on reducing implicit biases and promoting workplace diversity and inclusion
The role of physical activity in reducing symptoms of postpartum depression in new mothers
The impact of cultural factors on perceptions and experiences of maternal mental health in diverse communities
The relationship between childhood socioeconomic status and adult health outcomes
The effects of cognitive-behavioral therapy for hoarding disorder
The role of nutrition in preventing and managing chronic pain conditions, such as fibromyalgia.
The effects of social media use on political polarization and civic engagement
The impact of mindfulness on reducing workplace stress and burnout
The relationship between personality and job performance in different work settings
The effectiveness of dialectical behavior therapy for individuals with bipolar disorder
The role of exercise in improving mental health outcomes in college students
The effects of technology on social interactions and relationship quality in romantic relationships
The impact of cultural factors on mental health treatment-seeking behavior in immigrant populations
The relationship between parental attachment and emotional regulation in adolescence
The effectiveness of cognitive-behavioral therapy for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in military veterans
The role of nutrition in preventing and managing cardiovascular disease
The effects of mindfulness on reducing implicit biases and promoting diversity and inclusion
The impact of cultural values on decision-making in the context of environmental sustainability
The relationship between sleep and academic performance in high school students
The effectiveness of acceptance and commitment therapy for individuals with substance use disorders
The role of physical activity in reducing symptoms of depression in older adults
The impact of cultural factors on coping strategies and resilience in disaster recovery
The relationship between parental warmth and child social competence in early childhood
The effects of cognitive-behavioral therapy for depression in cancer patients
The role of nutrition in preventing and managing autoimmune skin diseases, such as psoriasis
The effects of virtual reality exposure therapy on treating social anxiety disorder
The impact of gender diversity in leadership positions on organizational performance and innovation
The relationship between social support and mental health outcomes in college students
The effects of art therapy on reducing symptoms of PTSD in military veterans
The role of physical activity in reducing symptoms of anxiety in pregnant women
The impact of cultural factors on perceptions and experiences of aging and age-related health issues
The relationship between childhood trauma and academic achievement in adolescence
The effects of cognitive-behavioral therapy for borderline personality disorder
The role of nutrition in preventing and managing eye diseases, such as macular degeneration
The effectiveness of mindfulness-based stress reduction for individuals with chronic pain
The impact of cultural factors on attitudes towards mental health treatment in African American communities
The relationship between parental monitoring and adolescent substance use
The effects of equine therapy on reducing symptoms of ADHD in children
The role of physical activity in improving quality of life in individuals with Parkinson’s disease
The impact of cultural factors on leadership style and effectiveness in multinational corporations
The relationship between social media use and self-esteem in young adults
The effects of cognitive-behavioral therapy for insomnia in older adults
The role of nutrition in preventing and managing gastrointestinal disorders, such as irritable bowel syndrome
The impact of cultural factors on perceptions and experiences of mental health treatment in LGBTQ+ communities
The relationship between parental discipline and child behavior problems in preschoolers
The effects of music therapy on reducing symptoms of depression in older adults with dementia
The role of physical activity in reducing symptoms of depression in individuals with multiple sclerosis
The impact of cultural factors on perceptions and experiences of disability and accessibility
The relationship between childhood adversity and adult physical health outcomes
The effects of cognitive-behavioral therapy for anxiety in individuals with autism spectrum disorder
The role of nutrition in preventing and managing liver diseases, such as hepatitis and cirrhosis
The impact of cultural factors on perceptions and experiences of health care and health care utilization
The effects of social media on mental health in adolescents
The impact of mindfulness meditation on stress reduction in the workplace
The relationship between exercise and cognitive function in aging adults
The role of nutrition in the prevention and management of chronic diseases
The effectiveness of virtual reality therapy for anxiety disorders
The effects of sleep deprivation on academic performance in college students
The relationship between personality traits and job satisfaction in the workplace
The impact of technology on interpersonal communication and relationships
The effectiveness of cognitive behavioral therapy for depression
The effects of music therapy on pain management in hospitalized patients
The relationship between parenting styles and child development outcomes
The role of exercise in the prevention and management of Type 2 diabetes
The effects of gaming on cognitive function and decision making skills
The impact of mindfulness on academic performance in college students
The relationship between self-esteem and academic achievement in adolescents
The effectiveness of online education compared to traditional classroom instruction
The effects of physical activity on mental health in adults
The impact of social support on psychological well-being in cancer patients
The relationship between personality and substance abuse disorders
The role of early childhood education in later academic achievement
The effects of nature exposure on stress reduction and mental health
The impact of art therapy on emotional regulation in children with autism spectrum disorder
The relationship between body image and eating disorders
The effectiveness of cognitive rehabilitation for individuals with traumatic brain injury
The effects of exercise on sleep quality and duration in older adults
The impact of cultural diversity on team performance in the workplace
The relationship between mindfulness and substance abuse recovery
The role of exercise in the prevention and management of cardiovascular disease
The effects of mindfulness on chronic pain management
The impact of technology on academic integrity in higher education
The relationship between work-life balance and job satisfaction in healthcare professionals
The effectiveness of cognitive-behavioral therapy for anxiety disorders in children
The effects of outdoor play on physical activity and social skills in children
The impact of group therapy on social anxiety disorder
The relationship between resilience and mental health outcomes in individuals with chronic illness
The role of social support in promoting healthy behaviors in older adults
The effects of physical activity on executive functioning in children with ADHD
The impact of family therapy on child behavior problems
The relationship between emotional intelligence and leadership effectiveness
The effectiveness of cognitive rehabilitation for individuals with schizophrenia
The effects of art therapy on social skills and emotional regulation in children with ADHD
The impact of mindfulness on academic performance in high school students
The relationship between resilience and posttraumatic growth in survivors of sexual assault
The role of exercise in the prevention and management of osteoporosis
The effects of mindfulness on emotional regulation in individuals with borderline personality disorder
The impact of social media on body image and self-esteem in adolescents
The relationship between personality and academic achievement in college students
The effectiveness of cognitive-behavioral therapy for postpartum depression
The effects of aerobic exercise on cognitive function and depression in older adults
The impact of group therapy on social skills and self-esteem in individuals with social anxiety disorder.
The effects of social media on political polarization and civic engagement
The impact of mindfulness-based interventions on substance use disorder recovery
The relationship between emotional intelligence and workplace productivity
The role of physical activity in preventing and managing chronic pain
The effects of music therapy on speech and language development in children with developmental disorders
The impact of organizational culture on employee job satisfaction and turnover
The relationship between childhood trauma and adult mental health outcomes
The effectiveness of acceptance and commitment therapy for anxiety disorders
The effects of early childhood bilingual education on language development and academic achievement
The role of nutrition in the prevention and treatment of depression
The impact of virtual reality exposure therapy on phobia treatment outcomes
The relationship between social support and mental health in LGBTQ+ individuals
The effects of exercise on mood and cognitive function in individuals with major depressive disorder
The role of mindfulness in reducing symptoms of burnout in healthcare professionals
The effectiveness of trauma-focused cognitive behavioral therapy for posttraumatic stress disorder
The effects of video game addiction on social skills and academic performance in adolescents
The impact of peer mentoring on academic achievement and self-esteem in at-risk youth
The relationship between personality and creativity in the workplace
The role of nutrition in promoting healthy aging and cognitive function in older adults
The effects of animal-assisted therapy on mental health in adults with chronic illness
The impact of work-family conflict on employee well-being and job performance
The relationship between childhood bullying and adult mental health outcomes
The effectiveness of cognitive-behavioral therapy for insomnia
The effects of mindfulness-based stress reduction on chronic pain management in older adults
The role of physical activity in preventing and managing anxiety disorders
The impact of cultural competence training on healthcare provider-patient communication and health outcomes
The relationship between personality and leadership styles in the workplace
The effects of play therapy on social skills and emotional regulation in children with autism spectrum disorder
The role of nutrition in reducing the risk of cognitive decline in individuals with Alzheimer’s disease
The impact of workplace diversity on team creativity and innovation
The relationship between social media use and sleep quality in adolescents
The effectiveness of dialectical behavior therapy for borderline personality disorder
The effects of exercise on cognitive function and academic performance in children
The role of mindfulness in reducing stress and promoting well-being in college students
The impact of group therapy on social skills and emotional regulation in individuals with eating disorders
The relationship between personality and job performance in creative fields
The effects of exposure to green spaces on mental health in urban populations
The role of nutrition in the prevention and management of autoimmune disorders
The impact of mindfulness-based interventions on reducing anxiety and depression in cancer patients
The relationship between emotional intelligence and job satisfaction in healthcare professionals
The effectiveness of cognitive-behavioral therapy for obsessive-compulsive disorder
The effects of mindfulness on pain management in individuals with chronic pain
The role of physical activity in promoting healthy aging and preventing age-related diseases
The impact of parental involvement on academic achievement in children from low-income families
The relationship between personality and online behavior in social media platforms
The effects of expressive writing on mental health outcomes in individuals with posttraumatic stress disorder
The role of nutrition in reducing inflammation and promoting cardiovascular health
The impact of diversity training on reducing implicit biases in the workplace
The relationship between social media use and body dissatisfaction in women
The effects of technology on interpersonal communication in romantic relationships
The effects of early childhood bilingualism on cognitive development
The effects of social media use on political engagement and participation
The effects of social media use on body image dissatisfaction and eating disorders in young adults
The impact of workplace wellness programs on employee health and productivity
The relationship between personality and entrepreneurial success
The effectiveness of group therapy for individuals with borderline personality disorder
The role of sleep in athletic performance and recovery
The effects of mindfulness on reducing racial biases and promoting social justice
The impact of cultural values on medical decision-making and healthcare outcomes
The relationship between childhood trauma and adult attachment styles in romantic relationships
The effectiveness of cognitive-behavioral therapy for anxiety disorders in children and adolescents
The role of nutrition in preventing and managing cognitive decline in older adults
The effects of virtual reality exposure therapy on treating obsessive-compulsive disorder
The impact of job satisfaction on employee turnover and organizational performance
The relationship between cultural differences and negotiation outcomes in cross-border mergers and acquisitions
The effects of pet therapy on reducing symptoms of depression and anxiety in nursing home residents
The role of physical activity in improving sleep quality and quantity
The impact of cultural values on perceptions of mental health and attitudes towards seeking help
The relationship between parental involvement and academic achievement in elementary school students
The effectiveness of acceptance and commitment therapy for individuals with chronic pain
The role of nutrition in reducing the risk of cognitive disorders, such as Alzheimer’s disease
The effects of cognitive-behavioral therapy for insomnia in adults
The impact of gender diversity on board of directors on firm performance and innovation
The effects of virtual reality exposure therapy on treating specific phobias
The role of physical activity in preventing and managing chronic pain conditions
The impact of cross-cultural communication skills on expatriate adjustment and success
The relationship between childhood trauma and addiction in adulthood
The effects of art therapy on reducing symptoms of depression and anxiety in cancer patients
The role of nutrition in promoting healthy aging and longevity
The effectiveness of cognitive-behavioral therapy for eating disorders in adults
The impact of cultural values on decision-making in the workplace
The relationship between socioeconomic status and mental health outcomes in children and adolescents
The effects of virtual reality exposure therapy on treating eating disorders
The impact of cultural intelligence on intercultural communication competence
The relationship between childhood trauma and personality disorders in adulthood
The effects of music therapy on reducing symptoms of anxiety and depression in individuals with autism spectrum disorder
The role of nutrition in preventing and managing metabolic disorders, such as diabetes and obesity
The impact of leadership styles on employee motivation and job satisfaction
The relationship between cultural differences and expatriate adjustment in multinational corporations
The effects of cognitive-behavioral therapy for insomnia in children and adolescents
The role of physical activity in reducing symptoms of ADHD in children
The impact of cultural values on perceptions of mental health stigma
The relationship between parental stress and child development outcomes
The effects of equine therapy on reducing symptoms of anxiety and depression in veterans with PTSD
The role of nutrition in preventing and managing autoimmune diseases, such as multiple sclerosis and rheumatoid arthritis
The impact of job characteristics on work engagement and organizational commitment
The relationship between cultural values and consumer behavior in the food industry
The effects of virtual reality exposure therapy on treating depression in older adults
The impact of mindfulness-based interventions on reducing burnout among healthcare professionals
The relationship between financial literacy and retirement planning behavior
The effectiveness of parent-child interaction therapy for young children with behavioral problems
The role of physical activity in reducing symptoms of depression and anxiety in adults with chronic illnesses
The effects of humor on stress reduction and well-being in the workplace
The impact of cultural values on consumer decision-making in global markets
The relationship between childhood adversity and adult romantic relationships
The effectiveness of cognitive-behavioral therapy for substance use disorders
The role of nutrition in promoting healthy gut microbiome and overall health
The impact of inclusive hiring practices on workforce diversity and equity
The relationship between self-compassion and mental health outcomes in young adults
The effects of nature exposure on cognitive function and academic performance in children
The role of physical activity in preventing and managing Type 2 diabetes
The impact of social capital on community resilience in disaster-prone areas
The relationship between emotional intelligence and leadership effectiveness in the workplace
The effectiveness of eye movement desensitization and reprocessing therapy for posttraumatic stress disorder
The role of nutrition in reducing the risk of cardiovascular disease
The effects of cognitive-behavioral therapy for depression in individuals with chronic pain
The impact of personality traits on financial decision-making and investment behavior
The relationship between cultural values and consumer behavior in luxury markets
The effects of virtual reality exposure therapy on treating panic disorder
The role of physical activity in preventing and managing chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
The impact of workplace diversity on organizational innovation and performance
The relationship between self-esteem and academic achievement in college students
The effects of animal-assisted therapy on reducing symptoms of anxiety in children with autism spectrum disorder
The role of nutrition in promoting healthy skin and hair
The effectiveness of cognitive-behavioral therapy for social anxiety disorder
The impact of cultural intelligence on cross-cultural negotiation outcomes in international business
The relationship between childhood adversity and adult mental health outcomes in the LGBTQ+ community
The effects of gratitude practices on well-being and happiness in older adults
The role of physical activity in reducing symptoms of depression and anxiety in pregnant women
The impact of cultural values on social media use and behavior
The relationship between self-compassion and workplace well-being and job satisfaction
The effects of mindfulness on pain management and opioid use in individuals with chronic pain
The role of nutrition in reducing the risk of stroke
The impact of job crafting on employee engagement and performance in the workplace
The relationship between personality and team dynamics in sports
The effects of expressive writing on reducing symptoms of PTSD in military veterans
The role of physical activity in preventing and managing asthma
The impact of cultural differences on cross-cultural communication in international business
The relationship between social support and emotional well-being in older adults
The effects of virtual reality exposure therapy on treating generalized anxiety disorder
The role of nutrition in promoting healthy brain development in infants and toddlers
The impact of flexible work arrangements on work-life balance and family functioning
The relationship between cultural values and attitudes towards aging and older adults
The role of physical activity in preventing and managing chronic kidney disease
The impact of climate change on food security in developing countries
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Trends and Topics in Educational Technology, 2022 Edition

Column: Guest Editorial
Published: 23 February 2022
Volume 66 , pages 134–140, ( 2022 )

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Royce Kimmons 1 &
Joshua M. Rosenberg 2

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This editorial continues our annual effort to identify and catalog trends and popular topics in the field of educational technology. Continuing our approach from previous years (Kimmons, 2020 ; Kimmons et al., 2021 ), we use public internet data mining methods (Kimmons & Veletsianos, 2018 ) to extract and analyze data from three large data sources: the Scopus research article database, the Twitter #edtech affinity group, and school and school district Facebook pages. Such data sources can provide valuable insights into what is happening and what is of interest in the field as educators, researchers, and students grapple with crises and the rapidly evolving uses of educational technologies (e.g., Kimmons et al., 2020 ; Trust et al., 2020 ; Veletsianos & Kimmons, 2020 ). Through this analysis, we provide a brief snapshot of what the educational technology field looked like in 2021 via each of these lenses and attempt to triangulate an overall state of our field and vision for what may be coming next.

What Were Trending Topics in Educational Technology Journals in 2021?

Educational technology research topics for 2021 were very similar to previous years, with a few exceptions. In total, we collected titles for 2368 articles via Scopus published in top educational technology journals as identified by Google Scholar. We then analyzed keyword and bigram (two words found together) frequencies in titles to determine the most commonly referenced terms. To assist in making sense of results, we also manually grouped together keywords and bigrams into four information types: contexts, methods, modalities, and topics. Contexts included terms referring to the research setting, such as “COVID-19” or “higher education.” Methods included terms referring to research methods involved in the article, such as “systematic review” or “meta-analysis.” Modalities included terms referring to the technical modality through which the study was occurring, such as “virtual reality” or “online learning.” Last, Topics included terms referring to the intervention, objective, or theoretical goal of the study, such as “computational thinking,” “learning environment,” or “language learning.” The most common bigrams and keywords for each type may be found in Table 1 ; a few items of interest follow.

Bigrams generally provide more specificity for interpreting meaning than do keywords, simply because keywords might have greater variety in usage (e.g., “school” might be used in the context of “primary school,” “secondary school,” “school teacher,” and so forth). So, when interpreting Table 1 , the bigram column is generally more useful for identifying trending topics, though the keyword column may at times be helpful as a clarifying supplement.

“Computational thinking” and “learning environments” were the two most-researched topical bigrams in 2021, and “virtual reality” and “online learning” were the most-researched modality bigrams. Most-referenced methods included “systematic review” and “meta-analysis,” which is noteworthy because such methods are used to conduct secondary analyses on existing studies, and their dominance may suggest an interest in the field to identify what works and to synthesize findings across various contexts within a sea of articles that is ever-increasing in size.

Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, this contextual term was regularly mentioned in many article titles (5.4%). “Pandemic” (3.4%), “emergency” (1.2%), and “shift to” (e.g., digital, online, blended; 0.9%) were also commonly referenced. This suggests that as the world continues to grapple with this multifaceted crisis, educational technology researchers are heavily engaged in addressing educational concerns associated with it (and remote teaching, particularly).

Grade level references in titles further suggested that educational technology research is being conducted at all levels but that it is most prominent at the higher education or post-secondary level and reduces in frequency as grade levels go down, with high school or secondary terms being more prominent than elementary or primary terms, with “higher education” (3.5%) being referenced twice as frequently as “K-12” (1.7%). This is noteworthy as it suggests that research findings associated with educational technology are currently mainly focused on older (and even adult) students and that if results are applied to understanding learners generally, then the needs of adolescents and younger children may currently be relatively underrepresented.

What Were Trending #Edtech Topics and Tools on Twitter in 2021?

Twitter is a valuable source of information about trends in a field because it allows researchers and practitioners to share relevant resources, studies, and musings and categorize posts via descriptive hashtags. The #edtech hashtag continued to be very popular during 2021, and we collected all original tweets (ignoring retweets) that included the #edtech hashtag for the year. This included 433,078 original tweets posted by 40,767 users, averaging 36,090 tweets per month ( SD = 2974).

Because users can include multiple hashtags on a tweet, we aggregated the frequencies of additional (co-occurring) hashtags to determine the intended audiences (e.g., #teachers, #k12) and content topics (e.g., #elearning, #ai) of tweets. Some of the most popular additional hashtags of each type are presented in Table 2 . To better understand results, we also calculated the representation of each additional hashtag in the overall dataset (e.g., 2% of all #edtech tweets also included the #teachers hashtag) and the diversity of authorship (i.e., the number of users divided by the number of tweets). This diversity score was helpful for understanding how some hashtags were used by relatively few accounts for purposes such as product promotion. For example, the #byjus hashtag, which refers to an educational technology company founded in India, was tweeted 19,546 times. Still, the diversity score was only 3%, revealing that though this was a very popular hashtag in terms of tweet counts, it was being included by relatively few accounts at very high frequencies, such as via focused marketing campaigns.

Notably, several community or affinity space hashtags (Carpenter & Krutka, 2014 ; Rosenberg et al., 2016 ) were among the most common included with #edtech, such as #edchat, #edutwitter, and #teachertwitter. In particular, 13.9% of #edtech tweets also were tagged as #educhat, and 25.7% of #educhat tweets were also tagged as #edtech, revealing relatively high synchronicity between these two spaces. Furthermore, regarding institutional level, #k12 ( n = 1712) and #highered ( n = 1770) exhibited similar user counts, as did #school ( n = 1284) and #highereducation ( n = 1161), but, interestingly, the #k12 and #school hashtags exhibited nearly twice as many tweets as their #highered and #highereducation counterparts. This suggests that although the communities tweeting about topics for each group may be of similar size, the K-12 community was much more active than the higher education community.

Regarding topics, #elearning, #onlinelearning, #remotelearning, #distancelearning, #virtuallearning, and #blendedlearning were represented at a relatively high rate (in 16.1% of tweets), perhaps reflecting ongoing interest associated with #covid19. Other prominent topical hashtags included emerging technologies, such as #ai ( n = 2112), #vr ( n = 917), #ar ( n = 679), and #blockchain ( n = 545), as well as subject areas (e.g., #stem) and general descriptors (e.g., #innovation).

Furthermore, one of the primary reasons for tweeting is to share resources or media items. An analysis of these #edtech tweets revealed that 94.4% included either a link to an external site or an embedded media resource, such as an image or video. Regarding external links, prominent domains included (a) news sites, such as edsurge.com , edtechmagazine.com , or edutopia.org , (b) other social media, such as linkedin.com , instagram.com , or facebook.com , (c) multimedia resources, such as youtube.com , anchor.fm, or podcasts.apple.com , and (d) productivity and management tools, such as docs.google.com , forms.gle, or eventbrite.com (cf., Table 3 ).

Twitter communications in 2021 regarding #edtech included chatter about a variety of topics and resources. Shadows of #COVID-19 might be detected in the prevalence of this hashtag with others, like #remotelearning and #onlinelearning, but in many ways it seems that conversations continued to focus on issues of #education and #learning, as well as emerging topics like #ai, #vr, and #cybersecurity, suggesting some level of imperviousness to the pandemic.

What Were Trending Topics among Schools and School Districts on Facebook in 2021?

To examine trending educational technology topics on Facebook, we studied the posts by 14,481 schools and school districts on their public pages. First, one aspect of this analysis concerned the number of posts shared. In our last report, we documented how schools and districts posted more posts than in any other month during March, April, and May 2020—during the earliest and perhaps most tumultuous months of the COVID-19 pandemic, suggesting the importance of communication during this crisis period, as others have documented with Twitter data (Michela et al., 2022 ). Notably, in 2021, those months remained the most active; apart from those months, the numbers of posts by schools and districts in 2021 were roughly comparable to the numbers in 2019 and 2020 (see Fig. 1 ).

The Number of Posts on Facebook by Schools and School Districts

To understand which technologies were shared on these Facebook pages, we examined the domain names for all of the hyperlinks that were posted. Despite the myriad social and other changes experienced by schools from 2019 to 2021, link domains shared on Facebook exhibited remarkable consistency: Youtube, Google Docs, Google, and Google Drive—Google or tools created by Google—were the four most frequently shared for each of these years (Table 4 ). Note that the n represents the number of schools or districts sharing one or more links to these domains (of the 14,481 total school and school district pages). Thus, the 8278 indicates that 57.2% of schools and districts posted one or more links to YouTube over the 2021 year. These were followed by Zoom, which was also widely shared in 2020 (though not in 2019), and then Google Sites (which was shared frequently in 2020). The CDC and 2020 Census’s websites dropped from the list of the top ten most frequently shared domains in 2021, despite having been widely shared in 2020. Otherwise, the results are largely comparable between 2019, 2020, and 2021, indicating that schools and districts continued to use a core set of productivity tools despite the many disruptions and changes over this period.

We also examined the contents of the messages of schools’ and school districts’ posts. To do so, we considered the technologies identified by Weller ( 2020 ) in his history of the past 25 years of educational technology, as in our report for last year. Specifically, we searched the contents of the messages posted by schools and districts for the inclusion of the terms that correspond to technologies Weller identified as being representative of a particular year. While the domains shared by schools and districts demonstrated remarkable consistency, the contents of the messages posted by schools and districts varied substantially, especially when considering the changes from 2019 to 2020 and from 2020 to 2021. To illustrate, consider mentions of “e-learning,” which Weller identified as the focal point of 1999. In 2019, 834 messages that mentioned “e-learning” were posted by schools and districts, but in 2020, the number increased around ten-fold to 8326 mentions. Though it may have been expected for mentions of “e-learning” to remain somewhat constant during 2021, instead we saw a marked downturn to 1899 (or a 78% drop). This trend—a sizable increase in how often certain technologies were mentioned in 2020 relative to 2019 that was not sustained in 2021—was also found for mentions of “learning management systems,” “video,” and “Second Life and virtual worlds,” among others. Indeed, the only noteworthy increase in mentions of these technologies from 2020 to 2021 was for “artificial intelligence”.

Summary and Discussion

By triangulating the 2021 snapshots of each of these three data sources—Scopus, Twitter, and Facebook—we can begin to see a state of the educational technology field pressing into the future. Results on specific terms or topics may be useful for individual researchers and practitioners to see the representation of their areas of interest. Still, some common takeaways that emerge from all three sources include the following.

First, we found an emphasis on “e-learning”—particularly in Twitter and Facebook posts—as well as “blended learning” (Twitter) and “online learning” (journal articles). Notably, COVID-19 (and related terms) were also frequently mentioned. These findings align with how mentions of “e-learning” spiked during the 2020 year when the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on education were especially disruptive, but their ongoing presence also suggests that interest in these topics will likely extend outside and beyond the context of the pandemic.

Second, we note a keen interest in emergent technologies like artificial intelligence and virtual reality, particularly on the part of researchers (as evidenced by how frequently these terms were mentioned in journal articles published in 2021). At the same time, we note that this interest has not yet crystallized into the sustained adoption and use of these emergent technologies—a point bolstered by the relatively limited mention of these technologies in the Facebook posts of schools and school districts. Thus, we think we as a field must wait and see whether interest in these technologies is lasting or transient.

Last, we found an ever-increasing reliance on several corporate entities for productivity and sharing. This was especially the case for Google and tools created by Google: YouTube, Google Docs, and Google Drive, in particular. Indeed, such tools are such an established part of our work (and educational) context that we might hardly think of them as tools. Furthermore, tools created by Google and several other corporations—including social media platforms themselves—were also prevalent in the content of the tweets we analyzed. While we do not believe it is a bad decision on the part of individuals or educational institutions to use these and other tools, there are also some potential downsides to their use that we think invite critical questions (Burchfield et al., 2021; Krutka et al., 2021 ).

As a result of these common takeaways, we will now conclude with three questions for educational technology researchers and practitioners to consider.

Pandemic Bump Vs. Ubiquity

First, many have wondered whether changes in educational technology catalyzed by the pandemic will yield sustained, ubiquitous changes to the field, or if adjustments represent only a short-term bump of interest—as may be the case with emergency remote teaching tools and strategies used in the early days of the pandemic (Hodges et al., 2020 ). One of the takeaways from our Facebook analysis was that while some productivity technologies appeared to have remained consistently used on the basis of our domain analysis (e.g., Google Docs), mentions of many specific technologies in the messages of the posts by schools and districts appeared to have been more transitory in nature, such as in the cases of “e-learning” and “learning management systems.” This suggests at least two possible interpretations. One is that these technologies were used in transient response to an unprecedented period of emergency remote instruction—though tools associated with remote teaching and learning continue to be used, their use was primarily a temporary, emergency measure. Another is that these tools were mentioned less because they have become a more ubiquitous but less visible tool used by teachers and learners. Learning management systems may still, of course, be widely used, but schools and districts may be sharing about their role less through their public social media platforms because they may already be familiar to students and their parents. While we cannot say why there was a dramatic increase followed by a decrease in the use of many educational technologies over the period from 2019 through 2021, our analysis indicates that many tools are, at least, being communicated about much less over the past year than in the preceding year when the pandemic began in the U.S.

Technocentrism Vs. Focusing on Learners and Improving Educational Systems

Second, though emerging technologies are obviously an essential component of our field, one of the perennial challenges we must grapple with is our relationship to these technologies. Are we technocentric, as Papert ( 1987 , 1990 ) warned, or do we focus on learning and improvement? In our results, we notice that technologies such as artificial intelligence, virtual reality, and augmented reality were very frequently referenced in comparison to most other modalities or topics of research. As processing and graphical rendering capabilities continue to become more compact and inexpensive via headsets, smartphones, and haptic devices, we would expect these technologies to continue to receive ongoing attention. Though there are certainly valuable learning improvement opportunities associated with such technologies (Glaser & Schmidt, 2021 ), we might also justifiably wonder whether the volume of attention that these technologies are currently receiving in the literature is concomitant to their actual (or even hypothetical) large-scale learning benefits—or whether current fascination with such technologies represents a repeat of other historical emphases that may not have panned out in the form of systemic educational improvement, such as in the case of MUVEs (cf., Nelson & Ketelhut, 2007 ).

Limited Broader Impacts on Larger Social Issues

Finally, to reiterate our critiques from previous years (Kimmons, 2020 ; Kimmons et al., 2021 ), we continued to see a dearth of references to important social issues in scholarly article titles, including references to social matters upon which educational technology should be expected to have a strong voice. For instance, terms relating to universal design ( n = 0), accessibility ( n = 4), privacy ( n = 8), ethics ( n = 12), security ( n = 8), equity ( n = 6), justice ( n = 1), and (digital and participatory) divides ( n = 1) were all very uncommon. Though “ethics” was the most common of these terms, it only was represented in 1-in-200 article titles, and though current “practices with student data represent cause for concern, as student behaviors are increasingly tracked, analyzed, and studied to draw conclusions about learning, attitudes, and future behaviors” (Kimmons, 2021 , para. 2; cf., Rosenberg et al., 2021 ) and proctoring software becomes increasingly ubiquitous (Kimmons & Veletsianos, 2021 ), “privacy” was only mentioned in 1-in-333 article titles and “proctor*” was only in 1-in-600 titles. In our current pandemic context, we have often heard educational technologists lament the fact that decision-makers and those in power may not seek our guidance in addressing issues related to the pandemic that would clearly benefit from our expertise. And yet, the absence of other socially-relevant topics from our research suggests that we may be challenged to leverage our work toward addressing matters of larger social or educational importance ourselves. A focus on the social matters and the social context around educational technology use, then, remains an opportunity for research and development by the educational technology community in the years ahead. This seems especially salient as our data suggests that the field is heavily influenced by big technology corporations like Google and Facebook that historically have been critiqued for violating ethical expectations of privacy and failing to support social good. As educational technology researchers and practitioners, we are primed with the position and expertise necessary to shape the future of ethical technology use in education. Hopefully, we can step up to this challenge.

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Kimmons, R., Rosenberg, J.M. Trends and Topics in Educational Technology, 2022 Edition. TechTrends 66 , 134–140 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11528-022-00713-0

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Nanotechnology in Drug Delivery: Innovations and Challenges
Chemical Analysis of Environmental Pollutants and Their Remediation
Advancements in Organic Synthesis: New Methods and Strategies
The Role of Catalysis in Industrial Chemical Processes
Chemical Kinetics: Studying Reaction Rates and Mechanisms
Analytical Chemistry Techniques for Food Safety and Quality Control
Supramolecular Chemistry: Self-assembly and Molecular Recognition
The Chemistry of Renewable Energy Sources
Chemical Bonding in Complex Molecules: Insights from Quantum Chemistry

Information Technology Research Paper Topics

The Impact of Artificial Intelligence on Information Technology
Blockchain Technology: Security and Privacy Implications
Data Governance and Compliance in the Digital Age
Cloud Computing Adoption Strategies for Small and Medium Enterprises
Internet of Things (IoT) Security Challenges and Solutions
E-Government: Advancements and Challenges in Digital Transformation
The Role of Machine Learning in Healthcare Data Management
Cybersecurity Threat Intelligence: Trends and Best Practices
Digital Twins and their Applications in Industry 4.0
Human-Centric IT: Designing Systems with User Well-being in Mind

Research Paper Topics Environmental Science

Climate Change and Its Impact on Global Ecosystems
Biodiversity Conservation and Habitat Restoration
Sustainable Agriculture Practices for Food Security
Air Pollution Control Strategies in Urban Environments
The Effects of Deforestation on Watersheds and Biodiversity
Waste Management and Recycling: Towards a Circular Economy
Ocean Acidification and Coral Reef Conservation
Environmental Impacts of Renewable Energy Technologies
Eco-friendly Transportation Solutions: Promoting Sustainable Mobility
Human Health and Environmental Pollution: Assessing Risks and Mitigation

Research Paper Topics for Medical Students

The Role of Telemedicine in Improving Healthcare Access and Delivery
Epidemiology and Management of Infectious Diseases: A Focus on Emerging Pathogens
Precision Medicine and Personalized Healthcare: Advancements and Challenges
Ethical Considerations in Medical Research: Informed Consent and Human Rights
Mental Health in Medical Education: Strategies for Reducing Burnout and Promoting Well-being
Global Health Disparities: Analyzing Causes and Strategies for Health Equity
Advancements in Surgical Techniques and Robotics in Medicine
The Opioid Epidemic: Causes, Consequences, and Solutions
Healthcare for Underserved Populations: Access, Barriers, and Innovations
Medical Innovations in Diagnostic Imaging: Impact on Patient Care and Diagnosis

Research Paper Topics in Zoology

The Impact of Climate Change on Wildlife Migration Patterns and Habitats
Behavioral Ecology of Apex Predators: From Wolves to Tigers
Zoonotic Diseases: Investigating the Transmission of Diseases Between Animals and Humans
Marine Biology and Conservation: Coral Reefs, Ocean Acidification, and Marine Biodiversity
The Role of Zoos in Conservation and Species Preservation
Invasive Species: Ecological Impacts and Management Strategies
Bird Migration and Navigation: Mechanisms and Conservation Implications
Animal Communication and Language: Insights from Studies on Dolphins and Primates
Endangered Species Recovery Programs: Successes, Failures, and Lessons Learned
Evolutionary Biology: The Coevolution of Predators and Prey

Research Paper Topics For Social Sciences

Are you a student of social sciences? The list of research paper topics below is for you!

History Research Paper Topics

The Causes and Consequences of the American Civil War
The Impact of the Industrial Revolution on Society and Labor
The Rise and Fall of the Roman Empire: Lessons from History
Women's Suffrage Movements Around the World
The Cold War: Origins, Conflicts, and Effects on Global Politics
The Role of Religion in Ancient Civilizations: Egypt, Mesopotamia, and Greece
The Renaissance Era: Art, Science, and Cultural Transformation
The Development of Culture in Mughal India
The Decolonization of Africa and Asia: Struggles for Independence
The Civil Rights Movement in the United States: Progress and Challenges

Research Paper Topics for Education

The Impact of Technology in the Classroom: Enhancing Learning or Distracting Students?
Inclusive Education: Strategies for Supporting Students with Disabilities
The Role of Parental Involvement in Student Academic Achievement
Education and Socioeconomic Inequality: Bridging the Gap
The Effectiveness of Online Learning: Pros and Cons
Early Childhood Education: The Importance of Preschool Programs
Teacher Burnout and Strategies for Teacher Well-being
The Influence of Standardized Testing on Curriculum and Instruction
Culturally Responsive Teaching: Promoting Diversity and Inclusion
Education Policy Reform: Challenges and Impacts on Student Success

Sociology Research Paper Topics

The Impact of Social Media on Social Interaction and Relationships
Gender Inequality in the Workplace: Causes, Consequences, and Solutions
Racial Profiling and Policing: Examining Bias and Discrimination
The Sociology of Deviance: Understanding Criminal Behavior
Income Inequality and Its Effects on Society
The Influence of Family Structure on Child Development
Migration and the Social Integration of Immigrants
Environmental Sociology: Exploring the Relationship Between Society and the Environment
The Role of Religion in Shaping Societal Norms and Values
Health Disparities in Marginalized Communities: A Sociological Perspective

Psychology Research Paper Topics

The Impact of Childhood Trauma on Adult Mental Health
Psychological Effects of Social Media Use on Adolescents
Stress and Coping Mechanisms: Strategies for Resilience
The Psychology of Decision-Making: Biases and Heuristics
The Role of Attachment Theory in Parent-Child Relationships
Mental Health Stigma: Barriers to Seeking and Receiving Treatment
The Effects of Sleep Deprivation on Cognitive Functioning
Psychological Factors in Addiction and Recovery
Cognitive Development in Infants: Theories and Milestones
The Psychology of Happiness and Well-being: Factors and Interventions

Research Paper Topics On Media And Communication

The Influence of Social Media on Political Discourse and Public Opinion
Media Bias: Examining News Coverage and Its Impact on Perception
The Evolution of Journalism in the Digital Age: Challenges and Opportunities
The Effects of Advertising on Consumer Behavior and Purchasing Decisions
Media Literacy Education: Preparing Citizens for a Digital World
The Role of Media in Shaping Gender Stereotypes and Representation
Fake News and Misinformation: Causes, Consequences, and Solutions
Cultural Appropriation in Media: Analyzing Its Implications
Media and Crisis Communication: Case Studies and Best Practices
Media Effects on Body Image and Self-esteem: Exploring the Impact of Beauty Standards

Political Science Research Paper Topics

The Role of Political Parties in Shaping Government Policies
Electoral Systems and Their Impact on Representation and Governance
The Rise of Populism: Causes and Consequences
The Influence of Lobbying and Interest Groups on Policy-Making
Comparative Analysis of Political Systems: Democracies vs. Authoritarian Regimes
Foreign Policy Decision-Making: Case Studies and Models
Political Polarization: Understanding the Divisions in Contemporary Politics
Human Rights and International Relations: Challenges and Solutions
Environmental Politics and Climate Change Agreements
The Role of Social Media in Shaping Political Discourse and Activism

Research Paper Topics for International Relations

The Impact of Globalization on International Security
International Human Rights Law: Challenges and Progress
Diplomacy and Conflict Resolution: Case Studies in Successful Negotiations
The Role of International Organizations in Promoting Peace and Cooperation
Nuclear Proliferation: Examining the Threats and Non-Proliferation Efforts
Cybersecurity in International Relations: Challenges and Strategies
Global Economic Governance: The Role of International Financial Institutions
The Refugee Crisis: International Responses and the Humanitarian Challenge
Climate Change Diplomacy: Agreements, Obstacles, and Climate Justice
The Geopolitics of Energy: Resource Competition and Security Issues

Research Paper Topics On Culture

Cultural Appropriation: Understanding the Controversy and Implications
Cultural Relativism vs. Universalism: Debates in Anthropology and Ethics
Cultural Expressions in Art: Analyzing Cultural Identity Through Creative Works
Globalization and Its Impact on Cultural Homogenization vs. Cultural Diversity
Cultural Influences on Gender Roles and Identity
The Role of Culture in Shaping Dietary Habits and Food Traditions
Cultural Heritage Preservation: Challenges and Strategies
Language and Culture: The Relationship Between Linguistic Diversity and Cultural Identity
Cultural Rituals and Their Significance in Different Societies
Intercultural Communication: Navigating Cultural Differences in a Globalized World

Research Paper Topics for Humanities

Here are some engaging ideas for research paper topics in humanities disciplines.

Research Paper Topics for English Literature

Exploring the Themes of Love and Desire in Shakespeare's Sonnets
Postcolonial Literature: Analyzing the Works of Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
The Role of Symbolism in F. Scott Fitzgerald's "The Great Gatsby"
Feminist Critique of Classic Literature: Reevaluating Jane Austen's Heroines
The Gothic Tradition in Literature: A Comparative Study of Edgar Allan Poe and Mary Shelley
Dystopian Literature: Examining Social Commentary in George Orwell's "1984"
The Evolution of Science Fiction: From H.G. Wells to Contemporary Authors
The Modernist Movement in Poetry: T.S. Eliot and "The Waste Land"
Literary Representations of War: Analysis of Ernest Hemingway's Works
The Influence of Mythology in Literature: A Study of Greek and Roman Epics

Research Paper Topics for English Linguistics

The Evolution of English Language: A Historical Analysis
Exploring Dialectical Variations: A Study of Regional English Accents
Syntax in Shakespearean English: Unraveling Linguistic Patterns
Code-Switching in Bilingual Literature: Impacts on Linguistic Identity
The Influence of Technology on Modern English: A Linguistic Perspective
Gendered Language in Literature: Analyzing Linguistic Representations
Sociolinguistic Aspects of English in Global Communication
Cognitive Linguistics: Understanding Language Processing and Comprehension
The Role of Phonetics in English Language Teaching: Strategies and Challenges
Linguistic Analysis of Online Discourse: Trends in Digital Communication

Research Paper Topics on Arts

The Influence of Renaissance Art on Modern Visual Culture
The Evolution of Street Art: From Vandalism to Urban Beautification
Gender and Identity in Contemporary Performance Art
The Role of Public Art in Shaping Urban Spaces and Communities
Censorship in the Arts: Balancing Expression and Sensitivity
The Intersection of Technology and Art: Digital Media and New Frontiers
Art as a Form of Political Protest: Examining Contemporary Activist Art
The Psychology of Art Appreciation: Understanding Aesthetic Experiences
Art Conservation and Preservation: Challenges and Ethical Considerations
Art Therapy: Exploring the Healing Power of Creativity

Research Paper Topics on Religion

Religious Pluralism and Interfaith Dialogue: Promoting Understanding and Tolerance
The Role of Religion in Shaping Moral Values and Ethics
Religion and Politics: Examining the Influence of Faith on Governance
Religious Rituals and Their Significance in Different Cultures
Secularism and Its Impact on Religious Practice and Belief
Religion and Science: Exploring the Compatibility and Conflict
The Influence of Religion on Gender Roles and Equality
Religious Fundamentalism and Its Implications for Society
Religion and Environmental Ethics: Perspectives on Stewardship
Religious Conversion and the Psychology Behind Faith Changes

Philosophy Research Paper Topics

The Philosophy of Ethics: Exploring Different Ethical Theories
The Problem of Free Will and Determinism: Philosophical Perspectives
Existentialism in Literature: A Philosophical Analysis
The Philosophy of Mind: Dualism vs. Materialism
The Nature of Reality: Metaphysical Approaches and Debates
Moral Dilemmas and Ethical Decision-Making: A Philosophical Examination
Philosophy of Technology: Ethical Implications of Advancements
Political Philosophy: Theories of Justice and Social Contracts
Philosophy of Religion: The Existence of God and Theodicy
Environmental Ethics: Philosophical Perspectives on Nature and Sustainability

Research Paper Topics for Ethics

Ethical Dilemmas in Medical Decision-Making: Balancing Autonomy and Beneficence
The Ethics of Artificial Intelligence: Accountability and Bias in AI Systems
Corporate Ethics: Ethical Responsibility of Multinational Corporations
Ethical Considerations in Environmental Conservation: Sustainability and Future Generations
The Ethics of Genetic Engineering and Designer Babies
The Intersection of Ethics and Technology: Privacy, Surveillance, and Data Ethics
Ethical Implications of End-of-Life Care and Euthanasia
Animal Rights and Ethical Treatment of Animals in Research
The Role of Ethics in Criminal Justice: Police Conduct and Criminal Punishment
The Ethics of Whistleblowing: Balancing Loyalty and Accountability

Law Research Paper Topics

The Evolution of Privacy Rights in the Digital Age: Legal and Ethical Considerations
Criminal Justice Reform: Assessing the Impact of Changes in Sentencing and Policing
Intellectual Property Rights in the Digital Era: Copyright, Trademarks, and Patents
The Role of International Law in Addressing Global Human Rights Violations
Environmental Law and Sustainable Development: Balancing Conservation and Economic Interests
Legal Aspects of Cybersecurity: Privacy, Data Protection, and Cybercrime
The Legalization of Marijuana: Implications for Criminal Justice and Public Health
Corporate Governance and Ethics: Analyzing Legal Frameworks for Accountability
Family Law and Child Custody Disputes: Examining Best Interests and Parental Rights
The Intersection of Law and Bioethics: Ethical Dilemmas in Medical and Scientific Research

Research Paper Topics on Criminal Justice

Racial Disparities in the Criminal Justice System: Causes and Consequences
Police Use of Force: Policies, Accountability, and Community Relations
Criminal Profiling and Its Effectiveness in Solving Crimes
Mental Illness in the Criminal Justice System: Diversion Programs and Treatment
The Impact of Mass Incarceration on Communities and Rehabilitation Efforts
Forensic Science and Criminal Investigations: Advances, Challenges, and Ethics
Cybercrime and Digital Forensics: Investigative Techniques and Legal Implications
Juvenile Justice: Rehabilitation vs. Punishment and the Recidivism Rate
The Death Penalty: Ethical, Legal, and Policy Considerations
Victim Rights and Restorative Justice Programs: Balancing the Scales of Justice

Research Paper Topics on Economics

Income Inequality: Causes, Consequences, and Policy Solutions
The Impact of Economic Globalization on Developing Countries
Behavioral Economics: Exploring Psychological Factors in Decision-Making
The Economics of Climate Change: Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies
Monetary Policy and Its Effects on Economic Stability
Trade Wars and Tariffs: Economic Effects and Global Trade Relations
Healthcare Economics: Examining Healthcare Costs, Access, and Reform
The Economics of Education: Investment in Human Capital and Economic Growth
Urban Economics: Challenges and Solutions in Sustainable City Development
Labor Market Trends: Gig Economy, Automation, and Future of Work

Research Paper Topics Related to Marketing

Influencer Marketing: Effectiveness, Ethics, and the Role of Social Media
Consumer Behavior in the Digital Age: Online Shopping Trends and Decision-Making
Brand Loyalty and Customer Retention Strategies in Competitive Markets
Neuromarketing: Understanding the Psychology of Consumer Choices
The Impact of Social Media Marketing on Brand Image and Customer Engagement
E-commerce and Marketplaces: Strategies for Success in Online Retail
Content Marketing: Creating and Measuring the Value of Branded Content
Marketing to Generation Z: Preferences, Values, and Communication Channels
The Role of Sustainability and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in Marketing
Crisis Marketing and Reputation Management: Strategies for Navigating Challenges

Best Research Paper Topics 2023

Here are some impressive and easy research paper topics to write an extraordinary paper.

Argumentative Research Paper Topics

Should the Minimum Wage be Raised?
The Impact of Social Media on Mental Health: Harmful or Beneficial?
Is Genetic Engineering Ethical? Examining the Pros and Cons of Genetic Modification
The Death Penalty: Should it be Abolished or Retained?
Gun Control: Balancing Second Amendment Rights and Public Safety
Universal Healthcare: Is it a Right or a Privilege?
The Role of Government in Regulating Big Tech Companies
Climate Change: Is Human Activity the Primary Cause?
Online Privacy: Balancing Security and Civil Liberties
The Legalization of Recreational Marijuana: Weighing the Social and Economic Impacts

US History Research Paper Topics

The American Revolution: Causes, Key Figures, and Impact on the Nation
The Abolitionist Movement: Strategies, Leaders, and the Fight Against Slavery
The Reconstruction Era: Challenges, Achievements, and Failures
The Women's Suffrage Movement: Struggles and Triumphs in the Fight for Voting Rights
The Civil Rights Movement: Leaders, Events, and the Struggle for Equality
The Great Depression: Causes, Effects, and Government Responses
The Vietnam War: Origins, Controversies, and Legacy
The Space Race: The Cold War Competition for Supremacy Beyond Earth
The Civil War: Battlefronts, Political Divisions, and the Emancipation Proclamation
The American Westward Expansion: Manifest Destiny, Conflicts, and Impacts on Native Americans

Persuasive Research Paper Topics

The Importance of Comprehensive Sex Education in Schools
Banning Single-Use Plastics: Protecting the Environment and Marine Life
Promoting Renewable Energy: Transitioning to a Sustainable Future
Mandatory Vaccination: Protecting Public Health and Herd Immunity
The Benefits of Telecommuting: A Win-Win for Employers and Employees
Promoting Healthy Eating Habits: The Case for Implementing Sugar Taxes
The Need for Stricter Animal Welfare Laws: Preventing Animal Cruelty
Accessible Education for All: The Case for Affordable College Tuition
Promoting Voting Rights: Ensuring a Fair and Inclusive Democracy
The Importance of Mental Health Awareness and Support: Breaking the Stigma

Easy Research Paper Topics

The Benefits of Regular Exercise for Physical and Mental Health
The History and Impact of Social Media on Society
The Basics of Climate Change: Causes, Effects, and Solutions
The Life and Achievements of a Notable Inventor or Scientist
The Importance of Recycling and Waste Reduction in Daily Life
The Impact of Fast Food on Diet and Health
Effect of Global Warming on The Frequency And Intensity Of Natural Disasters
Should Marijuana be legalized in US? Costs, Economic And Social Benefits
How Do Terrorist Attacks Influence Public Opinion And Political Behavior In Democratic Countries
Crime Rates: Main Factors That Explain The Variation In Crime Rates Across Different Countries And Regions

Research Paper Topics on Current Affairs

The Impact of COVID-19 on Global Health Systems and Preparedness
Climate Change and Extreme Weather Events: Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies
The Future of Work: Remote Work Trends and Implications
Economic Recovery Post-Pandemic: Challenges and Opportunities
Vaccine Hesitancy: Understanding Causes and Addressing Concerns
Cybersecurity in the Digital Age: Threats, Vulnerabilities, and Defense
Immigration Policies and Border Security: A Global Perspective
The Role of Social Media in Political Movements and Disinformation
Global Supply Chain Disruptions: Causes and Strategies for Resilience
Racial and Social Justice Movements: Progress and Ongoing Challenges

Controversial Research Paper Topics

The Legalization of Assisted Suicide and Euthanasia: Ethical and Legal Considerations
Gun Control Laws: Balancing Second Amendment Rights and Public Safety
The Death Penalty: Is it an Effective Deterrent or a Violation of Human Rights?
Animal Testing: Ethical Issues and Alternatives for Scientific Research
The Legalization of Recreational Drugs: Assessing Risks and Benefits
Abortion: Examining the Ethical, Legal, and Medical Aspects
Freedom of Speech vs. Hate Speech: Protecting Civil Liberties in a Digital Age
Climate Change Denial: Analyzing the Science and Skepticism
School Vouchers and School Choice: The Future of Public Education
Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs): Safety, Labeling, and Environmental Concerns

Research Paper Topics on Israeli-Palestinian Conflict

Historical Roots of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: Tracing the Beginnings
Media Framing of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: Impact on Public Perception
The Role of International Diplomacy in Resolving the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict
Human Rights Violations in the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: A Critical Analysis
Refugees and Displacement: The Ongoing Humanitarian Crisis in the Conflict
Religious Perspectives in the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: A Comparative Study
Water Scarcity and Resource Management in the Context of the Conflict
Education and Propaganda: Examining the Impact of Curricula on Perpetuating Conflict Narratives
The Role of Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) in Peacebuilding Efforts
Media and Social Media's Influence on Shaping Public Opinion in the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict

Nursing Research Paper Topics

The Impact of Nurse-to-Patient Ratios on Patient Outcomes
Nursing Shortages: Causes, Consequences, and Solutions
Evidence-Based Practice in Nursing: Implementing Research into Clinical Care
Nursing Ethics: Ethical Dilemmas and Decision-Making in Patient Care
Palliative Care and End-of-Life Nursing: Improving Quality of Life for Patients
Nursing Informatics: Advancements in Healthcare Technology and Data Management
The Role of Cultural Competence in Nursing: Providing Culturally Sensitive Care
Nursing Burnout and Staff Well-being: Strategies for Prevention and Support
The Impact of Nurse Leadership on Patient Safety and Quality of Care
Pediatric Nursing: Specialized Care for Children and Families

How to Choose a Good Research Paper Topic?

Now that you have a plethora of ideas for your research paper, which one should you choose? Here are some steps you need to follow to choose a good research paper topic:

Identify Your Interests: Start by considering your own interests and passions. Research is much more enjoyable when you're exploring a topic you're genuinely curious about. Think about subjects, issues, or questions that intrigue you.
Brainstorm and Mind Map: Write down potential topics or research questions and create a mind map to visualize how they connect to one another. This can help you see the relationships between different ideas and narrow down your options.
Do Some Preliminary Research: Conduct initial research to see what resources are available on potential topics. This will help you gauge whether there is enough information and credible sources to support your research.
Consider Your Audience: Think about who will be reading your research paper. Tailor your topic to your target audience's interests and knowledge level. You should also comply with the instructor's requirements. Make sure your topic gets approved before you begin with the writing process.
Discuss with Others: Talk to your peers, professors, or mentors about your potential topics. They may offer valuable insights, suggest relevant resources, or help you refine your ideas.

To conclude,

Selecting a good topic is the first and most important step in writing a research paper. Your decision should be guided by your interests, the assignment requirements, and the availability of credible resources.

With this list of potential research paper topics and tips on how to choose a good topic, you are able to select a topic that is both engaging for you and relevant to your audience.

Remember that staying current and conducting preliminary research will help you make an informed choice. Seek feedback from peers and mentors, and don't shy away from challenging or controversial topics when appropriate.

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MIT’s top research stories of 2022

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The dizzying pace of research and innovation at MIT can make it hard to keep up. To mark the end of the year, MIT News is looking back at 10 of the research stories that generated the most excitement in 2022.

We’ve also rounded up the year’s top MIT community-related stories .

Designing a heat engine with no moving parts . In April, engineers at MIT and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) designed a heat engine that might someday enable a fully decarbonized power grid. In demonstrations, the engine was able to convert heat to electricity with over 40 percent efficiency — a performance better than that of traditional steam turbines.
Creating a lightweight material stronger than steel . In February, MIT chemical engineers used a new polymerization process to form a material that that is stronger than steel and as light as plastic, and can be easily manufactured in large quantities. The material could be used as a coating for car parts or as a building material for bridges and other structures.
Enabling portable desalination at the push of a button . MIT researchers developed a suitcase-sized device that can remove particles and salts to generate drinking water. Unlike other desalination units that rely on filters, this device uses electrical power to purify the water. It requires less power to operate than a cell phone charger and can be driven by a small solar panel. Just push start.
Linking human genes to function . A team of researchers created the first map tying every gene expressed in human cells to its job in the cell. The map, which is available for other scientists to use, makes it easier to study a range of biological questions. The map was created using a CRISPR-based single-cell sequencing method known as Perturb-seq.
Improving supercomputing with a new programming language . A team of researchers based mainly at MIT invented a faster and more reliable programming language for high-performance computing. The language, which was tested on a number of small programs, could one day help computers with a number of deep learning tasks like image processing.
Lifting people out of extreme poverty . A study co-authored by an MIT economist showed that a one-time capital boost (in this case, a cow) helped poor people in rural Bangladesh improve their lives in the long run. The study suggests the very poor are in a poverty trap, in which an initial lack of resources prevents them from improving their circumstances, and implies that large asset transfers are an effective way to reduce global poverty.
Helping robots fly . Inspired by fireflies, MIT researchers created tiny actuators that emit light to allow insect-scale robots to communicate. Weighing barely more than a paper clip, the robots are too small to make use of traditional means of sensing and communication. Instead, the actuators that control the robots’ wings light up in different colors and patterns, which could enable them to do things like share their location and call for help.
Detecting a radio signal in a far-off galaxy . In July, astronomers at MIT and elsewhere were surprised to find a periodic fast radio burst (FRB) originating billions of light-years from Earth. It is the longest lasting FRB pattern detected to date and is made up of intensely strong radio waves that repeat every 0.2 seconds, similar to a heartbeat. Astronomers suspect the signal is coming from a neutron star.
Proposal for a new, low-cost battery design . Researchers at MIT developed a battery made from abundant, inexpensive materials to complement the rise of lithium-ion batteries. The new battery uses aluminum and sulfur as its two electrode materials and a molten salt electrolyte in between. It could be ideal for powering single homes or small to medium sized businesses, producing a few tens of kilowatt-hours of storage capacity.
Immigrants as job creators . A study co-authored by an MIT economist found that compared to native-born citizens, immigrants are about 80 percent more likely to found a firm. The study, which looked at registered businesses of all types across the country, suggests that immigrants act more as "job creators" than "job takers" and play outsized roles in high-growth entrepreneurship in the U.S.

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MIT community in 2022: A year in review

MIT’s top research stories of 2021

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MIT community in 2021: A year in review

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the far side of the moon visible beyond the orion spacecraft, 21 november

The 10 biggest science stories of 2022 – chosen by scientists

From moon missions to fast-charging batteries and AI-sourced antibiotics, in no particular order, the year’s significant scientific developments

1. The Dart and Orion missions

The year opened with a bang. Or rather, it didn’t. The successful film Don’t Look Up , in which a comet is found to be on a collision course with Earth, had been released just before Christmas 2021. In the bleak days of post-festive gloom, the news media were on an adrenaline high, chasing any and every story about potential asteroid collisions to cheer us all up. Five asteroids were to pass close to the Earth in January alone! Happily for the health and wellbeing of humanity, none was predicted to come within a whisker of hitting the planet. Nonetheless, the possibility of an asteroid colliding with Earth is a reality – the globe is covered in craters from previous impacts, and it is well known that 65m years ago, dinosaurs became extinct following the impact of an asteroid about 10km across. Can anything be done about saving us from this existential extraterrestrial threat? Fortunately, the international space community has taken the first steps towards reducing the risk of an asteroid catching us unawares. The joint Nasa- Esa mission Dart (Double Asteroid Re-Direction Test) was an ambitious attempt to alter the trajectory of a small asteroid (Dimorphos) as it orbited a slightly larger asteroid (Didymos), by sending a spacecraft to crash into it. In October, we learned that the mission had been even more successful than anticipated, and that the orbit of Dimorphos had changed – showing that we could, if given sufficient time, alter the path of an asteroid if it were on a collision course with Earth.

As well as asteroid activity, our moon has been in the news, as a destination of choice for a new generation of astronauts. This year, it is 50 years since the Apollo 17 mission, the last time a human set foot on the moon. So it is a cause for celebration that Artemis, another joint Nasa-Esa programme, has started its operation to return people to the moon. The first phase of the mission, the Orion capsule, was launched in mid-November, and successfully returned to Earth last week. The capsule is designed to hold up to six astronauts – though there were none on board this maiden flight around the moon. We can now look forward to a series of increasingly complex flights of Orion – culminating in a crew of astronauts landing on the moon as soon as 2025.

Monica Grady

Monica Grady is professor of planetary and space sciences at Open University

2. Covid’s boost to immune research

a man gets his covid booster in nice, october this year

Vaccine technology has seen an unprecedented acceleration in innovation that could soon be benefiting us in a host of ways. A vaccine works by delivering an “infection” signal (something from the germ) and an “alert” signal (to wake the immune response up). As our knowledge of immunology has increased, so too has our capacity to innovate in the vaccines that deliver those signals. Designing any new vaccine takes a long time, significant investment and a lot of eager volunteers, all of which was accelerated during the pandemic, resulting in a host of novel developments.

The autumn Covid-19 booster shots we have just been offered are one such example – these bivalent vaccines target the original strain of Sars-CoV-2 (the virus that causes Covid-19) alongside the Omicron variant. Bivalent vaccines have advantages over the original vaccines as they both top up and broaden our immunity . But what if you could broaden your immunity further – to not just two but multiple strains of virus? So-called multivalent vaccines for Covid-19 and flu are looking very promising. Another approach we could soon see is the use of sniffable or inhalable vaccines – mucosal vaccines . These are already used in China to tackle Covid-19 and may offer long-term protection against respiratory viruses. They are also much more appealing for those of us who are needle-phobic. If these new developments deliver on their promise, then one day soon the calls for annual shots could be a thing of the past. Sheena Cruickshank

Sheena Cruickshank is professor of biomedical sciences and public engagement at the University of Manchester

3. AI reveals new antibiotics

antibiotic susceptibility testing in the lab

Over the course of the past few years, AI has transformed the field of molecular biology. The revolution started with the AlphaFold algorithm, which rapidly predicts the complex three-dimensional structures of proteins, thus aiding the understanding of protein functions and the identification of drug targets. This year, AI has achieved another breakthrough, this time at the other end of the drug discovery pipeline: several groups in 2022 have reported the first successful applications of AI to identify novel antibiotic drugs.

Antimicrobial resistance is a major global threat. This year, the global research on antimicrobial resistance report published in the Lancet indicated that, worldwide, 4.95m deaths were associated with drug-resistant bacteria in 2019, making untreatable infections one of the leading causes of death.

Developing new drugs that overcome resistance and replenish our arsenal of effective antimicrobials is a continuous struggle. And that is where AI is now beginning to make a major contribution. For example, Yue Ma and colleagues from the Chinese Academy of Sciences used machine-learning techniques originally developed for natural language processing to identify antimicrobial peptides encoded by the genome sequences of microbes in the human gut. The algorithm identified 2,349 potential antimicrobial peptide sequences. Of these, 216 peptides were synthesised by chemical methods, and 181 of them were shown to have antimicrobial activity. This is an impressive success rate, which would not have been possible without the aid of AI.

Even more strikingly, almost half of the peptides discovered were entirely new, without obvious sequence similarity to known antimicrobials, thus increasing the chances of circumventing existing resistance mechanisms. Animal experiments showed that three of the new peptides could be used for the safe and effective treatment of bacterial pneumonia in mice. Studies such as this are good news, promising an unprecedented rapid route towards novel treatment options for some of the scariest pathogenic threats we currently face. Eriko Takano

E riko Takano is professor of synthetic biology at the Manchester Institute of Biotechnology

4. Early weather warnings

displaced people carry belongings along a flooded road in jaffarabad, south-eastern pakistan, in august this year

In 2022, science was able to see a hurricane hitting the coast of the US before it even formed out at sea. We could visualise the Brisbane River spreading out into Australian homes before a drop of rain had fallen. And we put firefighters on action stations before the spark was lit that burned southern France. We now have the technology to see many of these natural hazards coming, days in advance.

And yet 2022 has been full of lethal events. In Europe, more than 20,000 people died from record-breaking heat this summer, hitting more than 40C (104F) across England for the first time. In August, one third of Pakistan was underwater during a monster monsoon season, killing 1,700 people . Global heating is making these types of disasters worse.

This is why the key scientific story from the past year is not cutting-edge research or hi-tech engineering, but the push by the UN secretary general António Guterres for the world to have equal access to early warnings . Alerting people to danger, so they can take action, is the best way to prevent tragedy. We need equal access to skills and systems that were pioneered years ago. Critical, too, is the leadership to share information and act on the warnings that ensue. Hannah Clo ke

Hannah Clo ke is professor of hydrology at Reading University

5. Inclusive inroads

a scanning electron microscope image of red blood cells affected by sickle cell disease

This year saw a small but important advance in the treatment of sickle cell disease, a group of inherited disorders that cause red blood cells to become sickle shaped and can lead to anaemia. A drug developed to treat an enzyme deficiency (pyruvate kinase) was found to improve anaemia and reduced acute episodes of severe pain in sickle cell disease. While the research is still in its early phases, the researchers point out that their breakthrough came from looking at the characteristics of people with sickle cell disease rather than focusing only on their red blood cells. This development has been found to benefit people with other conditions and brings hope to millions of people worldwide, but predominantly in Africa, the Indian subcontinent and South America.

This was also the year when Nasa’s Artemis mission, which aims “to land the first woman and first person of colour on the moon” by 2025, put female torsos Helga and Zohar into space to test the effects of radiation on the grounds that women appear to be at a greater risk from space radiation than men. This may seem unremarkable, but it was only in 2022 that a Swedish research team designed a new crash test dummy representing an “average woman” , rather than a scaled-down version of the male dummy that is the size of a 12-year-old girl.

Developments such as these excite hope of inclusive science where gender, ethnicity and location neither privilege nor exclude. Ann Phoenix

Ann Phoenix is professor of psychosocial studies at the UCL Institute of Education

fields medal winners maryna viazovska and james maynard at the awards ceremony in helsinki

6. Elite mathematicians

The Fields medal recognises outstanding mathematical achievement for existing work. Often described as the Nobel prize of mathematics, it is awarded every four years to recipients under the age of 40.

Congratulation to Prof James Maynard, who was awarded a Fields medal this year for his “spectacular contributions” to analytic number theory, “which have led to major advances in the understanding of the structure of prime numbers and in Diophantine approximation”.

One of his standout proofs was to prove the following: there are infinitely many prime numbers whose decimal representation does not contain the digit 7.

Such a simple statement to understand but not very easy to prove. Maynard joins an elite list of British mathematicians who have won the medal.

Congratulations also to one of the other Fields medallists, the Ukrainian mathematician Maryna Viazovska , the second woman to win the award. The mathematician Henry Cohn stated: “Viazovska manages to do things that are completely non-obvious that lots of people tried and failed to do.” She was cited for many mathematical accomplishments, in particular her proof that an arrangement called the E8 lattice is the densest packing of spheres in eight dimensions. Nira Chamberlain

Prof Nira Chamberlain is president of the Institute of Mathematics and its Applications

7. Soft cell, hard cell…

When we think about what influences how the cells inside our bodies develop, we often think of biological or chemical factors. But physical forces – what’s known as the “mechanical” environment – can be just as critical to a cell’s journey. The ability of cells to sense and respond to their mechanical environment has been known for several decades: for example, stem cells grown on soft jelly-like gels will become different cell types compared with stem cells grown on stiff glass-like surfaces.

Early signs of diseases such as cancer and Alzheimer’s are often associated with changes in cell stiffness. However, it has been difficult to measure the stiffness of cells and organs inside our bodies, and how they change during development and disease. Tools to measure cell mechanical properties have relied on applying forces to the cell – essentially poking or cutting a cell and seeing how it responds. This is often invasive and damaging, and isn’t easily performed on living cells or organs inside animals, let alone humans.

This year, two research groups, one from Germany , and one from the US , published separate studies demonstrating groundbreaking improvements in a method to measure cell-stiffness, known as Brillouin microscopy. This optical method is non-damaging, allowing you to “see” the stiffness of a material without having to touch it. Developments in this technique this year have significantly advanced imaging speed and resolution, and reduced photo-damage, making the method now widely applicable for observing changes in cell mechanical properties in living animals.

This method will provide a powerful tool for early diagnosis of diseases such as cancer, atherosclerosis and Alzheimer’s. It will also revolutionise how scientists can measure and track the mechanical changes of our cells during normal development, and critically improve our understanding of the importance of mechanical forces in biology. Yanlan Mao

Yanlan Mao is professor of developmental biophysics at University College London

8. Quantum entanglement untangled

john f clauser receives the nobel prize in physics from king carl xvi gustaf of sweden

“Spooky action at a distance.” That’s what Albert Einstein called quantum entanglement, which is when two quantum particles have to be considered as a single entity, since influencing one of them affects the other even when they are far apart.

In October this year, the three pioneers of quantum information science, Alain Aspect of the University of Paris-Saclay, John Clauser of JF Clauser & Associates, and Anton Zeilinger of the University of Vienna were awarded the Nobel prize in physics for their contributions to understanding quantum entanglement.

There are many reasons to enjoy this long overdue award. For the sheer beauty of providing new insights into an exciting area of fundamental phenomena. For laying the groundwork for breakthroughs in quantum computers to carry out complex calculations that would be impossible on a conventional computer, and in quantum encryption that could allow secure communications. For spurring more experiments to address one of the great questions of science – how to reconcile quantum mechanics with Einstein’s general theory of relativity.

And finally, for demonstrating another example of the importance of curiosity-driven basic science leading to real-world applications that could change the way we live and work. Saiful Islam

Saiful Islam is professor of materials science at Oxford University

9. Nature positive

greenpeace activists hold up banners at cop15, the un biodiversity conference, in montreal, canada, earlier this month

A huge moment for biodiversity is still ongoing as I write: the much-delayed 15th meeting of the parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity in Montreal, which will set a course for nature recovery from now until 2050. These international agreements feed into national legislation, such as the UK’s Environment Act. Alongside this, companies are making bold commitments to become “nature positive”, meaning that their activities should, overall, lead to nature being in a better state.

Nature-positive commitments need to translate into real, measurable – and attributable – recovery of nature. This is very challenging, though, partly because many products have tortuous supply chains so that the companies themselves don’t always know what the biodiversity impact of their activities is. For example, nickel is a crucial component of our daily lives, being used in the production of stainless steel. Yet how often do we stop and think about where the nickel in our cutlery or electric car batteries has come from, and how producing it has affected the environment?

One impact is the clearance of forests in areas where nickel ore is mined. Ambatovy nickel mine, the biggest mine in Madagascar, is one of a growing number of businesses to have made a commitment to leave nature in no worse a state as a result of its operations. The mine compensated for its forest clearance by putting measures in place to stop clearance of forest by local people for agriculture elsewhere. This year, Katie Devenish and colleagues at Bangor University published a paper looking at whether they had succeeded. Using sophisticated methods to separate out the effects of the mine’s activities from other factors leading to forest loss, the researchers demonstrated that the mine was on track to prevent at least as much deforestation as it had caused. The study is a model for how scientists can carry out thorough and independent evaluations of companies’ environmental commitments, reducing the temptation to greenwash.

We need many more studies like this, that link the esoteric world of high-level policy-making to realities on the ground, in all sectors from mining, to food, to transport and infrastructure. Then we will have a much better chance to hold our governments and companies to account, and reverse the loss of nature, wherever it takes place. E J Milner-Gulland

EJ Milner-Gulland is a professor of biodiversity at Oxford University

10. Battery charge

lithium extraction at bristol lake in the mojave desert, california

It’s one of the greatest unappreciated stories of our time: the incredibly rapid improvements in battery technology that will form the foundation of an electrified world as we wean ourselves off fossil fuels.

Of course there are questions. What about the costs? Will batteries ever really store enough energy for their size to power something like a large plane? And where will we get all the rare metals necessary to build them?

That’s why my story of the year is the October Nature paper by Chao-Yang Wang and co-authors , describing a way to charge energy-dense batteries incredibly quickly – in just a few minutes. It really highlights the phenomenal speed at which battery chemists, engineers and technologists are rising to the challenge. If you can charge a car battery in 10-12 minutes, charging more frequently becomes much less of a problem, allowing for smaller batteries that are cheaper and less resource-intensive to make.

We are also seeing huge progress in battery technologies based on cheap, abundant sodium instead of expensive and relatively rare lithium, as well as methods to make all these batteries far easier to recycle.

The basic principles of a battery haven’t changed, but the potential of the newest versions is astonishing and getting better all the time. Helen Czerski

Helen Czerski is a research fellow at the department of mechanical engineering , University College London

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5 studies released in 2022 that might change how you think about health care

From racial bias in CPR to private equity price hikes, here’s what researchers learned about US health care this year.

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A health care worker in protective mask and gown leans over a patient in a bed in a hospital room.

Though the pandemic and all its attendant health care crises remained the major health care story of 2022, churning all the while in the background has been the critical work of academic scholars, operating on longer timelines, who are still trying to make sense of US health care and of medicine itself, to get a better idea of what’s wrong and how to make it better.

To wrap up this year, I asked a couple dozen health policy experts what research released this year (though, as one of them reminded me, these papers are often years in the making) had surprised them, changed their thinking, or struck them as especially notable.

Here are five particularly interesting papers, at least in my view. Because many more than that warrant mention, I have tried to cram in as many references to other work as I could. One of my lessons from this exercise was that there are noteworthy new studies being produced all the time. The US health system certainly merits such extensive investigation, given the number and diversity of its flaws .

These studies cover a broad range of subjects, from the intricacies of Medicaid provider networks to prescription uptake by Medicare beneficiaries to how bystanders react when a person experiences a cardiac episode in public. But first, on the topic of the pandemic...

1) Vaccination education campaigns in nursing homes didn’t make much difference

Several experts pointed me to data sets related to Covid-19 vaccination in nursing homes, the scenes of so much illness and death in that frightening first year of the pandemic. Larry Levitt, executive vice president of the Kaiser Family Foundation, flagged one recent KFF survey that found less than half of nursing-home residents are up to date on their vaccines.

That put into sharp relief the findings of a study that Harvard Medical School’s David Grabowski cited as one of his favorites of the year. The paper, published in JAMA Internal Medicine in January 2022 , evaluated an effort to use educational campaigns and other incentives to improve vaccination rates among residents and staff in nursing homes.

They did not find a meaningful effect, despite three months of programming. There was plenty of room to grow, particularly among the staff, roughly half of whom were unvaccinated during the study period. (Vaccination rates among residents were already high at the time, though the experiment still did not find a significant effect of the multi-faceted campaign.)

“The conventional wisdom was that a big part of lagging vaccination rates was a lack of information and knowledge about the benefits of vaccination,” Grabowski said. But this study found instead that “these educational efforts were unsuccessful at encouraging greater vaccination. Although information campaigns sound like great policy, they really aren’t.”

He lamented that the study had been ignored by policymakers, noting federal efforts to increase vaccination rates among this population remain focused on education. Grabowski said the policies with the strongest evidence are vaccine clinics and vaccine mandates for staff.

2) Medicaid’s “phantom” networks may overstate patients’ access to health care

I love good jargon, and “ghost physicians” is one of my favorite new phrases of the year, which was recently brought to my attention by Harvard University professor (and former Vox contributor) Adrianna McIntyre.

It comes from this May 2022 Health Affairs paper , authored by Yale University’s Avital Ludomirsky and colleagues, which evaluated the provider networks of Medicaid managed-care plans. Those are privately administrated plans for low-income people that must follow state and federal Medicaid rules; they have grown in enrollment in recent years, with more states deciding to outsource their role in providing health coverage for the most vulnerable.

One of those rules is that enough doctors and hospitals accept those Medicaid plans, otherwise known as network adequacy. The Health Affairs study examined managed-care plans in four states over several years to get a better sense of providers’ participation in the program.

Their most striking finding is that while nominal participation was fairly high, about one-third of providers who technically accepted Medicaid actually saw less than 10 Medicaid beneficiaries in a given year. The responsibility for providing care to these patients was concentrated among a small number of practices, with 25 percent of primary care doctors providing 86 percent of the care and 25 percent of specialists providing 75 percent of those services.

In other words, while plenty of doctors might say they accept the plans, people who are enrolled in them may in practice find they have relatively few doctors to choose from. “Our findings suggest that current network adequacy standards might not reflect actual access,” the authors wrote in their conclusion. “New methods are needed that account for beneficiaries’ preferences and physicians’ willingness to serve Medicaid patients.”

The move toward more Medicaid-managed care has spurred a lot of debate and study. Matthew Fiedler, senior fellow at the Brooking Institution, sent me a Harvard study with its own surprising finding: In Texas, transitioning Medicaid enrollees to managed care had actually led to an increase in the use of prescription drugs and outpatient services, while the number of avoidable hospitalizations fell.

What seems to have happened, Fiedler said, is the state had been “penny-wise, pound-foolish” when running the program itself by imposing an unusually strict cap on the number of prescriptions patients could fill in a year. With that cap relaxed under the managed-care plans, patients filled more prescriptions and that corresponded to fewer episodes in which they ended up in the hospital when they didn’t have to.

Fiedler thought the study could also have implications for Medicare Advantage as well, another version of a government health insurance program that is being administered by private companies.

“To be clear, in many of these cases, it might well be better to fix this problem by just fixing the public program directly,” he told me. “But given that we often seem unwilling to do that, this does point to one very real advantage of involvement from private plans.”

3) Many Medicare beneficiaries don’t fill important prescriptions

Rachel Sachs, who studies prescription drug policy at Washington University in St. Louis, highlighted a study on a similar subject that was published in Health Affairs in April 2022 , led by Vanderbilt University’s Stacie Dusetzina. The researchers studied the difference in prescription uptake by Medicare beneficiaries who receive a government subsidy to offset their drug costs versus those who do not.

The latter group, who can sometimes be on the hook for hundreds of dollars for every prescription they fill, was substantially less likely to actually use their medication as it had been prescribed, even for serious diagnoses like cancer. People receiving subsidies were twice as likely to fill their prescriptions. The study found that 30 percent of prescriptions for anti-cancer drugs and 22 of prescriptions for hepatitis-C treatment were never started.

The problem of drug affordability for Medicare patients has been an ongoing concern. Because of how the program is currently structured, beneficiaries who are enrolled in the traditional Medicare program but do not qualify for subsidies have no upper limit on how much they can be asked to spend on pharmaceuticals in a given year.

As part of the Inflation Reduction Act , Congress is instituting such a cap for the first time, using savings from the new drug pricing controls also included in the law, capping out-of-pocket costs at $2,000 starting in 2025. That is the kind of intervention the Health Affairs authors were calling for when they published the paper. Now we’ll see if that policy change has an effect on seniors actually taking their medicine.

4) Black and Hispanic Americans are less likely to receive CPR in public spaces

One of the experts I asked for input is Harvard Medical School’s Michael Barnett , who publishes his own overview of the year’s best research every year on Twitter. He sent me a few studies, most of which I’ll let him share in his own overview, but one study in particular stuck out, looking at which people are more (or less) likely to get assistance when they have a health emergency in a public setting with other people around.

The paper, published in the New England Journal of Medicine in October by a collection of scholars across the country, examined more than 100,000 incidents of cardiac arrest that occurred outside of the hospital from 2013 to 2019. They focused in particular on whether the person experiencing cardiac arrest in public received CPR from a bystander.

The results were profound: Black and Hispanic people were significantly less likely to be given CPR than a white person, 45 percent versus 60 percent. And this pattern held across neighborhoods of different racial and socioeconomic make-ups. Whether the neighborhood was predominantly white, Black, or Hispanic, up and down the income ladder, in integrated neighborhoods, white people were more likely to receive CPR than someone who is Black and Hispanic.

“Racial and ethnic differences in bystander CPR in public locations raise additional concerns about implicit and explicit biases in layperson response to out-of-hospital cardiac arrests,” the authors wrote.

Racism within the medical system is well established. Black and Hispanic Americans tend to have less access to health care. They tend to have worse experiences with doctors. Clinical trials and other research does not prioritize them. Medical treatments tend to be developed and designed with white people in mind.

But this study would suggest that even the more casual forms of racism and internalized bias can have a real health effect for marginalized Americans.

5) Prices go up after private equity acquires a physician’s practice

Private equity’s deeper investment into US health care is one of the most important ongoing stories in the field right now. The stakes can be life or death, as one paper that I covered last year about mortality rates in nursing homes purchased by private equity firms found. (Of note this year, according to Harvard’s Amitabh Chandra, was another paper that documented the wide disparities in outcomes among nursing homes, even those who are located in the same area.)

A report published by scholars from Johns Hopkins, Harvard, and Oregon Science & Health University in September 2022 in JAMA Health Forum , which Emma Sandoe of North Carolina Medicaid and Duke University shared with me, examined what happened to costs and care utilization when private equity firms had purchased outpatient practices specializing in ophthalmology, dermatology, and gastroenterology, some of their favorite targets.

The study detected several effects: The cost of individual services went up and those practices were seeing more new patients and also charging more time for their existing patients. The amount billed by the private equity-acquired offices per service increased by 20 percent compared to the study’s control group. They saw 38 percent more new patients and there was a 9 percent increase in the number of existing patient visits that were billed as lasting longer than 30 minutes.

On the surface, that could look like partially good news, in spite of the price hikes, with more patients being seen and spending more time with their doctor. But some of the other findings call into question the value of those increases in service volume. In dermatology, the increase in outpatient visits did not correspond to an increase in biopsies ordered. In the gastroenterology practices, there were more visits and scopes but no notable increase in polyp removals. And likewise, at the eye clinics, there was more diagnostic imaging but not any effect on actual cataract removals.

The authors ended their paper with this warning. “Private equity ownership of physician practices has added a distinctly private and market-driven influence to the broader trends in corporate consolidation of physicians by health systems and insurers,” they wrote. “This study contributes evidence for potential overutilization and higher spending on care that will be important for policy makers to monitor.”

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The 10 Most Significant Education Studies of 2022

In our annual ritual, we pored over hundreds of educational studies and pulled out the most impactful—from a new study on the sneaky power of sketchnotes to research that linked relationships and rigor.

This past year didn’t feel normal, exactly, but compared with the last few trips around the sun, well—it sufficed. In 2021, when we sat down to write our annual edition of the research highlights, we were in the throes of postpandemic recovery and wrote about the impact of a grueling year in which burnout and issues of mental and physical health affected educators everywhere.

This year, we crossed our fingers and turned to best practices once again, reviewing hundreds of studies to identify the most impactful and insightful educational strategies we could find.

What turned up?

We found evidence that sheds new light on the misunderstood power of brain breaks, took a close look at research that finds a surprising—even counterintuitive—rationale for teachers to focus on relationships, and located both the humor and the merit in asking kids to slither like a snake as they learn about the “sss” sound of the letter S .

All that, and a lot more too, in our once-a-year roundup that follows.

1. There’s No Conflict Between Relationships and Rigor

Observers sometimes assume that teachers who radiate empathy, kindness, and openness are “soft” and can be taken advantage of by students. But new research shows that when you signal that you care about kids, they’re willing to go the extra mile, giving you the flexibility to assign more challenging school work.

That’s the main takeaway from a 2022 study that examined teaching practices in 285 districts, comparing relationship-building strategies with the flexibility that teachers had in assigning challenging and complex work. The researchers found that the most effective teachers build their classrooms by getting to know their students, being approachable, and showing that they enjoy the work—and then deftly translate emotional capital into academic capital.

“When students feel teachers care about them, they work harder, engage in more challenging academic activities, behave more appropriately for the school environment, are genuinely happy to see their teacher, and meet or exceed their teacher’s expectations,” the researchers conclude.

2. Highlighting Isn’t Very Effective Until Teachers Step In

Students often highlight the wrong information and may rely on their deficient highlighting skills as a primary study strategy, leading to poor learning outcomes, a new analysis of 36 studies suggests. As little as two hours of tutoring, however, can dramatically improve their capabilities.

The researchers determined that “learner-generated highlighting” tended to improve retention of material, but not comprehension. When students were taught proper highlighting techniques by teachers, however—for example, how to distinguish main ideas from supporting ideas—they dramatically improved their academic performance. Crucially, “when highlighting is used in conjunction with another learning strategy” like “graphic organizers or post-questions,” its effectiveness soars, the researchers said.

The need for explicit teaching may be linked to changing reading habits as students graduate from stories and fables to expository texts, which require them to navigate unfamiliar text formats, the researchers note. To bring kids up to speed, show them “examples of appropriate and inappropriate highlighting,” teach them to “highlight content relatively sparingly,” and provide examples of follow-on tactics like summarizing their insights to drive deeper comprehension.

3. A Landmark Study Strikes a Resounding Note for Inclusion

When the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act called for greater inclusion—mandating that students with disabilities receive support in the “least restrictive environment”—one goal was to ensure that educational accommodations didn’t interfere with the students’ social and emotional development in classrooms full of their peers. The law also confronted age-old prejudices and established a binding legal obligation in favor of inclusion.

But thus far, rigorous evidence of the academic benefits has been thin.

Now a new large-scale study appears to put the matter beyond dispute. When researchers tracked nearly 24,000 adolescents who qualified for special education, they discovered that spending a majority of the day—at least 80 percent—in general education classes improved reading scores by a whopping 24 points and math scores by 18 points, compared with scores of their more isolated peers with similar disabilities.

“Treat the general education classroom as the default classroom,” the researchers firmly state, and push for separate accommodations only when all other options have been exhausted.

4. Sketchnotes and Concept Maps Work—Even Better Than You Might Think

Simple concept maps, sketchnotes, and other annotated jottings—akin to doodling with a purpose—can facilitate deeper comprehension of materials than more polished drawings, a new study finds.

Representational drawings, such as a simple diagram of a cell, may help students remember factual information, the researchers explain, but they “lack features to make generalizations or inferences based on that information.” Organizational drawings that link concepts with arrows, annotations, and other relational markings give students a clearer sense of the big picture, allow them to visualize how ideas are connected, and provide a method for spotting obvious gaps in their understanding. On tests of higher-order thinking, fifth graders who made organizational drawings outperformed their peers who tried representational drawings by 300 percent.

To reap the benefits in class, have students start with simple diagrams to help remember the material, and then move them up to sketchnotes and concept maps as they tease out connections to prior knowledge.

5. Brain Breaks Are Misunderstood (and Underutilized)

Conventional wisdom holds that the development of a skill comes from active, repeated practice: It’s the act of dribbling a basketball that ultimately teaches the basketball star.

But recent studies reveal that the intervals between practice sessions are at least as crucial. In 2021, researchers used brain scans to observe neural networks as young adults learned how to type. During breaks, the brains of the participants appeared to head back to the keyboards, unconsciously replaying the typing sequences over and over again at high rates of speed as they flipped the material between processing and memory centers dozens of times in the span of 10 seconds. The researchers concluded that brain breaks play “just as important a role as practice in learning a new skill.”

In 2022, we learned that the kinds of breaks make a difference, too. One study compared in-classroom breaks like drawing or building puzzles with outdoor breaks like running or playing in sandboxes. In a nod to the power of movement—and free time—it was the kids playing outside who returned to class ready to learn, probably because indoor games, like indoor voices, required children to engage in more self-regulation, the researchers speculated. Meanwhile, an analysis examining “green breaks” —brief strolls in a park or visits to a school garden—concluded that students who partook in the activities performed better on tests of attention and working memory.

Depriving kids of regular breaks, it turns out, is a threat to the whole proposition of learning. To commit lessons to memory, the brain demands its own time—which it sets aside to clean up and consolidate new material.

6. On Classroom Design, an Argument for Caution—and Common Sense

When it comes time to decorate their classrooms, teachers often find themselves on the horns of a dilemma: Should they aim for Pinterest-worthy interior design or opt for blank walls on the strength of research that emphasizes the risks of distracting students?

A study published in February this year argues for minimalism. Researchers tracked the on-task behavior of K–2 students and concluded that visually ”streamlined” classrooms produced more focused students than “decorated” ones. During short read-alouds about topics like rainbows and plate tectonics, for example, young kids in classrooms free of “charts, posters, and manipulatives” were paying attention at significantly higher rates.

But it might not be a simple question of more or less. A 2014 study confirmed that posters of women scientists or diverse historical figures, for example, can improve students’ sense of belonging. And a recent study that observed 3,766 children in 153 schools concluded that classrooms that occupied a visual middle ground—neither too cluttered nor too austere—produced the best academic outcomes. A 2022 study reached similar conclusions.

Classroom decoration can alter academic trajectories, the research suggests, but the task shouldn’t stress teachers out. The rules appear to be relatively straightforward: Hang academically relevant, supportive work on the walls, and avoid the extremes—working within the broad constraints suggested by common sense and moderation.

7. For Young Children, the Power of Play-Based Learning

Children aren’t miniature adults, but a bias toward adult perspectives of childhood, with its attendant schedules and routines, has gradually exerted a stranglehold on our educational system nonetheless, suggests the author and early childhood educator Erika Christakis.

How can we let little kids be little while meeting the academic expectations of typical schools? A new analysis of 39 studies spanning several decades plots a middle path for educators, highlighting the way that play gently guided by adults, often called play-based learning, can satisfy both objectives.

Teachers of young students can have a “learning goal” in mind, but true play-based learning should incorporate wonder and exploration, be child-led when possible, and give students “freedom and choice over their actions and play behavior,” the researchers assert. Interrupt the flow of learning only when necessary: gently nudge students who might find activities too hard or too easy, for example. The playful approach improved early math and task-switching skills, compared with more traditional tactics that emphasize the explicit acquisition of skills, researchers concluded.

To get the pedagogy right, focus on relationships and ask questions that prompt wonder. “Rich, open-ended conversation is critical,” Christakis told Edutopia in a 2019 interview —children need time "to converse with each other playfully, to tell a rambling story to an adult, to listen to high-quality literature and ask meaningful questions.”

8. A Better Way to Learn Your ABCs

Getting young kids to match a letter to its corresponding sound is a first-order reading skill. To help students grasp that the letter c makes the plosive “cuh” sound in car , teachers often use pictures as scaffolds or have children write the letter repeatedly while making its sound.

A new study suggests that sound-letter pairs are learned much more effectively when whole-body movements are integrated into lessons. Five- and 6-year-olds in the study spent eight weeks practicing movements for each letter of the alphabet, slithering like a snake as they hissed the sibilant “sss” sound, for example. The researchers found that whole-body movement improved students’ ability to recall letter-sound pairings and doubled their ability to recognize hard-to-learn sounds—such as the difference between the sounds that c makes in cat and sauce —when compared with students who simply wrote and spoke letter-sound pairings at their desks.

The approach can make a big difference in the acquisition of a life-changing skill. Educators should “incorporate movement-based teaching” into their curricula, giving special consideration to “whole-body movement,” the researchers conclude.

9. Why Learners Push the Pause Button

Some of the benefits of videotaped lessons are so self-evident that they hide in plain sight.

When teaching students foundational concepts, a video lesson equipped with a simple pause button, for example, may allow students to reset cognitively as they reach their attentional limits, a 2022 study concluded. Pause buttons, like rewind buttons, are also crucial for learners who encounter “complex learning materials,” have “low prior knowledge,” or exhibit “low working memory capacities.”

Increasingly, the intrinsic value of targeted video lessons is borne out in research. In a feature on Edutopia , we looked at research suggesting that video learning supported self-pacing and flexible, 24/7 access to lessons; that questions embedded in videos improved academic performance, increased note-taking, and reduced stress (see these 2015 and 2020 studies); and that video versions of lectures tended to “make content more coherent ” to students.

To modernize their classrooms, teachers might record their most important lessons and make them available to students as study aids so they can pause, rewind, and review to their hearts’ content.

10. An Authoritative Study of Two High-Impact Learning Strategies

Spacing and retrieval practices are two of the most effective ways to drive long-term retention, confirms an authoritative 2022 review spanning hundreds of studies on the topic—and students should know how and why the strategies are effective.

In the review, researchers explain that students who prefer techniques like reading and rereading material in intense cram sessions are bound to fail. Instead, students should think of learning as a kind of “fitness routine” during which they practice recalling the material from memory and space out their learning sessions over time. Teaching kids to self-quiz or summarize from memory—and then try it again—is the crucial first step in disabusing students of their “false beliefs about learning.”

The effect sizes are hard to ignore. In a 2015 study , for example, third-grade students who studied a lesson about the sun and then reread the same material scored 53 percent on a follow-up test, the equivalent of a failing grade, while their peers who studied it once and then answered practice questions breezed by with an 87 percent score. And in a 2021 study , middle school students who solved a dozen math problems spread out across three weeks scored 21 percentage points higher on a follow-up math test than students who solved all 12 problems on the same day.

A List of 580 Interesting Research Topics [2024 Edition]

In school and college, you will be required to write research papers. Yes — papers in the plural. And that’s the first reason you may want to turn to Custom Writing and seek help with research projects.

When assigned a paper, the very first undertaking is to choose from a list of research topics. This is a daunting, even intimidating task, one that many people would prefer to circumvent altogether.

The good thing is:

There are hundreds of exciting and fun research topics for high school or college students from which to choose. With a variety of options, you are likely to find some interesting things to research. When you have good ideas and help available, this task becomes less threatening and more engaging.

But first: Let’s verify you have a complete comprehension of what writing a research paper entails. After all, you can’t be creative with an idea if you don’t know how to write about it. Then, you’ll find numerous interesting research topics for your work.

🔝 Top 10 Research Topics

❓ What Is a Research Paper?

✍️ How to Find Topics to Write About

⭐ A List of Research Topics

💻 IT Topics
🏺 History Topics
🧠 Psychology Topics
🎓 Education Topics
📺 Cultural Topics
🗣️ Topics for an Argumentative Essays

🔬 Science Research Topics

💉 health topics for research papers.

👔 Business Research Topics
📚 Literature Topics
🗳️ Political Topics

😂 Fun Research Topics

👥 Sociology Research Papers

🎯 Specific Research Proposal Topics

👩‍⚕️ Nursing Research Papers
🎨 Art Topics
🎼 Music Topics
✍️ Creative Writing Topics
🎈 Other Topics

🔝 Top 10 Research Topics for 2024

Maintaining social bonds via music
Use of AI in robotics
Narcissistic personality disorder: genetic factors
Mental effects of remote work
Use of infrared detectors in alarm systems
Cosmological simulations and machine learning
Achieving climate-positive agriculture
Emerging infectious diseases: detection and prevention
Technology-enhanced education in the post-COVID era
Disability inclusion in the workplace

If you aren’t clear on what a research paper is, then you won’t get very far when writing one. A research paper is just as its name suggests — a form of academic writing that necessitates the independent investigation of a specified topic and reports the unique results of that investigation.

Suny Empire State College provides a great and exhaustive explanation of what a research paper is.

In order to write a paper, you are required to formulate a research question. This is a question associated with your topic that acts as a guide during your research, enabling you to focus and provide unique arguments.

Before you can produce a research question, you have to choose from countless research topics available. Another useful thing to do would be checking out free sample research papers . With that in mind, let’s examine how you can discover some unique research paper topics.

✍️ How to Find Research Topics to Write About

The choice of a research paper topic can be influenced by a number of factors, including:

The course for which the paper is assigned
Whether there is a topic assigned to you by the professor
Whether you are given a broad-spectrum subject area
How much freedom you are given to branch out and select a topic

Hopefully, you have been given some freedom of choice regarding academic paper topics. However, if you do have some choice in the matter, you might be speculating about how to narrow it down.

You are in luck!

There are a number of ways to effectively comb through the abundance of research paper topics and discover one that will work well for you. Here are some suggestions:

Ask your professor. Chances are your professor has some fabulous research paper ideas. You can also inquire with other university staff and graduate students for ideas. These people know your discipline well, which can work to your advantage.
Browse through scientific journals and research papers , but be sure to adhere to the most recent research possible. You will definitely find interesting ideas in published papers that would make great research paper topics.
Investigate other professional and government publications for research project ideas. Again, keep to the most recent publications within the last three to five years, if possible.
Browse through your library catalog to uncover the most interesting areas of study in your field.
Take notes everywhere you go! It doesn’t matter if you are in class listening to your professor, traveling, reading a magazine, or watching TV. Research paper ideas are absolutely everywhere! Write things down whenever you come across something unique and interesting, and you just might find a topic to pursue.

When it comes down to it, deciding on one of the many academic essay topics is the most substantial step of the process.

Once you have that narrowed down, you can focus your research and write a remarkable paper. Now, we want to give you some help. What follows is an extensive list of the most interesting research topics to get you started.

Now that you have a good idea of how to search for college research paper topics, you are ready for some suggestions. You might like one of them right off the bat, or you might be inspired by a particular topic and write something related to it.

Want to know the best part?

By the time you are finished reading this academic topics list, you will feel much more equipped for writing your research paper. For even better result, have a brainstorming session with a research topic generator to introduce a bigger variety of options.

💻 IT Research Paper Topics

Perhaps some of the best college research topics these days are in the IT field. Explore one of these interesting ideas in your paper:

Has big data changed our lives for the better? Big data is a trendy study subject. Large IT companies use it for purposes such as advertising and logistics. However, it has also raised substantial privacy concerns over non-consensual data gathering. Are the benefits companies get by collecting your data worth them learning everything about you?
Neural networks are algorithms that can learn to solve problems. Both their name and method of learning are derived from how the human brain works. Can neural networks lead to the creation of a true AI? If so, how soon?
The current state of cryptography and how it may develop. The entire Internet’s security relies on a relatively small number of ciphers. If they were to be broken, the potential damage would be immeasurable. How likely is that to happen? What challenges are we likely to face in the future?
The pros and cons of transitioning to cloud technologies. Cloud services are very convenient for various purposes. They might not work as fast as physical devices, but they are portable, cheap, and very convenient. Should humanity switch entirely to cloud services?
What issues does automation raise, and how can they be solved? Robots don’t get tired and work very precisely. That’s why automation is great for business. Many manufacturing companies rely on robots heavily in their production. However, robots in the workplace mean fewer jobs for humans. When most blue-collar positions disappear, what will humanity do?
Should we keep using multi-factor authentication?
Are big tech companies monopolistic in their behaviors?
Is remote work the future of office jobs employment?
The pros and cons of software ownership vs. subscription models.
Explore the evolution of wireless communication standards and their implications.
Describe the Internet of things and its effects on security .
The issues of IPv4 and the adoption of IPv6.
How do computers manage to generate random numbers?
The infrastructure and contingencies of the World Wide Web .
Are computers entirely unbiased in their treatment of people?
Procedures to enhance IT security
New methodologies and challenges to IT management in health
Interrelation, patterns, and existing theories on behavior and IT
Common services center vs. community multimedia center: selecting the correct variety of IT service
Racial and gender issues in the IT domain
Innovative theories regarding computer imitation of a human being
The impact of digitization of medical records on the IT domain

🏺 Topics for your Research Project on History

Human history is full of exciting events, and despite what you might believe, not all of them have been explored. There are many incredible history research topics, such as:

The history of the Chinese Empire over the millennia. The Chinese Empire is rarely discussed in history classes as much as its Western counterparts. However, it existed for over two millennia, only falling in 1912. Many curious events happened in that time that merit discussion.
The Ottoman Empire and the Barbary slave trade. The word “barbarian” comes from the Barbary Coast in Africa. It was infamous for its pirates, who raided European vessels for loot and slaves. Only ending in the 19th century, this phenomenon can make for an interesting case study.
The rise and fall of Ancient Greek city-states. Ancient Greece is often viewed as mostly monolithic and united against threats. In fact, it was comprised of numerous city-states that fought as much as they cooperated. Research the region’s fascinating and nuanced history.
The effects of the printing press on the world . The printing press was invented in 1440 AD by Johannes Gutenberg. Before it, each copy of a book had to be written by hand. It limited the literature’s availability dramatically. What effects did mass production of books have on Europe and the world?
The fracturing of Christianity: causes and effects. Since its inception, Christianity has gone through multiple schisms. Some of them were remarkably violent. As a result, there are now three main Christian churches and a multitude of lesser ones. Explore what caused believers to split apart into Orthodox Christians, Catholics, and Protestants.
The underlying causes of the World War I.
Provide a detailed history of the Hundred Years’ War and its results.
Holy Roman Empire: from successor to the Romans to a Nazi symbol.
Liberalism in national politics: emergence and evolution.
The history of the world as a series of conquests.
Were the Crusades motivated purely by religious devotion?
Why did Texas secede from Mexico to the United States?
Apartheid in South Africa and its heritage.
Centers of scientific activity throughout history.
How did China’s geography influence its history?
Palestine and the Golan Heights
Premises, progression, and consequences of the cold war
The most remarkable revolutions in history
Has Slavery transformed the development of the western world?
Could damage from the bubonic plague have been diminished?
Strange medieval family laws and their influence on society
Life in London in the 15th century
Religious cults in ancient societies

🧠 Psychology Research Paper Topics

Psychology has to offer plenty of interesting ideas for you to research. Just look through the discoveries made over the past decades, and you can understand that the human mind holds as many mysteries as the deep ocean.

It is why we would like to suggest a list of great experimental research topics in psychology. The science of human behavior is even more exciting when you can try your theories on practice.

If you still can’t decide on the topic for your research paper or thesis, just look through this collection of compelling proposals to give yourself an inspirational boost.

What is the correlation between personality and taste in literature? It’s obvious that people with similar interests get in groups. Does it mean that they have similar personalities, though?
Conformity in college and high school: a scientific approach. Check how your course mates tend to agree with others and don’t forget to write it down!
Do men and women have different short-term memory mechanisms? It’s quite easy to conduct an experiment, but be careful approaching it in terms of gender issues.
Optical illusions from the perspective of people with creativity skills. What if people who tend to be artistic and creative can see something in the common optical illusions that others can’t?
The gut feeling: how do you feel when others stare at you? Some studies showed that you are more likely to wake up in the night because someone is staring at you. It’s creepy, though…
Tricking the taste buds: how does smell affect the taste? How much can the smell of an onion confuse your sense of taste while you are eating an apple?
What is the Stroop Effect, and how does age influence it? Check whether the age of the participants influences their ability to name the colors.
Does having a symmetrical face make us seem more attractive? It is very rare that someone has perfectly identical left and right sides of the face. But how noticeable is it?
Analyze the capacity of the short-term memory of your peers. The easiest way is to measure it by memorizing words and comparing the numbers later.
Do people eat more popcorn when watching movies of a specific genre? Chewing something is almost a must-do in the cinema. But what type of movies triggers this behavior more than others?
What signs of social media addiction are noticeable in public? Spend some time in the local coffee shop, watching people on their phones, and note any signs of addiction they show.
The psychological effects of having breakfast: learning performance. Check if your course mates who have breakfast are more successful in learning than those who don’t.
Music vs. body: how does your body respond? Measure different biomarkers while listening to different types of music. Maybe you’ll find perfect motivational beats!
What color should your room be to improve your learning outcome? Blue is more calming than red, which is often used in sports halls. But what about boosting your learning abilities?
Favorite color as a result of childhood attraction. Try to trace the childhood memories of your friends. Maybe their favorite color is pink because they had pink walls in their room.
Biomarkers and colors: what is the correlation? Check how seeing different colors can stimulate specific responses from the body, for example, in heart rate.
Colors and mood: can the color of your bedsheets make your day? The first thing you see in the morning is quite important. How would a specific color affect your mood?
What is the correlation between stress levels and procrastination? There is a relation for sure, but does procrastination cause stress or the other way around?
How much can we trust the long-term memory ? Ask people to tell you about some random event from their past. Then, ask them to do the same later. Do the stories match?
Negative influences of sleep deprivation on social behavior. Track some students’ behavior when they don’t get enough sleep and see how it affects their relationship with others.
The origin of phobias and fears: engaging the monster within
Dreams : are they messages from within?
Mechanisms of thinking: it’s all in your head
Factors that influence behavior and character
Mechanisms of aggravating habits
The function of short- and long-term memory

Differences between long term short term and working memory.

Why people yearn for their past
What entices people to amass the most preposterous things?
Is autism a disease or a natural variation of the norm?
The impact and outcomes of social networks and mental health
How memory works: recalling the essential
How depression impacts the immune system

American psychiatric association Definition of depression.

A phenomenon-oriented approach to the study of depression
How to manage post-traumatic stress disorder in children
Depression as a cause of celiac disease
Fighting depression with techniques to relieve anxiety
The consequences of depression and relationship problems
Eating behaviors in different cultures
How behavioral patterns develop
How to forecast and shape behavioral patterns
Differences and similarities in the behavioral patterns of diverse cultures
Is there a genetic link to optimism that can shape behaviors and attitudes?
The causes and consequences of insomnia
How to combat child violence

Violence in the lives of children report.

How defense mechanisms and behavioral patterns work
How bilingualism works: the secret of processing mechanisms
How fear-related beliefs fit into the cognition process
Following the cognitive process involved in anxiety disorders
How to fight emotional distress
Unusual mental health cases and cognition deviations
Applying psychological approaches to ethical reality
How motivation plays a role in human development
The shared elements of self-affiliation and self-determination
An examination of the causes and results of drug and alcohol abuse
New ideas regarding the peculiarities of rational and social development
How practicing a healthy lifestyle cures disease and promotes wellness
Conflict solution in parent-child relationships
Evaluating the challenges of preterm development in children
How to battle cognitive deficit in Parkinson’s disease
Is attention deficit disorder a neuropsychological problem?
Examining the process of making decisions and taking risks
The impact of music genres on how the brain works
How to fight childhood disorders
Shattering long-standing myths about ADHD
Intellectually gifted people: how is it possible?

🎓 Research Paper Topics on Education

Research project ideas around education are always changing. This has resulted in a wide range of research topics, such as:

Computers in classrooms: useful tool or obstacle to equality ? Computers have proved to be capable of improving many aspects of our lives. For instance, they allow children to interact with content instead of just consuming it. However, computers further the disparities between those who can and cannot afford one. Explore these factors in your research paper.
A review of potential methods for solving America’s education crisis. The US invests a substantial portion of its budget into education. However, the system’s equality is average at best. You can study proposals on how we may change its design for the better. Choose the most promising ones, or suggest one of your own.
Individualized vs. group learning : which is better suited for current reality? Every child’s learning should be tailored to their specific situation. Unfortunately, there are far more children than teachers. Answer these questions: is group learning the only available option despite its drawbacks? Can we reduce its shortcomings by blending the models?
Are standardized tests helpful or damaging to children’s education ? Standardized tests are convenient from a bureaucratic standpoint. They convert children’s learning into numbers that are easy to work with. But the practice is often criticized for prioritizing memorization over understanding. Should standardized tests be abandoned?
How should the education system approach children with special needs ? Special needs children have experienced a broad range of treatment throughout history. What are the current ideas on how to teach them? What are their special needs in an educational context, and how can schools satisfy them?
Are the world’s best education systems based on similar foundations?
How can schools help children maintain their mental health ?
What does equality of opportunity mean in the context of the school?
Review how the essential qualities of a teacher evolved since 2000.
Should every school student aim for higher education
What traits define an excellent teacher, and can they be cultivated?
Is homeschooling a viable alternative to public schools ?
The school choice debate in the US: arguments for and against.
Authoritative sources: what qualities make information available on the Internet valid?
Is cheating on tests an expression of an educational failure?
Where theory encounters reality in gender issues
Test anxiety with regard to contemporary methods of teaching
The effects of contemporary teaching methods
The mental process behind human learning
The interpretation of IQ test results
Should children be rebuked when they misbehave?
How to prevent bullying and harassment in schools

It is estimated that 160 000 children miss school every day due to fear of attack or intimidation by other students.

The creation of particular learning methods for blind children
Positives and negatives of contemporary methods of teaching and state-of-the-art innovations
The function of technology in lesson planning
Is there a one-size-fits-all strategy for education?

📺 Cultural Research Topics for Papers

Perhaps there is nothing more complex than human culture and how people have interacted with each other throughout history. For this reason, these cultural topics might be of interest to you:

Harlem Renaissance: how a single neighborhood created modern African American culture . In the 1920s, numerous African Americans moved to the Harlem neighborhood of New York. Influenced by the ideas of thinkers such as W. E. B. Du Bois , they built the foundations of Black culture and art. How did this happen?
Is third-wave feminism still a movement for equality ? First-wave feminism gave women equal rights with men. Then the second wave started the fight with discrimination. However, third-wave feminism claims that the second wave failed, especially with regards to matters such as race and ethnicity. Are its claims valid, and what does it work to achieve?
Is the Western way of thinking the only correct one? Non-Western civilizations lay claim to different schools of thought that emphasize different viewpoints. Should Westerners adopt aspects of non-Western philosophical thought?
Are the factors that informed the Constitution still relevant? The Constitution was created in a different time than now. Some of its provisions, notably the Second Amendment, have been challenged repeatedly in recent years. Explore if the ideas of the Founding Fathers still apply today.
Should the postmodern school of art be considered art? Postmodern art is challenging to define in plain terms. Many people are confused when a seemingly random series of brush strokes sells for millions of dollars. Think of how such artworks fit into the history of art movements.
The impact of advertisements and commercials on how people comprehend the world
The implicit messages of mass media : what you see is what you get
How the most remarkable cultural achievements of the 20 th century influenced contemporary art
The repetition of cultural tendencies: the Greeks did it first
Social roles adults endorse to children via toys
Social models mass media bestows on teenagers and adults
Eating habits in dissimilar cultures
The origin of racial discrimination
The segmentation and integration of humans
The impact of AIDS on mankind
A new comprehension of past events
Unearthing a common language: divorce prevention and family therapy
Painting a portrait of the average American family
The roots of antisemitism and how it manifests today
A case against cruelty to living beings
An examination of the current job market and unemployment

🗣️ Argumentative Essay Topics

It is easy to find unique argumentative research paper topics. After all, we live in a crazy world in which all kinds of interesting things happen. Here are some suggestions:

Is the Electoral College a better system than the popular vote? The United States uses the unique Electoral College system for its presidential elections. Over the centuries, calls have been made to change it to the popular vote approach. So far, these attempts have been fruitless. In this debate, whose position has more merit?
Should the continued expansion of the government be reversed? Starting small, governments around the world took on more and more functions. As a result, they now guarantee the operation of many services. They also collect massive taxes and demonstrate bureaucratic inefficiencies. Is there a valid argument for privatizing most public services?
Should the US continue acting as the world’s peacekeeper? The US’s military is present in many areas around the world. Usually, they take the form of military bases and peacekeeping forces. However, its efforts often fail, with Iraq as a recent example. Should the nation continue spending its resources abroad?
Does the public or private healthcare produce better results for the cost? The US’s healthcare system is often criticized for its massive costs and underwhelming quality. There have been calls to both make it more private and more public. Which of the two approaches ensures a more affordable, efficient system?
Is teenage gender transition ethical? Recently, medical professionals in the US have started transitioning teenagers with gender dysphoria . Yet, some of them de-transition later. Should the practice continue regardless?
Political commitment and television
Should marijuana be legalized?
Can people of different races ever understand each other
Abusive relationships: where to draw the line on what relationships should Be allowed to exist
Are there realistic limitations on abortion ?
The many guises of violence in society
The impact of women on world history

Are social interactions possible without lies?
Dealing with overpopulation: can it be accomplished ethically ?
Torture: is it ever acceptable?
The ethics of using animals in research
Human dependence on computers : beneficial or harmful
Post-9/11 security measures: an invasion of privacy or good sense

Science is always bursting with new and exciting topics as we delve deeper into the mysteries of the universe and technology. Here are a few topic suggestions:

The potential of space resources and the technologies for extracting them. Space contains a vast quantity of resources, many of which are rare or expensive on Earth. Plans to use them have been arising for a long time. Can we implement any of them in the near future, and do they justify the costs?
Recent promising developments in cancer treatment and their validity. Cancer is a significant concern for humanity largely because it cannot be treated without harming the body. However, ideas such as targeted medications and imitations of whale biology have promised an end to this problem. Research them and assess their validity.
Large-scale recycling methods and their effectiveness in reducing waste . Most of the resources humanity uses are still on the planet in the form of waste. Some, such as fossil fuels, cannot be recovered, while metals and many others can. Is it possible to address resource scarcity through large-scale recycling? Is it economically viable?
Advantages and disadvantages of proposed thorium nuclear reactor designs. Thorium has been touted as the solution to the problems of uranium-based atomic reactors. It’s not as dangerous and produces less waste. Is it indeed superior, or should its issues prevent its use?
Potential benefits and issues of genetic modification . Genetic modification is broadly used but also criticized by many. It has its benefits, but critics argue that overreliance may lead to unexplored side effects. Are there reasons to believe these claims?
What cloning has in store for humanity: altering the personality
How nanotechnology will impact modern science
Will uranium isotopes precipitate the next scientific revolution?
How psychoactive drugs influence the central nervous system
Deafness and using echolocation
The role of erythropoietin and calcitriol in the human body
The process of feeling pain: treatment and pain relievers of the future
Is nuclear energy too hazardous to use?
Nuclear weapons: a responsibility for which no country is prepared
People’s impact on climate change : the cost of a technological breakthrough
Key issues and potential solutions for toxic waste disposal
Are the effects of global warming reversible ?
The future of NASA
Endangered species : causes and concerns
Black mold: the bathroom invasion

Just like science, health care is always changing, particularly as technology advances. With new discoveries in disease research and new technology being developed every day, the following topics are great examples of what you can write about in your paper:

Race and ethnicity-based differences in normal health indicators . People of different races and ethnicities tend to have varying normal health indicators. For example, African Americans tend to have a higher blood pressure than average. What causes such differences? Why do medical workers need to understand them?
The effects of the Affordable Care Act on American healthcare. The Affordable Care Act, colloquially known as Obamacare, was introduced to improve health insurance’s affordability for disadvantaged people. However, the costs of insurance have grown since through premiums. Did Obamacare cause this increase, or did it happen independently?
Strategies for prevention of obesity and associated heart disease risks. Heart disease is a leading cause of death in the United States. Obesity, which is also prevalent in the nation, is associated with the condition. How can the healthcare system reduce the rates of obesity and associated heart disease?
For- or non-profit hospitals: which offer superior treatment? Both for- and non-profit hospitals are private entities. The former operate as businesses, while the latter only seek to cover their costs. Is the former’s drive to compete and lower prices preferable to the latter’s not charging a profit margin?
Mental health in the United States: issues and proposed solutions. Mental healthcare is a complicated topic. Many conditions are difficult to diagnose, and some are associated with stigma . Conflicts of interest often arise among psychiatrists, incentivizing them to diagnose fake conditions. How can mental health be improved in the US?
Should medicine be more focused on the prevention of illnesses or their treatment?
Is it possible to eliminate a disease forever?
The development of prosthetics: current technologies and promising ideas
Barriers to the adoption of electronic health systems and how to overcome them.
Sedentary behavior and sports: what are the health outcomes?
Psychological treatment for adolescents: how to address their needs.
Caring for seniors: current problems and potential solutions.
US nursing shortage: causes and potential effects on the nation’s health.
The effects of circumcision on the health of newborn infants.
Analyze the experiences of children with autism in school and at home.
Should image scan radiation be reduced to a minimum level?
Health care and insurance: concerns and problems
The most likely outcomes of recent health care reform
Old theories and new methods of sports injury rehabilitation
A look at celebrities who have battled cancer
A comparison of conventional and alternative cancer treatments
How clean needle programs benefit society
The need for education on nutrition in school
The impact of diet on health

👔 Business Research Paper Topics to Write About

Business is a broad field, so there are plenty of topics you can write about, such as:

Best contemporary practice in green supply chain management for businesses. Green supply chain management aims to overturn the stereotype of polluting factories. Companies that adopt it seek to generate as little waste as possible and require their suppliers to do the same. What policies do researchers currently recommend for this purpose?
Corporate social responsibility : theoretical framework and practical implementations. Corporate social responsibility is an approach where a company seeks to give back to the community where it works. It’s a popular concept, often discussed in business schools. But how does it translate into practice?
The effects of different office arrangements on the productivity of employees . Offices have evolved substantially over the 20th century. Cubicles replaced isolated rooms, and today open offices are popular. Is there a meaningful difference between these different arrangements? Are the changes improvements or lateral movements?
Remote work and its effects on the operations of businesses. Remote work is more popular than ever. It seems convenient for workers, but some companies worry that they will stop being productive without oversight. Are their concerns reasonable?
A cross-cultural comparison of leadership styles . In the West, a number of leadership style theories have crystallized that are considered best. However, other regions use distinct approaches that work for them. They’re also not rushing to change to the Western model. Do Western styles work best everywhere, or are they limited to the appropriate mindset?
Social media marketing strategies and the determinants of success.
Compare the functions of administration and management.
Prevention of organizational misconduct: barriers and strategies.
Review the latest developments in performance management theory and practice.
What is the future of e-commerce business environments ?
Innovation in the workplace: current thought and generation methods.
How does outsourcing influence business performance?
Describe the effects of kaizen and total quality management on performance.
Discuss economic viability in corporations that operate at a loss.
Overtime work, employee well-being , and company performance.
Deliberating in the secrets of effective leadership
How time management influences the prosperity of a company
How to resolve a conflict between staff and management
The function of diversity in the workplace of the 21 st century
Management by walking around: effective or fruitless?
Should businesses be regulated: pros and cons
Social media and word-of-mouth in the digital age
How the digital age has transformed small businesses
How mobile technology is altering the workplace
The future of the franchise
How the millennial employee is transforming the workplace

📚 Literature Research Paper Topics

Sometimes, there is no surrogate for a great paper on literature, and with the changing world, there are always innovative ways to observe literature, even the classics. Here are a few topic suggestions:

The depiction of the American Dream in The Great Gatsby . Jay Gatsby first appears as an example of the American Dream. Starting poor, he becomes wealthy and popular in the city. However, he does not achieve his desires and stays unhappy. You can research how the novel criticizes the concept while also reinforcing its idea.
The evolution of Japanese literature in the Meiji Era. The Meiji Era began after the end of Japanese isolationism. Due to encountering new cultures, its art evolved rapidly. Writers such as Akutagawa Ryunosuke and Dazai Osamu created unique works. From what context did they emerge?
The traits of 20th century dystopian works . The worlds of Aldous Huxley, Ray Bradbury, George Orwell, and others are bleak. However, they are all substantially different. Can you distinguish unifying themes in the stories that these writers tell?
How does literature reflect contemporary social issues? Writers often try to draw attention to problems of their time. Dickens wrote about the exploitation of the poor, and Langston Hughes discussed racial discrimination. Can this trend be traced across most literature?
Classic vs. modern poetry. Classical poetry follows a variety of rules, such as rhymes and stanza organization. Contemporary poets often reject these constraints and create works that are closer to prose in form. What caused this change?
Study the Four Great Works of Chinese Literature as cultural reflections.
Examine the influence of romantic tendencies on Walther Scott’s works.
What issues are raised in contemporary African literature?
Analyze Milton’s interpretation of Biblical myth in Paradise Lost .
What characterizes the depiction of war in Heller’s Catch-22 ?
Discuss real and fake loyalty in King Lear .
How was grotesque used in 19th century American Gothic fiction?
The Old Man and the Sea : Hemingway’s depiction of the unconquerable spirit.
How were gender issues depicted in 19th and 20th-century feminist literature?
Compare the themes of The Iliad and The Odyssey.
The innovative era: poets of the 21 st century
A dissection of the most illustrious novels in history
The hunger games: over and above pulp fiction
The future of copyright
An examination of racism in novels from the 1960s and 1970s
The perception of exile in literature
Culture and literature: which affects which?
An examination of homosexuality in literature

🗳️ Political Research Topics

The world of politics is ever-changing. Understanding the complex mechanisms that regulate our lives is challenging. That’s why a research paper is a great way to clarify the matter. Whether you’re interested in global or local affairs, this section has got you covered.

What is the origin and purpose of powers separation in government? Most modern governments are separated into three branches: legislative, executive, and judicial. Thus they limit each other to avoid government overreach. How was this system founded, and how does it work?
The structure of the legislation approval process in the US. Every bill has to be approved by the Congress, the Senate, and the President. What factors can hinder the process?
A comparison between the two-party system and multi-party nations. The US is often critiqued for its two-party system by nations that have numerous parties. With that said, a common counterargument is that American parties made of people with diverse views. How do the political climates of the US and multi-party democracies differ in practice?
The purpose and effectiveness of term limits for government positions. Some government positions, such as that of the President, are limited to a specific number of years. At the same time, jobs in the Congress and Senate are not. Discuss the purpose of term limits and say if they’re effective.
Pros and cons of globalism as a political philosophy. The concept of globalism requires worldwide bodies that supersede governments. It looks past nations and ignores their interest in favor of global benefits. Is this approach valid, or are there problems with it?
How does the European Union membership affect its countries?
Review the evolution of China’s political system in the 20th-21st centuries.
The threat of terrorism in a world without ISIS.
Discuss the issue of mass incarceration in the United States.
What were the causes of the Soviet Union’s collapse ?
Write about violations of human rights worldwide and their causes.
Examine the critiques of capitalism .
What are the political aims of the Black Lives Matter movement ?
Review the methods for effectively combating governmental corruption.
The issues of democracy and how to overcome them.
The American policy of intervention
The future of the European union
Causes of world hunger
Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction
The Justice system and juvenile criminals
Afghanistan—success or stalemate?
Was media coverage of SARS adequate
The new world war: fighting terrorism
Same-sex marriage: are laws keeping up with changing attitudes?
BREXIT: good or bad?

Who says you can’t combine academia and entertainment? Great conclusions can come from fun research. The most important thing is to ask the right questions. Check out the following prompts and get inspired:

Parallel universes, their origins, and potential organizations. Numerous authors have imagined parallel universes. Even some quantum physics theories assert their existence. Are parallel universes slightly different versions of our world, or are they entirely distinct?
The theories and paradoxes of various time travel mechanisms. Time travel is a popular science fiction trope. It’s also associated with multiple contradictions, such as the grandfather paradox . How do science fiction authors try to overcome these problems?
The attempts to create the theory of everything. Physicists are trying to develop an approach that would explain everything in the universe. It doesn’t exist yet, as general relativity and quantum physics often contradict each other.
What are the possibilities and problems of interstellar travel? Without a method to travel much faster than light, expansion beyond the Solar System is impossible. If it becomes feasible, what possibilities can it offer?
The history of the moon landing conspiracy theory. The moon landing conspiracy theory asserts that the Apollo 11 mission didn’t occur, and the evidence was filmed on Earth. It tries to find various flaws in this evidence and use them to prove its illegitimacy. How did it emerge, and does it still exist?
Are people who claim to have extrasensory perception frauds?
Research stories of the supernatural based on facts.
What is the origin of the modern Santa Claus?
If an afterlife exists, what form does it take?
Does meditation have benefits for physical and mental health?
Did Nostradamus’s prophecies come to pass?
Why do some people believe the Earth is flat?
Does Murphy’s Law always work?
Examine 19th-century occultism and its prominent leaders.
Alchemy and the quest for the Philosopher’s Stone.
How people are affected by the death of a game character
Challenges faced by people creating their own cartoon
Beloved comic strip characters and their influence on society
An examination of UFOs: fact or fiction
What if aliens do exist: the impact on humanity
Is there a differentiation between déjà vu and precognition?
The existence of spirits and how to communicate with them
Theories regarding the Bermuda triangle
Investigating alternative cosmology theories
Does fortune telling have a scientific basis?
Law of attraction: fact or fiction?
Men and women’s brain: what’s the difference?

👥 Sociology Research Paper Topics

As an additional interest for studies, a sociology research paper can be written with the purpose of learning this or that aspect of society’s life. You may use personal experience or continue the research started by other authors. Interesting research projects in this area can be based on the following topics:

Problems of the marriage and family: a divorce research paper . This article can study the relationship in different families and problems that can arise.
Observance of public behavior standards as the feature of the civilized society. You can describe modern social ideals.
Comparison of sociological laws in different historical epochs. In your paper, study the attitudes towards various social phenomena.
The influence of personality on public development and progress. You can describe the power of the personality and what one person can do to contribute to social development.
Opportunities for searching optimal criteria for the personality socialization . Such a paper aims at revealing the ways of how people can uncover their potential.
The society’s attitude to global problems : a global warming research paper and the impact of this phenomenon on people’s way of life. Describe this well-known ecological problem in your paper.
Cultural formation of the personality in the context of modern public reality. This type of work can be connected with describing the ways of people’s cultural development.
Attempts to socialize adolescents and people with deviant behavior . A research paper on this relevant topic should describe how people who are prone to criminal behavior can correct their way of life.
Ways of improving the microclimate in the work collective and creating conditions for comfortable work. The theme aims at finding optimal techniques to improve relationships among employees.
Equality problems in society. A paper on this topic should uncover modern problems connected with inequality and various forms of racism.
Explore the causes of poverty in disadvantaged communities around the US.
Review the health and education outcomes of children raised in single-parent families.
What are the effects of social media on users’ mental health?
Look into the presence of gender stereotypes in popular culture.
What are the effects of mass immigration on communities and nations?
Study the effects of lockdown-related social isolation on mental health.
Is the Internet an adequate replacement for face-to-face communication ?
Research the causes of bullying and potential strategies for its prevention.
What’s the status of LGBT communities in nations around the world?
The effects of juvenile convictions on one’s life prospects.
Write about the American population’s views on the dangers of pollution .
Explore the stigma and social acceptance issues associated with transgender status.
How does cyberbullying affect one’s health ?
Review the Internet’s influence on education .
Assess the rationale of policies that restrict citizen reproduction.
Research your community’s views on the concept of privacy.
Health and education outcomes of children raised in same-sex families.
Explore intergenerational differences in views on social topics.
How do views on freedom of speech vary among people of different social categories?
Make a case study on the prevalence of workplace gender discrimination in your community.

It is essential to remember that a good research paper on the subject of sociology will be appreciated by readers if you study a specific social phenomenon in detail, carry out statistical analysis, and perform a number of important procedures. The purpose of a research paper in this field is to cover current public issues, reveal important aspects of various problems, and, if possible, offer optimal solutions. This science requires concrete and well-grounded answers. Any deviations and ambiguous arguments can be regarded as an author’s incompetent attempt to investigate a complex topic.

With all of these topics at your disposal, you might still be feeling a little overwhelmed. However, they are divided into categories to make choosing one easier. It might also be helpful to look at some great research paper samples .

Composing a research proposal can sometimes be a part of a big study. If you not only want to describe a specific problem or to convey an idea to your readers, but also expect to promote your personal theory and receive the approval of a respected scientific community, it’s necessary to choose a topic which allows you to present your own ideas. Different types of writing can be included in this category: an analytical research paper, work on identifying the best ways and techniques for a particular topic, etc. The preparation of research proposal articles has some nuances, and the following topics can be studied:

The way to conduct optimal trade relationships. Review appropriate techniques and offer specific methods to improve the situation in a particular company.
The advantages of electronic management systems. This theme will be connected with describing the merits of modern ways of managing specific spheres of production.
Useful innovations in modern life . Research paper subjects can be different: medicine, sociology, business, etc.
The best management techniques: methods of control . A paper on this topic should describe the behavioral features of successful managers.
The implementation of nursing theories in practice. The research paper proposal should have an appropriate scientific basis and describe corresponding medical issues.
Best practice in the diagnosis and treatment of tuberculosis.
What challenges are associated with the nationwide adoption of the DNP standard?
Research current developments in palliative care for senior patients.
Are there differences in leadership and management styles between genders?
Assess the effects of tutoring on the educational attainment of school children.
Compare the preferred management styles in different cultures.
How do different states’ populations view the legalization of marijuana?
Write about the underlying causes of Ancient Rome’s fall.
Challenges in the adoption of electronic health records in medical facilities.
What are the potential vulnerabilities of the AES-256 encryption standard?
Research the link between loyalty to a company and career growth .
How did Dante’s Inferno influence Christian depictions of Hell?
A case study of Singaporean government and its economic policies.
Review the financial environment and economic growth of Hong Kong .
Causes and implications of the human waste issues in San Francisco.
Assess the prevalence of smoking in the United States.
Study the beneficial effects of early childhood musical education on later development.
The philosophical and political underpinnings of the French Revolution .
What are the effects of successful social media marketing campaigns on videogame sales?
How did Confucian writings influence Chinese political thought?

The video below provides detailed instructions on how to write a research proposal. It is crucial to follow these rules so that the article to be up-to-date and properly formatted. Any attempts to bring something new are generally welcome; however, it is important not to forget about established rules.

👩‍⚕️ Nursing Research Paper Topics

A nursing research paper is an academic article that has specific format requirements. Citation rules in particular are very important, for example, an APA research paper format . In order to write a perfect paper and conduct high-quality research, follow the formatting rules and use any of these topics:

Nursing techniques to care for patients in intensive care units. The summary of your research paper can include a description of the best practical methods.
How do you implement nursing theories ? Your paper can consist of the enumeration of specific nursing theories and the ways of their implementation in practice.
Patients’ education and useful materials. The theme aims at discovering the best educational materials that would be suitable for patients.
Ideas on how to achieve a better quality of nursing care . You can offer various interpretations of this topic in your research paper.
Experienced researchers’ opinions on improving the state of nursing in hospitals. Use the ideas of different authors and don’t forget to follow the citation rules.

Patient-oriented type of care and its advantages. This scientific research essay can reveal the merits of a specific nursing approach.
Potential risks for nurses in the workplace. Both a junior research paper and a senior research paper of this theme should competently describe all possible dangers that medical employees can face.
Care for people of different social backgrounds. If this research paper is written in English, it should uncover the ways how to care for people speaking other languages and having different cultural and social levels of development.
Do nurses need additional stimuli to improve their qualifications? You can write many interesting research papers on this topic, and all of them can include lists of possible bonuses and incentives for nurses.
The necessity for nurses’ additional education. A paper on this topic can describe subjects suitable for nursing education.
How do you promote healthy eating practices in disadvantaged communities through educational programs?
Research ways of providing preventative care for veterans affected by PTSD.
Review the strategies of organizing nurse shifts to maximize the quality of care in understaffed conditions.
Study cases of patient violence toward nurses in the intensive care unit.
Preventing pressure ulcers in immobile patients.
Ways of implementing quality improvement in nursing units .
What cultural competencies and challenges are typically encountered in nursing care?
Review the methods for controlling delirium in the intensive care unit .
Propose adjustments in sexual education to spread awareness of STD risks in same-sex relationships.
Suggest interventions to prevent falls in patients staying at home.
What are the issues of advanced practice nursing in different countries?
Strategies for remaining productive under pressure as a nurse.
Research alternatives to prescribing patients with infections antibiotics that bypass resistance.
How to design effective interventions for child obesity rates reduction.
Explore using exercise to maintain the physical well-being of hospital patients.
What interventions can reduce alcoholism rates in your community?
Analyze the implementation of evidence-based practice in nursing facilities.
Ethical standards and issues that arise in the nursing profession.
Review the methods of providing holistic care to patients.
The dangers associated with telemedicine in medical-surgical nursing.

The compliance with the specific research project ideas will allow you to write a high-quality paper and will give you the opportunity to conduct research at a high level. Having completed the document, you can summarize and identify its crucial points. Following the rules of formatting is an integral part of working on any academic text.

🎨 Research Project Topics on Art

In the process of writing research articles, it is necessary to adhere to a certain topic. You can choose any theme you want. A research paper will be successful if you stick to your topic and provide a real search for optimal ways of solving a particular issue. There are a few suggestions that can be helpful in the process of writing. If we talk about such an interesting sphere as the world of art, themes can be as follows.

How is ideology reflected in architecture? Naturally, ideologies are largely represented in media, but they also influence architecture in many ways. You can study this topic at several points in time.
How does photography represent reality? In this paper, you can discuss if photography reflects reality, interprets it, or constructs it.
The significance of linear perspective . If you draw a linear perspective on a flat surface, you will create the illusion of depth. Discuss how this magic trick works in your paper!
Art and the unconscious mind. It’s an excellent topic that lets you explore psychology. Try to answer the questions of how the unconscious mind influences the creation and perception of art.
The evolution of horror movies . This film research paper topic covers everything from silent films to modern horror movies. You can discuss the influence of film noir on the genre, literary works that influenced it, the concept of “suspense,” and so on.
Physiological aesthetics in Surrealism. It is a known fact that Surrealists were inspired by psychoanalysis and dream imagery. You can explore this topic in a paper or use it for a presentation!
Deconstruction in architecture. The philosophical movement of deconstructivism influenced many spheres of life and art, including architecture. It allowed the creation of seemingly nonsensical forms and environments.
Sociology of fine art. This is a relatively new branch of sociology, which deals with arts and social structures of their production. It also includes political trends that influence art, consumerism, and other social phenomena.
Jewelry as sculpture. This topic lets you explore fantastic avant-garde jewelry and how contemporary artists such as Jeff Koons use it to create sculptures.
The discourse of Modernist painting in the 1950s. This topic covers experimental and abstract paintings of artists who rejected the realistic approach. Mention political agendas that influenced modernism in the ’50th.
Abstract Expressionism. Here you can discuss postwar artists such as Rothko and Pollock , as well as their predecessors Ernst and Kandinsky.
Andy Warhol’s influence on art. This art research paper topic covers not only pop art, but also films, music, aphorisms, the concept of “superstars,” and other aspects of Andy Warhol’s influence.
The art of street photography. Street photography is usually spontaneous, which helps to create realistic and powerful imagery. Write about the art of photographing urban landscapes and the most influential candid photographers.
The history of animation. Techniques preceding animation have existed long before the invention of cinematography. Puppetry, shadow play, magic lantern – all these things relate to animation in one way or another.
Are video games art? This idea seemed impossible in the past, but now many video games are considered art for their use of imagery, music, and compelling narrative.
Art as a form of protest. This includes protests against tradition or political causes. You may also talk about the role of art in bringing about a change in society.
Renaissance sculpture. This topic is just as interesting as the Renaissance painting. During that period, the art of sculpture had reached its peak. Sculptors of the Renaissance were influenced by Ancient Greek sculptures , as well as by Humanism.
Relationship between architecture and environment. Here you can discuss eco-friendly or “ green” architecture .
Modern ceramics as an art form. In the last decade, ceramics became a very popular art form. From prehistoric pottery to intricate porcelain forms – ceramics is a great medium that can often be compared to sculpture.
Science fiction in cinema. The earliest science fiction films were created back in the late 19th century by Georges Melies. In 1927, Fritz Lang’s silent film Metropolis revolutionized science fiction cinema. Explore it in your research paper!
The peculiarities of Da Vinci’s masterpieces. The paper will reflect the talent of the great European master and describe his Best Works.

5 most famous artworks by Leonardo Da Vinci.

The trends of art in Medieval Europe. The topic should uncover modern trends in the art of the Middle Ages and include the description of some styles; it can the article of any format, even a 10-page research paper. The main thing is to fully reveal all the distinctive features of that epoch.
The history of European Art in the 20th century . The research can be devoted to some trends in the previous century.
The most outstanding artists in the world’s history. The paper should tell about the most famous artists of all the epochs.
Why do people appreciate art? This article can include your own ideas concerning the subject.
How do artists reflect their talent today? Your task is to try to study the methods that modern artists use to attract the audience.
Skills that a professional artist should possess. The aim of this article is to study some skills that should be necessary for the work of the artist. Regardless of whether you write research papers for sale or not, you should try to express not only well-known ideas but also your personal point of view.
Is it possible to develop artistic talent? Try to express your ideas concerning the opportunity for mastering proper skills.
The benefits of cooperation with other artists. This topic touches upon probable advantages that artists can gain when cooperating with their colleagues.
Themes that are the best for the canvas. You can develop a number of research abstract topics on this theme and convey the best motives to paint that seem the most successful for you.
The absence of inspiration. The theme should reveal what authors should do to develop their inspiration.
Chronological order of art development in the world. It is a rather accurate paper that should mention the most significant stages of art development.
Do people appreciate the work of artists? You could try to study the audience’s attitude toward artists’ work.
The methods to attract young people to art. The topic is connected with a social issue and aims at popularizing art in masses.
Do artists need additional knowledge? This theme implies for describing the necessity of education among all the professions, including artists and other creative posts.

🎼 Music Research Topics

Every culture has its distinct music. For many people, music is an integral part of everyday life. Film and theater productions use it to steer our emotions. When writing about music, you can choose from an endless number of ideas to research. Here are some examples:

Music as a ritual. Back in prehistoric times, music was considered to be a powerful ritualistic practice. Some mythologies even include stories about gods introducing the art of music to humans.
Early polyphony in Christian Europe. The earliest choral music was mostly performed in a single melodic line. See how it changed when more melodic lines were added.
Indian ethnomusicology . This interesting music research topic is concerned with the peculiarities of Indian music culture. You can include the discussion of how Indian music influenced psychedelic rock in the ’60s.
Jazz performance and improvisation. The element of spontaneity is very important in jazz performance, and improvisation is its key component.
Medieval troubadours and their legacy. Troubadours were poets who sang their own music and played instruments. Their performances differed greatly from the traditional church music of that time.
Ecomusicology of North America. This research topic allows you to discover the ways in which American landscape and nature influenced music, including Native American music, folk music, and modern songwriters.
Baroque music . During the Baroque era, many important features of modern music were introduced. You can choose this topic if you like grandiose, dramatic, or playful classical music.
The classical period in music. This period followed the after the Baroque and was very different from it. You can recognize it by simple structures and minimalistic arrangements. Many of the world’s greatest composers, such as Mozart and Beethoven, lived during the Classical era.
Classical music of the 20th century. Over the course of the previous century, the music styles were changing like never before. Still, classical music survived, while also transforming itself in accordance with times.
Music therapy for children. In this exciting music research topic, you can discover how music is used to help children with developmental dyspraxia, autism, ADHD, and other disorders.
Music and sound in film. Discover for yourself the art of scoring – from improvised piano arrangements of early movies to modern stereo surround sound.
The history of Italian opera. The Italian language played a key role in the formation of classical singing techniques. This includes opera – an art form that unites music and singing with storytelling.
The 20th-century music industry. This topic is centered on various ways of recording and selling music. Vinyl records, wax cylinders, cassette tapes, and CDs – 20th-century technology allowed turning music into a business.
The birth of pop music. The history of popular music begins in the 1950s. The term refers to the songs appealing to a large audience, as opposed to classical or jazz music. You can discuss the elements of early pop music that made it so accessible.
The ideology and aesthetics of punk rock. Punk rock was enormously influential in the 1970th. Its philosophy of anti-conformity appealed to young people of post-war Britain and the USA.
The musicology of electronic music. This exciting topic covers the earliest repetitive devices such as Hammond organ, early experimentations with electronics, the first use of computers and synthesizers in songwriting, and more!
Sampling in electronic music: context and aesthetics. Sampling is a very interesting technique that allows using audio fragments in different contexts. It can be used for aesthetic or political reasons, or as a cultural commentary.
What is a sound sculpture? A combination of an art object and music, sound sculptures are exciting to research. You can use this topic for presentation and demonstrate sound sculptures in action!
Dadaism and music. Dadaist ideas of randomness and paradox influenced art as well as music. Discuss the noise compositions and avant-garde sonic experiments that influenced the latter half of the 20th century.
Robotic musical instruments. You may think that robots playing music is a relatively new idea, but in fact, they date back to ancient times.

✍️ Creative Writing Research Topics

There are more rules to creative writing than one might think. For example, narratives should be coherent, and world-building has to follow certain logic. Analyzing these peculiarities brings you one step closer to becoming a better writer.

The role of reality within the psychological thriller genre. Psychological thrillers often aim at distorting or questioning reality. Study the ways in which this idea manifests in different narratives.
Graphic novels and their peculiarities. In modern times comic books are no longer considered to be just for entertainment, and graphic novel format is used to produce award-winning narratives.
Writing about the past: historical research and archaeology. When your narrative takes place in the distant past, you need to do extensive research to represent the time period properly. One way to do it is to turn to archaeology.
What is the role of landscape in supernatural narratives? Supernatural narratives rely on the atmosphere to evoke the feeling of uncanny. The setting and landscape are especially important to the writes of the supernatural genre.
How to write engaging crime fiction? This topic includes the ways of building suspense, the use of “red herrings,” complex character development, and other tips.
Digital storytelling. Here you can explore how to present your narrative in interactive digital form. It can be a video game, a visual novel, or a walking simulator.
Writing about the future. When you write about the past, you already know the characteristics of an epoch. But how do you invent the attributes of the future? Discuss it in your paper!
The influence of the author’s personal life on their writing. People often want to learn more about their favorite writers in the hope to understand their work better. But is there really such a connection between one’s personal and creative lives?
The role of diaries in creative writing . Almost all writers keep diaries. Sometimes the diaries are published and used in research or literary analysis. But how do authors themselves use their diary entries?
Creative writing for children. This excellent creative writing research topic deals with the ways of teaching children how to create their own narratives. You can discuss why writing is beneficial for children and how you can encourage them to be creative.
The art of teaching poetry . Poetry is one of the most exciting art forms that never gets old. However, not everybody appreciates poetry right away. See how you can change it!
What is the role of nature in romantic literature? Romantic artists and writers took lots of inspiration from nature, using it as a metaphor for one’s life and feelings.
The role of authorial intent. Some readers think that it’s essential to know what the author wanted to say in their literary work. Others believe that it’s one’s personal interpretation that matters the most.
A persona in poetry. The lyrical subject is someone who narrates a poem. Some people see it as the manifestation of the author, and others as a fictitious character. And what do you think?
Degrees of realism in fiction . When writing a work of fiction, some writers use excessive descriptions, while others keep things relatively minimalistic. Discuss the positive and negative sides of these approaches.
Forms of structure in films and novels: a comparison. Here you can compare different forms of narrative structures used in cinema and literature, such as linear and non-linear narratives, the use of flashbacks, and so on.
How to write a comedy. Comics say that making people laugh is much harder than to make them cry. Discuss what makes a literary work funny, and how one can write effective comedy.
The recontextualization of Hamlet . Recontextualization is a process by which something (e.g., a character) is taken from one context and introduced into another context. You can explore this notion through different recontextualizations of Shakespeare’s character Hamlet.
Writing a dystopia . See what techniques you can use when writing a narrative set in a bleak society.
Monomyth in literature. This exciting topic deals with the concept of “hero’s journey,” which serves as a basis for nearly all myths as well as countless works of fiction.

🎈 Other Research Paper Topics

You still haven’t found what you were looking for? This section might have what you need! Here you’ll find all kinds of topics. From psychology over physics to sociology, we compiled the most engaging ideas for you.

American teenagers–can they be called new species?
William Shakespeare : was this man the author of famous plays and sonnets?
Do you have any ideas about the field circles?
Black magic. Does it exist?
Censorship and its role in forming a society
The phenomenon of the penny press in the USA
Symbolism in literature
Alcatraz and its famous fugitives
Major sources of stress
Government grants–how do they work?
Election falsification: is it commonly used, and what are its main techniques?
Genetic engineering and your point of view on it
Stem cell research
What is a black hole
Loch Ness monster and your attitude towards this mystery
Joan of Arc –did she manage to escape the fires of Inquisition?
Do some research on techniques of brainwashing
Who invented the radio ?
There is a belief that American astronauts didn’t step on the Moon. Did they?
American international policy
Unique people who changed the world
Genius ideas that made their inventors famous and wealthy
Is education a necessary factor to become successful in today’s world?
Differences between the high school systems in the USA and Japan
Schindler’s list : the importance of moral roles over wealth
Educational programs’ impact on professional careers
Why do college students from all over the world come to the USA to pursue further education?
Examples of crop circles: Fake or real?
Humanity’s technological achievements in 2020

John Brunner quote: “It’s supposed to be automatic, but actually you have to push this button”

The importance of outlines in books and articles
Web-designers seem to be using the same template in their works
Exciting inventions of humankind in the nearest future
Modern students do not know how to do their homework without access to the Internet
The original cover page of the Holy Bible
The development of the MLA style
The cradle of psychology
Controversial policies of the USA and the USSR
How abortion affects a woman’s organism
What did Homer write about his lifestyle?
Famous people in the world’s history that did not exist
Would people have become what they are today without science?
Parts of the world that will always remain uninhabited
Philosophical questions that humanity cannot answer for centuries
Medical stereotypes around the world
Will global warming ruin America’s economic system?
The USA government should be thankful for the mass immigration
The majority of scientific works are useless
Things to research in the sphere of modern gadgets
Should sociology make people happier?
The lack of pure water sources on Earth
The environment’s effect on human health
Humanity’s steps towards eco-friendly products, cities, and vehicles
Sherlock Holmes’ analytical mind and deduction skills
Should parents teach their children how to make the world better for other people?
Is business the only way to become wealthy in Third World countries?
Analysis of William Shakespeare’s literary language
Does a title tell everything about a book’s context?
The Great Wall: A legendary monument or China’s income source?
Should families report to the police that their relatives are guilty of something?
The first websites, available on the World Wide Web
New challenges to the society introduced by social media
If you created your government, what would you do for your citizens?
What career options are prevalent in modern societies?
Chemistry in people’s everyday life
Is there any person on Earth, whose life is considered to be easy?
Is bribery acceptable for criminal justice?
The most popular sports in Britain
The population biology of India
Basic nursing knowledge of everyday life
Renaissance literature in France
Think of a technology that would make our atmosphere cleaner
Development of different animals after forty days on Noah’s Ark.
What will the food be like in a hundred years?
Socialization of children with autism
The medieval art of Scandinavian people
Different ways to save Earth’s environment from pollution
Depression in adolescents: reasons and outcomes
The importance of computer science in today’s world
Coca-Cola marketing strategies

Express your opinion on people’s purpose in life on Earth
How do early childhood memories and experiences influence our lives?
The history of video games era
Regulation of bullying in schools by law
Drugs industry in California, New Mexico, and Texas
The most prevalent economic issues in Greece after joining the EU
China’s rapid growth: is it going to become the first country in the world?
Global dangers that influence our planet’s ecology
Significant changes in the American media since the 1970s
What makes medicine an interesting subject to study?
The main factors to consider while conducting qualitative research

There are so many resources out there that will help you choose a topic and write an outstanding paper. This video gives you a bunch of topics for research papers, which means you now have even more from which to choose!

There is no doubt that writing a research paper is a daunting task.

If you feel you need help, even if you have managed to choose a topic, you can always hire a custom writing service to help you produce a fabulous research paper of which you will be proud and will guarantee you a good mark.

Whether you choose to write it on your own or get some help, we wish you luck writing your paper!

🤔 Research Topics FAQ

There are literally thousands of topics to choose from. “Biomarkers and colors: what is the correlation?” is a great topic on psychology. Should businesses be regulated: pros and cons is an exciting business research topic. Finally, Art as a form of protest is an art research topic worth exploring.

The first option is to ask your professor. Then you can browse through scientific journals and take a look at your library catalog. The final option for those who search for a creative idea is to take notes everywhere. Write things down while traveling, watching TV, and reading.

The Big Bang theory, Dwarf galaxies, and Supernova Astronomy are just a few of numerous astronomy research topics. Genetically modified organisms, Neurobiology of sleep, and Rainforest conservation are exciting research biology research topics. Artificial intelligence, Computer modeling, and Voice recognition are trendy computer science topics.

There are numerous exciting topics in various education research areas. Some of them are: Ability grouping, Computer literacy, Early childhood education, Multiculturalism, Parental involvement, Sex education, Violence in schools, and Virtual classrooms.

🔗 References

APA Sample Paper
Painting Movements in the 20th Century Topic
The Discovery Themes Initiative at The Ohio State University
Quantitative Research in Education
Quantitative Research Works, Indiana University
Organizing Academic Research Papers: Choosing a Title
Research Topics, The University of Arizona
Research Topic Ideas, University of Michigan-Flint
National Archives—Research by Topic
Jet Propulsion Laboratory—Research Topics List
Global Health Research Topics
National Institute of Justice—Topics
National Institute of Standards and Technology—Topics
Research Topics at U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Office of Research & Development
National Institutes of Health—A to Z Topics Index
Evaluating Print Sources
Working With Sources
Developing a Thesis
Psychiatry: Medscape
Information Technology: NIST
Topics: History.com
Research Programs: National Center for Education Research
Recent Computer and Education Articles: Elsevier
Basic Guide to Cross-Cultural Research: Yale University
Cultural Anthropology: Britannica
Top Physical and Tech News: Science Daily
Health Topics: National Institute of Mental Health
PhDs in Business & Management: Five Hot Research Topics: Top Universities
Research and Focus Areas in Business and Government: Victoria University of Wellington
Modern Literature: University of Portsmouth
Research Areas: Political Science: Florida University
Sociology Research Areas: Cornell University
Focus Areas: Nursing Research: Mayo Clinic
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335 Unique Essay Topics for College Students [2024 Update]

The success of any college essay depends on the topic choice. If you want to impress your instructors, your essay needs to be interesting and unique. Don’t know what to write about? We are here to help you! In this article by our Custom-Writing.org team, you will find 335 interesting...

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I want an essay research on The implementation of nursing theories in practice

I want an easy research in linguistics can u suggest an easy topic?

I didnt saw research topics in suggestion for linguistics

am looking for research topic on politics or ethics

I’m looking for a research paper on the vape culture among the youth.

I ‘m looking for research topic on digital marketing

I’m doing a mini research on qualitative research. I need some topics for qualitative research.Can you help me?

I am looking for research topics on dispensary optician care

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Science News

These are the most popular science news stories of 2022.

photo of the remains of an Inca child bundled in a textile and wearing a ceremonial headdress

Previously excavated bodies of two ritually sacrificed Inca children, including this girl still wearing a ceremonial headdress, have yielded chemical clues to a beverage that may have been used to calm them in the days or weeks before being killed. The discovery ranked among Science News ' most-read stories of 2022.

Johan Reinhard

2. A ‘mystery monkey’ in Borneo may be a rare hybrid. That has scientists worried

An unusual monkey first spotted six years ago appears to be a cross between a female silvered leaf monkey ( Trachypithecus cristatus ) and a male proboscis monkey ( Nasalis larvatus ). The possible cross-genera pairing has scientists worried because such matings are usually a sign that species are facing ecological pressures ( SN: 6/18/22, p. 11 ).

3. What experts told me to do after my positive COVID-19 at-home test

After Science News intern Anna Gibbs came down with COVID-19, she turned to health experts to figure out how to report her case to public health officials and how long she needed to isolate ( SN Online: 4/22/22 ).

4. All of the bases in DNA and RNA have now been found in meteorites

Here’s more evidence that life’s precursors could have come from space. All five of the nucleobases that store information in DNA and RNA have been discovered in meteorites. This year, scientists reported detecting cytosine and thymine in fallen space rocks , completing the list ( SN: 6/4/22, p. 7 ).

5. Humans may not be able to handle as much heat as scientists thought

For years, it was thought the human body can tolerate heat up to a “wet bulb” temperature — a measure combining humidity and air temperature — of 35° Celsius (95° Fahrenheit). But experiments hint that the threshold may be several degrees lower ( SN: 8/27/22, p. 6 ).

Science News joins TikTok

TikTok became one more way we tell stories, as we premiered our first TikTok video — a tribute to the “bambootula” tarantula. Find out what makes this spider so peculiar and discover other amazing science tidbits @sciencenewsofficial .

@sciencenewsofficial This is the only known tarantula to call bamboo home. #spiders #tarantula #science #biology #sciencetok ♬ original sound – sciencenewsofficial

2. Muons spill secrets about Earth’s hidden structures

Just like doctors use X-rays to see inside the human body, scientists are using muons , a type of subatomic particle, to peer inside Egyptian pyramids, volcanoes and other hard to penetrate structures ( SN: 4/23/22, p. 22 ).

3. Multiple sclerosis has a common viral culprit, opening doors to new approaches

Evidence is mounting that Epstein-Barr virus somehow instigates multiple sclerosis. Understanding the link between the virus and MS may lead to better treatments for the neurological disorder. Vaccines against the virus may even prevent MS altogether ( SN: 8/13/22, p. 14 ).

4. The discovery of the Kuiper Belt revamped our view of the solar system

In 1992, two astronomers discovered a doughnut-shaped region far beyond Neptune, dubbed the Kuiper Belt, that’s home to a swarm of frozen objects left over from the solar system’s formation. By studying these far-off objects over the last 30 years, scientists have gained new insights into how planets form ( SN: 8/27/22, p. 22 ).

5. Clovis hunters’ reputation as mammoth killers takes a hit

Ancient Americans may have been big-game scavengers rather than big-game hunters. Some recent analyses suggest that Clovis stone points were more likely tools for butchering large carcasses than weapons for taking down mammoths and other large animals ( SN: 1/15/22, p. 22 ).

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2022 Research Highlights — Basic Research Insights

Noteworthy advances in fundamental research.

With NIH support, scientists across the United States and around the world conduct wide-ranging research to discover ways to enhance health, lengthen life, and reduce illness and disability. Groundbreaking NIH-funded research often receives top scientific honors. In 2022, these honors included two NIH-supported scientists who received Nobel Prizes . Here’s just a small sample of the NIH-supported basic research insights in 2022. For more health and medical research findings from NIH, visit NIH Research Matters .

Printer-friendly version of full 2022 NIH Research Highlights

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Illustration of various cells within the brain

Understanding Alzheimer’s disease

NIH-funded research enhanced our understanding of Alzheimer’s disease and suggested new treatment strategies. Scientists found that the gene APOE4 , which has long been linked to an increased risk of dementia in Alzheimer’s disease, disrupts cholesterol management in the brain and weakens insulation around nerve fibers . A drug that promotes cholesterol transport led to improved learning and memory in mice with the gene. Blocking a hormone called FSH also reduced Alzheimer’s symptoms in mice. Boosting a type of immune cell that helps clear waste products in the brain did, too. Other researchers found that higher blood levels of certain antioxidants, but not others , were associated with a reduced risk of a person developing Alzheimer’s disease or other dementias.

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Dermatologist wearing gloves examines the skin of a patient with eczema

Obesity alters response to anti-inflammatory treatment

Obesity is thought to impact the immune system. Researchers found that a treatment for severe skin inflammation that works well in lean mice made the condition worse in obese mice. This, they found, was because of differences in immune cells between the lean and obese mice. The results highlight how obesity can alter the immune response. Treatments for inflammatory conditions may thus need to account for body composition.

20220930-gut.jpg

3D illustration of human intestine with bacteria

How the microbiome impacts health and disease

Researchers found several new ways that the microbiome—the collection of bacteria and other microbes living in and on our bodies—affects human health. People who ate a high-fiber diet, which promotes healthy gut microbes, lived the longest after immunotherapy for melanoma. Meanwhile, changes in gut microbes caused by high sugar intake led to weight gain and early signs of diabetes in mice. Other researchers found that viruses can play a role in inflammatory bowel disease . And COVID-19 was found to disrupt the gut microbiome in ways that may increase the risk of secondary infections. Researchers also discovered how a bacterium that lives on the skin helps protect the skin from water loss and damage .

20220510-cells.jpg

Colorized scanning electron micrograph of a B cell

Genetic driver of some cases of lupus identified

The causes of autoimmune diseases such as lupus are complex and not well understood. Scientists sequenced the whole genome of a 7-year-old girl with a rare case of severe childhood lupus. They found a gene mutation that caused autoimmune attack when engineered into mice. Blocking a protein controlled by this gene stopped lupus from developing in the mice. This suggests a potential new approach for treating some people with the disease.

20221101-mosquito.jpg

Woman applying insect repellent as mosquitoes fly around her

How mosquitoes find us

NIH-funded researchers increased our understanding of how mosquitoes locate their hosts. One group found that human and animal odors evoke activity in different areas of the mosquito brain. This explains how certain mosquitoes can distinguish humans from other animals. Another group found that people with higher levels of certain compounds on their skin were more attractive to mosquitoes . These findings could guide the development of better mosquito control strategies to prevent the spread of mosquito-borne illnesses.

20220628-covid.jpg

Mother comforting young daughter who refuses to eat

Brain cells that control sickness symptoms

When you get an infection, both physiological and behavioral changes occur that help to get rid of the infection. These symptoms are governed by the brain, rather than the immune system, but it hasn’t been clear how. Researchers identified a group of neurons in mice that trigger sickness symptoms in response to infections. The findings may one day lead to better ways to reverse these symptoms when they become dangerous to a person’s health.

20220726-neurons.jpg

Neurons in a mouse brain’s auditory cortex

Understanding how sound suppresses pain

Studies have shown that music and other kinds of sound can help reduce acute and chronic pain in people. How the brain produces this pain reduction has been less clear. Scientists identified brain circuits in mice through which sound can blunt pain. These circuits connect the auditory cortex to the thalamus. The findings could lead to the development of safer methods for treating pain in people.

20221122-dna.jpg

DNA and other molecules painted on an ancient wall

How infections helped shaped human evolution

Two studies revealed how ancient infections affected human evolution. Researchers identified genetic variants that helped the immune system fight the Black Death —the fourteenth-century bubonic plague pandemic that killed up to half the population in Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa. But this quick burst of immune system evolution may also have had the lasting side effect of increasing susceptibility to autoimmune diseases. In another study, researchers found that stretches of viral DNA long embedded in the human genome can produce proteins that help block infection by viruses . Further identification and study of these protective virus-based proteins could provide new insights for fighting viral infections.

2022 Research Highlights — Human Health Advances >>

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Hot topics in archival research, fall 2022.

Vicarious research is one of the great joys of the reference desk at the Smithsonian Institution Archives. From our front-row (well, only-row) seat outside the reading room, we catch tantalizing glimpses of our patrons’ manifold research topics.

The reference team fields thousands of questions per year. Ask us what people have been researching recently, and you’ll get into some of the enlightening, weird, and fascinating details of our collections.

Here are some of the subjects that have recently passed through the reference team’s inbox:

1930 exhibitions of the Federal Art Project
Names of the National Zoo bison through the 1920s
The Natural Resource Conservation and Historic Preservation Project in the Central Region of Ghana…aka the Ghana Project
Aviation legends honored at the dedication of the Udvar-Hazy Center in 2003
Panama fieldwork of Charles O. Handley, Jr.
Sale of a Sylacauga meteorite fragment to the Smithsonian
Lucy Audubon's sale of the copper plates from The Birds of North America
William Stimpson and his eponymous surfclam, Mactromeris polynyma

New and upcoming projects featuring SI Archives images include:

A fossil documentary made by Idaho Public Television: overburden being stripped from the fossil horse quarry near Hagerman, Idaho
Zackary Graham’s upcoming book, Crayfish, Crawfish, Crawdad: a portrait of Horton H. Hobbs, Jr. feeding a crawfish
MFA Boston’s upcoming traveling exhibit “ Fabric of a Nation: American Quilt Stories ”: aerial image of the AIDS Memorial Quilt
The Asian Pacific American Center’s upcoming book, APA 101 : view of the Polynesian ethnology exhibit cases in the Anthropology Hall , circa 1911
Abby Schulte’s recent article “ Few Ladies Ever Sit ”: Dolley Madison diorama installation in the First Ladies Hall, 1961
OMR Gallery exhibition “ Upward Panic ”: images from the Alice Pike Barney Papers

National Museum of Natural History's Dr. Horton Hobbs, Jr. feeding fish-flavored Friskies cat food t

How to get published in the nineteenth century

If you're an early Smithsonian history whiz, you'll know that Secretary Joseph Henry took diffusion of knowledge very seriously. The International Exchange Service made the Smithsonian a centralized hub of scholarship, importing and shipping out thousands of publications each year. The Institution also produced original scholarship through its series Contributions to Knowledge .

During the Civil War, a second series joined Contributions : this one had the juicy title Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections . But why the need for two publications? How did they differ? A recent reference question about the peer review process got us wondering.

Although the peer review process has become more standardized over the last fifty years , it has had recognizable forerunners since the early eighteenth century. The Smithsonian, too, had its own permutation of peer review.

In 1847, with the publication of the Smithsonian’s Programme of Organization , Secretary Henry had the chance to frame that process: “3. Each memoir presented to the Institution to be submitted for examination to a commission of persons of reputation for learning in the branch to which the memoir pertains, and to be accepted for publication only in case the report of this commission is favorable.”

This exact passage appears again, half a century later, in librarian Cyrus Adler’s book chapter on Smithsonian publications. “The program of organization, submitted by Professor Henry, in 1847, may still be said to guide the issuing of these volumes,” he says of Contributions to Knowledge .

Did the Programme of Organization also guide Miscellaneous Collections ? Were its standards just as rigorous as for Contributions ? Maybe not: Adler’s discussion of the second series appears on a separate page, far from any mention of Joseph Henry’s “commission of persons of reputation.” It seems a telling omission that Contributions alone is the subject of Adler’s commendation.

Want to help us unravel this mystery further? Dig into Record Unit 83, the Editorial and Publications Division records, 1847-1966 , in the Archives reading room!

Related Resources or Collections:

Hot Topix in Archival Research, Summer https://siarchives.si.edu/blog/hot-topix-archival-research-summer-2022
Hot Topix in Archival Research, Spring 2022 https://siarchives.si.edu/blog/hot-topix-archival-research-spring-2022

View the discussion thread.

Produced by the Smithsonian Institution Archives . For copyright questions, please see the Terms of Use .

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The 10 Most Popular Articles in 2022 (So Far)

Managers are seeking ways to improve employee well-being and build a strong workplace culture.

Workplace, Teams, & Culture
Talent Management
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Year three of a global pandemic. A war in Ukraine. Inflation in the U.S. at a 40-year high. Small talk around the watercooler (mainly the virtual one, nowadays) certainly feels heavier than it used to.

Recent Gallup data indicates that in 2022, companies and managers remain challenged by the task of raising employee engagement to pre-pandemic levels. Nearly half of global workers (44%) surveyed reported feeling “a lot” of stress in the previous day. The Great Resignation has demonstrated the power of employees to vote with their feet, and a resurgence of the labor movement in the U.S. has put pressure on even top-tier companies to improve working conditions.

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Companies that have thrived amid the pandemic and worker reshuffling have focused on worker well-being from the start. Unfortunately, for many employees across the globe, this may be the exception rather than the norm. As Gallup’s Jon Clifton put it, “Improving life at work isn’t rocket science, but the world is closer to colonizing Mars than it is to fixing the world’s broken workplaces.”

To begin to fix these issues, managers must focus on two areas in particular: leadership and culture. In the first months of the year, many MIT SMR readers turned their attention to articles focused on workplace culture, talent management, and employee retention.

With many companies now adopting permanent remote and hybrid work policies, other popular articles include data-driven approaches to managing well-being on virtual teams — from scheduling meeting-free days to creating systems for supporting mental health.

The following are the 10 most popular articles of the year so far. We hope they will continue to help managers who are looking to support employee engagement and build thriving workplaces.

#1 Toxic Culture Is Driving the Great Resignation

Donald sull, charles sull, and ben zweig.

In this article, the authors discuss the top five predictors of employee turnover uncovered by their analysis of attrition data during the Great Resignation and share four actions that managers can take in the short term to improve employee satisfaction.

#2 Top Performers Have a Superpower: Happiness

Paul b. lester, ed diener, and martin seligman.

Research has found that happiness, a sense of well-being, and an optimistic outlook are powerful predictors of how well an employee will perform. Managers who consciously promote employee well-being and take steps to eliminate toxic leadership in their business units will reap the benefits.

#3 The Surprising Impact of Meeting-Free Days

Ben laker, vijay pereira, pawan budhwar, and ashish malik.

Spending too much time in meetings can detract from effective collaboration, derail workers during their most productive hours, and interrupt people’s train of thought. No-meeting policies permit team members to excel without breaking their momentum, but specific plans must be tailored to each unique organizational context to maximize the benefits. The authors suggest several ways to deploy a no-meeting policy or adjust an existing one.

#4 Orchestrating Workforce Ecosystems

Elizabeth j. altman, david kiron, robin jones, and jeff schwartz.

Research conducted by MIT SMR and Deloitte examines the challenges companies and managers face in leading and coordinating workforces that increasingly rely on external contributors.

#5 Why Every Leader Needs to Worry About Toxic Culture

Donald sull, charles sull, william cipolli, and caio brighenti.

According to research, the five most common elements of toxic workplace cultures — being disrespectful, noninclusive, unethical, cutthroat, and abusive — contribute the most to employee attrition and can damage company reputation. Being aware of these elements and understanding how they spread can help employers prevent and address them.

#6 Building the Cognitive Budget for Your Most Effective Mind

Jordan birnbaum.

There’s a limit to how much mental energy is available to us on any given day, so it’s essential that we spend it deliberately and thoughtfully. This article details the process of creating a cognitive budget, using techniques from positive psychology, cognitive behavioral therapy, and behavioral economics.

#7 Stop Telling Employees to Be Resilient

Liz fosslien and mollie west duffy.

When it comes to leadership, there’s a difference between demanding that employees be mentally tough and actually helping them take care of their mental health. The authors suggest five actions leaders can take to create a workplace that supports employees and fosters resilience.

#8 Effective Leaders Decide About Deciding

Nancy duarte.

Categorizing decisions by riskiness and urgency helps clarify when employees should move autonomously and when they should pull leaders into decision-making.

#9 leading change means changing how you lead, b. tom hunsaker and jonathan knowles.

Adapting your leadership approach is necessary for achieving the change your organization requires. The authors discuss three tasks — drawing the map, establishing the mindset, and communicating the message — that are essential to becoming a contextually effective leader.

#10 How Well-Designed Work Makes Us Smarter

Sharon k. parker and gwenith g. fisher.

Work that permits autonomy and demands problem-solving can bolster employees’ cognitive skills and ongoing learning. This article looks at how organizations and managers can use good work design to strengthen their workforce’s ability to adapt to new processes, tools, and roles.

About the Author

Ally MacDonald ( @allymacdonald ) is senior editor at MIT Sloan Management Review .

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Numbers, Facts and Trends Shaping Your World

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Half of Latinas Say Hispanic Women’s Situation Has Improved in the Past Decade and Expect More Gains

3. Educational and economic differences among Latinas today

Table of contents.

Assessing the progress of Hispanic women in the last 10 years
Views of Hispanic women’s situation in the next 10 years
Views on the gender pay gap
Latinas’ educational attainment
Latinas’ labor force participation
Latinas’ earnings
Latinas as breadwinners in their relationships
Bachelor’s degrees among Latinas
Labor force participation rates among Latinas
Occupations among working Latinas
Earnings among Latinas
Latinas as breadwinners in 2022
Appendix: Supplemental charts and tables
Acknowledgments
The American Trends Panel survey methodology
Methodology for the analysis of the Current Population Survey

Though Latinas have collectively seen socioeconomic gains, their educational and economic circumstances are varied. Younger Latinas and U.S.-born Latinas, for instance, are more likely to report having a bachelor’s degree than older and immigrant Latinas, respectively. This chapter explores how other characteristics such as spouse or partner ethnicity and presence of their children at home are associated with differences in educational and economic outcomes.

A bar chart showing younger and U.S.-born Latinas are more likely to have a bachelor’s degree. In 2023, 30% of Latinas ages 25-29 had a bachelor’s compared with just 14% of Latinas 65 or older.

Some Latinas are more likely than others to have a bachelor’s degree.

Age: Younger Latinas (ages 25 to 29) are about twice as likely as older Latinas (ages 65 or older) to hold a bachelor’s degree (30% vs. 14%).
Nativity: U.S.-born Latinas are more likely than those born outside the U.S. to hold a bachelor’s degree (30% vs. 19%).

A bar chart showing that among Latinas, those with more education, non-Hispanic partners, are more likely to work or seek work. In 2023, 82% of Latinas with a bachelor’s and 77% of Latinas living with a non-Hispanic spouse or partner participated in the labor force.

Though labor force participation rates have increased in the last two decades for Latinas overall, some are more likely to be employed or seeking work. Among civilians ages 25 to 64:

Education: Latinas with a bachelor’s degree or higher are more likely than those with a high school education or less to participate in the labor force (82% vs. 60%).
Nativity: U.S.-born Latinas are more likely than Latinas born outside the U.S. to participate in the labor force (75% vs. 64%).
Spouse or partner: Latinas who are living with a Hispanic spouse or partner are less likely to work or seek work than those living with a non-Hispanic partner (63% vs. 77%).
Children at home: Latinas with children in the home are less likely to work or seek work than Latinas without (67% vs. 73%).

A bar chart showing that about a quarter of Latinas with a bachelor’s degree work in education, legal, community service, arts, and media jobs. Latinas with bachelor’s degrees were much more likely than Latinas with some college or less education to work in education, management, or health care occupations.

Among civilian Latinas ages 25 to 64 who were employed or looking for work in 2023, 15% work in office and administrative support occupations. Similar shares work in management, business and financial occupations (13%) and education, legal, community service, arts and media occupations (12%).

The kinds of occupations Latinas most recently worked in are also associated with whether they have a bachelor’s degree. Among civilian Latinas ages 25 to 64 who were employed or looking for work in 2023:

Those with a bachelor’s are most likely to have education, legal, community service, arts and media jobs (27%) or management, business and financial jobs (24%).
For those without a bachelor’s, the most common occupational groups are office and administrative support (17%) and health care support, protective service, and personal care and service (15%).
Those with a bachelor’s degree are less likely than those without one to work in health care support, protective service, and personal care and service occupations (6% vs. 15%, respectively) and building and grounds cleaning and maintenance occupations (3% vs. 12%).

A bar chart showing earnings for Hispanic women rise with educational attainment. Latinas with a bachelor’s degree make $28.85 per hour (at the median) while those with a high school education or less earn $16.67 per hour.

Though wages have increased for Latinas overall in the last two decades, some earn more than others. Among Latinas ages 25 to 64 who are not self-employed:

Education: Latinas with a bachelor’s degree make $28.85 per hour (at the median) while those with a high school education or less earn $16.67 per hour.
Nativity: U.S.-born Latinas make more per hour than immigrant Latinas ($21.25 vs. $17.90).
Spouse or partner: Hispanic women who live with a spouse or partner earn roughly the same as those without a spouse or partner. However, Hispanic women living with a non- Hispanic spouse or partner make significantly more at the median than those living with a Hispanic spouse or partner ($25.00 vs. $19.00).
Children at home: Latinas living with their children earn about the same as Latinas not living with their children ($18.50 vs. $20.00).

A bar chart showing Latinas with more education or living with non-Hispanic partners more likely to be breadwinners in their relationships. Latinas with a bachelor’s degree or higher were more likely than those with a high school education or less to be breadwinners (16% vs. 9%, respectively) or in financially egalitarian relationships (35% vs. 24%).

Overall, 13% of Hispanic women living with their spouse or partner are the breadwinners of their couples. Another 28% of Latinas are in financially egalitarian relationships, while the remaining 59% are living with a breadwinner spouse or partner.

Some Latinas are more likely than others to be either their relationships’ breadwinners or in financially egalitarian relationships with their spouse or partner.

Education: Latinas with a bachelor’s degree or higher were more likely than those with a high school education or less to be breadwinners (16% vs. 9%, respectively) or in financially egalitarian relationships (35% vs. 24%).
Spouse or partner: Hispanic women living with a partner or spouse who is not Hispanic were more likely than those with a Hispanic spouse or partner to be the breadwinner of their relationship (16% vs. 12%, respectively). They were also less likely than their Hispanic-partnered counterparts to say their spouse or partner was the breadwinner (54% vs. 61%).

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About Firearm Injury and Death
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Fast Facts: Firearm Injury and Death

Firearm injuries and deaths continue to be a significant public health problem in the United States. While firearm violence and injury affects people in all communities, some groups have higher rates of firearm injury than others.

Quick stats

In 2022, there were more than 48,000 firearm-related deaths in the United States according to provisional mortality data. That's about 132 people dying from a firearm-related injury each day. More than half of firearm-related deaths were suicides and more than four out of every 10 were firearm homicides. 1

More people suffer nonfatal firearm-related injuries than die. More than seven out of every 10 medically treated firearm injuries are from firearm-related assaults. Nearly two out of every 10 are from unintentional firearm injuries. 2 There are few intentionally self-inflicted firearm-related injuries seen in hospital emergency departments. Most people who use a firearm in a suicide attempt die from their injury. 1

Firearm injuries affect people in all stages of life. In 2022, firearm injuries (all types), were among the five leading causes of death for people ages 1-44 in the U.S. Firearm injuries were the leading cause of death among children and teens ages 1-19. 1

Who is affected

Some groups have higher rates of firearm injury than others. Men account for 86% of all victims of firearm death and 87% of firearm injuries. 1 2

Rates of firearm violence vary by age, race, and ethnicity. Firearm homicide rates are highest among: 1

Teens and young adults ages 15-34.
Black or African American persons.
American Indian or Alaska Native persons.
Hispanic or Latino persons.

Firearm suicide rates are highest among: 1

Adults aged 75 and older.
Non-Hispanic White persons.

These inequities underscore the importance of addressing the social and structural conditions that drive rates of violence and suicide.

Consequences

People who survive a firearm-related injury may experience long-term consequences. These include problems with memory, thinking, emotions, physical disability from injury to the brain, and paralysis from spinal cord injuries. Also included are chronic mental health problems from conditions such as post-traumatic stress disorder. 3 4 5 6

The effects of firearm violence and injury extend beyond victims and their families. Shooting incidents, including those in homes, schools, houses of worship, or workplaces, shopping areas, on the street or at community events can affect the sense of safety and security of entire communities and impact everyday decisions.

The economic impact of firearm violence is also substantial. Firearm violence and injury cost the United States tens of billions of dollars each year in medical and lost productivity costs. 1

Firearm injuries and deaths are preventable—not inevitable—and everyone has a role to play in prevention. A comprehensive approach and partners working with communities can reduce inequities and prevent firearm deaths and injuries.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. WONDER – Wide-ranging ONline Data for Epidemiologic Research. Provisional Mortality Statistics. https://wonder.cdc.gov/mcd.html .
Dahlberg LL, Haileyesus T. Victimization from gun violence. In: Schildkraut J (Ed) Guns in American Society: An Encyclopedia of History, Politics, Culture, and the Law, 3rd Edition, Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO Publishers (in-press).
DiScala C, Sege R. Outcomes in children and young adults who are hospitalized for firearms-related injuries. Pediatrics, 2004; 113(5):1306-1312.
Greenspan AI, Kellermann AL. Physical and psychological outcomes eight months after serious gunshot injury. Journal of Trauma, 2002; 53(4):709-716.
Vella MA, Warshauer A, Tortorello G, Fernandez-Moure J, Giacolone J, Chen B, Cabulong A, Chreiman K, Sims C, Schwab CW, Reilly PM. Long-term functional, psychological, emotional, and social outcomes in survivors of firearm injuries. JAMA surgery. 2020 Jan 1;155(1):51-9.
Lowe SR, Galea S. The mental health consequences of mass shootings. Trauma, Violence, & Abuse, 2017; 18(1):62-82.

Firearm Injury and Death Prevention

Firearm injury and death is a serious public health problem that impacts the health and safety of Americans. CDC works to understand the problem of firearm injury and death and prevent it.

For Everyone

Public health.

H5N1 virus from 2022 mink outbreak capable of inefficient airborne transmission

Highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza was detected in dairy cattle for the first time in the United States in March, with nine states reporting outbreaks by May. While the method of transmission among cattle is currently unknown, new research published today (May 15) in Nature Communications demonstrates that a related strain of H5N1, subtype clade 2.3.4.4b, which caused an outbreak in farmed mink in 2022, transmitted through the air to a limited number of ferrets. This is the first time that a member of the group of H5N1 clade 2.3.4.4b viruses has been shown to exhibit this ability. According to the Penn State researchers who led the study, the findings suggest these viruses are evolving to infect mammals and with potentially increased risk to humans.

"While there is no evidence that the strain of H5N1 that is presently affecting dairy cattle is capable of airborne transmission, our study suggests that another member of this family of viruses has evolved some degree of airborne transmissibility," said Troy Sutton, associate professor of veterinary and biomedical sciences, Penn State, and corresponding author on the paper. "This finding underscores the importance of continued surveillance to monitor the evolution of these viruses and their spillover into other mammals, including humans."

According to the researchers, assessing a virus's potential for airborne transmission in mammals could inform the understanding of its potential risk to humans. Since virus samples could not be readily obtained after the outbreak in mink had been controlled, the team reconstructed the virus using publicly available genetic sequences.

Next, the researchers evaluated the ability of the virus to transmit in ferrets, which have respiratory tracts that are more similar to humans in their susceptibility to viral infection and transmission than other model organisms, such as mice. The team measured both direct transmission of the virus by placing infected ferrets in cages with uninfected ferrets and indirect airborne transmission by placing infected and uninfected ferrets in cages that enabled shared airspace but prevented physical contact. To assess disease severity, the team examined the ferrets' weight loss and signs of clinical illness.

The researchers found that the virus transmitted by direct contact to 75% of exposed ferrets and by respiratory droplets to 37.5% of exposed ferrets after about nine days of exposure. The team also found that the virus had a low infectious dose, meaning that even small amounts of virus caused an infection.

Sutton noted that the mink strain of the virus contained a mutation, called PB2 T271A. To test the influence of this mutation on viral transmission and disease severity, the team engineered the virus without the mutation and found that mortality and airborne transmission in the ferrets infected with this version of the virus was reduced.

"These findings suggest that the PB2 T271A mutation is enhancing viral replication of the virus, contributing to both virulence and transmission in ferrets," Sutton said. "Understanding the role that this mutation plays means we can monitor for it or for similar mutations to arise in the currently circulating strains of H5N1."

Sutton added that the ferrets that the team used in its studies had no preexisting immunity to influenza, whereas the majority of humans have been exposed to H1N1 and H3N2 seasonal influenza viruses.

"This exposure would likely offer some degree of cross-protection against H5N1 if humans are exposed to another H5N1 variant," he said.

Furthermore, he said that the transmission rate the team observed in the mink virus is lower than is typical for pandemic influenza viruses.

"Pandemic influenza viruses typically transmit via the airborne route to 75% to 100% of contacts within three to five days, whereas the mink virus we studied transmitted to fewer than 40% of contacts after nine days," Sutton said. "The transmission observed in our studies is indicative of increased pandemic potential relative to previously characterized strains of H5N1; however, the mink virus does not exhibit the same attributes as pandemic strains. The H5N1 strain affecting cattle also has not caused severe disease in cattle or humans, but the longer the virus circulates, and the more exposure humans have to it, the greater the chances that it will evolve to infect humans."

This research was conducted in Penn State's Eva J. Pell Advanced Biological Laboratory, a high-containment biosafety level 3 enhanced laboratory that is regularly inspected by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the United States Department of Agriculture.

Other Penn State authors of the paper include Katherine Restori, assistant research professor in veterinary and biomedical sciences, as well as Kayla Septer, Cassandra Field and Devanshi Patel, all graduate students in veterinary and biomedical sciences. David VanInsberghe, postdoctoral fellow; Vedhika Raghunathan, graduate student; and Anice Lowen, professor of microbiology and immunology, all at Emory University, also are authors of the paper.

The National Institutes of Health and National Institute of Food and Agriculture supported this research.

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Story Source:

Materials provided by Penn State . Original written by Sara LaJeunesse. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.

Journal Reference :

Katherine H. Restori, Kayla M. Septer, Cassandra J. Field, Devanshi R. Patel, David VanInsberghe, Vedhika Raghunathan, Anice C. Lowen, Troy C. Sutton. Risk assessment of a highly pathogenic H5N1 influenza virus from mink . Nature Communications , 2024; 15 (1) DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-48475-y

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Review Article
Open access
Published: 17 May 2024

Assessing the status quo of international employees’ adjustment research, 1990–2022: a review and future research agenda

Irma Baneviciene 1 ,
Maike Andresen 2 &
Vilmante Kumpikaite-Valiuniene 3

Humanities and Social Sciences Communications volume 11 , Article number: 633 ( 2024 ) Cite this article

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This study aims to comprehensively review scientific journal articles related to the adjustment of international employees within the management and business domain from 1990 to 2022. The study seeks to identify trends and patterns in research topics and to propose a future research agenda. To achieve this, we analysed 222 articles from the Web of Science Core Collection database through two main steps: (1) a bibliometric analysis to track the field’s evolution over time and (2) a content analysis of abstracts to examine covered topics and pinpoint research gaps. Our findings indicate that the theory surrounding the adjustment of international employees is still in the process of maturation, with several potential areas for future research emerging. The analysis reveals that factors influencing adjustment are the most extensively researched for assigned expatriates, leaving other international employees relatively under-researched. Moreover, quantitative research emerged as the most prevalent methodological approach among the included studies. Most study samples predominantly consisted of individuals moving between Asia, Europe, and North America, underscoring the significance of Africa—characterised by substantial migration flows within the region—as a focal point for future adjustment research. Moreover, individual-, organisation-, and country-related antecedents of international employees’ anticipatory and in-country adjustments were analysed to present conclusions for future research. This study supplements the domains of international human resource management and international business by identifying research priorities concerning the adjustment of international employees and outlining an agenda for further research.

Modeling the significance of work culture on burnout, satisfaction, and psychological distress among the Gen-Z workforce in an emerging country

Motivators of employee commitment at multinational organisations in emerging economies: Empirical evidence from Nigeria

Detecting causal relationships between work motivation and job performance: a meta-analytic review of cross-lagged studies

Introduction.

Economic globalisation facilitates the movement of people, capital, goods, and ideas across borders, leading to a significant rise in international mobility among the workforce, a trend that is of global relevance (Duan et al. 2021 ). According to the International Organisation for Migration (IOM UN Migration 2022 ), the global population of international migrants reached approximately 281 million in 2020, representing 3.6% of the world’s population. This figure marks a significant increase from previous years, with 128 million more international migrants than in 1990 and over three times the number reported in 1970 (IOM UN Migration 2022 ). The adjustment of these individuals to new countries and organisations varies depending on factors such as language barriers, geopolitical dynamics, cultural differences, and familial status. Therefore, research into working people’s international mobility and adjustment has gained much attention from researchers worldwide.

A review of previous studies on adjustment highlights a predominant focus on cross-cultural issues, including the development of adjustment over time, the influence of prior international experience, cross-cultural training, and intercultural learning (Chenyang 2022 ; Morris et al. 2014 ; Nam et al. 2014 ; Takeuchi and Chen, 2013 ). Additionally, numerous antecedents of expatriate adjustment have been examined, such as personality traits, expatriate-local interactions, family dynamics, and organisational factors (Van Bakel 2019 ; Dang et al. 2022 ; Harari et al. 2018 ; Haslberger and Brewster 2008 ; Kang and Shen 2018 ; Takeuchi 2010 ). Similarly, studies by Hajro et al. ( 2019 ), Schudey et al. ( 2012 ), and Shen and Hall ( 2009 ) explored the influences of individual, organisational, and social variables on migrants’ acculturation, coping mechanisms and integration, as well as repatriate readjustment.

This review makes a unique contribution by focusing on the factors influencing the adjustment of different groups of international employees, namely expatriates and migrants. Through systematic literature mapping, it delineates the scope of existing research on adjustment, its evolution over time, and differences between employee groups. By aligning findings with macro-level migration data, the study identifies research gaps and priorities, which are crucial for enhancing our understanding of adjustment processes and informing future research directions. This unique approach aims to advance research on the adjustment of international employees (IE), thereby contributing to the existing body of knowledge on international human resource management and international business.

The literature reveals a plethora of definitions of IEs based on various factors such as mobility patterns, employment characteristics, education level, support availability, and planned duration of stay in a foreign country. However, these definitions often overlap, and authors tailor unique definitions to suit their research needs (Andresen et al. 2018 ). Common types of IEs include assigned expatriates, self-initiated expatriates (SIEs), sojourners, migrants, international business travellers, short-term assignees, rotational assignees, and international commuters, with SIEs, assigned expatriates, skilled migrants, and skilled immigrants being the most frequently discussed groups in the literature (Andresen et al. 2014 ; McNulty and Selmer 2017 ; Cerdin and Selmer 2014 ; McNulty and Brewster 2017 ).

The adjustment of IEs is multifaceted and varies depending on the type of IE and the circumstances surrounding their becoming IEs (Shaffer et al. 1999 ). According to Waxin and Panaccio ( 2005 ), the intercultural adjustment of expatriates is defined as a ratio of human psychological comfort and knowledge of a foreign culture. However, scholars have offered differing definitions of intercultural adjustment, with terms such as adjustment, adaptation, assimilation, acculturation, and integration often used interchangeably (Harrison et al. 2004 ). In this study, “adjustment” is the standard term to denote realigning one’s needs with new cultural demands after relocating to an unfamiliar cultural environment (Aycan 1997 ; Bhaskar-Shrinivas et al. 2005 ).

Against this backdrop, a hybrid literature review was conducted, combining bibliometric analysis and content analysis of scientific article abstracts published between 1990 and 2022. Generated systematic literature mapping aimed to (1) provide insights into the field’s evolution over time; (2) identify research trends, priorities, and critical areas; (3) pinpoint research gaps for future exploration.

This study contributes to adjustment theory in five key ways. Firstly, it highlights the need to refine the adjustment construct’s definition, conceptual landscape, nomological network, and causal mechanisms. Secondly, it underscores the importance of systematically identifying the boundary conditions of adjustment theory. Thirdly, it tracks evolutionary nuances to anticipate the trajectory of adjustment research. Fourthly, it identifies critical knowledge gaps to inform future research directions. Finally, recommendations for research methods are provided to facilitate the evolution of adjustment theory from an intermediate to a mature state.

The paper has been structured into four parts. The first part defines adjustment together with an overview of its most essential antecedents that can be identified in the literature. It expounds upon the methodology and strategy used in the study. The second part presents the findings of the bibliometric analysis that indicates general information such as publication year, country, and the research sample’s nationality. The third part covers the content analysis of the abstracts with the presentation of the covered themes and research areas. The final part then discusses the main results and limitations and outlines future research areas.

Theoretical background

The adjustment model proposed by Black et al. ( 1991 ) depicts the factors influencing adjustment and refers to the group of assigned expatriates. The authors differentiate between anticipatory and in-country adjustment, representing two stages of the expatriate cross-cultural adjustment process. Anticipatory adjustment, which occurs before the international relocation, is determined by individual factors, such as training and previous experience and organisational factors, such as selection mechanisms and criteria. It is assumed that individuals’ anticipatory adjustment, i.e., their preparation before they embark on the journey to the host country, will ease their adjustment abroad. Black et al. ( 1991 ) highlighted four influencing factors related to in-country adjustment, which takes place upon relocation to the destination country, that relate to the sphere of the individual (self-efficacy, relation skills, and perception skills), job (role clarity, role discretion, role novelty, role conflict), organisation (organisation culture novelty, social support, logistical help, socialisation tactics, socialisation content), and nonwork (culture novelty and family-spouse adjustment). The in-country adjustment process leads to different degrees of adjustment in terms of work, interaction , and general adjustment in the country of destination that can be measured.

Subsequent researchers delving into adjustment and extending the framework proposed by Black et al. ( 1991 ) revealed additional factors influencing anticipatory and in-country adjustment. For instance, Yijälä et al. ( 2012 ) investigated the anticipatory adjustment of highly skilled, self-initiated foreign employees, shedding light on specific challenges and strategies pertinent to this cohort. They differentiate between psychological , socio-psychological , and work-related anticipatory adjustment. Lett and Smith ( 2009 ) distinguished – analogous to Black et al. ( 1991 ) – pre-departure and in-country adjustment and highlight individual , organisational , job , and non-work factors that impact adjustment before and after moving to the destination country.

Ritchie et al. ( 2015 ) expanded on general adjustment following relocation by identifying additional precursors, including job satisfaction, team cohesion, and alignment with organisational values. Additionally, they advocate for the incorporation of control variables related to demographics and individual traits such as gender, family status, parental responsibilities, professional background, tenure, and linguistic abilities (Caligiuri et al. 1998 ; Canhilal et al. 2015 ; Chen 2010 ; Lee et al. 2014 ), a recommendation that subsequent scholars have adopted in their studies. Hippler et al. ( 2014 ) divided their scale into ten factors delineating various aspects or changes that may necessitate adjustment. These factors encompass aspects of the work environment, language proficiency, job or task attributes, recreational activities, urban setting, work-life balance, living accommodations, familial dynamics, local social connections, and communication with those remaining behind. This approach shows that work - related facets of IEs’ adjustment receive the least attention.

After reviewing the antecedents of adjustment proposed by different authors (e.g., Black et al. 1991 ; Caligiuri et al. 1998 ; Chen, 2010 ; Hippler et al. 2014 ; Lee et al. 2014 ; Lett and Smith, 2009 ; Ritchie et al. 2015 ), both similarities and some differences become apparent. Based on this overview, we group the antecedents of IEs’ adjustment (anticipatory and in-country) into the following main groups: individual-, organisation-, and country-related antecedents (see Fig. 1 ).

Model of factors influencing IE adjustment.

The study aims to achieve several objectives: firstly, to offer a comprehensive overview of the evolution of research within the adjustment field over time, including the types of international employees (IEs) whose adjustment is being researched, the terminology utilised to describe ‘adjustment’ in publications, and the research methodologies employed. Secondly, it seeks to identify trends in research topics, delineate research priorities, and highlight critical research areas. Lastly, the study aims to uncover research gaps that necessitate attention in future studies.

The methodology employed in our study, illustrated in Fig. 2 , follows an adapted systematic mapping approach proposed by Petersen et al. ( 2008 ). This approach enables the collation, description, and cataloguing of available evidence, as elucidated by James et al. ( 2016 ). By adopting this approach, we can provide a broad overview of a research field and identify the amount and type of research in this field (Petersen et al. 2008 ; Soaita et al. 2020 ), as elaborated upon in subsequent sections.

Study mapping process.

For analysis purposes, we utilised the Web of Science (WoS) Core Collection database, renowned as one of the premier platforms for scientific citation search, discovery, and analytical information (Li et al. 2018 ). Scholars frequently rely on this database for bibliometric analyses (Vlase and Lähdesmäki 2023 ). With its comprehensive coverage spanning articles from 1900 onwards (Chadegani et al. 2013 ), the WoS database provides a robust foundation for gaining insights into trends in academic research on IEs’ adjustment, a vital component of this study.

To conduct our literature search, we established specific inclusion criteria. We designated the base timeframe for the search period from 1990 to 2022 (July). Within the WoS platform, we focused on the management and business categories, representing the primary disciplines relevant to international employees’ adjustment. Articles were restricted to published in English, the predominant language for international collaboration.

We formulated search terms targeting IEs and an adjustment in identifying relevant articles. For the IE aspect, keywords such as immigrant, migrant, and expatriate were employed. Concerning adjustment, the terms adaptation, assimilation, acculturation, and integration were selected, aligning with the terminology outlined by Harrison et al. ( 2004 ) as synonymous with adjustment. The search terms were combined of the two search fields into a search string using “AND” to search the title, abstracts, or keywords of the articles, i.e. (immigra* OR migra* OR expatriat*) AND (adjust* OR adapt* OR assimilat* OR acculturat* OR integrat*). As an additional criterion, it was stipulated that one of the keywords related to adjustment must be present as an article keyword. Article keywords were meticulously chosen by authors to accurately encapsulate the essence of their paper (Emich et al. 2020 ; Zhang et al. 2016 ). Hence, if authors perceive their article as directly pertinent to adjustment, they are inclined to opt for the term as a keyword.

The search yielded a total of 444 articles. The abstracts of these articles were imported into the MAXQDA software, commonly used for qualitative and mixed methods research. Each abstract was meticulously reviewed to confirm its relevance to IE adjustment. In cases where abstracts lacked clarity and inclusion or exclusion was uncertain, the introduction or conclusion of the paper was consulted for clarification (Petersen et al. 2008 ). Out of the initial pool, 222 articles were identified as unrelated to IE adjustment, focusing instead on consumer acculturation’s impact on product selection, micromarketing issues regarding immigration and acculturation, and differences in labour and capital incomes between immigrants and natives. The final selection of the articles for the study consists of 222 articles.

A hybrid approach combining bibliometric analysis and structured review was adopted to analyse the data and achieve the research objectives, following the framework proposed by Paul and Criado ( 2020 ). Bibliometric analysis provided insights into the evolution of the field and trends in articles on adjustment and their prevalence concerning types of international employees published from 1990 to 2022. Concurrently, structured review techniques, including content analysis, were employed to identify research trends and uncover research gaps (Paul and Criado 2020 ). Content analysis systematically condenses extensive text into categories based on predefined coding rules, facilitating the identification of document trends and patterns (Stemler 2000 ), thus offering a systematic and objective means of describing and quantifying phenomena (Downe-Wamboldt, 1992 ).

The initial coding process involved 50 articles from the corpus of 222, conducted by one author and subsequently reviewed by other authors. The coding system was refined through discussions among the authors, ensuring consensus. Following this, the 50 initial abstracts were re-analysed, and all remaining abstracts were subjected to the established coding rules. (1) Main categories were created for all statistical data: publication year, research method, terminology of ‘adjustment’ used in the articles, country of research, nationality of participants, and type of IE. (2) Deductive categories of anticipatory and in-country adjustment were utilised to examine the antecedents of IE adjustment. Each category was further subdivided into individual-related, organisation-related, and country-related antecedents. Inductive codes were then defined for each identified antecedent and assigned to the deductive categories (refer to Table 1 for details).

All statistical data and specified antecedents underwent coding based on the abstracts. A total of 1522 coding instances were assigned. The total number of codings per category sometimes varied from the total number of articles in the corpus. This discrepancy occurred because not all articles included information relevant to every category, or multiple subcategories within an article were pertinent, resulting in multiple codings. For instance, if an article examined and assigned expatriates and self-initiated expatriates within its sample, two codings were recorded under the IE type category.

The interrelationships among the categories were analysed to identify prevalent themes and underlying patterns of connection.

General information

Field progression over time.

A total of 222 articles spanning from 1990 to 2022 were subjected to analysis (refer to Fig. 3 ). The distribution of articles across each year within this timeframe reveals distinct phases in the evolution of interest in IE adjustment research: before 1999, between 2000 and 2016, and from 2017 onwards. Before 1999, sporadic publications occurred every few years (a total of five), indicating budding interest in the field without establishing it as a full-fledged area of research. From 2000 to 2016, researchers consistently, albeit modestly, addressed IE adjustment, with the number of published articles gradually increasing from two per year to a maximum of 12 in specific years. Notably, since 2017, 27 years after the first publication on IE adjustment, the annual publication count has consistently reached 20 or more, albeit not every year. This sustained growth in publications within the management and business domains reflects rising scholarly interest in IE adjustment. Such findings affirm our initiative to delve into topic diversity, identify research gaps, and contribute to the future advancement of the field.

Number of articles on IE adjustment published per year, 1990–2022.

Types of IEs researched

Coding the type of IEs studied in the articles in the corpus generated 230 codings (see Fig. 4 ). Based on the terminology used in the abstracts by the researchers themselves to elucidate the types of IEs studied in each case, two subcategories of IEs were generated: (a) expatriates (assigned expatriates and self-initiated expatriates) and (b) migrants (migrant workers, immigrants, and skilled/qualified migrants).

Use of the different IE types to name the samples per year.

In comparison, a more significant proportion of articles concentrated on the expatriate cohort (197 articles) than the migrant cohort (33 articles). Specifically, assigned expatriates emerged as the most extensively studied subgroup within the expatriate cohort, with 165 articles dedicated to their adjustment consistently appearing in the scientific literature over the years. Notably, research on the adjustment of assigned expatriates commenced as early as 1990 and has steadily escalated since 2000. The period post-2017 witnessed a sustained and notable volume of articles on assigned expatriates, indicating continued scholarly interest in this area.

Conversely, a significantly smaller number of research publications delved into the adjustment of self-initiated expatriates (SIEs) (32 articles), albeit ranking as the second highest. Interestingly, the earliest article addressing the adjustment of SIEs only emerged in 2008. Although the number of articles SIEs has remained relatively low over the years, there was a notable surge in 2021 with nine articles. Nonetheless, research on SIEs has persisted since 2012, albeit in limited numbers.

The second cohort, migrants, was represented in 33 articles. Among these, the term “immigrant” was predominantly utilised in 20 articles to define the focus group of their research. Four articles specifically focussed on migrant workers, while nine underscored the high skills or qualifications of the migrants in their respective samples. Moreover, research on adjustment primarily concentrated on adjusting IEs to the host country, with no studies additionally analysing the reciprocal adjustment of locals to the cultural changes introduced by IEs.

To summarise, most adjustment research focuses on expatriates, particularly assigned expatriates, with a notable increase in articles over the years. Conversely, studies on all other groups have remained consistent, albeit low, levels. Furthermore, adjustment was predominantly explored unilaterally through the lens of IEs.

Adjustment terminology used

The terms adjustment, acculturation, assimilation, integration, and adaptation have been used to describe IEs’ successful settling in a new host country, new job, or community. Figure 5 shows the adjustment terms used in the scientific literature concerning a specific type of IE.

Use of terminology around “adjustment” according to IE types.

Assimilation is the least utilised term in the literature on IE adjustment, appearing in only two articles. Acculturation, integration, and adaptation were employed more frequently, with 13, 12, and 23 articles, respectively. However, the usage frequency of these terms pales compared to the predominant use of the term adjustment, which was featured in 174 articles.

Furthermore, we analysed the extent to which multiple terms were employed within individual article abstracts. While most authors consistently used only one term in their articles, a minority of articles (9) utilised four of the five adjustment terms in varying combinations. For instance, as the primary term, adjustment was paired with acculturation (1) and integration (1). Acculturation, as the primary term, was coupled with adjustment (1), assimilation (1), or integration (4). Assimilation, as the primary term, was combined with acculturation (1) and integration (2). Notably, the term adaptation was not used concurrently with the other terms. Integration was frequently interchanged with other terms within the same articles (7) (refer to Table 2 for details).

The analysis of bibliometric data also highlights variations in the predominant adjustment terms across different types of international employees. A comparison between expatriates and migrants reveals distinct patterns. Research articles concerning expatriates predominantly utilised the terms adjustment (160 [81.2%]) and adaptation (21 [10.7%]). Conversely, these terms were less prevalent in studies focusing on migrants, accounting for only 14 (42.4%) and 2 (6.1%) instances, respectively. Notably, the term assimilation was exclusively used in studies on migrants (2 instances), while integration (migrants: 10 [30.3%]; expatriates: 2 [1%]) and acculturation (migrants: 11 [33.3%]; expatriates: 7 [3.6%]) were employed more frequently in research related to migrants compared to expatriates.

Research methods

Table 3 presents the research methods outlined in the abstracts of the articles. These methods were categorised based on the research onion framework proposed by Saunders et al. ( 2009 ), distinguishing between methodological choice, time horizon, and strategy. Quantitative research emerged as the most frequently employed methodological choice (124 instances) in IE adjustment research, followed by qualitative research methods (38 instances) and mixed methods (11 instances), with a considerable margin between them. Concerning the time horizon of the research, only 11 articles with a longitudinal design were identified since 1990 in the domain of IE adjustment. Several unique features were observed regarding the research strategy, including case studies (2 instances) and secondary sources (7 instances). Notably, the methodological choice was listed in the abstracts of only 186 (84%) articles.

In summary, quantitative research predominated in both expatriate and migrant groups. However, studies on migrants exhibited a relatively higher proportion of qualitative methods. Additionally, there was slightly more variability in the research methods employed for expatriates than migrants.

Trends in research topics and critical research priorities

Host countries and nationality of participants.

Notably, 154 articles specified the country or countries where the research was conducted, while 96 articles indicated the nationality of the participants. Some articles opted to identify regions rather than specific countries (e.g., Asia or Africa) without providing details on the nationalities of the participants, leading to ambiguity regarding the participants’ origins and the research locations. The information extracted from the articles was categorised based on the type of international employee (IE) under study, as outlined in Table 4 .

Whenever available, the nationalities of the IE samples were classified according to geographic regions defined by the (United Nations 2022 ): Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean, North America, and Oceania. Analysis of the abstracts revealed that the samples predominantly comprised IEs from Asian (42 instances), European (24 instances), and North American (14 instances) origins. Conversely, IEs from Africa (1 instance), Latin America and the Caribbean (3 instances), and Oceania (2 instances) were less frequently examined in terms of adjustment. Among the focal regions, Chinese (17 instances), Japanese (12 instances), and American (12 instances) IEs were the most commonly studied. Notably, the Japanese IE group exclusively consisted of assigned expatriates.

A similar trend is observed concerning the host countries where international employees reside. Based on available data, the majority of research on IE adjustment focused on IEs living in Asia (93 instances), Europe (23 instances), and North America (18 instances), with significantly fewer studies conducted in regions such as Africa (8 instances), Latin America and the Caribbean (4 instances), and Oceania (8 instances). Examining individual countries, the data indicate that China (25 instances), Japan (10 instances), and the United States (13 instances) were the primary host countries for IE adjustment research. Among studies focusing on Japan or China as host countries, the articles predominantly referred to expatriates, particularly assigned expatriates (84% and 70%, respectively), rather than migrants.

Overall, the findings suggest that regions such as Africa, Latin America, the Caribbean, and Oceania, along with their nationals, were significantly underrepresented in research on IE adjustment.

Anticipatory adjustment of IEs

Anticipatory adjustment, comprising 34 studies, was most frequently examined in association with assigned expatriates (23 studies) (refer to Table 5 ). Anticipatory adjustment was not a significant focus in studies involving migrant IE groups (4 studies). The two primary factors explored concerning anticipatory adjustment were cross-cultural training to prepare assigned expatriates for their new roles during foreign assignments (9 studies) and previous international experience (11 studies, of which eight referred to assigned expatriates). Other factors, such as language proficiency, motivation to migrate, pre-departure expectations, organisational support and identification, recruitment/selection, and the host country environment, were only explored in limited studies.

In-country adjustment of IEs

Many studies have dealt with adjustment in the host country, which was named 238 times. Factors/antecedents were grouped into individual-, organisation- and country-related groups (refer to Table 6 ). Individual factors were researched most frequently (155), followed by organisational (95) and country-related (78) factors.

Out of individual factors, demographics such as gender and age were explored in 14 articles related to the expatriate group. Personal characteristics, including cultural competence, personality traits, and networks, were the most extensively researched aspect, with 105 studies dedicated to this area. Most of this research targeted assigned expatriates (79 studies), with relatively fewer studies focusing on SIEs and the broader migrant group (14 and 12 studies, respectively). Additionally, there were 22 articles focusing on spouse/family adjustment, examining how family dynamics impacted IE adjustment and considering factors such as support networks, personality traits, host country nationals, and language proficiency. Most of these articles (20 out of 22) were related to assigned expatriates. Individual work-related characteristics, such as organisational commitment, embeddedness, and job satisfaction, were also investigated in 14 studies, with all but two articles referencing the expatriate group.

Regarding organisational factors, particular attention was given to two areas: human resource strategy and management (including leadership, performance management, and organisational support), which were the focus of 35 studies, and employee relations (such as international teamwork, social support networks, and organisational socialisation), which were explored in 30 studies. Additionally, there were studies examining job-related factors (such as role clarity and workplace learning) and the role of the work environment in adjustment (including organisational culture and extrinsic motivation). Most of these articles primarily focused on assigned expatriates, with four-fifths of the articles on HR strategy and management related to this group.

Finally, concerning country-related factors , studies focused mainly on culture (cross-cultural training, cross-cultural communication, and cultural gap, novelty) (43), as well as networks (social support networks, spousal/family support, and host country nationals) (21) and the impact of the host country environment (culture, safety, location, leisure time, etc.) (14) on IE adjustment. Like the previously analysed groups, country-related factors influencing adjustment primarily concentrated on assigned expatriates (59 studies), potentially limiting the generalisation of adjustment patterns to other types of IEs.

In summary, individual, organisational, and country-related factors were predominantly examined through the lens of assigned expatriates. Regarding the distribution of topics by IE type, the analysis revealed that studies on assigned expatriates (49.8%) and SIEs (50%) primarily focused on individual factors. In contrast, most studies on the migrant group emphasised organisational antecedents (40.8%). Country-related factors received comparatively less attention across all IE types, with 24.5% of studies on assigned expatriates, 15.8% on SIEs, and 26.5% on the migrant group exploring these aspects.

By employing a hybrid analysis, which integrates partial bibliometric analysis and abstract content analysis of scientific articles published between 1990 and 2022, we accomplished two of our objectives: (1) furnishing comprehensive insights into the evolution of the field over time, and (2) identifying trends in research topics to grasp research priorities and essential research areas. In the subsequent sections, we will delve into our third objective, (3) uncovering research gaps that warrant attention in future research. Table 7 outlines the principal findings and a proposed research agenda, which we will elucidate below.

Research agenda

General information about the field progression over time indicates that the number of articles per year increased consistently, indicating that the field of IEs adjustment is of rising interest to management and business researchers. Nevertheless, as shown in the following, abstract content analysis of IE adjustment revealed several under-researched avenues for future research.

This analysis underscores a notable emphasis on expatriates in IE adjustment research, particularly assigned expatriates, which constituted approximately 72% of all articles. Conversely, other types of IEs remain relatively underexplored, aligning with previous research highlighting the dearth of scholarly attention on international career transitions for self-initiated IEs (Hajro et al. 2021 ; Yijälä et al. 2012 ; Zikic et al. 2010 ). Given the likelihood of SIEs and migrants receiving less or no support from their employers during relocation and in the host country, they may encounter distinct and potentially heightened adjustment challenges (Brewster et al. 2017 ). Given the escalating global prevalence of SIEs (Collings et al. 2010 ), the limited coverage of 32 articles on the adjustment of this specific group underscores a critical need for further research.

Moreover, standardising terminology for IE types could enhance the development of adjustment research and improve precision. Notably, the term “immigrant” lacks a robust definition compared to terms like “assigned expatriate,” “self-initiated expatriate,” or “skilled migrant.” Consequently, the ambiguity surrounding the delineation of these groups hampers the comparability of research findings. Future studies would benefit from clearly describing the characteristics of the group(s) under investigation, regardless of the label used. Additionally, given the varied definitions of IEs, more comparative research across two or more IE types is warranted to ascertain whether and how they adjust differently to host country circumstances and the underlying reasons.

Finally, regarding sample perspectives, all studies in the corpus exclusively focused on the adjustment of IEs, who typically represent a minority in the host country, to a foreign culture. However, the adjustment of locals to newcomers and the influences they bring from their home countries, which may affect various aspects of local life, warrant a more thorough examination in future research.

Adjustment Terms

As 76% of articles used the term ‘adjustment,’ it might be concluded that this term is the most acceptable for scientists to use in conjunction with IE adjustment. Adaptation (22) was mainly used in connection with expatriates (91%) and – as the only term – and not along with other terms. Interestingly, many publications on adaptation (totalling 19) primarily focused on cross-cultural processes. Although these adaptation studies explicitly employed “adaptation” in their abstracts, they frequently cited sources with synonymous terms in their full text. For instance, three adaptation studies directly referenced acculturation literature sources (e.g., Berry et al. 1988 ) in the complete text, avoiding the explicit use of “acculturation.” Similarly, seven adaptation articles drew on references from the adjustment literature (J. S. Black and Stephens 1989 ; Lazarova et al. 2010 ) as the theoretical foundation for their adaptation research, without employing the term “adjustment” in the full text. In nine articles, the terms “adaptation” and “adjustment” were used interchangeably within the full text (Jyoti and Kour, 2017 ; Zhang et al. 2021 ). Given that conventional literature searches involve seeking relevant texts in databases based on titles, abstracts, and keywords, there exists a risk of parallel development between adaptation research and other adjustment research despite their overlapping content. Thus, future adaptation research should aim to demonstrate the scientific value of the terminological distinction between adaptation and other forms of adjustment. If this distinction is justified, it is crucial to clearly define and delineate these terms or refer to synonymous adjustment terms through cross-references in abstracts or keywords.

Moreover, the bibliometric analysis unveiled variations in dominant adjustment terms across different IE types. When comparing expatriates and migrants, research articles on expatriates predominantly employed the terms “adjustment” and “adaptation,” these terms were notably less utilised for the migrant groups. However, from a content perspective, both terms are equally pertinent and applicable to both groups. This underscores the need for a comprehensive assessment of literature covering both expatriate and migrant IE types, emphasising the importance of scientific exchange between these two research streams in the future.

Research Methods

The limited range of research methods employed in the study is noteworthy. Of the abstracts analysed, 124 indicated quantitative research methods, whereas 38 indicated qualitative methods. Interestingly, while quantitative methods were used across expatriate and migrant groups, qualitative research methods were comparatively more prevalent in studies focusing on migrant groups, albeit in smaller numbers overall. Existing research offers tentative explanations for adjustment; however, adjustment theory remains in a nascent stage, as evidenced by recent efforts at scale redevelopment (Hippler et al. 2014 ), the varied terminology used (Harrison et al. 2004 ), and calls for more significant consideration of context (Szabó 2022 ). Therefore, adjustment theory is currently classified as an intermediate theory. Although research questions permit the formulation of testable hypotheses, the adjustment construct remains preliminary. To achieve methodological congruence, a hybrid approach combining quantitative and qualitative methods is recommended (Edmondson and McManus 2007 ). Quantitative research enables testing associations between variables, while qualitative research facilitates elaboration on phenomena, explanations, and illumination of adjustment constructs and relationships. Incorporating more qualitative research would provide deeper insights into the individual experiences of IEs, given that expatriation/migration is inherently unique. Furthermore, latent class analyses could offer a person-centred perspective on adjustment, exploring different adjustment strategies individuals adopt and their characteristics and antecedents (Morris et al. 2015 ).

The chosen time horizon also reveals explicit limitations in current research practices. Only 5% of the articles indicated the use of a longitudinal design. Given that adjustment is a dynamic process (Banai, 2022 ; Hippler et al. 2015 ), the field could benefit from more longitudinal studies to understand its temporal development, success factors, and obstacles. A broader range of research methods is desirable to address diverse research questions (Sam and Ward 2021 ). Particularly in research on migrants’ adjustment, future studies should strive for more significant methodological variance, as differences in IE types do not inherently dictate differences in research methodology.

Countries of Destination and Sample Nationalities

IEs relocating to and originating from Asia, Europe, and North America were the most researched groups in studies related to IE adjustment. Compared to the absolute number of migrants, which is highest in the destination regions of Europe (87 million), Asia (86 million), and North America (59 million) (IOM UN Migration 2022 ), the host countries in the articles on which the analyses are based reflected the distribution well. Conversely, an analysis of the increase in migration flows from 2000 to 2020 shows that the regions Asia ( + 37 million), Europe ( + 30 million), North America ( + 18 million), and Africa ( + 10 million) (IOM UN Migration, 2022 ) are of the highest relevance. However, the fewest adjustment studies have been conducted in the regions of Africa, as well as Latin America, the Caribbean, and Oceania so far. In particular, the hitherto scarcely explored region of Africa, characterised by a high proportion of migration flow within the region and not across regions as applies to other regions (IOM UN Migration 2022 ), assumes great significance for future adjustment research. Many scholars posit that adjusting to a host culture that is culturally very different proves more difficult for IEs (Li et al. 2013 ; Varela and Gatlin-Watts, 2014 ). However, Selmer ( 2007 ) presents evidence suggesting that adjusting to a similar host culture can be as challenging as adjusting to a different one. Consequently, there should be a focus on the nuances of intraregional migration and adjustment, particularly in Africa.

Based on the information in the article abstracts, the most extensively researched destination countries for IEs were the United States, China, and Japan. Despite the United States being the primary destination for international migrants since 1970 (IOM UN Migration 2022 ), Germany, the second top destination for migrants (IOM UN Migration, 2022 ), was notably underrepresented in the corpus, with only three articles. Similarly, countries like Saudi Arabia (0), Russia (0), the UAE (5), the United Kingdom (5), and France (2) which rank among the countries with the highest migrant populations globally (IOM UN Migration 2022 ; UN DESA, 2022 ), were also underrepresented in adjustment studies. Furthermore, according to the OECD ( 2017 ), Switzerland, Australia, and New Zealand have foreign-born individuals comprising over 20% of their total employment. Nevertheless, research articles on IE adjustment in these destination countries numbered only 2, 6, and 2, respectively. Although Asia is witnessing significant growth in migrants, the proportion of international migrants in the population remains relatively low (1.8%; IOM UN Migration, 2022 ). Historically regarded as a highly homogeneous society with limited global mobility (Andresen et al. 2020 ; Sugimoto, 2014 ), Japan was unexpectedly one of the most studied destination countries for IE adjustment, highlighting the relevance of research in exploring adjustment dynamics in such unique contexts.

Concerning nationality , data indicates that over 40 per cent of all international migrants globally in 2020 hailed from Asia, predominantly from countries like India, China, Bangladesh, Pakistan, the Philippines, and Afghanistan (IOM UN Migration 2022 ). Mexico and Russia are among the largest emigration countries worldwide (UN DESA, 2022 ). However, these regions were scarcely represented in the nationalities studied in the adjustment articles analysed. Despite numerous studies focusing on Chinese IEs (17), other countries were either underrepresented (e.g., the Philippines, 2) or not represented at all (e.g., India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Afghanistan) in the sampled articles.

Moreover, it is noteworthy that three of the ten GLOBE cultural clusters (House et al. 2004 ) accounted for approximately four-fifths of the destination countries (Confucian Asia, Southern Asia, Anglo) and nationalities (Confucian Asia, Latin Europe, Anglo) studied, with studies based on samples from other cultural clusters such as the Middle East, Sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America, or Eastern Europe being the exception. Future research should systematically examine the combination of nationality and host country to understand the impact of cultural attractiveness on adjustment. While cultural distance measures highlight challenges and losses from cross-cultural interaction, cultural attractiveness focuses on the potential gains from such interaction, even in culturally disparate contexts (Li et al. 2017 ). IEs from countries who perceive the cultural practices of their host country as more valuable than their own may feel attracted to the host country’s cultural practices, which could positively impact their adjustment (Li et al. 2017 ).

To summarise, data accessibility rather than content criteria may have primarily influenced the selection of nationalities and destination countries/regions in previous research. While focusing on countries with high migrant populations and significant migrant inflows may help identify facilitating factors, expanding the scope to include countries with different conditions can help identify equally important barriers. For instance, in countries with few IEs, more personal initiative is required for adjustment, as there are fewer fellow IEs to provide support, and interactions with the native population may be less familiar (Andresen et al. 2020 ). Given that adjustment processes are influenced by social systems that create inequities across individuals and groups, future research should systematically consider the social conditions in different cultures and how these inequities affect IEs’ ability to achieve positive outcomes (Szabó 2022 ). This necessitates a more deliberate sampling approach for destination countries/regions and the nationality of IEs, including “exceptional” destinations and nationalities, and examining the combination of nationality and host country attractiveness in future studies.

Research Themes

Most studies on anticipatory adjustment (68%) focused on assigned expatriates, which is understandable given their affiliation with the same company. Assigned expatriates typically receive support from their organisation before their assignment, facilitating their anticipatory adjustment. However, it is worth noting that all other types of international employees also engage in planning before relocating to another country. Therefore, they will likely undergo some form of individual anticipatory adjustment that could impact their adjustment abroad. Despite this, only seven articles explored the anticipatory adjustment of SIEs, and four studies examined the migrant group. Since SIEs and other migrants typically do not receive financial support from their employers for relocation, studying their anticipatory adjustment could benefit both receiving companies and countries. Hence, there is a need for more research on the anticipatory adjustment of all types of international employees beyond assigned expatriates.

Antecedents of in-country adjustment for international employees were categorised into individual, organisational, and country-level factors. However, some antecedents, such as networks, host country nationals, host country language proficiency, or person-organisation fit, could be attributed to multiple levels depending on the researcher’s perspective. For example, social support networks may not solely be “work-related” at work, even within the workplace environment. Individuals often form close networks with co-workers from various departments based on non-work-related factors like shared interests. Therefore, the impact of these adjustment antecedents on international employee adjustment may extend beyond the organisational level. This highlights the need for research that examines antecedents affecting multiple levels (individual, organisation, country) and stages of international employee adjustment.

Only 14 articles investigated how demographics might affect international employee adjustment; one emphasised the age of international employees, and 13 examined gender (with four focusing on women and seven comparing men with women). It is important to note that no articles addressed adjustment related to transgender or other genders. The lack of understanding regarding how international employees’ demographics or the host country’s environment influence adjustment could lead to poor decision-making and negative consequences for businesses, such as decreased motivation among international employees and disruptions in interactions with customers, suppliers, and colleagues abroad (Olsen and Martins 2009 ). This highlights the need for more research on the effects of international employees’ demographics and the host country’s demographics on adjustment.

A phenomenon not previously explored in existing studies is remote adjustment, which refers to the adjustment process experienced by workers with indirect and often temporary intercultural contact with individuals in geographically separated cultures. This indirect contact occurs virtually through the Internet, where IEs build social networks and seek support. Research by Canhilal et al. ( 2022 ) indicates that these virtual networks and Internet-based support significantly influence IE adjustment.

The concept of remote adjustment may have been particularly accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic, which brought about widespread changes in workplaces worldwide, especially in technologically advanced countries. With the shift to online work replacing traditional face-to-face interactions, there has been a surge in virtual assignments and international remote work arrangements. As a result, an increasing number of IEs are navigating adjustment challenges in virtual environments. Given the growing prevalence of virtual work arrangements, exploring the adjustment experiences of virtual IEs, particularly in the context of information technologies, becomes essential in the post-COVID era. Understanding how remote adjustment unfolds and identifying effective strategies for supporting virtual IEs will benefit employers and international employees.

Theoretical contributions

To demonstrate the significance of this hybrid review in enriching the adjustment literature, we refer to Mukherjee et al. ( 2022 ) systematisation for delineating the critical pathways to making theoretical contributions. Within theoretical contributions (as outlined by Whetten, 1989 ), our examination reveals that prevailing adjustment research predominantly addresses fundamental theoretical questions. These inquiries encompass defining the adjustment construct, identifying the contributing factors to pre- and post-relocation adjustment phases (the conceptual landscape), delineating the interconnections among these factors (nomological network), and elucidating the underlying causal mechanisms (Mukherjee et al. 2022 ). Whereby the model of Black et al. ( 1991 ) plays a vital role in conceptualising international adjustment as both multifaceted (work and general adjustments together with interactions with host-country nationals) and time-related (anticipatory and in-country adjustments).

A primary theoretical contribution emanating from our analysis is the recognition that while the model proposed by Black et al. ( 1991 ) remains prominent, adjustment research also incorporates other theoretical constructs (such as acculturation, integration, and adaptation, albeit infrequently assimilation), which are often used synonymously. Consequently, regarding construct definition, a pressing need exists for either consolidation or precise demarcation of these constructs. A comprehensive comparison of literature concerning expatriates and migrants, as detailed in the research agenda mentioned earlier, holds promise for theoretically refining the conceptual landscape, nomological network, and causal mechanisms (Mukherjee et al. 2022 ).

Secondly, by delineating knowledge clusters or primary themes in adjustment research (Mukherjee et al. 2022 ), our analysis underscores the underexplored boundaries of adjustment theory, particularly temporal and contextual factors. These boundary conditions encompass discerning variances in adjustment predicated on the identity of the individuals undergoing adjustment (types of IEs, locals), the geographical locations involved (countries of origin and destination), and the timing of adjustment (anticipatory and in-country phases). Studies on expatriation and migration have explored distinct boundary conditions, but the findings need to be synthesised to inform future research on adjustment. Statistical data has revealed that the sampled populations are not fully representative, highlighting some research gaps that must be addressed. It is essential to compare the findings in the context of the “where” boundary condition to understand the topic better.

Thirdly, our systematic analysis underscores elevated researcher interest despite the increasing productivity in IE adjustment research over time by tracing evolutionary nuances to understand the trajectory of adjustment research (Mukherjee et al. 2022 ). However, a notable trend emerges wherein most research has predominantly focused on assigned expatriates, with all other IE categories receiving considerably less scholarly attention. This discrepancy highlights the imperative for a more equitable distribution of research focus across diverse IE cohorts to foster a comprehensive understanding of adjustment phenomena.

The fourth theoretical contribution centres on identifying significant knowledge gaps within adjustment research. Addressing these gaps necessitates a heightened focus on several areas in future studies. Specifically, increased attention should be given to anticipatory adjustment, particularly for migrants but encompassing all types of IEs. Additionally, there should be a more concentrated examination of in-country adjustment, specifically emphasising migrants and various country-related factors such as the cultural appeal of the home versus the host country, economic considerations, and political dynamics. Expanding the scope to include a broader range of countries of origin and destination, demographic variables, remote adjustment, and locals’ attitudes towards IEs’ adjustment or even their adjustment to them is essential.

The theoretical insights gleaned from systematic mapping highlight the necessity for future studies to adopt research methodologies that facilitate the evolution of adjustment theory from an intermediate to a mature stage, advocating for a hybrid research approach.

These findings contribute significantly to international human resource management and business, emphasising the need for additional research involving SIEs and migrants. Given the global rise in their numbers, particularly in less-explored countries and adjustment factors, such research has the potential to deepen our comprehension of the adjustment phenomenon.

Limitations and implications for research

The study is subject to several limitations that warrant acknowledgement. A methodological constraint is inherent in bibliometric analysis, as it primarily involves categorising and organising extensive bibliometric data (Andersen 2019 ). Although the supplementary content analysis of abstracts in this hybrid review offers additional insights into the state of research, it remains somewhat superficial. Future researchers are encouraged to delve deeper into relevant publications to facilitate a more nuanced differentiation of their research questions based on the research fields identified in this review.

Secondly, a limitation arises from our focus on business and management. The selection of articles inherently reflects a somewhat homogeneous perspective on IE adjustment research, with the organisational context typically foregrounded in these studies. Publications in sociology, economics, or psychology could offer additional insights into IE adjustment, such as those related to the macroeconomic context (sociology, economics) or individual antecedents, such as memory and identity (psychology).

Thirdly, our exploration was confined to the WoS database, inevitably influencing the articles. While it is generally acknowledged that there is a significant overlap in content indexed between WoS and Scopus (Pranckutė 2021 ), Donthu et al. ( 2021 ) advocate for selecting “one appropriate database to mitigate the need for that consolidation” (p. 293) and the associated risks of errors, a search in Scopus or Dimensions databases could have broadened the scope, considering they encompass journals not included in WoS.

Fourthly, our study’s search was restricted to English-language articles. Including articles in various languages would introduce research from diverse nations, fostering the exchange of research insights.

Conclusions

Based on a comprehensive review spanning 32 years of theory and research on adjustment, it is evident that studies concerning IE adjustment have seen a remarkable increase over this period. To advance adjustment theory and research further, future research should be deliberate in two key aspects: research design, incorporating purposeful sampling across demographics, types of IE, nationality, and destination countries, and methodological alignment through a hybrid approach that integrates qualitative and quantitative methods; and research focus, involving systematic selection and analysis of host countries alongside their social, political, and technological contexts, comparison of IE adjustment with that of local populations, examination of pre-departure and in-country adjustment among various IE types, and tracking adjustment over time, including remote settings. This proposed research agenda is extensive and essential for progressing intermediate adjustment theory towards maturity.

Data availability

All data generated or analysed during this study are included in this published article [and its supplementary information files].

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Baneviciene, I., Andresen, M. & Kumpikaite-Valiuniene, V. Assessing the status quo of international employees’ adjustment research, 1990–2022: a review and future research agenda. Humanit Soc Sci Commun 11 , 633 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-024-03098-y

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