One challenge is defining a specific topic. For example, the topic “Federal Reserve” is far too broad. Here are considerations and suggestions for you in defining your research topic:

1. Start by review the major topics of the course. See how the textbook is organized, and flip through the various chapters to identify potential topics.
2. Start by reviewing the requirements and grading criteria for the paper as listed in the syllabus.
3. Select a topic in which you have interest and/or one in which you wish to increase your understanding.
4. Conduct some very preliminary research to ensure that there are sufficient sources for you to support your analysis.
5. Your paper must be analytic. Meaning one must combine research on the topic to define a problem and the key stakeholders harmed by the problem, explore the scope of the issue/problem, and provide recommendation and implementation plan. This can only be accomplished through analysis/examination of the issue or problem.
6. Solely describing the issue/problem and/or the history of the issue/problem is insufficient. For example, writing on the history of the two most recent U.S. recessions is not an acceptable topic.
7. Primary business sources must be used. Here is a recommended list of trade publications that are acceptable (this is not an inclusive list).
   • Bloomberg (Links to an external site.)
   • CNN (Links to an external site.)
   • New York Times (Links to an external site.)
   • CNBC (Links to an external site.)
   • BBC (Links to an external site.)
   • Market Watch (Links to an external site.)
   • Reuters (Links to an external site.)
   • The Guardian (Links to an external site.)
   • Economist (Links to an external site.)
   • Wall Street Journal (Links to an external site.)
   • Financial Times (Links to an external site.)
8. APA format must be used. The best sources for APA include the OWL APA website (Links to an external site.) and the Wilmington University APA resources (Links to an external site.).

See attached for paper requirements