English 111/111A

A researchable topic fulfills the following requirements:

• You can research and write about it in the time required.
• You can find all the sources you need to support it.
• You can fulfill all assignment requirements with the topic.

What if...

You find the perfect book covering your topic. You MUST have this book. However, the book is checked out to another student and won't be back until after your assignment is due. You could request the book through interlibrary loan, but it won't arrive at Delta Library until after your assignment is due. Your topic may not be researchable.

Does your assignment require you use academic journal articles for some of your sources? Not all topics will have academic/scholarly articles written about them, and you may not be able to find any articles you can use. Your topic may not be researchable.

Testing your topic with preliminary research avoids these unpleasant scenarios.