what is an i search essay

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I-Search Paper Format Guide

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An I-Search paper is a personal research paper about a topic that is important to the writer. An I-Search paper is usually less formal than a traditional research paper; it tells the story of the writer’s personal search for information, as well as what the writer learned about the topic.

Many I-Search papers use the structure illustrated in this framework:

The Search Story

• Hook readers immediately. Your readers are more likely to care about your topic if you begin with an attention-getting opener. Help them understand why it was important for you to find out more about the topic.
• Explain what you already knew about your topic. Briefly describe your prior knowledge about the topic before you started your research.
• Tell what you wanted to learn and why . Explain why the topic is important to you, and let readers know what motivated your search.
• Include a thesis statement. Turn your research question into a statement that is based on your research.
• Retrace your research steps. Tell readers about your sources – how you found them and why you used them.

The Search Results

Describe the significance of your research experience. Restate your thesis.

Discuss your results and give support . Describe the findings of your research. Write at least one paragraph for each major research result. Support your findings with quotations, paraphrases, and summaries of information from sources.

Search Reflections

Describe important results of your research. Support your findings.

Reflect on your search . Describe what you learned and how your research experience might have changed you and your future. Also, remind readers of your thesis.

Source: This Writer’s Model has been formatted according to the standards of the MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers , Fifth Edition | Copyright © by Holt, Rinehart, and Winston. All rights renewed.

Citations and References

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Introduction to Visual Culture

• I-Search Paper
• List of Pairs
• Books and Additional Resources
• Wikipedia This link opens in a new window
• Quality Sources This link opens in a new window
• Types of Information This link opens in a new window
• Sample Annotations This link opens in a new window
• Art History Tutoring This link opens in a new window

I-Search Paper versus Research Report

An I-Search paper is a mindful introduction to doing research.

Instead of focusing on finding sources that support a thesis, an I-Search paper is all about the process. Through documentation and reflection, students can compare how their understanding of the pair of objects evolves as their knowledge about it deepens. They can examine their search strategies, to become better researchers in the future.

For experienced researchers, the I-Search paper is a way to reflect and improve upon your current research skills.

How to Write the I-Search Paper

What is an i-search paper.

An I-Search Paper helps you learn the nature of searching and discovery on a chosen topic. Your goal is to pay attention, track this exploration, and LEARN HOW YOU LEARN so that you can repeat the process in other courses.

The I-Search Paper should be the story of your search process , including chronological reflections on the phases of research in a narrative form. The I is for YOU. It's the story of YOUR search and what YOU learned.

Image: Franzi

Step 1. Document Your Research Process

Keep track of the actual search terms and specific databases you used and how you modified your strategy as you went along. You will include those details in your paper. Analyze the results. How many hits did you get? Say how and why you modified your search strategy to get more or less. What did you learn about each database that you tried? What kind of information did you find. Why were the names of the journals or magazines articles were in.

In all your research, include actual facts and theories that you discover about your topic as well as idiosyncratic information such as what surprised you. You could say what you already knew about the topic before beginning the research and how what you knew about that topic may have changed during the research process.

If you have trouble finding relevant materials in the Library, ask a librarian . They have Master's Degrees in research, are more discerning than search engines. Plus, they are happy to assist!

Image: InkFactory

2. Look Through Art History Survey Sites

Consult reputable online art history sites, such as the Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History and smARThistory .

If you are able to physically visit the Library, there are several general art history textbooks ( N 5300 ) available in the Reference section, including Art History by Marilyn Stokstad. They are concise sources for specific art historical contexts for your chosen objects. Some are as e-books.

Many (but not all) of the Wall items are discussed in all of these general art history resources.

Step 3. Search Wikipedia

What you want to learn is the facts about the object--context, movement, date, etc. To find more about how to appropriately use Wikipedia for college-level research, consult the Research Guide for Wikipedia .

Wikipedia is an encyclopedia which is excellent for background information . Pay special attention to the footnotes and references at the bottom of the page. they may guide you to excellent academic sources.

Step 4. Search the Library Catalog

Next, search OwlCat , the library catalog, for books, ebooks, and articles.

Many of the objects you are researching have articles and sometimes even entire books written about them. If not, you should find some articles. If you cannot find enough items, broaden your search to find a book about the artist, designer, or culture.

Once you find a suitable item, use its call number and browse the shelves for similar items.

Step 5. Search the Databases

Check out the Databases listed on the Library website. OwlCat's search results may be overwhelming, so it may be easier to search each research database individually.

Art Source is arguably the best for art courses and is tightly integrated into OwlCat. ProQuest Research Library also covers many art and desing publications; however, its results may not show up as much in OwlCat.

Explore our research databases!

Step 6. Create a Bibliography

You will then create a bibliography of at least 2 sources--books, museum websites, or journal articles. Wikipedia won't really count as one of your sources since it's really just about finding background information or referrals to other sources.

If you include websites in your bibliography, make sure they are educationally oriented. Find out who wrote them and what their credentials are. For instance, museum websites are often written by curators/art historians whose purpose is the educate. Additionally,  Smarthistory , now part of Khan Academy, discusses many iconic works and these are written by PhD. art historians. If you find something on this site, it would be a very good source. Make sure your web sources are Quality Web Sources.

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Step 7. Write Evaluative Annotations

You must annotate and evaluate the sources in the bibliography or works cited list. Remember, the annotations must include the credentials of the author and the type of information (scholarly, popular, etc.), and the intended audience of the publication. See:

• Sample Annotations
• Annotation Builder
• Criteria for Evaluating Information
• Types of Information

Image: FuzzBones

Relevant Databases

Video: Searching Is Strategic

Locating information requires a combination of inquiry, discovery, and serendipity. There is no one size fits all source to find the needed information. Information discovery is nonlinear and iterative, requiring the use of abroad range of information sources and flexibility to pursuit alternate avenues as new understanding is developed. Depending on the information need and context, the learner may need to consult a variety of resources ranging from databases and books to observations and interviews.

Minimum Requirements

Foundation level competency, c - level information literacy.

Source information is RESTATED to support topic and includes TWO annotations that may be from books, database articles, or academic/museum/ professional websites.

Sources must appear as in‐text citations and on a works cited page

Each annotation must include 3 of the following criteria:

• Author’s credentials related to topic
• Description of type of source/audience
• Discussion of purpose/point of view
• Discussion of currency of the source
• Explain why the source is relevant to the assignment.

Complete Foundation Rubric

• LAS: Foundation level Core Compentency Rubric 3-Outcome Rubric, 2020 version

Do You Need Citation Help?

In addition to this guide, the Library offers a variety of information literacy instruction.

• Meet with a Librarian one-on-one for help with research, citations, and annotations
• The Student Learning Center (SLC) also provides drop-in tutoring. Be sure to check their current hours here.
• Faculty may request an in-class workshop for Annotations and/or Citations by filling out this form .

You may also visit the Library for citation help, or use the Ask a Librarian form on the Library website.

• Evaluating Sources
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• Information Literacy
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Promoting Student-Directed Inquiry with the I-Search Paper

About this Strategy Guide

The sense of curiosity behind research writing gets lost in some school-based assignments.  This Strategy Guide provides the foundation for cultivating interest and authority through I-Search writing, including publishing online.

Research Basis

Strategy in practice, related resources.

The cognitive demands of research writing are numerous and daunting.  Selecting, reading, and taking notes from sources; organizing and writing up findings; paying attention to citation and formatting rules.  Students can easily lose sight of the purpose of research as it is conducted in “the real world”—finding the answer to an important question.

The I-Search (Macrorie, 1998) empowers students by making their self-selected questions about themselves, their lives, and their world the focus of the research and writing process.  The strong focus on metacognition—paying attention to and writing about the research process methods and extensive reflection on the importance of the topic and findings—makes for meaningful and purposeful writing.

Online publication resources such as blogging software make for easy production of multimodal, digital writing that can be shared with any number of audiences.

Assaf, L., Ash, G., Saunders, J. and Johnson, J.  (2011).  " Renewing Two Seminal Literacy Practices: I-Charts and I-Search Papers ."  English Journal , 18(4), 31-42.

Lyman, H.  (2006).  “ I-Search in the Age of Information .”  English Journal , 95(4), 62-67.

Macrorie, K. (1998).  The I-Search Paper: Revised Edition of Searching Writing .  Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann-Boynton/Cook.

• Before introducing the I-Search paper, set clear goals and boundaries for the assignment.  In some contexts, a completely open assignment can be successful.  In others, a more limited focus such as research on potential careers (e.g., Lyman, 2006)  may be appropriate.
• Introduce the concept of the I-Search by sharing with students that they will be learning about something that is personally interesting and significant for them—something they have the desire to understand more about.  Have students generate a list of potential topics.
• Review student topic lists and offer supportive feedback—either through written comments or in individual conferences—on the topics that have the most potential for success given the scope of the assignment and the research resources to which students will have access.
• After offering feedback, have students choose the topic that seems to have the most potential and allow them to brainstorm as many questions as they can think of.  When students have had plenty of time to ponder the topic, ask them to choose a tentative central question—the main focus for their inquiry—and four possible sub-questions—questions that will help them narrow their research in support of their main question.  Use the I-Search Chart to help students begin to see the relationships among their inquiry questions.
• Begin the reflective component of the I-Search right away and use the I-Search Chart to help students  write about why they chose the topic they did, what they already know about the topic, and what they hope to learn from their research.  Students will be please to hear at this point that they have already completed a significant section of their first draft.
• Engage reader’s attention and interest; explain why learning more about this topic was personally important for you.
• Explain what you already knew about the topic before you even started researching.
• Let readers know what you wanted to learn and why.  State your main question and the subquestions that support it.
• Retrace your research steps by describing the search terms and sources you used.  Discuss things that went well and things that were challenging.
• Share with readers the “big picture” of your most significant findings.
• Describe your results and give support.
• Use findings statements to orient the reader and develop your ideas with direct quotations, paraphrases, and summaries of information from your sources.
• Properly cite all information from sources.
• Discuss what you learned from your research experience.  How might your experience and what you learned affect your choices or opportunities in the future.
• At this point, the research process might be similar to that of a typical research project except students should have time during every class period to write about their process, questions they’re facing, challenges they’ve overcome, and changes they’ve made to their research process.  Students will not necessarily be able to look ahead to the value of these reflections, so take the time early in the process to model what reflection might look like and offer feedback on their early responses.  You may wish to use the I-Search Process Reflection Chart to help students think through their reflections at various stages of the process.
• Support students as they engage in the research and writing process, offering guidance on potential local contacts for interviews and other sources that can heighten their engagement in the authenticity of the research process.
• To encourage effective organization and synthesis of information from multiple sources, you may wish to have students assign a letter to each of their questions (A through E, for example) and a number to each of their sources (1 through 6, for example).  As they find content that relates to one of their questions, they can write the corresponding letter in the margin.  During drafting, students can use the source numbers as basic citation before incorporating more sophisticated, conventional citation.

How to Start a Blog

Blog About Courage Using Photos

Creating Character Blogs

Online Safety

Teaching with Blogs

• Content is placed on appropriate, well-labeled pages.  The pages are linked to one another sensibly (all internal links).
• Images/video add to the reader’s understanding of the content, are appropriately sized and imbedded, and are properly cited.
• Text that implies a link should be hyperlinked.  Internal links (to other pages of the blog) stay in the same browser window; External links (to pages off the blog) open in a new browser window.
• Lesson Plans
• Student Interactives

This tool allows students to create an online K-W-L chart. Saving capability makes it easy for them to start the chart before reading and then return to it to reflect on what they learned.

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Explore Resources by Grade

• Kindergarten K

The I-Search: Guiding Students Toward Relevant Research

Adapting a four-step process, a motivating theme, active learning, intriguing questions, a panoply of resources, assessing stage by stage, risks and rewards.

BOOM! You're sitting in the movie theater and all of a sudden a car blows up. Or you're quietly munching your popcorn while your favorite bad guy gets shot and almost simultaneously starts to bleed. Did you ever wonder how these effects are created? I certainly have. Sometimes I get so involved in figuring out how a special effect was accomplished that I lose interest in the movie. That is why I chose special effects for my I-Search topic.

Finally, each student poses an I-Search question to guide his or her inquiry. For example: Submarines helped find the remains of many ships, and also expanded our knowledge of the giant body of water that we call the ocean. I have wondered about the ocean ever since I was young. In this report I will show you what I have learned. My search question is: How do submarines expand our knowledge of the ocean?

• plan their units to engage students;
• coach students to take ownership of the inquiry process;
• incorporate a variety of materials and resources , including technology; and
• assess student work on an ongoing basis.
• What impact does technology have on our lives?
• How do job descriptions change as technology changes?
• How do the rapid changes in technology affect individuals and society?
• Why must people consider ethical issues when developing technology?

Because of their careful planning, teachers will be better able to help students connect seemingly isolated ideas and larger themes. The theme and concepts form a sort of umbrella, under which students will identify their own personally meaningful, researchable I-Search questions. In the technology unit, for example, one student framed her question this way: The reason why I chose animal treatment is because I was curious as to why they give certain things to my animals when they get sick. My question is: How has technology affected veterinary care? Now I know about some of the medicines they give our animals. I feel much better when the vet prescribes medicines that will make Lilly Mary Margaret better.

• to help students discover what they already know about the theme;
• to build background knowledge and deepen students' understanding of the theme and overarching questions;
• to model for students a variety of ways to gather information;
• to have students learn by doing; and
• to encourage students to take responsibility for their own inquiries.

The goal is for students to generate I-Search questions that they feel passionate about. Students recognize how important this is. When we asked them what advice they would give novices embarking on an I-Search process, one boy replied, You better find a question you really care about because you will be working with that question for six weeks.

• read books, magazines, newspapers, or reference texts;
• watch videos, filmstrips, or television shows;
• use CD-ROM reference tools;
• interview people or conduct surveys;
• conduct an experiment or engage in a simulation; or
• go on a field trip.

Modeling the interviewing process has been especially important. As one student reported, For my interview I called five hospitals to find an oncologist and finally I got one at Sloan Kettering.

During Phase 2, students design their search plan by working closely with the library media specialists to learn how to use the school's resources. The students' I-Search papers convey how they actively apply their research skills: I started my I-Search process by writing a business letter to a company....At first I used the computers in the library.... I looked under diabetes and there was too much information so I looked under diabetes and technology and I found a lot of good information. After the computers I went to the SIRS.... Then I finally went to microfiche and that's where I found all my information. So far that's my best source.When I first set out to research I wasn't sure where to start. I decided to use the UMI system on the school library's computer to find citations for magazines that had articles on special effects. I had never used this system before, but I soon found out it was quite simple to use. I got a list of seven or so citations in the time period I had on the computer.Walking back to my seat to look at my list I got distracted by a book I saw on the shelf. It proved to have excellent information on everything I needed and I would later find out it would be my best source of information.

The I-Search: Guiding Students Toward Relevant Research-table

Teachers also encourage students to assess their own work, a process that often reveals insights that exceed a teacher's expectations. For example, one student wrote the following in the section of the report on “What This Means to Me”: This work will be a great influence on how I act and think toward people because with this project I was able to work with other people who had a similar topic to the one I had. I had to be nice and really communicate with that person or else we wouldn't get along. I am now used to being this way with other people and not just with that person.

It is a testimonial to the teachers' coaching that students appreciate being able to pick their own topics and generally exercise independence. Said one student with learning disabilities: In this project (I) learned a lot about myself because I did this project all by myself but sometimes I needed help. I feel that I did very good. Another 7th grader told how she developed as a researcher: I learned to use the computer to gather information, which I had never attempted before because I was scared to. I no longer shy away from large books, because I learned to take things slowly, and one paragraph at a time. I also learned to not get frustrated or become overwhelmed. I also realized that if you try your best, it will be satisfactory, and you don't always have to be the absolute best.... I was surprised that I took the risk of changing my topic, but even so I am extremely glad that I did because this is what I really wanted. Other students' comments: I've learned that in every job, big or small, there are many difficulties and at the same time, moments of triumph.I learned about a subject that I knew almost nothing about and that gave me a great feeling of accomplishment.I enjoyed researching information about my topic. The most fun part was when I did my interview.I appreciate myself as a researcher and a writer because I am able to make my own decisions. I also appreciate myself because I don't have to take that many orders from teachers and other people and I am able to take risks.

Macrorie, K. (1988). The I-Search Paper . Portsmouth, N.H.: Boynton/Cook Publishers.

Zorfass, J. (1991). Make It Happen ! Newton, Mass.: Education Development Center, Inc.

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Home › Blog Topics › The I-Search Paper: Getting Students Excited about Research

The I-Search Paper: Getting Students Excited about Research

By Karin Greenberg on 01/25/2021 • ( 1 )

Whenever I teach a research lesson to a class of high school students, I notice the lack of enthusiasm for the project they’re about to start. I find myself working hard to convince them that research is a rewarding endeavor and that the process can be exciting and fun. After I’ve gone through the details of how to use databases and other resources to search for information, I answer any questions they have. Like a thought bubble in a cartoon strip, each student’s question is accompanied by the unspoken words, “How can I get what I need quickly so I can be done with my assignment.” 

Last week, while teaching research lessons to 9th-grade classes, I encountered something different. Maybe I was imagining it (we were on Zoom, after all), but the students seemed more interested in the work that was ahead of them. The reason, I believe, is that their English teacher assigned an I-Search paper, instead of the traditional research paper. Fueled by a topic that interests them, the I-Search paper includes information about their subject, but also catalogues their search processes and pushes them to analyze each step along their research paths. 

Research is an acquired skill, one that is more important than ever in a time of continually flowing information and disinformation. Not only is responsible investigating necessary for finding credible information, but it also serves as a catalyst for critical thinking and analysis, tools that will benefit students in every area of their lives. Some high school students are actively involved in research programs in which they develop college-level abilities that will help them continue on a strenuous academic path. But for average students who are not afforded the extra attention, an I-Search paper can be a motivating factor in setting them on the right course toward inquiry and engagement.

Research Tips for Students:

• Sweet Search: Instead of using Google, which contains information that is not always credible, use Sweet Search, an academic search engine whose results are vetted by scholars and experts.
• Google Books: Take advantage of this database of millions of digitally scanned books and magazines from libraries around the world.
• Works Cited: Open up a blank Google Doc (or Microsoft Word Doc) where you can quickly paste a citation copied from a database.
• Database Tools: Become familiar with the tools on each of the school’s databases. The most important ones are the citation tool, the date limiter, and the icon that saves an article to Google Drive or your computer file.
• Search Terms: Practice finding different words or phrases for keywords used in your information search. If you’re having trouble, Google a term to find similar words commonly used to discuss it.
• Purdue OWL: Explore this comprehensive website that will help you check format, style, and many other areas of your research paper.

Work Cited:

Appling-Jenson, Brandy, Carolyn Anzia, and Kathleen G. 2013. “ Bringing Passion to the Research Process: The I-Search Paper.” 130-151.

Author: Karin Greenberg

Karin Greenberg is the librarian at Manhasset High School in Manhasset, New York. She is a former English teacher and writes book reviews for School Library Journal. In addition to reading, she enjoys animals, walking, hiking, and spending time with her family. Follow her book account on Instagram @bookswithkg.

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Categories: Blog Topics , Student Engagement/ Teaching Models

Tags: collaboration , databases , high school library , I-Search paper , library lessons , Research , search engines , student engagement , technology

Great article! Self-determination theory (Deci & Ryan, 2000) backs up Ms. Greenberg’s observation on the motivating power of student choice. An I-search paper is a great assignment at any time, but perhaps never more so than during a public health crisis which necessarily limits choice options.

The top list of academic search engines

1. Google Scholar

4. science.gov, 5. semantic scholar, 6. baidu scholar, get the most out of academic search engines, frequently asked questions about academic search engines, related articles.

Academic search engines have become the number one resource to turn to in order to find research papers and other scholarly sources. While classic academic databases like Web of Science and Scopus are locked behind paywalls, Google Scholar and others can be accessed free of charge. In order to help you get your research done fast, we have compiled the top list of free academic search engines.

Google Scholar is the clear number one when it comes to academic search engines. It's the power of Google searches applied to research papers and patents. It not only lets you find research papers for all academic disciplines for free but also often provides links to full-text PDF files.

• Coverage: approx. 200 million articles
• Abstracts: only a snippet of the abstract is available
• Related articles: ✔
• References: ✔
• Cited by: ✔
• Links to full text: ✔
• Export formats: APA, MLA, Chicago, Harvard, Vancouver, RIS, BibTeX

BASE is hosted at Bielefeld University in Germany. That is also where its name stems from (Bielefeld Academic Search Engine).

• Coverage: approx. 136 million articles (contains duplicates)
• Abstracts: ✔
• Related articles: ✘
• References: ✘
• Cited by: ✘
• Export formats: RIS, BibTeX

CORE is an academic search engine dedicated to open-access research papers. For each search result, a link to the full-text PDF or full-text web page is provided.

• Coverage: approx. 136 million articles
• Links to full text: ✔ (all articles in CORE are open access)
• Export formats: BibTeX

Science.gov is a fantastic resource as it bundles and offers free access to search results from more than 15 U.S. federal agencies. There is no need anymore to query all those resources separately!

• Coverage: approx. 200 million articles and reports
• Links to full text: ✔ (available for some databases)
• Export formats: APA, MLA, RIS, BibTeX (available for some databases)

Semantic Scholar is the new kid on the block. Its mission is to provide more relevant and impactful search results using AI-powered algorithms that find hidden connections and links between research topics.

• Coverage: approx. 40 million articles
• Export formats: APA, MLA, Chicago, BibTeX

Although Baidu Scholar's interface is in Chinese, its index contains research papers in English as well as Chinese.

• Coverage: no detailed statistics available, approx. 100 million articles
• Abstracts: only snippets of the abstract are available
• Export formats: APA, MLA, RIS, BibTeX

RefSeek searches more than one billion documents from academic and organizational websites. Its clean interface makes it especially easy to use for students and new researchers.

• Coverage: no detailed statistics available, approx. 1 billion documents
• Abstracts: only snippets of the article are available
• Export formats: not available

Consider using a reference manager like Paperpile to save, organize, and cite your references. Paperpile integrates with Google Scholar and many popular databases, so you can save references and PDFs directly to your library using the Paperpile buttons:

Google Scholar is an academic search engine, and it is the clear number one when it comes to academic search engines. It's the power of Google searches applied to research papers and patents. It not only let's you find research papers for all academic disciplines for free, but also often provides links to full text PDF file.

Semantic Scholar is a free, AI-powered research tool for scientific literature developed at the Allen Institute for AI. Sematic Scholar was publicly released in 2015 and uses advances in natural language processing to provide summaries for scholarly papers.

BASE , as its name suggest is an academic search engine. It is hosted at Bielefeld University in Germany and that's where it name stems from (Bielefeld Academic Search Engine).

CORE is an academic search engine dedicated to open access research papers. For each search result a link to the full text PDF or full text web page is provided.

Science.gov is a fantastic resource as it bundles and offers free access to search results from more than 15 U.S. federal agencies. There is no need any more to query all those resources separately!

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• Knowledge Base
• How to structure an essay: Templates and tips

How to Structure an Essay | Tips & Templates

Published on September 18, 2020 by Jack Caulfield . Revised on July 23, 2023.

The basic structure of an essay always consists of an introduction , a body , and a conclusion . But for many students, the most difficult part of structuring an essay is deciding how to organize information within the body.

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Table of contents

The basics of essay structure, chronological structure, compare-and-contrast structure, problems-methods-solutions structure, signposting to clarify your structure, other interesting articles, frequently asked questions about essay structure.

There are two main things to keep in mind when working on your essay structure: making sure to include the right information in each part, and deciding how you’ll organize the information within the body.

Parts of an essay

The three parts that make up all essays are described in the table below.

Order of information

You’ll also have to consider how to present information within the body. There are a few general principles that can guide you here.

The first is that your argument should move from the simplest claim to the most complex . The body of a good argumentative essay often begins with simple and widely accepted claims, and then moves towards more complex and contentious ones.

For example, you might begin by describing a generally accepted philosophical concept, and then apply it to a new topic. The grounding in the general concept will allow the reader to understand your unique application of it.

The second principle is that background information should appear towards the beginning of your essay . General background is presented in the introduction. If you have additional background to present, this information will usually come at the start of the body.

The third principle is that everything in your essay should be relevant to the thesis . Ask yourself whether each piece of information advances your argument or provides necessary background. And make sure that the text clearly expresses each piece of information’s relevance.

The sections below present several organizational templates for essays: the chronological approach, the compare-and-contrast approach, and the problems-methods-solutions approach.

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The chronological approach (sometimes called the cause-and-effect approach) is probably the simplest way to structure an essay. It just means discussing events in the order in which they occurred, discussing how they are related (i.e. the cause and effect involved) as you go.

A chronological approach can be useful when your essay is about a series of events. Don’t rule out other approaches, though—even when the chronological approach is the obvious one, you might be able to bring out more with a different structure.

Explore the tabs below to see a general template and a specific example outline from an essay on the invention of the printing press.

• Thesis statement
• Discussion of event/period
• Consequences
• Importance of topic
• Strong closing statement
• Claim that the printing press marks the end of the Middle Ages
• Background on the low levels of literacy before the printing press
• Thesis statement: The invention of the printing press increased circulation of information in Europe, paving the way for the Reformation
• High levels of illiteracy in medieval Europe
• Literacy and thus knowledge and education were mainly the domain of religious and political elites
• Consequence: this discouraged political and religious change
• Invention of the printing press in 1440 by Johannes Gutenberg
• Implications of the new technology for book production
• Consequence: Rapid spread of the technology and the printing of the Gutenberg Bible
• Trend for translating the Bible into vernacular languages during the years following the printing press’s invention
• Luther’s own translation of the Bible during the Reformation
• Consequence: The large-scale effects the Reformation would have on religion and politics
• Summarize the history described
• Stress the significance of the printing press to the events of this period

Essays with two or more main subjects are often structured around comparing and contrasting . For example, a literary analysis essay might compare two different texts, and an argumentative essay might compare the strengths of different arguments.

There are two main ways of structuring a compare-and-contrast essay: the alternating method, and the block method.

Alternating

In the alternating method, each paragraph compares your subjects in terms of a specific point of comparison. These points of comparison are therefore what defines each paragraph.

The tabs below show a general template for this structure, and a specific example for an essay comparing and contrasting distance learning with traditional classroom learning.

• Synthesis of arguments
• Topical relevance of distance learning in lockdown
• Increasing prevalence of distance learning over the last decade
• Thesis statement: While distance learning has certain advantages, it introduces multiple new accessibility issues that must be addressed for it to be as effective as classroom learning
• Classroom learning: Ease of identifying difficulties and privately discussing them
• Distance learning: Difficulty of noticing and unobtrusively helping
• Classroom learning: Difficulties accessing the classroom (disability, distance travelled from home)
• Distance learning: Difficulties with online work (lack of tech literacy, unreliable connection, distractions)
• Classroom learning: Tends to encourage personal engagement among students and with teacher, more relaxed social environment
• Distance learning: Greater ability to reach out to teacher privately
• Sum up, emphasize that distance learning introduces more difficulties than it solves
• Stress the importance of addressing issues with distance learning as it becomes increasingly common
• Distance learning may prove to be the future, but it still has a long way to go

In the block method, each subject is covered all in one go, potentially across multiple paragraphs. For example, you might write two paragraphs about your first subject and then two about your second subject, making comparisons back to the first.

The tabs again show a general template, followed by another essay on distance learning, this time with the body structured in blocks.

• Point 1 (compare)
• Point 2 (compare)
• Point 3 (compare)
• Point 4 (compare)
• Advantages: Flexibility, accessibility
• Disadvantages: Discomfort, challenges for those with poor internet or tech literacy
• Advantages: Potential for teacher to discuss issues with a student in a separate private call
• Disadvantages: Difficulty of identifying struggling students and aiding them unobtrusively, lack of personal interaction among students
• Advantages: More accessible to those with low tech literacy, equality of all sharing one learning environment
• Disadvantages: Students must live close enough to attend, commutes may vary, classrooms not always accessible for disabled students
• Advantages: Ease of picking up on signs a student is struggling, more personal interaction among students
• Disadvantages: May be harder for students to approach teacher privately in person to raise issues

An essay that concerns a specific problem (practical or theoretical) may be structured according to the problems-methods-solutions approach.

This is just what it sounds like: You define the problem, characterize a method or theory that may solve it, and finally analyze the problem, using this method or theory to arrive at a solution. If the problem is theoretical, the solution might be the analysis you present in the essay itself; otherwise, you might just present a proposed solution.

The tabs below show a template for this structure and an example outline for an essay about the problem of fake news.

• Introduce the problem
• Provide background
• Describe your approach to solving it
• Define the problem precisely
• Describe why it’s important
• Indicate previous approaches to the problem
• Present your new approach, and why it’s better
• Apply the new method or theory to the problem
• Indicate the solution you arrive at by doing so
• Assess (potential or actual) effectiveness of solution
• Describe the implications
• Problem: The growth of “fake news” online
• Prevalence of polarized/conspiracy-focused news sources online
• Thesis statement: Rather than attempting to stamp out online fake news through social media moderation, an effective approach to combating it must work with educational institutions to improve media literacy
• Definition: Deliberate disinformation designed to spread virally online
• Popularization of the term, growth of the phenomenon
• Previous approaches: Labeling and moderation on social media platforms
• Critique: This approach feeds conspiracies; the real solution is to improve media literacy so users can better identify fake news
• Greater emphasis should be placed on media literacy education in schools
• This allows people to assess news sources independently, rather than just being told which ones to trust
• This is a long-term solution but could be highly effective
• It would require significant organization and investment, but would equip people to judge news sources more effectively
• Rather than trying to contain the spread of fake news, we must teach the next generation not to fall for it

Signposting means guiding the reader through your essay with language that describes or hints at the structure of what follows.  It can help you clarify your structure for yourself as well as helping your reader follow your ideas.

The essay overview

In longer essays whose body is split into multiple named sections, the introduction often ends with an overview of the rest of the essay. This gives a brief description of the main idea or argument of each section.

The overview allows the reader to immediately understand what will be covered in the essay and in what order. Though it describes what  comes later in the text, it is generally written in the present tense . The following example is from a literary analysis essay on Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein .

Transitions

Transition words and phrases are used throughout all good essays to link together different ideas. They help guide the reader through your text, and an essay that uses them effectively will be much easier to follow.

Various different relationships can be expressed by transition words, as shown in this example.

Because Hitler failed to respond to the British ultimatum, France and the UK declared war on Germany. Although it was an outcome the Allies had hoped to avoid, they were prepared to back up their ultimatum in order to combat the existential threat posed by the Third Reich.

Transition sentences may be included to transition between different paragraphs or sections of an essay. A good transition sentence moves the reader on to the next topic while indicating how it relates to the previous one.

… Distance learning, then, seems to improve accessibility in some ways while representing a step backwards in others.

However , considering the issue of personal interaction among students presents a different picture.

If you want to know more about AI tools , college essays , or fallacies make sure to check out some of our other articles with explanations and examples or go directly to our tools!

• Ad hominem fallacy
• Post hoc fallacy
• Appeal to authority fallacy
• False cause fallacy
• Sunk cost fallacy

College essays

• Choosing Essay Topic
• Write a College Essay
• Write a Diversity Essay
• College Essay Format & Structure
• Comparing and Contrasting in an Essay

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The structure of an essay is divided into an introduction that presents your topic and thesis statement , a body containing your in-depth analysis and arguments, and a conclusion wrapping up your ideas.

The structure of the body is flexible, but you should always spend some time thinking about how you can organize your essay to best serve your ideas.

An essay isn’t just a loose collection of facts and ideas. Instead, it should be centered on an overarching argument (summarized in your thesis statement ) that every part of the essay relates to.

The way you structure your essay is crucial to presenting your argument coherently. A well-structured essay helps your reader follow the logic of your ideas and understand your overall point.

Comparisons in essays are generally structured in one of two ways:

• The alternating method, where you compare your subjects side by side according to one specific aspect at a time.
• The block method, where you cover each subject separately in its entirety.

It’s also possible to combine both methods, for example by writing a full paragraph on each of your topics and then a final paragraph contrasting the two according to a specific metric.

You should try to follow your outline as you write your essay . However, if your ideas change or it becomes clear that your structure could be better, it’s okay to depart from your essay outline . Just make sure you know why you’re doing so.

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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.

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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).

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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.

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What is an Essay?

10 May, 2020

11 minutes read

Author:  Tomas White

Well, beyond a jumble of words usually around 2,000 words or so - what is an essay, exactly? Whether you’re taking English, sociology, history, biology, art, or a speech class, it’s likely you’ll have to write an essay or two. So how is an essay different than a research paper or a review? Let’s find out!

Defining the Term – What is an Essay?

The essay is a written piece that is designed to present an idea, propose an argument, express the emotion or initiate debate. It is a tool that is used to present writer’s ideas in a non-fictional way. Multiple applications of this type of writing go way beyond, providing political manifestos and art criticism as well as personal observations and reflections of the author.

An essay can be as short as 500 words, it can also be 5000 words or more.  However, most essays fall somewhere around 1000 to 3000 words ; this word range provides the writer enough space to thoroughly develop an argument and work to convince the reader of the author’s perspective regarding a particular issue.  The topics of essays are boundless: they can range from the best form of government to the benefits of eating peppermint leaves daily. As a professional provider of custom writing, our service has helped thousands of customers to turn in essays in various forms and disciplines.

Origins of the Essay

Over the course of more than six centuries essays were used to question assumptions, argue trivial opinions and to initiate global discussions. Let’s have a closer look into historical progress and various applications of this literary phenomenon to find out exactly what it is.

Today’s modern word “essay” can trace its roots back to the French “essayer” which translates closely to mean “to attempt” .  This is an apt name for this writing form because the essay’s ultimate purpose is to attempt to convince the audience of something.  An essay’s topic can range broadly and include everything from the best of Shakespeare’s plays to the joys of April.

The essay comes in many shapes and sizes; it can focus on a personal experience or a purely academic exploration of a topic.  Essays are classified as a subjective writing form because while they include expository elements, they can rely on personal narratives to support the writer’s viewpoint.  The essay genre includes a diverse array of academic writings ranging from literary criticism to meditations on the natural world.  Most typically, the essay exists as a shorter writing form; essays are rarely the length of a novel.  However, several historic examples, such as John Locke’s seminal work “An Essay Concerning Human Understanding” just shows that a well-organized essay can be as long as a novel.

The Essay in Literature

The essay enjoys a long and renowned history in literature.  They first began gaining in popularity in the early 16 th century, and their popularity has continued today both with original writers and ghost writers.  Many readers prefer this short form in which the writer seems to speak directly to the reader, presenting a particular claim and working to defend it through a variety of means.  Not sure if you’ve ever read a great essay? You wouldn’t believe how many pieces of literature are actually nothing less than essays, or evolved into more complex structures from the essay. Check out this list of literary favorites:

• The Book of My Lives by Aleksandar Hemon
• Notes of a Native Son by James Baldwin
• Against Interpretation by Susan Sontag
• High-Tide in Tucson: Essays from Now and Never by Barbara Kingsolver
• Slouching Toward Bethlehem by Joan Didion
• Naked by David Sedaris
• Walden; or, Life in the Woods by Henry David Thoreau

Pretty much as long as writers have had something to say, they’ve created essays to communicate their viewpoint on pretty much any topic you can think of!

The Essay in Academics

Not only are students required to read a variety of essays during their academic education, but they will likely be required to write several different kinds of essays throughout their scholastic career.  Don’t love to write?  Then consider working with a ghost essay writer !  While all essays require an introduction, body paragraphs in support of the argumentative thesis statement, and a conclusion, academic essays can take several different formats in the way they approach a topic.  Common essays required in high school, college, and post-graduate classes include:

Five paragraph essay

This is the most common type of a formal essay. The type of paper that students are usually exposed to when they first hear about the concept of the essay itself. It follows easy outline structure – an opening introduction paragraph; three body paragraphs to expand the thesis; and conclusion to sum it up.

Argumentative essay

These essays are commonly assigned to explore a controversial issue.  The goal is to identify the major positions on either side and work to support the side the writer agrees with while refuting the opposing side’s potential arguments.

Compare and Contrast essay

This essay compares two items, such as two poems, and works to identify similarities and differences, discussing the strength and weaknesses of each.  This essay can focus on more than just two items, however.  The point of this essay is to reveal new connections the reader may not have considered previously.

Definition essay

This essay has a sole purpose – defining a term or a concept in as much detail as possible. Sounds pretty simple, right? Well, not quite. The most important part of the process is picking up the word. Before zooming it up under the microscope, make sure to choose something roomy so you can define it under multiple angles. The definition essay outline will reflect those angles and scopes.

Descriptive essay

Perhaps the most fun to write, this essay focuses on describing its subject using all five of the senses.  The writer aims to fully describe the topic; for example, a descriptive essay could aim to describe the ocean to someone who’s never seen it or the job of a teacher.  Descriptive essays rely heavily on detail and the paragraphs can be organized by sense.

Illustration essay

The purpose of this essay is to describe an idea, occasion or a concept with the help of clear and vocal examples. “Illustration” itself is handled in the body paragraphs section. Each of the statements, presented in the essay needs to be supported with several examples. Illustration essay helps the author to connect with his audience by breaking the barriers with real-life examples – clear and indisputable.

Informative Essay

Being one the basic essay types, the informative essay is as easy as it sounds from a technical standpoint. High school is where students usually encounter with informative essay first time. The purpose of this paper is to describe an idea, concept or any other abstract subject with the help of proper research and a generous amount of storytelling.

Narrative essay

This type of essay focuses on describing a certain event or experience, most often chronologically.  It could be a historic event or an ordinary day or month in a regular person’s life. Narrative essay proclaims a free approach to writing it, therefore it does not always require conventional attributes, like the outline. The narrative itself typically unfolds through a personal lens, and is thus considered to be a subjective form of writing.

Persuasive essay

The purpose of the persuasive essay is to provide the audience with a 360-view on the concept idea or certain topic – to persuade the reader to adopt a certain viewpoint. The viewpoints can range widely from why visiting the dentist is important to why dogs make the best pets to why blue is the best color.  Strong, persuasive language is a defining characteristic of this essay type.

The Essay in Art

Several other artistic mediums have adopted the essay as a means of communicating with their audience.  In the visual arts, such as painting or sculpting, the rough sketches of the final product are sometimes deemed essays.  Likewise, directors may opt to create a film essay which is similar to a documentary in that it offers a personal reflection on a relevant issue.  Finally, photographers often create photographic essays in which they use a series of photographs to tell a story, similar to a narrative or a descriptive essay.

Drawing the line – question answered

“What is an Essay?” is quite a polarizing question. On one hand, it can easily be answered in a couple of words. On the other, it is surely the most profound and self-established type of content there ever was. Going back through the history of the last five-six centuries helps us understand where did it come from and how it is being applied ever since.

If you must write an essay, follow these five important steps to works towards earning the “A” you want:

• Understand and review the kind of essay you must write
• Brainstorm your argument
• Find research from reliable sources to support your perspective
• Cite all sources parenthetically within the paper and on the Works Cited page
• Follow all grammatical rules

Generally speaking, when you must write any type of essay, start sooner rather than later!  Don’t procrastinate – give yourself time to develop your perspective and work on crafting a unique and original approach to the topic.  Remember: it’s always a good idea to have another set of eyes (or three) look over your essay before handing in the final draft to your teacher or professor.  Don’t trust your fellow classmates?  Consider hiring an editor or a ghostwriter to help out!

If you are still unsure on whether you can cope with your task – you are in the right place to get help. HandMadeWriting is the perfect answer to the question “Who can write my essay?”

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Students obtaining degrees in fine art and art & design programs most commonly need to write a paper on art topics. However, this subject is becoming more popular in educational institutions for expanding students’ horizons. Thus, both groups of receivers of education: those who are into arts and those who only get acquainted with art […]

Why I let my 5-year-old curse

I have a foul mouth. I love cursing. Not only can I not help it, but I also don’t want to. Nothing feels more satisfying than shouting, or muttering, a handful of four-letter words when confronted with any of life’s pitfalls or setbacks. And as a lifelong curser, there is no better place to live than New York City. The thrill of huffing out a swear word on a crowded sidewalk, senior citizens and toddlers be damned, can’t be replicated by a deep breathing exercise. I married a woman with the same pleasure, so our home is a constant cacophony of swear words.

When my wife became pregnant, we discussed what kind of parents we would be. We spent time conceptualizing what we wanted our home to feel like, outlining ideas for our family culture, but even as bonafide foul mouths, we never considered what we would do when our child inevitably said his first bad words .

Then around age 2.5 as our son was trying to shove a star block into a rectangle hole, we heard him shout, “damn hell,” before chucking the entire shape sorter set. Rainbow colored plastic pieces soared through our living room, and we froze, unsure of how to respond. He continued repeating the profanities and slamming his pudgy fists against the toy. As his small body flailed and the cursing persisted, high-pitched and incorrectly enunciated, I couldn’t help but laugh. Soon all three of us were howling and he seemed soothed, forgetting about his frustration. My wife went over and showed him where the star block fit and reminded him to ask us for help next time.

After collecting ourselves, my wife and I stared at each other. Well, now what are we going to do? One of the worst parts about parenting is you can’t know if the decisions you make and the structure you set up are working until much later, and generally by the time you can assess your parenting choices, it’s too late. It has either turned out totally fine or is a disaster. In the moment, as we heard him happily singing his string of curse words, likely trying to conjure another laugh from us, we realized we could spend the next decade or more ineffectively correcting him, redirecting him to standard alternatives, and reminding him he wasn’t allowed to say bad words, or we could let it rip. And after all, it didn’t seem fair that we could say certain words while he wasn’t allowed, and neither one of us were looking to cuss less. So, at 2.5 years we decided to lean in to making our home first-amendment-forward and created an open-word policy. The initial boundary was simple: Inside of our four walls, our kid can say whatever he wants .  

As a parent, most of the time when I create a house rule, its premise is to create a “no” and put limits in place of what our son is not allowed to do. Usually, these rules evoke some type of bodily control; no throwing, no kicking, no hitting, no eating sticky popsicles on the couch, you have to wash your hair, you have to brush your teeth. The list of activities my kid must do and must not do is endless. It felt great as a parent to, for once, put an additive rule in place. It seems important to note that in our home, we do not curse at one another, which so far we haven’t had to explicitly discuss, and I assume he has picked up through how we model cursing. This might need to be revisited as he enters his tween years. 

Soon after he received the green light to swear , he internalized this cursing-in-the-house rule as a special privilege, and we’ve never threatened to take it away. In fact, he takes the house rule seriously. Early on in our open-policy experiment I was frustrated, likely by something banal like the weather being too windy or our dog walking too slowly during a walk in our Brooklyn neighborhood, when I yelled an expletive. Before the words fully left my mouth, my kid quickly reprimanded me, “You can only say bad words in the house, our car, Grandpa’s house and Auntie’s house.” (The rule has expanded slightly over time.) 

Our kid has just turned 5 and the cursing continues to be appropriate and contained. He can just say, “This is f—ing stupid!” when I tell him no more TV, or when he can’t get his Magna-Tiles to stack perfectly. It gives our kid something naughty to do when he’s mad instead of hitting or kicking us. Although sometimes he still hits or kicks or throws, we’re working on it.  

Moreover, cursing is a proven way to let off some steam , and small bodies are full of hot air. Other studies have linked swearing to higher cognitive abilities , improved creativity and even as a way to increase pain tolerance , and why shouldn’t these same positive attributes apply to children? Who knows, maybe we’re fostering long-term useful characteristics in him. Honestly though, even if none of this was documented or true, I’d let him keep cussing, because I know that most importantly, it feels f—ing great.

Samantha Mann is a Brooklyn-based essayist. She is the author of the essay collection, "Putting Out: Essays on Otherness." Connect with her and find out more about her work at her website or on Instagram .

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Tess korobkin receives the 20th annual frost essay award.

Courtesy of Tess Korobin.

Tess Korobkin is the recipient of the Smithsonian American Art Museum’s Patricia and Phillip Frost Essay Award for her article “ Monumental Absence: Augusta Savage’s Unbuilt Monuments, 1931–1943 ,” which appeared in the fall 2023 issue (vol. 37, no. 3) of American Art, the museum’s peer-reviewed journal for new scholarship. Korobkin’s article focuses on sculptor Augusta Savage’s proposed monuments to Black American lives and histories, including memorials to transatlantic entertainer Florence Mills, author and civil rights leader James Weldon Johnson and the World War I service of the Harlem Hellfighters. While none of these works were ever constructed, Korobkin argues Savage’s unrealized public projects raise surprising new questions about how to approach absences in the U.S.-American memorial landscape through a history of what might have been.

The jurors who awarded the $1,000 prize were Cherise Smith, the Joseph D. Jamail Chair in African American studies and professor in the African and African Diaspora studies and art and art history departments at the University of Texas at Austin; Shawn Michelle Smith, professor of visual and critical studies at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago; and Chon A. Noriega, distinguished professor in the department of film, television and digital media at the University of California, Los Angeles. All three are members of the journal’s editorial board.

The jurors praised Korobkin for her “masterful demonstration on how to conduct research and produce effective critical writing on absent subjects” noting that the text “significantly expands our understanding of Savage’s creative practice.” The panel believes Korobkin’s article “fills critical gaps in our understanding of both Augusta Savage’s work and the historiography of monuments in the United States, and effectively ties this historical work to contemporary conversations about public memory and the role public visual culture plays in shaping our imaginations both forward and backwards in time.”

The Frost Essay Award recognizes excellent scholarship in the field of American art history by honoring an essay published the previous year in American Art. Each year, the winning essay must advance the understanding of American art history and demonstrate original research and fresh ideas. The award, established in 2004, is made possible through the Patricia and Phillip Frost Endowment.

Korobkin is an alumna of the Smithsonian American Art Museum fellowship program and an assistant professor in the department of art history and archaeology at the University of Maryland, College Park.

This year, for the third time in the history of the award, the jury has given an honorable mention; it goes to Chad Elias for his article “ Islam and the Middle East in the United States: Claire Beckett’s ‘Simulating Iraq’ and ‘The Converts ,’” which also appeared in the fall 2023 issue of American Art. Elias’ essay discusses Beckett’s portraits and landscapes taken in U.S. military training centers, where fabricated Afghan and Iraqi villages help soldiers prepare for deployment. These images interrogate long held and widespread misconceptions of the region.

Elias is an associate professor in the department of art history at Dartmouth College. His research looks expansively across geographies and media to engage with debates about state-sponsored violence, archival knowledge and the epistemological claims of lens-based media.  

The journal American Art is part of the Smithsonian American Art Museum’s robust publication program of books and catalogs that complements the museum’s exhibitions and educational programs. Information about subscribing, purchasing single issues or submitting articles to the journal, which is published for the museum by the University of Chicago Press, is available online . A complete list of past Frost Essay Award winners and additional information about the award are available on the museum’s website .

About the Smithsonian American Art Museum

The Smithsonian American Art Museum is the flagship museum in the United States for American art and craft. It is home to one of the most significant and inclusive collections of American art in the world. The museum’s main building, located at Eighth and G streets N.W., is open daily from 11:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. The museum’s Renwick Gallery, a branch museum dedicated to contemporary craft, is located on Pennsylvania Avenue at 17th Street N.W. and is open daily from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Check online for current hours and admission information. Admission is free. Follow the museum on Facebook, Instagram and YouTube. Smithsonian information: (202) 633-1000. Museum information (recorded): (202) 633-7970. Website: americanart.si.edu.

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Lizzo Pens New Essay About Her Feelings Amid Controversy Over 'I Quit' Statement

Lizzo is opening up about her feelings and how she overcame “rules” ingrained in her since childhood.

The 35-year-old singer recently alluded to various controversies surrounding her and declared, “ I didn’t sign up for this s-it. I QUIT. ”

However, days later, she clarified what she meant by saying she quits , confirming that she’s not quitting music.

Now, Lizzo shared a Tumblr post of an essay she penned, where she talks about her feelings and how she was essentially taught to suppress her own feelings when she was a kid.

Keep reading to find out more…

“Melissa hated her feelings,” the essay on her Tumblr page began. “She buried them in a chest in the 5th grade (along with her ability to express them). Other peoples’ feelings on the other hand was her forte. She could process, decipher and regurgitate other peoples emotions effortlessly.”

Lizzo went in to talk about how when she was a child, she would have to help mediate family fights, and there were three rules, “1.) Don’t cry. 2.) Stay neutral; Deescalate 3.)Don’t take anything personal. This isn’t about you.”

She shared one particular instance where she broke all the rules, then how after her father passed away, she still wouldn’t break the rules, and how “Traumas began to compact on Melissa, as they do.”

After putting pain into rock music, she started to find “reason and purpose” in her voice.

Lizzo concluded, “Melissa began to fall for her feelings. Her feelings gave life purpose. They weren’t always logical, as feelings seldom are. They were sloppy and embarrassing and rude and so fucking uncomfortable. But they were hers. And they were real. And when she sat alone sipping wine, staring at the moon…They were the only ones still by her side. Ready to break the rules for her because they loved her. And she finally loved them back.”

Check out Lizzo’s full essay below…

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I reviewed my Yale admissions file to see what the Ivy League school really thought about my application. What I learned surprised me.

• I reviewed my Yale admissions file to see what the Ivy League school thought about my application. 
• Most of my scores weren't that impressive, but they really liked my genuine attitude and excitement.
• Reviewing my application reminded me how far I have come as a student. 

"Brian spoke so fast it was electrifying."

This was the first quote from my Yale interviewer. She wrote those words in my admissions file, a document I finally got my hands on three years after being accepted into Yale University .

I remember that interview like it was yesterday. It was a Zoom call — my application cycle happened at the crux of pandemic remote learning — and I was wearing my father's old, oversize dress shirt. The interviewer was lovely. Some of my answers to her questions probably didn't make sense, and she was right. I definitely forgot to breathe in between my sentences.

But viewing my admissions file years later gave me a peek into what my interviewer was actually thinking that day, and I learned what really got me into Yale.

I reviewed my application as a junior with the registrar

Every student in the US can review their college admissions file under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act. I emailed my university registrar, and within 45 days, a member of their support staff reached back out to schedule a virtual meeting. Picture-taking and recording were not allowed, so I jotted notes by hand.

There was very little verbal interaction between me and the staff member. She screen-shared my admissions file and let me read in silence. Something told me she understood the emotional weight of this moment for students, and I appreciated that. It is intimidating for any teenager to package their identity into a 650-word common application essay and a questionnaire — but it is arguably even more so to witness retrospectively how everything was judged.

I got a behind-the-scenes look into Yale admissions when they read my application

Each aspect of my application was rated out of nine points. My readers gave me a six for my extracurriculars and for my first teacher recommendation. They gave me a seven for my second teacher recommendation and my counselor's recommendation. I received an "outstanding" for my interview and a 2++ for my overall rating. The overall rating is given on a scale from 1 to 4, with 1 being the highest, and pluses were a good sign.

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In all, my ratings weren't exactly bad, but they weren't extraordinary either. The numbers on the pages stared back at me — cold, formulaic, and transactional. It felt strange to be reduced to a system of numbers, knowing that something as qualitative as extracurricular activities could still be broken down and scored.

Beyond the ratings, however, what truly stood out were the comments left by the admissions officers . Many of the comments were on my character, my essays, and the possible contributions I would make as a student.

"I teared up reading Essay 1," one reader wrote of my common application essay. Another said of the same essay: "His Chinese New Years are untraditional in that they remind him of his family's financial struggles."

I got emotional. All the memories of writing that essay came flooding back. I remembered how difficult it was to start it. I knew there was no easy way for someone to understand me without first knowing my background. I wanted to prove that I deserved a seat at the table where legacy students and the wealthy continue to outnumber their first-generation, low-income peers like myself.

I kept reading and found more comments from admissions officers that moved me: "He treats his mom well;" "He seems to have a truly good heart;" "One of the most intelligent, sincere, jovial students ever met;" "I have no doubt that Brian would push his peers at Yale to stand up for what's right;" and "I come away with compelling impressions that the student would contribute significantly to the undergrad community."

I searched for a negative comment. There were none.

I didn't deserve this, I muttered under my breath. Here I was, a junior in college, no longer a 4.0 student , my post-grad plans murky, balancing two part-time jobs and hoping to make it out of midterms alive. It felt good knowing that someone had rooted for me to be here.

The process reminded me how far I have come

Coming from an underserved household where no one had gone to college, I had always looked at the Ivy League application process skeptically.

Without the resources to enroll in SAT test prep and the financial safety net to pursue unpaid leadership positions and resume-boosting activities at school, I had doubted the "holistic" admissions process many colleges boast. My critiques about Yale remain numerous.

But at least in their comments, the admissions committee gave me grace in that they reviewed my application in light of my circumstances. I might never know exactly what happened in that reading room. Still, a couple of lessons ring true, based on my own viewing experience and my conversations with others who had done the same: Good character and potential are the key; I didn't need to be perfect.

And finally, I — not anyone else — needed to give me the fighting chance of applying in the first place.

"GPA is outstanding, especially in context," an admissions officer said. "This is a home run."

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Guest Essay

The Invasive-Species Debate Is Not Always Simple

By Margaret Renkl

Ms. Renkl is a contributing Opinion writer who covers flora, fauna, politics and culture in the American South.

Where starlings are concerned, I thought my heart was a stone.

Starlings descend in great flocks on orchards and farms, decimating crops and dining on feed meant for livestock . In the air, they can bring down airplanes . Their excrement fouls city streets and walkways. And that’s just the nuisance they cause to people. European starlings also outcompete native birds for roosts and nest holes. What is there to love about a bird whose presence causes so many problems? A bird who doesn’t even belong here?

And yet, despite my deep environmental convictions, I have somehow fallen in love with starlings.

I love the gorgeous starry plumage that emerges after they molt. I love the way they can mimic nearly anything, including an elaborate array of construction noises that they have learned in this neighborhood of unceasing construction. I especially love the way they gather in great swooping, looping wintertime flocks, turning the sky into an endless blue stage for their endlessly inventive performances.

As the discourse around nonnative plants and animals grows increasingly strident , I’ve been thinking a lot about the starling-softened stone that was once my heart.

In late March, a New York chapter of Wild Ones , a national nonprofit that advocates for native plants and natural landscapes, posted an explanation for why planting spicebush is better than planting forsythia . Like forsythia, spicebush adds a pop of yellow color to the early spring garden. Like forsythia, spicebush can create a natural screen for backyard privacy. But unlike forsythia, which is both nonnative and sterile, spicebush flowers feed pollinators in springtime. Its leaves feed spicebush-swallowtail caterpillars in summer. Its berries feed a host of songbirds in fall.

One of these plants can restore a garden to its original purpose as a biodiverse ecosystem. The other simply offers a brief display of yellow flowers.

These are incontrovertible facts. Native creatures evolved to recognize native plants as food and habitat. At a time when insect populations are plummeting (in part because of the ubiquity of nonnative plants ) and two-thirds of North American birds are at risk of extinction , there is no good reason to plant a flower that offers nothing to the wild world.

But that fact didn’t stop the pro-forsythia contingent from flying into an online rage at the very idea that someone was coming for the flower they learned to love at Granny’s knee. (I won’t link to these posts because I don’t want to add fuel to the conflagration.) In a comment on one post, someone called native-plant advocates “plant racists.”

There was nothing preachy about the Wild Ones post, which after all was aimed at native-plant enthusiasts anyway, but it’s true that environmentalists can sometimes take on a give-no-quarter tone. Sometimes they advocate for a slash-and-burn approach, using literal fire or literal poison to kill off any plant that doesn’t have the right provenance. Sometimes they call for killing introduced birds by any method that works. I can see how unpleasantly similar all this sounds to the dangerous nativist impulses in our culture.

But human beings, whatever their race, belong to the same species. Depending on how you look at it, either all human beings are native to a particular ecosystem or none of us are. Plant and animal species, on the other hand, evolved for a particular landscape — a landscape that in turn evolved to accommodate their presence. Crucial habitat is lost when introduced plants crowd out the native ones that sustain indigenous wildlife.

Despite the scolding tone that native-plant advocates can sometimes take, they are making an irrefutable point. The earth is teetering near a tipping point of no return. In the context of environmental apocalypse, there is no time — and no square inch of garden space — to waste. Every Cassandra in human history has felt this way: desperate to make others see the truth before the towers are on fire.

I am one of those Cassandras. I wrote a whole book about how we can learn to be better neighbors to the wild creatures who share our ecosystems.

But I am also learning how much more complicated this question of who belongs and who does not can sometimes be. Burmese pythons are incontestably devastating the Everglades . But starlings don’t appear to have nearly the negative impact on native cavity-nesting birds that they were long presumed to have. And as the climate changes, we are seeing that it is also changing where specific plants and animals can thrive. Through seed dispersal, introduced creatures can end up being what allows native plants to survive climate change.

Eradicating all the problematic plants that Americans have introduced into their landscapes — not to mention 85 million starlings — is just never going to happen. My husband and I have been rewilding our half-acre lot with increasing urgency for the past 29 years, with only limited success. To return this tiny ecosystem to its pristine origins without using fire or poison would require a level of backbreaking work that neither of us has the back for, and I’m not sure I would risk it anyway. To smother everything in pursuit of a pure yard would mean also smothering the spring beauties and the spring beauty mining bees.

I’m certainly not arguing that what we plant in our gardens doesn’t ultimately matter. It matters very much, and I always want to be on the side of helping rather than harming. Though I have at times been misled by an inaccurate nursery tag, I would never introduce a nonnative plant on purpose. I try to control invasive vegetation, and I will keep on trying, but there is only so much I can realistically do.

Besides, where they are welcomed, wild creatures can find a way to make use of nearly everything. Even plants that feed nobody can serve as a shelter from the cold, or as a nesting site, or as a place to hide from predators. If there’s a plant already in this yard that is doing no harm, I try not to worry about it too much.

Forsythia, for example, is not on any invasive species lists . Since I’ve been honest about my love for starlings, I’ll admit that I love our stand of forsythia, too. My mother started it from a cutting. She planted it here soon after we moved into this house. I had just survived a devastating late miscarriage, and she thought its bright color might cheer me up.

I treasure the native plants that my husband and I have lovingly added to this yard, but I belong to a species that treasures loving memories, too, and I can’t help loving that useless spray of yellow flowers at the end of every fragile gray winter. It reminds me of my beautiful mother, who wanted to save me from my own grief and thought to do it the only way she knew how: by planting flowers.

Margaret Renkl , a contributing Opinion writer, is the author of the books “ The Comfort of Crows: A Backyard Year, ” “ Graceland, at Last ” and “ Late Migrations .”

The Times is committed to publishing a diversity of letters to the editor. We’d like to hear what you think about this or any of our articles. Here are some tips . And here’s our email: [email protected] .

Follow the New York Times Opinion section on Facebook , Instagram , TikTok , WhatsApp , X and Threads .

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Navel Gazing

John dickerson’s notebooks: an exploration of inklings.

Living room declarations, the Sunday Scaries, conversational bids and more are explored in this week’s audio essay from John Dickerson.

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Episode Notes

In this week’s essay, John Dickerson looks back on a Sunday morning in 2021, and ruminates on the empty spaces left behind by the people that once filled our lives.

Notebook Entries:

Notebook 75, page 6. September 5, 2021:

“Oh my god. We dropped our son at college and our dog is dead.” – Anne.

References:

“Sunday Morning Coming Down” by Johnny Cash

“ The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock ” by T.S. Eliot

“ When Someone You Love is Upset, Ask This One Question ” by Jancee Dunn for the  New York Times

“ A Case of ‘Sunday Neurosis’ ” by Jena McGregor for the  Washington Post

“ Waking Early Sunday Morning ” by Robert Lowell

Master of Change: How to Excel When Everything is Changing  by Brad Stulberg

Jason Isbell: Running With Our Eyes Closed

“Alabama Pines” by Jason Isbell

Podcast production by Cheyna Roth.

• Relationships

About the Show

Political Gabfest host John Dickerson has been a journalist for more than three decades, reporting about presidential campaigns, political scandals, and the evolving state of our democracy. Along the way, he’s also been recording his observations in notebooks he has carried in his back pocket. He has captured his thoughts about life, parenthood, death, friendship, writing, God, to-do lists, and more. On the Navel Gazing podcast, John Dickerson invites you to join him in figuring out what these 30 years of notebooks mean: sorting out what makes a life—or a day in a life—noteworthy.

John Dickerson is host of CBS News Prime Time With John Dickerson , co-host of the Slate Political Gabfest, host of the Whistlestop podcast, and author of The Hardest Job in the World .

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• Your Health
• Treatments & Tests
• Health Inc.
• Public Health

Mental health care is hard to find, especially for people with Medicare or Medicaid

Rhitu Chatterjee

With rates of suicide and opioid deaths rising in the past decade and children's mental health declared a national emergency , the United States faces an unprecedented mental health crisis. But access to mental health care for a significant portion of Americans — including some of the most vulnerable populations — is extremely limited, according to a new government report released Wednesday.

The report, from the Department of Health and Human Services' Office of Inspector General, finds that Medicare and Medicaid have a dire shortage of mental health care providers.

The report looked at 20 counties with people on Medicaid, traditional Medicare and Medicare Advantage plans, which together serve more than 130 million enrollees — more than 40% of the U.S. population, says Meridith Seife , the deputy regional inspector general and the lead author of the report.

Medicaid serves people on low incomes, and Medicare is mainly for people 65 years or older and those who are younger with chronic disabilities.

The report found fewer than five active mental health care providers for every 1,000 enrollees. On average, Medicare Advantage has 4.7 providers per 1,000 enrollees, whereas traditional Medicare has 2.9 providers and Medicaid has 3.1 providers for the same number of enrollees. Some counties fare even worse, with not even a single provider for every 1,000 enrollees.

"When you have so few providers available to see this many enrollees, patients start running into significant problems finding care," says Seife.

The findings are especially troubling given the level of need for mental health care in this population, she says.

"On Medicare, you have 1 in 4 Medicare enrollees who are living with a mental illness," she says. "Yet less than half of those people are receiving treatment."

Among people on Medicaid, 1 in 3 have a mental illness, and 1 in 5 have a substance use disorder. "So the need is tremendous."

The results are "scary" but "not very surprising," says Deborah Steinberg , senior health policy attorney at the nonprofit Legal Action Center. "We know that people in Medicare and Medicaid are often underserved populations, and this is especially true for mental health and substance use disorder care."

Among those individuals able to find and connect with a provider, many see their provider several times a year, according to the report. And many have to drive a long way for their appointments.

"We have roughly 1 in 4 patients that had to travel more than an hour to their appointments, and 1 in 10 had to travel more than an hour and a half each way," notes Seife. Some patients traveled two hours each way for mental health care, she says.

Mental illnesses and substance use disorders are chronic conditions that people need ongoing care for, says Steinberg. "And when they have to travel an hour, more than an hour, for an appointment throughout the year, that becomes unreasonable. It becomes untenable."

"We know that behavioral health workforce shortages are widespread," says Heather Saunders , a senior research manager on the Medicaid team at KFF, the health policy research organization. "This is across all payers, all populations, with about half of the U.S. population living in a workforce shortage."

But as the report found, that's not the whole story for Medicare and Medicaid. Only about a third of mental health care providers in the counties studied see Medicare and Medicaid patients. That means a majority of the workforce doesn't participate in these programs.

This has been well documented in Medicaid, notes Saunders. "Only a fraction" of providers in provider directories see Medicaid patients, she says. "And when they do see Medicaid patients, they often only see a few."

Lower reimbursement rates and a high administrative burden prevent more providers from participating in Medicaid and Medicare, the report notes.

"In the Medicare program, they set a physician fee rate," explains Steinberg. "Then for certain providers, which includes clinical social workers, mental health counselors and marriage and family therapists, they get reimbursed at 75% of that rate."

Medicaid reimbursements for psychiatric services are even lower when compared with Medicare , says Ellen Weber , senior vice president for health initiatives at the Legal Action Center.

"They're baking in those discriminatory standards when they are setting those rates," says Steinberg.

The new report recommends that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) take steps to increase payments to providers and lower administrative requirements. In a statement, CMS said it has responded to those recommendations within the report.

According to research by Saunders and her colleagues at KFF, many states have already started to take action on these fronts to improve participation in Medicaid.

Several have upped their payments to mental health providers. "But the scale of those increases ranged widely across states," says Saunders, "with some states limiting the increase to one provider type or one type of service, but other states having rate increases that were more across the board."

Some states have also tried to simplify and streamline paperwork, she adds. "Making it less complex, making it easier to understand," says Saunders.

But it's too soon to know whether those efforts have made a significant impact on improving access to providers.

CMS has also taken steps to address provider shortages, says Steinberg.

"CMS has tried to increase some of the reimbursement rates without actually fixing that structural problem," says Steinberg. "Trying to add a little bit here and there, but it's not enough, especially when they're only adding a percent to the total rate. It's a really small increase."

The agency has also started covering treatments and providers it didn't use to cover before.

"In 2020, Medicare started covering opioid treatment programs, which is where a lot of folks can go to get medications for their substance use disorder," says Steinberg.

And starting this year, Medicare also covers "mental health counselors, which includes addiction counselors, as well as marriage and family therapists," she adds.

While noteworthy and important, a lot more needs to be done, says Steinberg. "For example, in the substance use disorder space, a lot of addiction counselors do not have a master's degree. And that's one of their requirements to be a counselor in the Medicare program right now."

Removing those stringent requirements and adding other kinds of providers, like peer support specialists, is key to improving access. And the cost of not accessing care is high, she adds.

"Over the past two decades, [in] the older adult population, the number of overdose deaths has increased fourfold — quadrupled," says Steinberg. "So this is affecting people. It is causing deaths. It is causing people to go to the hospital. It increases [health care] costs."

• Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services
• mental health