h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Having written a fair amount of term papers, here is my sure way to get good to excellent grades on them. But, beware, it takes training.

1. First things last:
The topic and your summary are to be written in the end. After all: when you write a term paper the Zen way, you do not know what you are writing about when you start (see below).

2. Research and writing:
Your best bet is to do as much research as you need until your mind says: "enough", i.e. until you find that you have no clue what you are really researching. Then go and write down your confusion. That is your term paper.

3. Trust yourself:
Do not think about how a reader will look at your work. Remember: it is your work, not the reader's. So you decide what goes in and what not. After all, you have done the research.

My experience has been that a paper written in one go (one all-nighter) is better than a paper written over a period of six months. But: your research may have taken six months. Longer papers (over 30 pages) tend to take two days, so budget for that.

4. Final words:
Don't forget to put in a bibliography of all the material you read before you finished the term paper, and don't forget to clearly mark where you take ideas or quotes directly from someone else's work.