The document provides guidance on selecting a research topic for a paper or project. It recommends brainstorming potential topics, researching background information, focusing the topic into a clear research question, developing keywords, and defining the topic as a thesis statement. Key steps include exploring interests and current events, limiting broad topics, researching more about the topic, and considering who, what, when, where and why questions related to the topic. Example topics and research questions are given to illustrate the process.