Research for English and humanities majors

TL;DR: This post answers a specific question: what does original research actually look like for high school students pursuing English, history, philosophy, or other humanities disciplines? It is written for students in grades 9 through 12 who are considering a humanities research project and want to understand what separates a publishable paper from a strong class essay. After reading, students will know how to frame an original argument, select an appropriate methodology, and identify a credible publication destination. Students whose work is ready for peer review may submit it to the Princeton Journal of Pre-Collegiate Research.

What does research for English and humanities majors look like at the high school level?

Original humanities research at the high school level means producing a new argument supported by primary source analysis, close reading, archival evidence, or comparative textual study. It is not a book report, a summary of existing scholarship, or a personal essay. A publishable humanities paper advances a claim that existing literature has not fully addressed, and it does so using a defined analytical methodology applied to specific evidence.

Research for English and humanities majors is frequently misunderstood as less rigorous than STEM research because it does not involve laboratory experiments or datasets. This assumption is incorrect. Humanities research demands a different but equally demanding form of methodological precision: the ability to construct a falsifiable interpretive claim, situate it within existing scholarship, and defend it through systematic engagement with primary sources.

At the high school level, original humanities research typically takes one of the following forms. First, close reading and literary analysis: a student identifies a pattern, tension, or underexplored theme in a literary text and argues for its significance using textual evidence and secondary scholarship. Second, historical argument: a student uses primary sources such as letters, government documents, newspaper archives, or oral histories to construct a new interpretation of an event, period, or figure. Third, philosophical analysis: a student identifies a gap or contradiction in a philosophical argument and advances a reasoned response using formal logical structure. Fourth, comparative cultural or media analysis: a student examines two or more texts, artworks, or cultural artifacts to argue for a relationship, contrast, or pattern that has not been previously articulated in the literature.

Each of these approaches is achievable without university laboratory access. Many are achievable using digitised primary source archives that are freely available online, including the Library of Congress digital collections, Project Gutenberg, JSTOR, and Google Scholar. The key is not access to expensive equipment but access to a clear research question and a disciplined method for answering it.

Students exploring humanities research may also find it useful to review guidance on how to choose the right publication venue, including the comparison of STEM vs. humanities high school journals to understand what different journals prioritise in submissions from each discipline.

How do you know if your humanities research idea is original?

An idea is original if it advances a claim that existing published scholarship has not already made in the same terms, using the same evidence. Originality in humanities research does not require discovering a new primary source. It requires applying a new lens, asking a new question, or drawing a connection that existing literature has overlooked.

The most reliable way to test originality is to conduct a literature review before writing a single word of the paper itself. A literature review is a systematic survey of existing published scholarship on the topic. The student reads what has already been argued, identifies the boundaries of current knowledge, and locates the gap where a new argument can be made. This gap is the research question.

A common error is to confuse a topic with a research question. "The role of women in Victorian literature" is a topic. "Charlotte Bronte's use of spatial confinement in Jane Eyre as a critique of Victorian marriage law" is a research question. The second formulation is specific, arguable, and bounded enough to be answered within a single paper. The first is a field of study that has produced thousands of books.

Students who have identified a genuine research question should also confirm that their argument is falsifiable. In humanities research, falsifiability means that a reader engaging seriously with the same primary sources could, in principle, reach a different conclusion. If the argument is so broad or self-evident that no reasonable reader could disagree, it is not a research claim. It is an observation.

For students at this stage in the process, reviewing structured guidance on research goals to set at the start of the school year can help establish a realistic timeline for moving from a research question to a complete draft.

What are the most common mistakes humanities research students make?

The most common mistakes in high school humanities research are predictable, correctable, and worth understanding before drafting begins.

The first and most frequent mistake is writing a thesis that is too broad to be defended in a single paper. A student who argues that "Shakespeare's tragedies reflect the anxieties of Elizabethan England" has chosen a claim that would require a book-length treatment to support adequately. The consequence is a paper that skims the surface of many points without developing any of them with sufficient evidence. The fix is to narrow the claim to a single text, a single anxiety, and a specific set of scenes or passages.

The second mistake is treating secondary sources as primary evidence. Secondary sources, meaning published scholarship by other researchers, exist to situate the student's argument within the field. They are not the evidence for the argument itself. A paper that consists primarily of summaries of what other scholars have argued is a literature review, not an original research contribution. Primary sources, the texts, documents, or artifacts being analysed, must carry the evidentiary weight.

The third mistake is neglecting to define the analytical methodology explicitly. Reviewers at academic journals expect the student to state, in the paper itself, what interpretive framework is being applied and why. A paper that performs a psychoanalytic reading of a poem without naming psychoanalytic theory as its framework will be assessed as methodologically incomplete, even if the reading is insightful. According to the Modern Language Association's guidelines for literary scholarship, explicit methodological framing is a baseline expectation for publishable work.

The fourth mistake is submitting to a journal without reading its published issues first. Every journal has a scope, a disciplinary focus, and an implicit standard for what constitutes a publishable argument. Students who submit without reviewing existing published work in that journal are far more likely to receive a desk rejection, not because their paper is poor, but because it does not fit the venue. Reviewing humanities journals that accept high school submissions before choosing a target venue is a practical step that most submission guides omit.

How to move from a humanities research idea to a publishable paper, step by step

1. Identify a specific primary source or set of sources. Choose a text, document, or artifact that you can access in full and read closely. Digitised archives, published collections, and open-access repositories are sufficient for most humanities projects.

2. Conduct a literature review. Search Google Scholar and JSTOR for existing scholarship on your chosen source and topic. Read at least ten peer-reviewed articles or book chapters. Note what has been argued and where the gaps are.

3. Formulate a specific, arguable research question. The question should be narrow enough to answer in 3,000 to 6,000 words and significant enough that the answer would matter to someone working in the field.

4. Select an analytical methodology. Name the interpretive framework you will apply: close reading, discourse analysis, historicism, feminist criticism, postcolonial theory, or another recognised approach. State this explicitly in the paper.

5. Draft and revise with a faculty reader. A teacher, librarian, or university professor in the relevant discipline can identify gaps in the argument before submission. Peer feedback at this stage significantly reduces the likelihood of a revision request after peer review.

6. Format the paper according to the target journal's submission guidelines. MLA format is standard for literary and cultural humanities papers. Chicago format is standard for historical research. Confirm the journal's preferred citation style before finalising the manuscript.

7. Submit to a peer-reviewed student journal. Students whose work meets the criteria above may submit their research through the submission guidelines at princeton-jpcr.org/submit. The standard review timeline is 2 to 3 months. A fast-track option is available for students who need a quicker turnaround.

PJPCR publishes original humanities research across literary studies, history, philosophy, and interdisciplinary fields. If your manuscript is ready for peer review, consult the full submission guidelines before preparing your final draft.

Frequently asked questions about research for English and humanities majors

What is original research in the humanities?

Original humanities research is a written argument that advances a new interpretive or analytical claim, supported by primary source evidence and situated within existing scholarship. It is not a summary, a review, or a personal reflection. The claim must be specific, arguable, and supported by evidence a reader can independently verify by consulting the same sources.

In practice, original humanities research at the high school level most often takes the form of close textual analysis, historical argument using primary documents, or comparative cultural study. The defining criterion is that the argument contributes something that existing published scholarship has not already said.

How long does it take to complete a humanities research paper and get it published?

A complete humanities research paper, from literature review to final draft, typically requires three to six months of sustained work. Peer review and publication add additional time. At PJPCR, the standard review and publication timeline is 2 to 3 months from submission. A fast-track option is available for students who need a quicker turnaround. Neither option guarantees acceptance, as all submissions undergo rigorous peer review.

Do I need access to a university library to conduct humanities research in high school?

No. A substantial proportion of the primary and secondary sources needed for high school humanities research are freely accessible online. The Library of Congress digital collections, Project Gutenberg, JSTOR's free access tier, Google Scholar, and many university open-access repositories provide sufficient material for most literary, historical, and philosophical research projects. Interlibrary loan services through public libraries can supply additional sources at no cost.

What makes a high school humanities paper publishable rather than just well-written?

A publishable humanities paper advances a specific, original argument using a named analytical methodology applied to primary source evidence. A well-written class essay may demonstrate strong prose and accurate summary, but it does not constitute original research unless it makes a new claim. Reviewers assess whether the argument is falsifiable, whether the methodology is explicit, and whether the paper engages substantively with existing scholarship rather than ignoring it.

The single most common reason humanities papers receive a desk rejection is that the central claim is either too broad to be supported in the paper's scope or not genuinely original relative to existing literature. Narrowing the thesis and completing a thorough literature review before drafting resolves both problems.

What kinds of humanities research does PJPCR publish?

PJPCR publishes original, peer-reviewed research across a wide range of humanities disciplines, including literary analysis, historical research, philosophy, linguistics, cultural studies, and interdisciplinary work that crosses humanities and social science methods. Submissions are evaluated on the originality of the argument, the rigour of the methodology, and the quality of engagement with primary and secondary sources. Students can review the peer review process and browse published issues to assess whether their work is a strong fit before submitting.

What to do next

Research for English and humanities majors at the high school level is defined by three requirements: a specific, arguable research question; a named analytical methodology applied to primary source evidence; and genuine engagement with existing scholarship. Students who satisfy all three criteria are producing work that is eligible for peer review. The most common failure points are theses that are too broad, over-reliance on secondary sources as evidence, and submission to journals without reviewing their published scope.

Students who have completed a draft and are ready for external evaluation should review the full submission guidelines at princeton-jpcr.org/submit to confirm that their manuscript meets the formatting and scope requirements before submitting. A publication fee applies for accepted papers. Submission and peer review are free.