40 Best High School Research Paper Examples in 2026
Updated: 16th October, 2026
TL;DR
This page collects 40 high school research papers across eight subjects, from biology to math, each linked to where it was published. To start, read a study on whether music tempo changes how fast people drive, a review of CRISPR as a possible multiple sclerosis treatment, and a math paper on the fastest slide between two points. You can find more in the Lumiere Student Research Profiles database. Want to write a paper like these? Look at the Lumiere Research Scholar Program. It pairs you 1:1 with a PhD mentor.
Biology and medicine research paper examples
Life science papers often start with a textbook chapter or a family health story. These eight range from gut bacteria to gene editing.
Exploring the therapeutic potential of the gut microbiome in treating anxiety and depression. Can gut bacteria treatments help with anxiety and depression? Journal of High School Science, 2022.
A Systematic Review of Pharmacological and Non-Pharmacological Therapeutics for Insomnia. How do drug and non-drug treatments for insomnia compare? National High School Journal of Science (NHSJS), 2022.
The Effects of Gender on Frequency, Severity, and Long-term Prognosis of Patients with Long-term COVID-19. Does sex shape who gets long COVID and how badly? NHSJS, 2023.
Possible Therapeutic Treatments for Alzheimer's Disease. Which new therapies might slow or prevent Alzheimer's? NHSJS, 2023.
Widespread Foreign Protection: CRISPR/Cas and Other Prokaryotic Immune Defense Systems. How do bacteria fight off invading viruses? NHSJS, 2022.
The Forefront of a Revolution: The Applications of CRISPR-Cas9 Technology to Treat Multiple Sclerosis. Can CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing treat multiple sclerosis? NHSJS, 2022.
Platforms of individualized medicine: How Antisense Oligonucleotides, MicroRNAs, and Short Interfering RNAs can inform new treatments for rare diseases. How can RNA-based drugs inform new treatments for rare diseases? Journal of High School Science, 2023.
Inflammatory Disease Emergence Linked to Epigenetic Factors. How do epigenetic changes help trigger inflammatory disease? NHSJS, 2023.
Neuroscience research paper examples
Brain papers often lean on imaging data and gene datasets that students can reach online. You don't need a lab to study published scans.
The Neural Circuits Underlying Fear and Surprise. Which brain circuits underlie fear and surprise? NHSJS, 2022.
Volumetric Brain Changes in the Number Processing Network Over Time in Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder. How do number-processing brain regions change over time in autism? NHSJS, 2022.
A comparative study of microglial transcriptomes in Traumatic Brain Injury and Familial Alzheimer's Disease reveals key genes involved in inflammatory response. Do brain injury and Alzheimer's share inflammation genes? NHSJS, 2022.
Neural Regulation of Cardiac Repair and Regeneration: Mechanisms and Emerging Therapeutic Strategies. Can the nervous system help the heart heal after a heart attack? NHSJS, 2026.
Computer science and AI research paper examples
These papers use code, models, and public datasets to test one clear question. They cover bias, medical imaging, space, and sound.
A survey on Artificial Intelligence Bias. How does bias get into AI models, and how do you reduce it? NHSJS, 2022.
Using Machine Learning to analyze and predict the effect of different CPU features on CPU benchmarks for edge computing. Which processor features most improve speed? Journal of High School Science, 2023.
Galaxy Classification with an Attentional Convolutional Neural Network. Can an attention layer sort galaxy types better? NHSJS, 2023.
Comparative Analysis of YOLOv5 and YOLOv8 Models for Lunar Crater Detection. Which model spots moon craters more accurately? NHSJS, 2025.
Strategic CBAM and Augmentation in EfficientNet-B0 for Skin Lesion Classification. Can an attention module and image augmentation improve skin lesion classification? NHSJS, 2025.
Predictive overlap, feature reduction, and robustness in Machine Learning-based cross-sectional classification of Alzheimer's disease. How well can machine learning models classify Alzheimer's disease? Journal of High School Science, 2026.
An Analysis of Nonverbal Communication and its Potential with Computer Science. How can machine learning read body language? NHSJS, 2023.
The Impact of Artificial Intelligence on Music Production: Creative Potential, Ethical Dilemmas, and the Future of the Industry. What does AI change about making music? NHSJS, 2025.
Psychology research paper examples
Psychology papers often start with everyday behavior and test it with a small study or a careful review. These three look at driving, focus, and vaping.
The Effect of Music Energy on Driving Speed. Does high-energy music make people drive faster? NHSJS, 2022.
The Potential of Music Training to Improve Attentional Control and Inhibitory Control in Children with ADHD. Could music lessons help kids with ADHD focus? Journal of European Psychology Students, 2022.
Policy Effects on E-Cigarette Behaviors Among High School Students: Agent-based Simulations. Which policies cut teen vaping in a simulation? NHSJS, 2023.
Economics and business research paper examples
Economics rewards students who can find public data and ask a sharp question about it. These three use market data, corporate data, and one country's industry.
Have financial market prices become more informationally efficient? Do stock prices reflect information better than before? NHSJS, 2022.
The value of data and technology for corporations. How much value do data and technology add for companies? NHSJS, 2022.
Analysing the effect of the pandemic on the roofing manufacturing industry in the Philippines. How did the pandemic affect roofing manufacturers in the Philippines? NHSJS, 2023.
Physics and engineering research paper examples
Physical science papers can be built from theory, a clear comparison of methods, or a close look at a new material. This group spans black holes, solar cells, and sports robots.
How the detection of neutrinos and gravitational waves can maximize the potential of multimessenger astronomy. How can neutrino and gravitational wave detection work together? NHSJS, 2022.
Application of holography to the black hole information problem. Can holography help solve the black hole information problem? NHSJS, 2022.
Key Differences between Flow Chemistry and Traditional Chemical Analysis. How does flow chemistry differ from traditional chemical analysis? NHSJS, 2022.
Advancements in solar cells with perovskites. What advances have been made in perovskite solar cells? NHSJS, 2023.
Assessing the Binding of Sodium Ions to a Maghemite Nanoparticle Surface for Applications in Sodium-Ion Batteries. How do sodium ions bind to a maghemite nanoparticle surface? NHSJS, 2025.
Humans or Haptics: A Deep-dive into Robots for Sports Training. Can robots replace human coaches in sports training? NHSJS, 2023.
Math research paper examples
Math papers need the least equipment and the most patience, since the work is a proof or a worked problem. These five move from number theory to signal processing.
Diophantine Equations and Elliptic Curves. How do you find whole-number solutions to hard equations? NHSJS, 2024.
Unimodality of Independence Polynomials of Special Trees. Do certain tree graphs follow a 1987 conjecture? NHSJS, 2022.
Random Walks, Electrical Networks and Pólya's Theorem. When does a random walk come home and when does it wander off? American Journal of Student Research, 2025.
Analyzing the Brachistochrone Problem for the Conic Sections and its real life applications. What curve gives the fastest slide between two points? Gonit Sora, 2024.
The Fourier Transform: Bridging Theory and Applications in Signal Processing, Music Synthesis, and Climate Analytics. How is the Fourier transform used in signal processing, music, and climate analysis? Gonit Sora, 2024.
Environmental science research paper examples
Environmental papers do well when a student picks one place and one measurable thing. These three study Greek air, Indonesian water, and a world power grid.
Understanding The Dynamics of Air Quality in Greece in Conjunction with The Environmental and Meteorological Indicators With AI. Can AI models show what drives air quality in Greece? NHSJS, 2025.
How Effective is Gracilaria at Improving Water Quality? A Case Study in Indonesia. How well does Gracilaria seaweed improve water quality in Indonesia? NHSJS, 2025.
Constructing a Global Electricity Supergrid Based on Renewable Energy Sources: A Qualitative Analysis. What mix of renewables could power a world grid? NHSJS, 2023.
What do strong high school research papers have in common?
The best ones share a few plain habits, and you can copy all of them. Read a handful above and the pattern shows up fast.
A narrow question. Each paper answers one thing, like how well one seaweed cleans water in one country, not everything about oceans.
Real data or a real method. A dataset, an experiment, a model, or a careful review of the existing work. The method is clear enough to repeat.
Honesty about limits. Strong papers say what they could not test and what might be wrong. That honesty is what makes a reviewer trust the rest.
A finish line. The paper gets written up and sent somewhere, which is where our guide on how to write a research paper in high school helps most.
Frequently asked questions: high school research paper examples
What does a high school research paper look like?
It looks like a short version of a college paper. There is a title, an abstract, an introduction, a method or review section, results, a discussion, and a reference list. The examples above show the range, from a study on driving speed to a math paper on tree graphs.
How long is a high school research paper?
There is no fixed length, and it depends on the field and the journal. A literature review often runs longer than a single experiment, because it covers more sources. Math proofs and data studies can be shorter. Check each journal's submission rules for its page or word limits before you start.
Can high school students publish research papers?
Yes, and the papers on this page were written by high school students. Several student journals review and print this work, and you can see a set of them in our list of journals to publish your research in high school. Publishing is competitive, so plan for revisions and a wait.
What are good research paper topics for high school students?
A good topic is narrow, has data or sources you can reach, and matches something you care about. The examples above show how: one seaweed in one country, one conjecture about tree graphs, one set of brain scans. Pick a subject group above and scan the titles. Then shrink the question that sparks your interest until one project could answer it.
Do you need a mentor to write one?
No, but a good mentor saves time. A researcher who knows the field can help you cut a broad topic down to one question you can answer. They can also point you to the right data and warn you about dead ends. If you start alone, ask a teacher or professor for feedback before you submit.
Where can you find more examples?
Start with the Lumiere Student Research Profiles database, which showcases student publication results with filters for research field and country. You can also read any journal above, since each one keeps a public archive of past work. Search the archive by subject to find papers close to your own interests.
Not sure how to turn a question into a paper like these, or want a mentor guiding your question, data, and writing? Look at the Lumiere Research Scholar Program. It pairs you 1:1 with a PhD mentor for an independent research project, done online, so you can build a paper that strengthens your college applications. Apply here. If cost is the main barrier, also look at the Lumiere Research Inclusion Foundation, a non-profit research program for talented, low-income students.
Stephen Turban is the co-founder of Lumiere Education and a graduate of Harvard College, where he earned an A.B. in Statistics before beginning a PhD at Harvard Business School. A former McKinsey & Company consultant and former researcher, his research has been covered by the Harvard Business Review, The Economist, BBC News, Freakonomics Radio, and the Washington Post. In his articles for Forbes, he writes on what students and professionals can learn from high school research, high school passion projects, critical thinking, and mentorship. At Lumiere, he leads a selective research program where students work one-on-one with a research mentor to develop an independent research paper. Connect with him on LinkedIn.