Research is a life skill. You use it every day - which smartphone to buy? What college to choose? You apply the same skills in your coursework for papers, presentations, and more. 

Also, the research process takes time and effort. You should not expect to complete all of these steps in a few hours. By thoughtfully approaching your assignment you will be able to pick a topic, research it, and compose an organized piece of scholarly research.

The Research Process

Choose a Topic

Are there assigned topics? Can you choose your own? What are you interested in or passionate about?

Identify Keywords

Think of narrow, broad, related, and similar (synonyms) words that represent the main ideas of your topic or question.

Search

Input your keywords in different combinations in the library databases. 

Evaluate Sources

Once you've found sources on your topic, review the sources to make sure they are objective, accurate, and meet the assignment requirements.

Revise or Refine Your Search

Did you find what you needed? If not, think of more keywords or try different databases to find better sources.

Cite Sources

Once you're happy with your sources, make sure to pull the citation information from the database. Review the citation formatting for any mistakes.

Write and Review

Now that you have your sources, start writing. Remember, you can always go back and find more sources if you need to!