The research process takes several steps. You will usually complete the steps in order. Sometimes you may need to return to a previous step before you can continue. 

Most often your teachers will assign a topic for research. Sometimes you get to choose your own topic. Here are some strategies to help you decide.

• Choose something that interests you.

• Look through your textbook for ideas.

• Look through current periodicals and newspapers.

• Look through an online encyclopedia for background information.

• Make connections to material you have already learned.

• Talk with your teacher or a librarian about potential topics.

Once you have chosen an initial topic, it's time to develop questions.

• Write down what you already know and what you don't know about your topic.

• Use the information that you wrote to develop questions you would like to answer.

• Avoid questions that can be answered with a yes or no.

• Use question words like  Why?, When?, How?

• Use these question words to help write strong questions.

They are several sources for finding information. If you do not find enough information for your research, you may need to return to step one and adjust the focus of your research topic.

• Books - The PS/MS122 Library Catalog

• Books - Sora

• Articles - Databases

• Websites - Google Advanced Search, DuckDuckGo, and other major search engines.

• Use 'Boolean Operators' when searching on the Internet to find exactly what you are looking for.

Use these tools to evaluate the information you find.

• TRAAP Method - Use the TRAAP Method to evaluate  your sources.

• Evaluating Websites - If you want to use information from a website, use the following criteria and questions to evaluate websites for use in your research.  

• Scholary vs. Popular Periodicals - Video

• Write your notes and source information on index cards.

• Create citation information cards for each source and number them. The citation card for your first source should have 'Source #1 Citation Information' written on it.

• Write 'Source #1 Notes' at the top of each card that has notes from your 1st source.

• Put only 1 fact, or 1 quote on the front of each card. It will be easier to rearrange them later when it comes time to organize your paper.

• Don't have index cards? No problem. You can use this 'Notefacts' page to write your notes. Write the citation information in the top box. Then write 1 fact, or 1 quote in the smaller boxes. When you are ready to organize your notes just cut the paper on the dotted lines and rearrange your notes like index cards.

• Read the text more than once. Use your memory to write notes. Don't copy from the source.

• Vary the sentence structure by changing the begin and shortening or lengthening sentences.

• Change the structure of the sentences by replacing keywords within the sentences with synonyms or phrases with similar meanings.

• Check your notes against the original text to make sure that you have not accidentally plagiarized.

• Video - "How to Paraphrase in 5 Easy Steps" by Scribbr

• Begin by organizing your information in an outline.

• Write a rough draft. Be sure to include the in-text citation information and proofread it.

• Get feedback on your first draft. Then use the feedback to improve your paper for a second draft.