Villa Maria College, Western New York's premier private college, offering degrees in Business, Early Childhood Education, Education Studies, Fine Arts, Graphic Design, Hospitality Management, Interior Design, Jazz, Liberal Arts, Music, Music Business, Photography, and Physical Therapist Assistant.

HOW TO BEGIN A RESEARCH PAPER

Step 1 Select a topic

Choose something related to a personal interest, if possible.
Sources of ideas for topic: current magazines, periodicals, newspaper, television, radio, personal hobbies, talking with others, walking through the book collection, glancing through textbook, asking your teacher to recommend a topic, checking hot topic list.
Ask yourself?
- Will there be enough information available?
- Is the topic so new that I may have trouble locating information?
- Is the topic so general that I will be overwhelmed by the amount of information I find?
Use the guidelines from your instructor. Consider the length of the paper and whether certain types of sources are required.
Talk with your instructor about the topic and consult a reference librarian to get an idea of how much information might be available on the topic.

Step 2 Define and Refine the topic

Read summaries of your topic (periodicals, newspaper articles, books, encyclopedia) and begin to think about how you will approach the topic.
Make a list of the key terms, dates, people and concepts related to the topic. You will use these terms when searching the library catalog, databases, internet, etc.
If you need to narrow your topic, choose a particular person, time period or concept to make it more specific.

Step 3 Identify Books, Articles and Web sites

FOR BOOKS AND NON PRINT MATERIALS

Use the online catalog to identify books, CD’s, DVD’s, cassettes, pamphlets, etc.,on your topic. Be sure to note or print out your results containing the library location, call number and status of materials so items can be easily found. Ask a librarian if you need further assistance.

FOR MAGAZINES, NEWSPAPER, JOURNAL ARTICLES

To identify magazines, newspaper and journal articles, go to the library homepage, look under “Online Resources” and click “Online Databases. You may also browse our periodical shelves or periodical list for journal and magazine titles. The Buffalo News is stored in our library for up to one year.

INTERNET WEB SITES

To identify web sites for your research, go to the library homepage, look under “Online Resources” find “Web Search Engines” click. Then choose a search engine. (research tips will be found below the web search engine box.)

Step 4 Record and Evaluate Sources

Be sure to make a note of all the information. You will need it to compile a list of sources (bibliography) you have used in writing your paper.
For Books: author, title, place of publication, publisher and date of publication.
For Articles: article title, author, journal title, volume number, page numbers and date.
For Web sites: title, creator, date of last update and URL (web address).
For Online databases: author, title, volume number/Issue number, date of publication, page range or number of pages or start page, Name of vendor/database, name of library, city state, date retrieved, URL or address of the online subscription service’s main page.

Be sure to consult the Learning Strategies Center or the MLA Format Guide on the library homepage when you’re ready to construct your bibliography.

Read the information and evaluate it. Ask yourself? Who created the information?
What are the person’s credentials? Is the information up-to-date? Is the information based on fact or opinion? Does the author have any obvious bias?
Be sure to take good notes and print, download or make copies as you are reviewing materials.

Step 5 Outline the Paper

Organize your thoughts. Outline how the information will fit together and in what order.
Be sure to note specific sources you will quote or cite.

Step 6 Write the Paper

Do not risk plagiarism. If you copy the words exactly as they appear or paraphrase a sentence, footnote the sentence and give the author credit for it. Consult your instructor for further information regarding plagiarism.
Does your paper have an introduction, supporting statements, correct grammar and spelling, transitional phrases, logical flow of information and a list of the sources you consulted?
When you have finished writing you paper, ask yourself?
Did I understand and explain the background of my topic?
Have I defined terms?
Have I fully explored the context of my topic?
Have I carefully covered the more recent information on a well established topic?
Have I found most of the available material on my topic?
Have I analyzed the quality of my research material?
Does the information I found support the thesis statement of my paper?
Did I remain objective, considering every side of the issue?
Have I obtained information in as many formats as possible?

Step 7 Finalize the Bibliography

Include only the sources you used to write your paper. Be sure your sources are listed according to the format specified by your instructor. If your instructor did not specify a style, be sure your paper follows a consistent style throughout its content.
For MLA Format Guide consult the Learning Strategies Center or the Library homepage.

RESEARCH HINTS

Be sure to get clarification of your assignment from your instructor before you begin.

Divide assignments into smaller tasks. By doing a little bit at a time each day, you will not feel overwhelmed with your assignment.

Avoid doing last minute research. Reasons:

Lack of access to the materials, especially if other students are working on the same assignment.
Unforeseen problems may arise: copier or printer breakdowns, computer difficulties, etc. REMEMBER MURPHY’S LAW: What can go wrong, will go wrong!
Last minute research does not produce quality papers.

If a book or article needs to be interlibrary loaned, please forward information to a librarian as soon as possible. Interlibrary loans can take up to 3 weeks to receive.

Finally, save time by asking the Information Literacy Librarian for assistance. You could be saved many hours of frustration.