Research Paper Strategy Flowchart
The Research Process
Research is messy! Once you accept that fact, you will be able to relax and follow the basic research process, knowing that you may hit roadblocks and need to refine search terms or keywords. Or you may ask yourself completely new questions that you will want to answer!
Things you will do as part of the research process:
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- Select a topic
- Analyze that topic
- Perform background or reference research
- Create a search strategy
- Perform more research
- Evaluate sources found
Gather, rinse, repeat!
Check out this flowchart for putting together a research paper. Stop and ask for help anywhere along the way! If you answer "no" to a question, consider going back a few steps, or starting over at the beginning. Understanding your assignment is key. When you don't understand your assignment, make a point to get clarification from your professor.
