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Research Help: The Research Process

Three Steps in Your Successful Research Process

  • Read your syllabus for understanding of the assignment i.e., audience, topics, type of resources, paper length, etc.
  • Do preliminary research to search for a topic of interest using general databases such as Credo Reference.
  • Narrow your topic to a unique and finite area of interest.
  • Formulate a well-defined research question based on your new knowledge. 
  • Use the Research Worksheet to develop search words and alternative search words based on your research question.
  • Begin your research by using broad databases such as Discovery and ProQuest to do a expansive sweep of articles on your topic.
  • Narrow your search through LibGuides to find Subject-specific databases to access additional articles on your topic.
  • Review the major and subtopic areas of your paper, and gather enough articles to support all areas.

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  • Create an outline based on your research question.
  • Determine how your selected articles support the major topic areas and subtopic areas from your outline.
  • Create your Reference page from the selected articles so that you may easily create citations as you write.
  • Write your paper using the selected articles in relationship to your outline. Include citations as you write.
  • Write, review, and rewrite your paper. Use The University Writing Center for help.
  • Turn in final paper.