How To Do Your Research Paper In College  

Research paper in high school is quite different from what you need to do at the university. It needs to have depth, and it entails more understanding. So if you want to pass your course, or get a nice score, you better read this guide. That way, you’d know what to do as you submit your excellent or top of the line research paper.   

Read Your Professor’s Instructions   

This might seem like a no-brainer, right? But the thing is, most college students will just run through the instructions about the research paper. However, they won’t understand it in detail. They won’t even try to see what the professor wants. As for you, try to see which things you need to work on in your research paper. What does your instructor want to see? Usually, these will be provided in the guidelines. And once you finally understand everything, that could already be your advantage.   

Select A Topic   

To make things easier, you can select topics that you are interested in. That way, you can easily expound on it. But this is not to say that you shouldn’t go out of your comfort zone. If the time permits, we suggest going the extra mile and talk about something you are not familiar with. This is also a great opportunity to learn new things.   

Start Finding Resources and Do Your Research   

Different people have different ways of conducting research, and you can use whatever is more efficient for you. The technique we are going to share with you is what is effective for most students. Perhaps, you can try this out as well.   

Skim Various Resources   

Remember, you don’t have to read an entire book right away. This is impractical and could waste a lot of your time. We recommend that you do some quick reading about things directly related to your topics. It is essential that you learn how to read fast because you can certainly use it when you do your research. List down interesting points and keywords.   

Use Wikipedia (But Don’t Make This As Your Final Resource)   

Wikipedia is a good place for initial research, and you can use this to your advantage. Just quickly type your topic and you’d be surprised how much you’d learn from the website. However, we all know that Wikipedia is not exactly the best source for research as anyone could edit the information. Least to say, it is unreliable.   

But what’s good about this source is you can also get important keywords and topics. See which ones could help you with your research and find more credible resources.   

Visit The Library   

While technology could help you with research, it’s always good to pay your local library a visit. Believe it or not, there is so much to learn from old newspaper clippings and books that are not digitally published. By getting your information from these materials, your paper is already unique. Your professors will also be impressed knowing that you didn’t limit yourself in getting information online.   

Learn How To Organize Your Research   

Now, this is where the hard part begins. You can’t just randomly put all your findings in your research paper. Everything has to be cohesive. So before you write your draft, make sure that you have all the sub-topics laid in front of you. That way, you can easily determine which ones should come first, and which items can support your main points.   

A good technique is to write all your topics and sub-topics on post-its. Use your wall as a big board and create an outline from there. It’s a fun way to organize your thoughts. Not to mention effective too.   

Create A Short Statement   

Now that you have already immersed yourself in the topic and you understand it already, you can now create a strong statement. Usually, you place this at the beginning of your research paper. It has to be definitive and must not be about you. Give them a glimpse of what they are about to read on your paper.   

Create A Schedule   

Trust us. You can’t finish your research paper in just a few days. And that is why you have to create a schedule. For example, during the first week, all you have to do is your research. In the second week, make sure you have created your outline. The third and fourth week can be dedicated to writing your paper. The timeline can change depending on your professor’s deadline.