It's almost impossible to get through school without having to write a research paper of some kind. Even if you're learning English as a foreign language, your professors will still likely want you to write a paper to demonstrate your ability to write competently on a topic in English. For some people, writing a paper is easy, but others struggle with the research, keeping on topic, and the language and voice used in academia. If you need a little help with the research end of things, this article should point you in the right direction.

Choosing a Topic

Before you even go near a library, you should know what it is you want to write about. The topic of your paper should be a question, comparison, or idea that you think you will be able to talk about for long enough to meet the word or page quota of your assignment. It should also involve some interpretation or analysis on your part. Learning Revit, for example, is not a good topic, as a perfectly good instruction manual already exists for this topic. Instead, you might compare Revit's ease of use with a competitor's program, or chronicle how its introduction changed how people do business.

Locating Materials

Your first impulse will probably be to surf the internet, but unless you're mining Wikipedia for the names of books to look for or consulting an online database of academic periodicals, you should stay away. Instead, visit the nonfiction library section corresponding to your topic and browse. Consult the catalog or a librarian to order further titles. If first hand information such as the name on a trademark registration in Canada, telephone, email, or visit the source directly to ask.

Extracting Information

When you have finished collecting your materials you will have more information on your topic than you can possibly read before the paper's deadline. Instead of reading everything cover to cover, use the index to find chapters directly related to manure management and skim the pages for useful information. Don't get distracted by extraneous material or be tempted to change or broaden the scope of your paper to incorporate everything. You will end up losing focus.

Citations

Make notes in your own words as you peruse the materials, making sure to mark down the book's name and page number next to relevant facts that will need to be cited. If any passages catch your eye, write them out word for word so you can quote them in your paper. It is not necessary to write the full title (for instance, Toronto Sports Medicine: One Doctor's Year With the Raptors) in your notes. It will only slow you down. Save that for the bibliography.