Research 101: How to Research a Research Paper
by Alicia Eichmann
1. Pick a topic. If you're unfamiliar with the topic, do some background research in a related dictionary or encyclopedia. In Biblical Studies the Anchor Bible Dictionary would be approriate.
2. Do some initial research. Look up the keyword or subject in the Regent library catalog and in WorldCat. Create an initial, rough bibliography.
3. Once you've finished your background research, narrow your topic.
4. Now look up your clarified topic in the Regent library catalog, WorldCat, and ATLA. Depending on your topic, it may lend itself more to books or journal articles, but try to find a variety of sources. At this point dictionaries and encyclopedias should be used only for their bibliographies. If they are not current (older than 5-10 years), do not rely too heavily on them.
5. Refine your bibliography and categorize and prioritize your resources. Do not read large portions of them at this point, but familiarize yourself with them by looking at when they were written, who they interact with, and how they've organized their material (this can often be determined by looking at the table of contents and perhaps part of the Introduction).
6. Look up reviews and abstracts for some of your resources, particuarly those you intend to use the most. As you process your material, make sure that you use primary soures where appropriate.
7. Begin extensive reading. Within this process stop regularly to remind yourself of your topic. If you go too deep or too broad, it may make it difficult to cover your intended topic or to hit the intended length or word-limit. If you decide to change your topic, reconsider your primary sources and redraft an outline so that you realign all of your preparation to your new path. This will keep you from ending up with only half of your sources being on what you ended up wanting to write about.