STARS (Sure-fire Techniques for Achieving Research Success)

Step 1: Finding a Topic to Research

Pick a topic that interests you, something that you really want to learn about. Get some ideas by:

	Looking through your textbook or other class readings for possible topics.
	Carefully reading your assignment.
	Talking to your instructor about the assignment.
	Using encyclopedias (both print and online) to get an overview of a topic, obtain definitions, discover how your idea fits into the larger picture, and get started on preliminary research.
	Looking at newspaper articles, magazines or journals to find topics you might want to research.
	Thinking about the two main types of research papers. Is your paper meant to inform or to persuade? To present one side or both sides of a controversial issue?

Be sure you know what your instructor wants:

	What types of sources are you required to use? Primary or secondary?  How about popular magazines or scholarly journals?
	Are encyclopedias or dictionaries permitted as sources (rather than just for background reading)?  How about Web sites? Click here for advice on evaluating and choosing Web sites.
	What documentation style have you been instructed to use for formatting your paper and listing your references? Find out about APA, MLA, Chicago, and other styles.

Click here for the help of a research librarian. | Click here to make an appointment at the Writing Center.

Proceed to Step 2. | Return to Introduction.

Adapted with permission from the JSCC Library Information Literacy Tutorial.
Comments and suggestions to Barbara Quintiliano, Instructional Design Librarian.