Writing research papers is an essential skill you develop in school and college. Research papers allow you to explore ideas relating to a certain subject in depth. They require investigating an area of interest, forming your own opinion and backing it up with evidence collected from your research. With the internet making access to knowledge much easier, researching and writing papers online has become very convenient. There are also some issues to look out for when relying too much on online sources.
Finding Credible Online Sources for Research Papers
One of the key challenges of researching online is filtering out low quality and unreliable sources from credible ones. Internet allows access to a vast repository of information but not all of it can be used in an academic research paper. While search engines make finding information easy, it is up to you to evaluate the credibility and usefulness of sources. Here are some tips:
Look for sources from educational institutions like universities, colleges and research organizations. Websites with .edu and .ac domains are usually highly credible.
Government and non-profit organization websites ending in .gov and .org are also generally reliable resources as long as the content is non-commercial.
Scholarly journal articles and papers published on sites of professional associations and societies in your field of research can be directly used as sources.
Evaluate the purpose, date of publication, author’s credentials and source of funding or sponsorship before using any source. Generally, recent and professionally written articles have more credibility than personal blogs.
Cross check facts and figures with multiple credible sources to confirm accuracy before including them. One source alone is not enough validity.
Avoid using sources like encyclopedias, dictionaries and general reference websites unless no other alternatives are available. While informative, they are meant for reference and not in-depth research.
Be wary of commercial websites, personal blogs and sites ending in .com as the content may be biased or even false at times due to advertising or propaganda motives. Double check any questionable claims.
Check the ‘About Us’ or ‘Our Organization’ section to learn more details about the source that would help determine its validity before citing it in your research paper.
Collecting Your Paper’s Sources Online
Once you identify credible online sources relevant to your research paper topic, you need to collect and organize them properly for review later. Here are some effective methods:
Bookmark or favorite website pages directly in your browser for easy access later.
Save PDF versions of articles and reports by using the download/print option on sites providing full-text. Name files descriptively.
For journal articles not available as full-text, note down the exact MLA or APA citation details like author name, article title, publication title, date, volume, issue etc.
Create folders on your device or cloud storage like Google Drive to organize different types of sources collected – like websites, articles, reports etc. Further categorize by sub-topics if needed.
Use referencing software tools like Zotero, Mendeley or EndNote to save source details along with automatic file organization and citation creation features. This makes the referencing process seamless.
While collecting, note down relevant quotes, paraphrases or summaries from sources on a separate doc with their citations to be used directly in your paper later.
Taking Notes and Parsing Key Details From Sources
Once your sources are collected, the next step is reviewing them thoroughly to parse out important details that would help develop your research paper effectively:
Read through the sources completely and take relevant notes on the key arguments, findings, conclusions, theories etc. Note down page or paragraph numbers for direct citations.
Use highlighting, underlining or commenting tools to mark important quotes, examples, statistics and concepts across texts that support your viewpoint being discussed.
Categorize notes by topic, sub-topic or paper sections. For example: introduction notes, methods used notes, findings details etc.
Summarize larger text passages in your own words being careful not to plagiarize direct content. Quote sparingly only for very specific data.
Verify factual details against multiple credible sources to compile an accurate analysis on the research topic for your paper.
Critically analyze the viewpoints presented to identify supporting evidence as well as limitations or weaknesses. Note these down.
Link relevant notes back to the original source citations to avoid referencing issues later during the writing stage. Cross-check as needed.
Sort notes chronologically or by importance to identify key themes, arguments or discoveries emerging from the overall research that can form the structure of your paper.
Organizing and Structuring the Research Paper
Once you have thoroughly reviewed all sources collected and parsed out relevant details effectively using notes, it is time to structure the research paper:
Decide on the main research question or problem you want to address based on your review of literature and the gaps identified.
Draft an outline with main headings/sections like – Introduction, Literature Review, Methodology, Findings, Discussion, Conclusion etc. depending on the specified paper type.
Categorize and arrange your detailed notes under these sections to structure the paper content logically.
Introduction should define the research problem, give context and state the purpose and importance of your study.
Literature review section discusses and analyzes the key sources in detail to present the current stance on the topic.
Methodology explains your approach, data sources, criteria for analysis if any statistical techniques used.
Findings present analyzed facts and data gathered from all sources systematically.
Discussion interprets their implications for research question, compares with prior work, identifies insights gained.
Conclusion summarizes results concisely, addresses problem stated initially and recommendations if any for future research paths.
Ensure a smooth logical flow between sections that ties back to your intro research question or problem statement.
Use headings and sub-headings within sections to categorize content for better organization and readability of the paper.
This covers the key steps involved in researching from credible online sources, collecting and organizing the information found, analyzing the details through note-making, and structuring an effective academic research paper using those reviewed sources. Proper source evaluation, thorough note-taking and logical structuring of content are crucial skills required for success in online research paper writing process.
Andrew Stroud