Get started with the following steps: 

1. Choose a Topic: Understand your assignment parameters, requirements, and due dates
2. Conduct Background Research: Search for news articles, top hits on Google, and encyclopedia articles.
3. Refine your Topic: Narrow down what you want to investigate. Think about the who, what, when, where, and why for your topic.
4. Create a Research Question: Come up with a tentative question you want to answer in your project.
5. Develop a Search Strategy: Select your resources and develop your keywords
6. Start your Search: Conduct multiple searches in relevant resources
7. Evaluate your Results and Sources: Determine if your sources are credible
8. Adjust and/or Repeat your Search: Try different keywords, resources, and strategies depending on your needs
9. Start Writing: Incorporate your sources into your writing from the beginning
10. Review and Re-Search: Fill in the holes, explore new areas of interest, dig deeper, etc.
11. Cite, Review, and Edit: Put the final touches on your project!

Image provided by the University of Virginia Library

The words you type into the search box affect your search results. Not all authors use the same language to describe similar topics, so you will need to try a variety of searches.

• Create a list of possible words that could appear in a book or article related to your topic of interest
• Come up with synonyms or related terms for those
• Stick to using 2-4 nouns when searching

Example: "culture"

• "cultural practices"
• "customs"
• "traditions"