Biology 430/431 - Anatomy & Physiology (Rogers)

The Research Process

The following is a simple and effective outline of the research process.

Step One: Understand the Assignment, and Choose Your Topic

• Consider how much you know about your topic
• Do some background reading in an encyclopedia 
  Hint: Try Gale eBooks

Step Two: Start Your Search

• Use keywords that you gathered from your background reading or prior knowledge
• Search for books, articles, and news in OneSearch, or try an advanced Google search to find websites on your topic

Step Three: Put It All Together

• Begin organizing an outline for your paper or presentation, incorporating the resources you discovered in your search
• You may need to repeat previous steps to fill in any information gaps
• Be sure to save the publication information for each of your sources to create your citation page

Your Assignment

Before you begin your search, make sure you understand the assignment.

Some good questions are:

• How many pages?
• How many sources?
• What kinds of sources

Your professor is your best resource to answer these questions.