Do you find yourself unable to write a single line of your paper due in a few days — sitting in front of your laptop screen or surrounded by a stack of books? And you’re out of coffee and snacks, too!

Believe it or not, more than half of college students feel this way, according to recent reports. While procrastination isn’t the worst thing that can happen to you, it sure doesn’t help you write your paper!

However, if you understand the fundamentals of research methods and how to follow them, you can be wondering how much work you can get done in a single day. It’s never been about working hard; it’s always been about working smart.

If you didn’t adequately plan for your research, you might find yourself in a similar situation. Perhaps you’ve spent a lot of time reading journal articles to back up your hypothesis, but you haven’t paid enough attention to your research problem. This is why learning how to do research would help you along your research journey.

This, however, is not completely your fault. In comparison to writing, research skills are rarely taught in high schools. Professionals believe that students are very knowledgeable about doing independent study, leading to students spending time looking for unrelated information.

If you start the research process correctly, you won’t have to worry about doing it. “Well begun is half done,” said Aristotle. This article will guide you through the process of honing your research skills one step at a time. There are also some clever techniques for quickly mastering the skills!

Let’s look at some of the most fundamental and helpful steps for researching and honing your research skills!

1. Understanding the basics of how to do research

Before you dive into this sea of knowledge, you should first understand what research is.

Answering a question is the goal of research. It is as simple as that. You’ll have to read many books or look at a lot of websites to figure out the answer. These are the “sources.”

You can find the answer in less time if you can come up with the right “search terms.” These terms are referred to as “keywords.”

Whether you’re looking for the right backpack or the most similar scientific paper to your work, these mechanics rarely change.

A vast amount of information is broken down into simple steps in this article to understand it better. You’ll also have a proper idea of where to begin your study.

So let’s talk research!

2. First thing first — know your research

The first and most critical step is to understand what exactly you are doing. It will point you in the right direction in your research. Otherwise, you’ll be wasting your time looking for answers and stressing yourself out in the middle of your research. So, rather than spending many hours or days in stress, spend a handful of time understanding the problem you are trying to solve.

How would you come up with such an understanding? If done correctly, it is quite easy. Create a mind map out of a piece of paper or with the help of a software. Make a list of your thoughts and link them together. Continue this process until you’ve come up with some ideas that are connected and make sense. This is a rather simple yet surprisingly powerful method to start things with the right mindset.

3. Narrow it down

The next thing you’ll discover if you completely comprehend the research problem is that there are many methods to seeking a solution. The great thing about research is that you never know what will happen next! However, if you take the right direction, you’ll get results that will help you learn more about the subject you’re investigating, ultimately helping others in your field.

For more details, you can also talk to your professors. They will provide you with information on the subject as well as some helpful hints.

Google Scholar, Owler, and other search engines will assist you in your study.

4. Be resourceful

After you’ve decided on a subject, you can move on to the next level. One of the benefits of key sources is that they help you locate information relevant to your topic. However, having a large number of sources can be confusing. And it will leave you flabbergasted yet confused.

You can build your research on a solid base if you start small and stay small until you’ve absorbed a significant amount of information in your research field. Basic research skills, such as knowing the right “keyword” to look for and sorting out the correct “sources” early on your research journey, will give you a lot of confidence as you progress through your research.

Instead of relying on a large number of sources, try to concentrate on five to ten that are highly relevant. It will assist you in staying focused on your work without being bored or frustrated.

5. Manage your resources

Most students were discouraged in the middle of their research projects due to a lack of resource management. Almost every student finally wonders if they skipped an excellent paper because they didn’t write it down right away. This is what I refer to as “scientific Deja Vu”! Perhaps they have to spend an entire day looking for that article, which is a complete waste of time.

Therefore, resource management is an essential aspect of research.

After you’ve chosen some valuable sources:

1. Read them thoroughly and prepare a note of relevant facts.
2. Often, stop getting too involved.
3. Take a look at the big picture.

The easiest way to keep track and plan your research is to use a reference manager. Also, the ability to write is a crucial factor in being a better researcher, and scientific writing is a skill that must be mastered. It would be helpful if you could write about the resources you regularly use (summaries, main ideas), as this would help you excel in scientific writing and help you gain expertise in your field of research.

Notion, Roam research, and Evernote are the most used note-taking apps used by students.

1. Try to get a general idea by reading the first few lines.
2. Make a list of everything you think is important.
3. Take a break when you’re finished with it. Refresh your mind before making a new start.
4. Now, after recharging your batteries, go over everything you’ve jotted down or highlighted.
5. Finally, tag your resources with relevant keywords so that you can quickly locate them later.

6. Fill the void

6.1 Experimenting

You will find a better approach to working on your research problem now that you have the right amount of information and literature data to work with. This is easier said than done because you will spend the bulk of your research career performing theoretical and/or experimental evaluations in order to gather evidence to support your research hypothesis.

6.2 Data analysis

After you’ve gathered the information you need, the next move is to evaluate it. Software packages like R or Python, which are in high demand in data science and statistical programming, will be a huge support in carrying out your research — analyzing your data.

7. Eat that frog

Now you’re able to share the “Brand new” piece of information with your peers since you have a clear understanding of your research problem and the evidence to back up your theories.

Whether it is a paper or a presentation, you may need to spend the appropriate amount of time to prepare so that your audience understands your research — because that is the fundamental goal of doing research. As Einstein once said, “If you can’t explain it simply, you don’t understand it well enough.”

In communication, infographics are extremely useful. Therefore, using design software such as Adobe Illustrator or Inkscape would be preferable.

As most of us have experienced, this task is challenging. Following Anne Lamott’s “bird by bird” approach, as mentioned in her book of the same name, is one way to make the process easier. Make time (approximately 1-2 hours a day) to focus entirely on the task at hand and complete small chunks of text. Cal Newport’s book “Deep Work,” where he also happens to be a college professor, has given a lot of insight into how this approach can work for everyone. If you follow this method, your paper or presentation will be ready almost instantly.

8. Be iterative

Your research will never end if you start things correctly and if you enjoy what you’re doing. And it will lead you to doubt elements of your research and encourage you to “think and rethink“. This suggested technique will improve your research skills and, by extension, your research findings’ accuracy.

You may develop better ideas to enhance your research outcome while writing your paper or giving a presentation. These are the most important ideas, in my opinion, because they appeared when you tried to align your work logically. If you have a eureka moment, you can look it back and rearrange content as needed.

If you’re writing a paper, it’s a good idea to write down your thoughts on a separate piece of paper, or you can always comment your ideas on the side if you’re using a text editor like Microsoft Word.

9. Plagiarism is a crime!

It is always a good practice to back your work. When you cite your sources, you must provide the source of the information you are using. It helps to eliminate the possibility of plagiarism.

Manually inserting citations would undoubtedly take much longer than writing the article!. There are, fortunately, more ingenious ways to do this. Using a reference manager like Mendeley can save you a lot of time because the program will automatically generate citations (in any format).

Also, there’s Google Scholar, an old friend of almost any researcher who is always eager to assist! Google Scholar also can generate citations in various formats accurately.

Most academics use professional plagiarism checkers such as Turnitin or Unicheck to review your paper, so it’s always a better idea to use one of them.

10. Final words…

I hope you now have a clearer sense of how to do research confidently. You will save time, do more active research, and have enough material to write a winning essay if you follow the steps outlined in this article.

I believe that this guide will assist you in learning new research skills and, as a result, helping others in the field.

What did I miss?! Let me know in the comment section.

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