The research process is a series of multiple steps. Look at creating a research plan. Your instructor may have given you a topic/question to research or the freedom to come up with your own topic/question. Just take a few moments to think about the following: 

1. What am I trying to accomplish?
2. How interested am I in this idea?
3. How much time do I have?
4. What information and resources are available? 
5. Does your issue have sub-topics that you need to know more about? 
6. What is the assigned length of the research paper?

What is a bibliography?

A bibliography is a list of works on a subject or by an author that were used or consulted to write a research paper, book or article. It can also be referred to as a list of works cited. It is usually found at the end of a book, article or research paper. 

Gathering Information

Regardless of what citation style is being used, there are key pieces of information that need to be collected to create the citation.

For books and/or journals:

• Author name
• Title of publication 
• Article title (if using a journal)
• Date of publication
• Place of publication
• Publisher
• Volume number of a journal, magazine or encyclopedia
• Page number(s)

For websites:

• Author and/or editor name
• Title of the website
• Company or organization that owns or posts to the website
• URL (website address)
• Date of access 

This section provides two examples of the most common cited sources: a print book and an online journal retrieved from a research database. 

Writing Strong Research Questions | Crieteria and Examples:

Published on October 26, 2022 by Shona McCombes. Revised on August 15, 2023. For the original essay with more details visit: https://www.scribbr.com/research-process/research-questions/