The Seven Steps of the Research Process. The following steps outline a simple and effective strategy for finding information for a general research paper. Depending on your topic, the actual assignment, and your familiarity with the library, you may need to rearrange or alter these steps, but this will get you started.
Step 1: Define the Topic
Step 2: Narrow the Topic
Step 3: Gather Background Information
Step 4: Create a Research Question
Step 5: Find and Evaluate Sources
Step 6: Cite Sources
Step 7: Write the Paper
