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A worksheet designed to help students identify key search terms and synonyms for their research. Developed by Reynolds College Library, Va.

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A quick guide/handout to keyword search techniques for databases and search engines; created by Reynolds College Library, Va.

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From Newbury Park HS Library - in a straightforward Powtoon animation, illustrates search strategies generic to most common databases.

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Steps for using the Advance Search feature of a library database to search for relevant academic sources for research.-- Created using PowToon. Made by Sue Heraper, teacher librarian at Newbury Park High School.

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How to Search a Database (with the Sock Librarian)

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How to Search a Database (with the Sock Librarian)

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A YouTube gives tips for keyword search strategies to use with library databases, featuring the Sock Librarian - created by the Univ. of Tenn. Library

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Quick Tips & Shortcuts for Database Searching

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What Are Databases and Why You Need Them?

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What Are Databases and Why You Need Them?

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In an animated video, a Yavapai College student describes benefits in using library databases for research as compared with searching the web.

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What Are Databases and Why You Need Them

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From the Writing Center Quick Guides of George Mason University, a two-page guide to developing a research question.

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Created by Writing Center tutors, our Quick Guides provide concise instruction on a variety of writing skills, tasks, and processes. Tutors often integrate these guides into tutoring sessions, but you can use them independently to get a quick handle on the topic of your choice.

Print copies of the Quick Guides are available in our campus locations, but we invite you to download as many as you like.

General Writing Practices

Writing in Different Genres

Grammar & Style

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Created by Writing Center tutors, our Quick Guides provide concise instruction on a variety of writing skills, tasks, and processes. Tutors often integrate these guides into tutoring sessions, but you can use them independently to get a quick handle on the topic of your choice.

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"From Topic to Research Question" Handout

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"From Topic to Research Question" Handout

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A one-page handout that outlines the formulation of a research question.  Posted by the Indiana University Library, Bloomington.

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A 3-page handout that guides students through the process of writing a focused and challenging research question; includes a number of samples.  Created by the Writing Studio at Duke University.

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From Empire State College, contains a variety of online activities and worksheets related to developing a research question, evaluating site authority, as well as critical reading and grammar exercises.

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Exercise Room | Online Writing Center | SUNY Empire State College

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Empire State College: "Steps in Writing a Research Paper"

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Empire State College: "Steps in Writing a Research Paper"

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The Online Writing Center of Empire State College steps through the research process and provides guides for writing a formal, academic paper.

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A series of steps, starting with developing a research question and working thesis, will lead you through writing a research paper. As you move through these steps and actually create the research paper, you may find that you can't move through all of them in chronological order, and that's o.k. In fact, you may change the order of the steps depending on the subject, your knowledge of the subject, and your sources. For example, sometimes you need to do just a bit of background research and reading before you can develop a research question. Sometimes you need to go back and find additional sources to corroborate your viewpoint. The research writing steps that we offer represent a general, ideal, movement through the research writing process. In reality, writers often repeat or circle back as needed.

Hey, wait a minute . . . why did we say "ideal?" In our opinion, these steps represent the best way to move through the writing process because they ask you to think and develop a research question before you actually do a lot of research. The one big mess that you can get into, as a student, comes from doing too much unfocused research before identifying your own viewpoint, the one that you will eventually need to support. If you do too much unfocused research first, then the tendency is to try to include all of it in the paper. The result is a hodgepodge of information that's not focused, developed fully, or indicative of your own thoughts. It's also not efficient to do too much research before you really know what you're looking for. Try it our way--develop that research question first--to cut out a lot of research paper mess.

These steps will lead you through writing a research paper:

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Steps in Writing a Research Paper | Collegewide Writing Center | SUNY Empire State College

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Your college degree is closer than you think. Choose your degree program and get to work, or tailor an area of study to make it your own.

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The trusty Online Writing Lab of Purdue University provides helpful guides to the research process, describing how to conduct research, effectively search the Internet, evaluate sources of information, and properly cite sources.

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These OWL resources will help you conduct research using primary source methods, such as interviews and observations, and secondary source methods, such as books, journals, and the Internet. This area also includes materials on evaluating research sources.

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Posted by Krueger Library of Winona State University, explores the difference between open-ended and closed research questions, discussing how “open” questions lead to interpretation of the facts.

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Krueger Library - Winona State University

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Learn how to create open-ended research questions for successful papers.

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This brief Powtoon animation gives tips on how to develop a research question and defines the characteristics that make a research question "good."  Developed by the Steely Library, Northern Kentucky University.

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This video discusses how to make research focused and efficient by having initial questions in mind about the topic.  Produced by Modesto Community College.

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Modesto Junior College Instruction Librarian

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Modesto Junior College Instruction Librarian, Kathleen Ennis provides tips for success in doing college research papers.

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This brief animated video demonstrates how a topic evolves through the process of conducting research.  Produced by NCSU Library