Research is one of the keystones of education. After all, the ability to locate and organise facts to solve problems or discover something new is one of the crowning achievements of the human mind. Almost every useful development in today’s society has been the result of research of some kind.

It’s no surprise, therefore, that all educational institutions test their students with research papers to evaluate their academic prowess. So, how can you conduct powerful, compelling research that will impress your academic supervisor or career superior?

Here are five tips to supercharge your fact-finding skills.

1. Know the formal requirements of your research

The content or substantive quality of your research determines how good it is. But before you even begin your project, devote some time to thinking how it will be presented. Nothing is more tragic than submitting an excellent, well-researched paper, only to get points deducted for incorrect formatting or font size.

Learn requirements such as the expected scope of the research, acceptable and unacceptable topics, citation style, page limits and, most importantly, deadlines.

2. Plan your research well

A systematic search through relevant topics in a guided manner will yield better results than scattershot leaps from one source to another.

First, understand the scope and parameters of your mission. It can be very easy to get sidetracked as you delve deeper into the intricacies of your research. The last thing you want is to spend a lot of time on an esoteric or complicated part of your subject only to realise very little of it can be used.

Identify the crux of your research; formulate a question you will be answering through your findings. Then take a rough skim through your research topic, and identify subsections or facets you need to explore. Everything else that does not address your main question can be discarded.

After that, read deeper into your subsections, build up your body of research, back it up with charts and statistics, and draw a conclusion. Make sure to write in clear, compelling language, and avoid jargon.

3. Use reputable sources

Alas, this is the era of fake news, and not everything you read on the internet is true. As such, always verify any information you find online, through fact-debunking platforms such as Snope or Sebenarnya. As a general rule, stick to facts and don’t quote blogs or opinion pieces.

Useful things to ask yourself when doing online research include:

• Is this information genuine? Or are you on a parody site like “The Onion”? Sites with the suffix .edu or .gov are usually more reliable.
• How is this information presented? Is it on a site devoted to propaganda, fear mongering, or extreme beliefs, for example?
• Is the information outdated? When referring to a newspaper article, check the date: the world may have changed considerably since it was published.
• Can I verify this information? Is the info here repeated on at least two other independent sites? Be wary of info only found on one source.

Despite potentially containing inaccuracies, don’t shy away from Wikipedia – its bibliography section often contains valuable and informative links.

4. Organise and bookmark your research

There’s no greater research nightmare than forgetting where exactly you found a crucial fact or quote, and having to scour countless websites or papers to find it again. Bookmark pages and take notes as you dive deep into the wide ocean of information.

5. Remember to cite properly

The difference between research and plagiarism is proper referencing. This often takes the form of page citations or a bibliography. Tools such as Turnitin or the Unicheck website can help you make sure to avoid plagiarism.

Find out if there are specific requirements for your referencing and make sure to follow them. Major citation styles, each with its own rules, include:

• APA (American Psychological Association), often used in education, psychology, and the sciences;
• MLA (Modern Language Association), often used in the humanities;
• Harvard referencing style;
• Chicago Manual of Style;
• Turabian style (both this and Chicago are often used in business, history, and the fine arts); and
• the Institute for Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE).

Have fun with your research, and remember the words of American anthropologist Zora Neale Huston: “Research is formalised curiosity. It is poking and prying with a purpose.”

This article was written by Terence Toh of ReSkills.com, a local online education platform aiming to make education affordable and accessible for all. Its ‘OnLive’ classes for adult learners are conducted by qualified and experienced coaches from all around the region.