Gathering Research Report Information

In the last lesson you learned about the first two steps for writing a research report. Step 1 is to choose a topic, or subject. This step includes writing questions about your topic you want to answer as you gather facts. Step 2 is to make a research plan. In this step you think of sources you might use to find the facts that answer your questions. 

Step 3 is using your plan to complete your research. To collect your information:

• Use multiple sources of information including oral and written to find the facts. Make sure they can be trusted to have accurate information. Finding the same facts in more than one source can help you make sure they are true. Finding facts that you already know are true also helps make sure a source has good information.
• Take simple notes. Organize them by the questions they answer. Be sure to use your own words in your notes. You can only use exact words found in your sources if you put them in quotations.
• Write down the author (if listed), title, publisher, and publication year of each source you use. You will need to list each source you used at the end of your report.