Reseach Pamphlet

In Progress

Welcome, Freshman Class of the University at Buffalo!

College already, huh? New housing, new levels of classes, and just when you thought it was over, new research opportunities! As one of the largest research universities in the country, here at UB we want you to have the best start to your university-level research, so Nonexistent Research Team at UB (NRT) would like to help you get a foot in the door to one of the most difficult, yet rewarding, subjects you'll learn here: research.

So, where do I begin?

You'll want to start off with an argument or hypothesis you want to make: anything really! Just pick out a topic and an argument that you believe will be relevant to you and your interests, such as:
"Cats should be allowed in the dorms for their comforting abilities."

I have a topic, I have an argument, it's time to Rock 'N Roll!

You have a topic you want to argue or you want to research, so where do you go now? As Newton and many others have said, it's time to "Stand on the Shoulders of Giants". You don't really think you know everything, do you? There's so much of the world that's unknown to many of us, such as how to cure cancer or why the answer to life is 42 (well, maybe not that) - so you'll need to get sources and articles that help back up your claim - unless you want to do all of that long, hard, tedious work yourself, it's up to you!

Research, Research, Research!

Now is the most tedious, but still the most rewarding part of this whole process: the research itself. Most (if not all) of this should be done in with help from the UB Libraries. They'll provide much of what you're looking for: cited scholarly articles, university research from around the world, and primary, experimental research that will help support the claim you're making. Be sure to get help with citations from resources like the Purdue Online Writing Lab (OWL) to ensure you're not plagiarizing, or using somebody elses ideas as your own.


I'm Lost, I'm Confused, What do I do now?

You're human, you're prone to mistakes, you're prone to errors, but there's still something you can do about it! All of the libraries at UB would love to help you check your sources, find articles, and ensure you're citing correctly. That's why they're here, to help you! They can be found at many of the physical UB Library locations, such as at the Capen/Silverman or Lockwood Libraries.

So, now it's up to you. Summarizing what we have so far:
Find a topic or argument you want to make
Find articles that support your claim
Cite your sources, and last but not least:
Get help if you need it!