These are some general suggestions about how to do your research paper. The most important advice is to get started early and to come talk to me often. There is a lot of work to be done for a project like this, and if you get started early and work steadily the whole process is a lot more enjoyable. Remember that research at IUP involves a lot of PALCI and ILL, so get started early. It also helps to talk to someone about what is happening with the project and any problems you might be having. I am always available and happy to talk to you.
 
Developing a topic
    Choosing and developing a topic is the most important part of the research process. You need to pick a topic that will interest you (you are going to spend a lot of time on this), a topic you can find sources for, and a topic you can say something about.
    One way to pick a topic is to pick a large (and available) primary source or set of documents and start going through it trying to see if you can come up with a question that you could answer from it. Or you could start with a topic and then try to see if there are sources around that would help you to deal with it. Almost always the topic you start with will be too vague and need to be narrowed or changed. You need to be looking for a question to answer or a thesis to defend. Initially the research will probably be geared towards a paper like “Random facts about the early Manchu empire” but it has to get beyond that to become a good, or even an acceptable, paper.
    Sometimes you end up shifting your topic because what you started with was too broad, or unfocused. Sometimes you shift because the sources will not let you talk about one thing but will let you talk about another.

Doing Research
    Once you have a general topic you need to start doing research. Finding the sources you are going to use is really more an art than a science. Part of it of course is a matter of keeping at it. As you read about your topic you find lots of leads. Some of them will pan out, some of them will not. The more of them you follow the more stuff you will find. Usually research tends to go from the more general to the more specific, i.e. you start with fairly general sources that are comparatively easy to find and then move towards more specific things that are harder to find and less likely to be of use, but more useful if you do find something.  
    Probably the easiest place to start is with on-line journal databases like JSTOR and Project Muse, and WorldCat. Going through the bibliographies of secondary works and looking for subject bibliographies are also helpful. Keeping track of what you find with bibliographic software like Endnote will save you a lot of time later and also helps if you end up shifting your topic. Remember that research at IUP involves a lot of PALCI and ILL, so get started early.

Assessing your sources
    As you are collecting sources it is important to assess what they are and what good they are for you. Initially the process of research is just collecting citations, which is fine, and makes you feel good, but you don’t really know what you have until you start looking at things. Does this article say something I want to know? Does it have any citations that I should track down? Is it too technical for me to understand? You don’t have to read the whole thing to figure this out, but you do need to learn to quickly assess a source and see what you have. Research is like mining for gold. You can find lots of shiny rocks, but you don’t really know if they are any good until you assay them. As you are looking at these things at figuring out what they say you will also be refining your topic and figuring out what you need, which will guide your future research.

Starting to write
    It is almost always a good idea to start writing somewhere in the middle of the paper. You may not yet know what your thesis is and there may be huge parts of the paper you have not yet figured out, but you can start to write at least some of it. There are a number of advantages to this. Part of it is that it will make you feel better. Look, pages are piling up. It will also help you realize what gaps are in your research and probably help you to come up with ideas for the rest of the paper.

Finishing writing
     As the paper grows you need to figure out what exactly the paper as a whole is trying to say. This may change several times, which is fine. The paper must have a clear and significant thesis. At the beginning of the paper you make a bargain with your reader. If you keep reading, I will explain why X is Y. Note that as you write you can change the bargain (X is Z), but in the final draft you need to make a deal and keep it.
    This is also a good time to think about the organization of your paper. Does this section really belong here? Can I cut these two pages down to a paragraph? It is hard to do these things first because it is hard to toss out your deathless prose and second because it is hard to realize that a section -can- be moved when it has been there for ages. You need to make a shift from reading the paper like the author to reading it like a reader. Yes, you understand what you are doing. Will they? How are you helping the reader through the paper?

Filling in the gaps
    The last part you write is always the hardest. You left it for the end for a reason, after all. Introductions and conclusions are also hard. Don’t let the problems with these things keep you from filling in other gaps. Keep researching. Often you have problems with a section because you don’t have the sources, If you treat research like a process to be finished before writing you will remain stuck. Research and writing should inform each other. Look for good quotes or statistics that will help you to make your points. The first draft is almost always your voice, but what you really want is your voice explaining that the sources prove that X is Y.

Revision
    Once everything is done and you are sure the paper is entirely perfect set it down for a week or so and then look at it again. You will find lots of things to fix. Note that to do this you need to get started early.

Have fun
    This may seem like strange advice, but you should enjoy the process of research and writing. This is what historians do, and if you don’t like it you are in the wrong place. And, frankly, it is lots of fun if done right. Usually when I find myself hating a project it is because I realize I am not doing a very good job on it.