Create an outline and brainstorm for the research paper. If your instructor wants you to choose a side on an issue, your research topics should reflect a subjective point of view. If the research paper is solely factual, you will have an easier time finding information on the Internet to create an objective viewpoint. Online forums and posts are good places to look for opposing sides concerning an issue.
Use online search engines, such as Yahoo, Google or Bing to find videos, blogs, reviews, editorials and news articles. A broad range of various media types can make your research paper more credible. Choose websites that end in .edu or .gov, as these will most likely be credible sources.
Cross reference your sources to double-check the accuracy of your information. Always find two online sources that provide similar facts, such as dates, names and events. For factual reports, such as a history or science report, make sure you gather more than one credible source. Well-known organization websites and online articles written by scholars, professors and other experts in their field should be preferred for use in a research paper.
Find out if your college library has an online archive of published journal articles and scholarly documents. Go to the school library's home page and look through the page. Once you find it, you can type in keywords and phrases in the search bar to access the database of articles and other documents.