A good starting point for a research paper is Google Scholar. This is a subset of the search engine. When you type a title in the search box, it only brings up professional, peer-reviewed journals and references. It eliminates many of the fluff sites, allowing only "real" expertise to come through. The last thing you need in a serious research paper is marketing sites that are full of salesmanship but very little on actual fact.
If you type in a search term, thousands of websites are brought up. Many of these are fluff sites. To refine your search to credible sites, use search term trailers. Credible sites usually end in .edu, .gov, or .org. To bring these up, type in your search term. Leave a space, and type in site:.edu. This will bring up only educational sites. For example, if you type in "Aloe Vera" Google will bring up sites that sell creams. If you type in "Aloe Vera site:.edu" (without the quotation marks) it will bring up only educational institutions. Experiment around with the terms, and familiarize yourself with how search engine trailers work.
Many college libraries offer assistance with research papers. The librarians, by nature, skill and training, are knowledgeable on how to utilize the library system. Ask for their assistance, and they'll point you in the right direction.
Research papers are usually formatted in the APA or MLA style. APA stands for American Psychological Association. MLA stands for Modern Language Association. Many humanities, science, and social science papers are in APA. Many business-related papers are in MLA. A world of assistance, from knowledgeable sources, is available on how to format correctly in each style. For example, Purdue University offers free assistance on how to format correctly in APA.