How to Write an Essay- Research

I've written some pretty good essays in my time as a student. As writing is my strong point and I take a lot of English classes as electives, I typically get good grades on them. I'm going to be posting a little guide on writing an essay, one piece at a time, whenever I get the time to write up a post. Here's the first one on research:

Research
For me, this has always been the hardest part of writing an academic essay. Not only do I have to find several sources on my topic, but they have to be what the teacher considers reliable as well. This typically means no Wikipedia, .gov/.org/.edu over .com, and fully citable. Often more than one type of source is required, such as book, Internet, and article. These are the things I keep in mind while looking for sources:

1. Finding Sources- When looking for sources, always consider the amount of time you have to work on the project. If you only have a week, a few articles will probably benefit you more than a dozen thick books. Obviously the first places to check for sources are Google (always make sure any Internet sites are reliable and citable; don't just assume that the first link on the list is the best!) and the library (honestly not every book is fully reliable either, but most teachers are far more willing to accept these without a second glance...). Other possible sources change with the topic, but some examples are newspaper articles, scholarly journals, and historical documents. If you find a source that doesn't have enough information or isn't citable, check to see if it has a bibliography that can provide you with more sources.
2. Creative Sources- It's probably a good idea to check with your teacher before you use these, but I don't think they should have a problem with it. These can be fun and add a bit of flare to both your essay and your bibliography. Some ideas are: museums, advertisements, old pictures (these can actually provide a lot of info. Just make sure they aren't fake), interviews, movies, zoos/aquariums, old letters or diary entries, and historical artifacts.
3. Citation- Every teacher will have different requirements on how much information is required to make a source citable. I've had some want only a title and author, while others want that plus publisher, date, location, associated organizations, and link (if available). The first kind is easy, but the latter set can be almost impossible to find on the Internet. Even most government websites, which many of my teachers have considered total wins for my bibliography, will not have that much information available. Books are generally the best option in this case as they provide all the copyright and publishing information. If you're not certain whether you have enough information for your source, either ask your teacher or (if you're turning in a rough draft) just go with it. The teacher will likely mark your lack of information so that you can fix it before you turn in a final copy. I know this sounds like the lazy way, but I generally feel uncomfortable talking to my teachers about such things unless they can be contacted through email, and it's always worked for me.

There are my ideas for finding and citing sources. If you have any questions, feel free to email me at propheciesofshadow@yahoo.com or post a comment on the Arriah Dreamscribe Facebook page. Next time I'll be posting about getting started on the paper. I hope this is helpful!