You’ve probably used these same steps to research a topic before. That’s because the standard process works for any field of study. However, there are a few things that you might want to do a little differently when researching a scientific topic. First, you may need to read up on your topic before you begin your search for information. Just because you’re interested in a scientific topic does not mean that you know enough about it to begin researching it.

Secondly, you may find that your initial search doesn’t turn up very many sources about your topic. Although this can happen with any topic, the field of science is still full of mysteries. It’s possible that scientists, themselves, are just starting to study the topic that interests you—they may still be conducting their research, which would mean that they’re not ready to publish their findings yet. If you can’t find much information about a topic, you may need to revise your research questions and try your search again.

Lastly, because new discoveries and inventions are frequent occurrences in the field of science, you’ll need to make sure you use the most up-to-date information you can find. If you find a source that is more than a few years old, you should look for a more recent discussion of your topic.