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As you get ready to apply for college, it’s important to show that you’re more than just good grades and test scores. Colleges want students who love to learn and are eager to make a difference. But how do you show this? Getting involved in research is a great way! This guide will help you find research opportunities that will make your application shine and increase your chances of getting into your dream school.

Getting Started

There are two main ways I know of that work for getting research opportunities.

• Independent research: Pursue a topic that interests you, leveraging online resources and potentially collaborating with experts later. Science fairs are a good way of presenting research that is done in this manner
• Mentored research: Cold-email professors or researchers to inquire about projects. Attend lab meetings to learn more about ongoing research. Eventually work with these researchers to write a paper or have them serve as a mentor for your project.

This guide will focus on mentored research. There are many blog posts on this site that talk about independent research and science fairs. I wrote one about how to win ISEF, the largest science fair competition. These tips will translate to other independent research opportunities.

Rishab has a video on how to do this, which I would recommend watching after you finish reading the blog post.

Warning!

Expensive research programs aren’t the best way to get a strong research experience for college applications. This is because to participate in these types of programs, the main requirement is that you have a lot of money. Many of these programs boast about the college results of students who have participated in their program. However, it is important to question whether their program is the reason why these students are doing well.

Being part of a family that has thousands of dollars to participate in a research program means that it is only accessible to those with extensive financial means.

Extensive data shows that people that come from families with high levels of wealth are anyways much more likely to get into top schools. You might find a great research opportunity through a local university or college, or by doing independent research with a strong mentor.

Getting a mentor

The best way of getting research is by finding a mentor who is willing to support your goals. The best way to do this is to cold email researchers.

Any school, no matter how prestigious it is, will have some research going on.

You don’t have to go to an Ivy League or some prestigious university to get research. In all reality, more prestigious the university, the more likely the professors are already focused on prioritizing undergrads at their school who want to do research) The most important advice with this is to start early, since good research takes time.

If you are under pressure to finish it before college applications have been completed, then the quality will suffer. Your priority should be to produce high quality results for the lab that you end up working with. This will help you in the long run since your mentor is much more likely to write a positive letter of recommendation and you are more likely to end up co-authoring a publication with your mentor.

Here’s a guide I wrote that will teach you how to prepare effective cold emails:

https://rishabacademy.com/2024/03/06/how-to-cold-email-as-a-high-school-student

Foundational Work

Start by choosing a subject that sparks your curiosity. Once you have a broad area, narrow it down to a specific research question that can be explored in depth within the paper’s constraints. Ideally, you want to make sure that your paper is comprehensive but readable, so you will need to pick a specific niche. Utilize credible sources like academic journals, scholarly books, and reputable websites to gather evidence for your research. In particular, preprint servers and open access journals are completely free which means that you will have an easier time finding research that way. Document all the sources that you end up reading, since this will make your life much easier when you need to cite everything.

BibTeX is super useful for organizing and generating citations for research papers.

Literature Reviews

The literature review is the foundation of your research project. It’s where you become an expert on your topic by exploring what others have already discovered. Doing this will allow you to find gaps in existing research, allowing you to come up with an idea that is specific enough to write a paper with. Here’s how to tackle this research phase:

• Brainstorming Keywords: Start by identifying key terms related to your research topic. These will be your golden tickets to finding relevant sources.
• Hit the Library (or Database): Use your school library’s resources and online databases to find academic journals, articles, and books on your topic. Look for credible sources published by universities, research institutions, or reputable organizations.
• Reading and Taking Notes: As you read through your sources, make sure to skim. Make sure to focus on the points that are relevant to what you want to do and gloss over other parts, as this will save you a lot of time. Nonetheless, pay close attention to the arguments different researchers are making and any interesting connections between their work.
• Staying Organized: There are many ways to organize your research. Note-taking apps, index cards, or a simple notebook can all be helpful. Keeping your notes organized will make it easier to find information later when you’re writing your research paper.

Takeaways + Further reading

The goal of the literature review is not just to summarize what others have done, but to identify gaps in existing research and build upon it. This will help you develop your own unique research question and position your project within the bigger conversation on your topic.

I work for the International Research Olympiad. There, I created a guide as part of the curriculum, which is available here. While it is geared towards Olympiad competitors, the below sections are helpful to any reader who would like to conduct research:

• How to Read a Research Paper:
• How to Conduct a Literature Review:

Writing

Now, it is time to get whatever results you need to actually prepare the paper. This will greatly vary depending on the field and research question, but this is where your mentor will be able to guide you. Also this is a good time doing this

• Evaluate publishability: Assess the significance of your research and determine if it’s suitable for publication in a peer-reviewed journal. Your mentor will be able to help you with this. If your work is not publishable, you should go back to your literature review and try to come up with other ideas.
• Preprint vs. paper: Consider whether a preprint server (e.g., arXiv, bioRxiv) or a formal journal is the appropriate venue for your work. Preprints allow for faster dissemination but do not undergo peer review.
• Formatting and writing: Follow the formatting guidelines of your target journal or preprint server. Learn how to write a scientific paper, including sections like introduction, methods, results, and discussion.

Learn LaTeX since it makes writing papers a lot easier (and is accepted as the standard in many scientific fields)

Sharing your work

• Preprint or journal submission: Submit your work to a preprint server or a relevant journal after ensuring it meets quality standards. You may need an affiliation with a research institution to submit to some preprint servers (notably, ArXiV). This is another reason why it is so important to have a mentor.
• Seek feedback: Get your paper reviewed by peers or experts before submitting it formally. This can significantly improve your chances of acceptance.

A word on high school journals

If you didn’t already know, most researchers aren’t looking to read high schoolers’ papers when they want to learn about discoveries in their field. They will likely be looking at leading journals, often the same ones that they publish their own papers in. Basically, this means that your paper is unlikely to make any impact in the world of research. No gain is a best-case scenario. Many of these journals also charge a lot of money to publish papers

Conclusions

Writing a strong academic research paper requires focus, organization, and a commitment to clear communication. By following the steps outlined in this guide, you can develop a well-structured and informative paper that effectively conveys your research findings. Remember, the journey of writing a research paper is a valuable learning experience that refines your research, analysis, and writing skills.

For even more helpful tips and resources, check out Rishab’s STEM guide. This free online guide is packed with information, including a template for cold emails. With dedication and the right tools, you can make an impact to the world of academic research.

About Eashan Iyer:
I am a founding member of The Qurios Institute and an incoming student at Brown University. In 2023, I co-authored a research paper in the field of theoretical physics. I am also an Eagle Scout and a senior at The Academy for Mathematics, Science, and Engineering in Rockaway, NJ. Learn more about me at my website and LinkedIn.