Performing research without planning is similar to climbing a mountain without an axe! Academically speaking, conducting research is a task that requires a sequential mindset, time and resource management, and, of course, a supervisor to lead you throughout the process so that you can make the most of it!
However, once the research is set as a goal, it’s inevitable to remember that it’s not a series of stereotypical acts of typing a fixed amount of words daily in a Word document or asking your student to do so as a supervisor. It’s more than just that!
“Research procedure is a term for acquiring more profound knowledge and understanding regarding a topic or an aspect. There are several varieties of research, including
1.Applied
2.Descriptive
3.Explanatory Correlational
4.Non-Experimental
5.Qualitative
6.Quantitative
7.Quasi-Experimental
8.Theoretical
9.Experimental
10.Exploratory
The list would go on, and with time, other methods would be added, depending on the extent of research in this context. However, whether the process a researcher goes through while researching his topic, irrespective of the type of research he opts for, remains the same or varies greatly,
The process is more or less similar. You may relate it to driving a manual car or an automatic one. The fundamentals are the same. The appearances of the vehicles, the models, and their efficiencies might or definitely would differ; however, the basic skill set required for driving a car, in general, is similar.
Many authors have written articles, blogs, and research papers on the topic under discussion, and the articles need to match each other. This is because their perspectives on research processes differ. However, none can be classified as a rule of thumb.
Research is a higher-order learning activity, and any road map you draw would work wonders for you.

The eighth most important step in any research process is generalizing the many publications read.

Look for a query

Questioning things has produced the need for research. Every answer and explanation to a question is not it! There is always room for questions, even in the most explained answers. Or, there are some blind spots in a topic that have never been questioned or discussed. Anything that intrigues your interest can be chosen as your research question—the niche term for your research-related query.

Search and gather the status of that topic.

To know whether your topic question has previously been worked on or not or whether it is research currently being followed by many others worldwide, previous publications on that topic must be viewed. This part of the process is termed a “literature review. This study will help you tailor your research question according to the gap in knowledge about that topic and also build your references and bibliography, which are elements of the later steps of this process.

Formulate a statement to work on

After reviewing the related literature, a point is reached (or must be achieved) when the researcher (you) can figure out the exact query in your mind and propose your views about that topic that you want to be studied further, or that would add value to the pre-published findings. The statement that now would be dealt with would be a hypothesis that is neither necessarily an accurate statement nor an untestable truth. It’s a guess you make as per your understanding of a topic in light of previously performed research.

Chose research –type to proceed with Data collection

Once all the necessary background information based on the question for which an explanation is required has been gathered, you set out for data collection. However, first, you need to choose how easy or challenging you want this process to be, which in turn depends on what research type you wish to adopt, as listed above.
For instance, consider surveying the masses if you want dynamic and highly interactive research data.
Similarly, if you want experimental research data, you might need subjects (humans or animals) over whom you would execute a planned practical methodology.

Search for compatible tools for data collection.

Here is an essential part of your research: selecting the tool that might generate data-related graphics for you or act as a piece of critical equipment for your experiment or survey.
It could be an online tool or a laboratory instrument as well. However, in both cases, you need to know the accuracy of that tool or device, the reason for choosing it, and how well it stands with other tools used to derive similar data.

Start with the words.

Once you have your research question, a hypothesis, and supportive data, it’s time to start writing your paper. A general road map for a publication is:
1.Title of the Publication
2.Name of the author
3.The abstract is a summary of what follows in detail in the paper.
4.Introduction, where the content, from basic definitions to the contributions of different authors, is mentioned to build background information for the reader about the topic of the paper
5.Methodology of research that is also entitled experiments for scientific publications, define how you collected data for your paper
6.Observation is the outcome of the experiment you conducted or the statistics that data from surveys reveal. This part might include graphs and tables as well.
7.In discussion, you relate your findings to the previous data and take your research toward a possible conclusion.
8.The result, or conclusion, is the final word between you and your reader. It reflects how satisfied you are that your research question has been successfully worked on and has added value to the pre-available results.
9.References and bibliographies are crucial! Depending on the journal in which you aim to publish your research, there are different referencing styles to follow.

Get a peer review on the first drafts.

In the research process, jumping to a conclusion or final draft in the first place is an amateur step. Revision, reviewing, re-editing, and reciting are, by default, inevitable for research to be rendered authentic by quality control checks.
For that purpose, it’s always safe to send your unpublished data to a community of experienced researchers with your expertise for an expert opinion and to reduce the chances of getting your research rejected by the final reviewers.
Face the fear of being rejected! It’s also an important step to avoid letting this fear conquer your eagerness to learn and publish your work!

Finalize your paper

Once you rewrite and make the necessary edits to your paper, get it published. It will require contacting research societies in your field and submitting your form for publication. Read the submission guidelines and the journal’s policy carefully so that there are fewer chances of losing a chance to get published.

Once in the life of every student and scholar, there comes a turn when all the knowledge he has in his mind is questioned by him or someone around him. That’s when he must admit he knows not and work on unveiling the hidden realities. That’s where research starts.