by Matt Bird

Created on: May 08, 2009

My advice? Don't.

If I could get away with those three words I would. Writing an entire paper in one night is a bad, bad idea. That said it's sometimes the only option available to a student, and in those cases all may seem lost. But it's not - as long as you're prepared for zero sleep, anyway.

Generally college papers require you to focus on one specific area. So, regardless of the topics available, you're going to need sources that center on that area. With any luck the teacher has given you a focused topic; if not, though, you're going to have to come up with something. The first thing that pops into your mind is what you should go with, as you hardly have the time to come up with something better.

Your first step after deciding on a topic should be a trip to the library. You need a thesis, after all - or you generally will, anyway - and books are the best place to start. Most libraries I've seen stay open until 9, and college libraries may remain open even longer. If you can get away with staying in one all night I'd suggest doing so, as you'll eliminate the number of potential distractions, plus you'll have access to all the research material you'll need.

So. You've been to the library and you've got plenty of books on your subject matter. Get as many as you can, as quickly as you can, and head back to your work area. If the library wasn't open, don't despair: there's still another option, and you'll want to use it regardless of whether you got books or not - the Internet.

Head online and start looking for research databases. If you're in college or university their library website will PROBABLY provide a listing of research databases teeming with good resources on virtually any topic. Head on and start hunting down more articles relating to your topic. Note, however, that many entries may be snippets: and you don't want snippets, you want full articles. As such you'll want to do an advanced search on your topic, and tick off 'Full articles only' for search results. Don't waste time with useless little reviews and portions of articles.

Right. So. You've got your books, you've got your online articles, you've got a topic. Now you need a thesis to work around, and you have no idea what it is. Chances are good the amount of reading material you've amassed is looking horrid: but take heart, you won't have to read it all.

For books, finding exactly what you want to read about is as close as the back of the book. Any self-respecting non-fiction book will

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