How to become a good researcher

By- Paavni Thareja, 3^rd-year law student from Raffles University (Neemrana).

In the competitive world full of hidden talents and experiences, you need to uplift yourself in every possible way. In every field of career, the requirement of researching techniques is most demandable. People who are pursuing law come across many difficulties in researching the topics whose sources are not available on the internet. Every law firm, companies, advocacy or any other area of legal practice require such type of research skills. Even law schools all over the globe are now focusing on the development of researching skills of students. Let us discuss one by one how to become a good researcher:

1. Know your topic well
   The common mistake that students and even law passouts do is that they don’t understand the topic well which causes blunder in the initial stage of the research.

• Look out and examine the topic of research
• The topic should be convenient for the readers to understand
• Don’t make the title so complex
• Know, understand and analyze your topic

2. Start finding out the main heads under the topic
   Once you have understood your topic well from all the angles, create a boundary line of your work that you will be researching.

• List down at least 5-6 main heads that will be included in your articles, blogs and research papers etc.
• Main heads should be totally related to the topic.
• It should not be out of context
• Example- You are writing an article on “Violating the traffic rules”. The main heads will be

Types of traffic rules violation

Consequences of violating traffic rules

Penalties of different violation of traffic rules
Reasons for non-violation of rules

Rural-Urban traffic rules violation

Suggestions to improve the problem

3. Research from authentic sources
   What are these authentic sources? If you want to be on the safe side then always prefer government website which provides exact data and information.

• Use bare acts of the official websites.
• Try reading from different sources available on google if you are writing short articles.
• SCC online, Manupatra and Westlaw etc are full authenticated sources which you can use.
• Do not use Wikipedia or any unusual websites for writing your material.

4. Write in the simple and attractive language
   The more creative and attractive your write is, the more the readers will find interest, Keep your write-ups in very simple language because normally the readers are people who do not know the concept.
5. Do not copy paste
   Every writer should attain the habit of writing naturally. The more you will apply your own brain to extract ideas and information, the more your work will gain appreciation. If you copy paste then use the correct footnoting as per desired citation format.
6. Be realistic and clear in your thoughts
   Do not create blunder in your write-ups. Read as many times as possible whenever you write any sentence. Do not create confusing You should be clear in your thoughts.
7. Always involve comparative study in your write-ups
   When you start comparing different aspects your approach and vision in your write up automatically shows a positive reflection of success. Readers will get more information when you make comparative analysis and study.
8. You should now the modern law and scenario as well
   Do not cite very old judgments or articles in your write-ups unless they are a landmark. Try to cover as recent updates as possible.
9. Try giving more examples and create situations for explanations
   Write as if you are explaining to school going child. Giving more and more examples and creative situations will highlight your writings.
10. Try to read books and newspapers at the initial stage of research
    We are in habit of always opening google first. This is very wrong research Always read the books and find the material in the newspapers. Newspapers are now available online where you can easily get very old information also.
11. Connect a chain to all your points
    There should be a connection between all the points that you have covered. Nothing should be irrelevant and vague. If you have confusion, then do not write about that thing. Every point should be connected directly or indirectly with each other.
12. Check grammar and other mistakes
    Don’t forget to check your material with online plagiarism and grammar apps available on google.
13. Re-read your write up after completion
    Keep on reading your matter again and again. This will automatically help to know your mistakes. Punctuations, conjunctions, verbs, adverbs, prepositions and sentences formations will improve. If you yourself could not understand what have you written, then try reframing the sentence.

14. Give suggestions wherever required
Never copy someone else suggestions. Apply your own brain to conclude and suggest the problem discussed. Good suggestions will impact your publishing. So always keep in mind to write attractive, simple, realistic and unique suggestions.