How to write a quick research paper

I don't know about you but I have had some very scary experiences in the past when I needed to submit a report or paper in a matter of hours. The natural tendency of course is to rely on stock knowledge, but that can be as devastating as not submitting the report or paper on time or not at all. I have learned from those experiences though.

Two or three reports ago I discovered Google Notebook. It is a free browser tool which makes web research easier and more efficient.

Google Notebook is a free browser tool that makes web research of all kinds – from planning a vacation to comparison shopping to purchasing a car – easier and more efficient. It enables users to collect clips of web content in an online Notebook without ever leaving the web page they're on. Users can then add notes to their clippings, organize their notebooks into sections, and make their notebooks public for other users to view on the Google Notebook search page.

To get started, you just have to go to Google Notebook's homepage and sign in using your regular Google username and password. Then you need to create a notebook and download and install the Google Notebook browser extension. Once you've installed it, you can restart your browser and begin to use the tool. To use, you have to select any text or graphic appearing on your browser and then right click and choose "note this". The text will then be pasted on your notebook with the hypertext link to its source.

What makes the Notebook fun is that you can reorganize your notes in preparation of writing your report or paper. You can add your own comments. You can divide notes by sections. You can drag-and-drop notes and put them where you want them. A blog, Efficient Academic, describes what you can do.

• Clip useful information. You can add clippings of text, images and links from web pages to your Google Notebook without ever leaving your browser window.
• Organize your notes. You can create multiple notebooks, divide them into sections, and drag-and-drop your notes to stay organized.
• Get access from anywhere. You can access your Google Notebooks from any computer by using your Google Account login.
• Publish your notebook. You can share your Google Notebook with the world by making it public.

You can then start writing your first draft, making sure of course that you write every paragraph using your own words. If you need to quote anything, make sure you put them in quotes (or indent them) and acknowledge the source by proper citation. Remember that it is so easy to commit plagiarism in this modern cut-and-paste world. For proper citation formats, you may refer to this page.