New Story Assignment?

I Need A Research Plan

Every day in my life as a journalist, news researcher, fact checker and librarian, I have been assigned to find information on topics about which I know very little, or nothing.

And yes, I’ve even been asked to work on books about sports. Why would anyone ask me, not to mention that the writer who asked me is a renowned sports historian?

I may not know much about sports, but what I do know is how to find information, facts and people. And when I am fortunate enough to get the assignment, I start out with a plan. A research plan.

If you have been in one of my conference workshops or J-school classes, you’ll remember this class assignment. But it’s not just homework, it’s a guide I use all the time to quickly familiarize myself with a topic, before going deeper.

Here’s the guide. Try it yourself. And if you like, post your answers in the comments. I want to learn from you, too.

Research plan for investigative projects

1. Has anyone done this story or similar in the USA or in another country?

Find 3 news stories, video, audio or data projects on the topic

2. Who is an expert on this topic?

Find 3 academic articles or books

Find 3 think tanks, professional organizations or advocacy groups

Find 3 experts to interview

3. Which local, national or international agencies have authority on this topic?

Find 3 agencies

4. What web sites have useful information on this?

Find 3 web sites

5. Who gathers statistics on this topic?

Find 3 organizations

Find 3 vital numbers from the statistics

6. Where are the databases relevant to this topic? Are they online? Not online? Where can I go to get them? What do I need to know to use them?

Find 3 databases

7. What are 3 important documents I found?

8. What are 3 important facts I found?

9. What are 3 more questions to research which I did not know when I started?

10. Find these online-only resources:

    Find 3 social media accounts to follow or investigate

    Find 3 images for publication in the project

    Find 3 videos to link to for additional information

I hope you find this useful. Good luck with the assignment!