First-Year Composition

ASU Library is here to help you learn about academic research and find sources for your composition class assignments. This Library Guide will direct you to ASU Library resources that will help you successfully complete your English Composition papers.

Click on the boxes at the left for information about selecting a topic, coming up with a research question, finding background information, learning about effective search strategies, finding research databases appropriate for your topic, evaluating the sources you find, and citing correctly to avoid plagiarism.  You can also get help by using our online Ask a Librarian service, or by directly contacting librarians who regularly work with first-year composition classes and students.

Instructors, please visit our First-Year Composition Instructor's Guide for more information regarding instruction support for your classes!

Research is the process of collecting information and data, then conducting analyses to test hypotheses and present findings. Research often follows methodologies and protocols set up by specific academic disciplines. Library research is a type of research that involves finding and using library resources to help answer questions.

There are many different kinds of research and ways to do it. This guide focuses on academic research, which usually requires high-quality, peer-reviewed sources. Because research can be thought about in many different ways and broken down into many different steps, this guide presents but one way to break down the research process.