Organization
There are three organizational components with which a student juggles when doing research.
The first component is time management. If you are doing a research paper, you should begin by getting a calendar and marking the due date for your final draft and any other due dates already assigned by your teacher. Identify the day that marks one full week before the final draft due date; this is the day your rough draft should be complete. You will need an entire week to edit the rough draft and correct any errors before the final draft is due. Work backwards from that date and set your own personal deadlines i.e. when gathering of resources will be complete, when you will complete the note-taking, etc. Give yourself a few days before each piece (notes check, annotated bibliography, outlines, etc.) of the project is due, so you can process what you have created and edit it. You should also have your paper edited by someone else. A fresh set of eyes will catch errors you may have missed. If your teacher collects and grades your rough draft you should pass in a paper you believe to be a final draft, thus getting the best possible feedback from your teacher. Making the changes your teacher suggests will give your the best opportunity to pass in an exceptional final draft. All of this takes time so plan for all deadlines to avoid last minute writing.
The second component is managing your materials. It is a good idea to get a binder or folder to keep all your physical research materials in one place. You should put the teacher's assignment sheet, the Criteria Chart, your Research Table in the folder as well as any articles you print, your research notes and copies of all pieces (annotated bibliography, outlines, title page, etc.) of the project passed in to your teacher, and all drafts of the research paper. Additionally, you should create a folder in your GoogleDrive for electronic copies of the above mentioned items and any links to database articles and websites.
The third component is keeping organized notes. Review the Organizing Research Notes section. Although it seems like a lot of work, you will need all the information suggested in that section on each note sheet in order to write your research paper.