A Step-by-Step Guide to Researching Remotely as a Group

1. Choose uniform communication channel(s) - Slack, GroupMe, Microsoft Teams, Google Drive. Collaboration tools are abundant, your group must choose one common tool you will use to share resources and ideas among group members. Make sure that everyone in the group has access to the tool you choose. 

2. Set a schedule for communicating - Even if everyone works individually on one section of the assignment, you should set a schedule for checking in with your teammates over the course of the project. Your team can agree to set a weekly Zoom call (or groupme chat or Marco Polo session, etc.) to report on progress made and make sure everyone's on the same page. Once again, everyone in the group needs to be able to access whichever method you choose.

3. Decide as a group which research tasks are required and who will accomplish which tasks - What are the research questions you will need to answer? Which group member will tackle those questions?

4. Look for resources that answer your research question - Consult library databases, government information sources, newspapers, or contact a librarian.

5. Share helpful resources - Share articles (via email or by uploading them to your shared workspace) as you find them. If a resource answers one of your questions, it may help out a team member too!

6. Cite your sources - Your group members can upload or directly import articles and other text-based resources you find to a citation manager to format your group's Works Cited page. Tulane provides RefWorks to our student population. RefWorks allows different users to add resources to a shared folder.

7. Allow teammates to submit edits - Once the project is complete but before it is submitted to the professor, all team members should have the opportunity to review the deliverable in its entirety and submit any edits or clarifications they feel are necessary.