My professor demands a research proposal with credible sources and I only have ten days—how should I prioritize my search?

First, zero in on the exact question your proposal needs to answer and write down three to four key phrases that capture it. Those phrases become your search terms, and you can plug them into your school’s library portal right away—most portals let you filter for peer‑reviewed articles, recent publication dates, and full‑text access, which cuts out a lot of the dead‑end clicking. Start with the broadest filter (just the keywords) and skim the titles and abstracts; if an article looks promising, check the author’s affiliation and whether the piece is cited by other recent works, both quick credibility signals that don’t require reading the whole thing. You’re probably feeling the pressure of a ticking clock while juggling other commitments, and it’s easy to get stuck in a loop of opening paywalled pages that lead nowhere. Think of it like packing a suitcase for a short trip: you lay out everything you think you might need, then you quickly toss out the items that are bulky or duplicated, keeping only the versatile pieces that will serve multiple outfits. In the same way, let your initial sweep be broad, then prune aggressively based on relevance, recency, and author credibility—if a source doesn’t clearly connect to your core question within a minute, move on. Reach out