This might seem amateurish, but it was helpful for me. I, too, am doing some independent research, but I am a biology major who never had to write any research papers in college. I did a few minor ones (5 whole pages) in high school, but that was before the internet age (or at least before the internet reached my rural little high school).

I came across the website below, created by a Western Civilization professor. It is written primarily for an undergraduate audience, but as another commenter noted, research is research. Aside from giving basic and familiar pointers, he recounts the process that he went through while doing his graduate thesis and his PhD dissertation.

Here is the link: http://www.historyguide.org/guide/guide.html#Table