The key to having a successful research paper is finding many resources that talk about your topic the more references you have the more information you will have on your paper. The standard required by the course is to have 12 but in detail your references are what gives you the information for your paper. Researching properly also will help with references. Its good to go to scholarly google website as well to the online library to find resources, books as well will help. The course is intense but if you have a good topic research on it and find lots of references you will be fine. Time and dedication and your resources are your best helpers to succeed in this class and to finish your paper.