Recent scholarship can map a history paper's sources

How should a student approach a first history research paper when the professor permits a nontraditional format?

Start from a strong recent article or book, mine its source list, and make the evidence and argument especially clear because the format provides fewer conventions to rely on.

A strong recent journal article or book is a practical starting point for a first research paper. Its notes and bibliography can identify the established primary and secondary sources, which the student can then pursue directly. A nontraditional format provides fewer structural conventions to lean on. The evidence and argument must therefore carry more of the work, even when current scholarship supplies the initial map.