Research and Style Manual

Taking Notes

The easiest way to prepare your research project is to base it on notes which you make as you consult your sources.

You will waste time, however, if you take notes on every fact on your topic. To avoid this, before you start your note-taking, complete a thesis card which may include:

1. A statement of what you tentatively plan to prove about your topic.
2. Four to five general questions which will help you focus your research.

If you prepare your notes properly, you will find it much easier to organize your material later and to complete your project. Make clear, on each note card, from what source your notes came and from and what page. Also make your notes clear. Doing this from the beginning will save you time later. You shouldn't need to go back to find information you missed.

Here are some important points to remember:

1. Write your notes on 4"x6" index cards.
2. Write on one side of the card only -unless you have just one or two lines left, in which case, use the back.
3. On any one card, write notes only on one narrow topic and from only one reference source. This will simplify organizing your paper later.
4. Include on each card:
   • Identification of the source (which can be a code letter matching your source card, the author's name, a shortened title, or whatever you need for positive identification).
   • a label for the topic covered on this card.
   • your actual notes.
   • the page number(s) where you found this material. (It may not be possible to include page numbers for Web resources.)
5. Take notes in your own words as briefly as possible. Record all the facts, names, dates, what happened, etc., but use incomplete sentences and abbreviations, as long as you're sure you'll understand them later. Be careful not to twist facts or ideas into something that the author didn't say.
6. If you are writing an exact quotation of someone else's words, copy the quotation exactly, that means every little comma! Enclose the quotation in quotation marks. Also include the name of the person you are quoting and that person's position, if known.

Go to Plagiarism