Taking Notes From Relevant Sources

Good note cards are the key to a well-developed, easy-to-read paper and will help with the actual writing of your paper. In fact, to a great extent, the note cards will determine the course of your research and final paper. The amount and kind of information you write on each card will vary with the type of notes you take, which will be guided not only be the information you record but also by the way you think it might be used in your paper.

How to Take Notes:

1. Write your notes on 4x6-inch cards.
2. Write only on one side of the card.
3. Before you start, be sure you have written down the bibliographic information for your source on a sheet of paper where you will keep your sources.
4. Then, write the book or author’s last name on the left corner of the top line.
5. Write only one idea from one source on each card. Make it a habit not to continue onto a second card. Break the material into separate ideas
6. If you want, you can write the information in a direct quotation. If you do this, be sure to put quotation marks around the quote so you remember that the words are not your own.
7. After you write the information, be sure to write the page number in a circle after the notes.
8. Once you are done researching, you should organize your notes according to your outline and how the information will fit into your paper. In the right corner of the top line, write the number of each card in order.
9. Remember, you do not need to document facts of common knowledge, such as “some people who have the AIDS virus are not aware that they have it.” However, if you use a source that interprets or analyzes that fact, you must document the source.

Adapted from 10 Steps in Writing the Research Paper