Taking Notes

An organized system of note taking can be very helpful when researching a paper.  It may also protect you from plagiarism.  Notes can be taken in a variety of ways as long as they are accurate and clear.  Effective note taking, however, consists of more than copying relevant passages out of your sources.  In fact, the more direct copying you do, the less useful your notes are likely to be.

Note taking for a research paper has three fundamental objectives:

• ­­To record the general ideas that will form the backbone of your research paper
• To record specific pieces of information that support the general ideas
• To preserve the exact wording of some statements in your sources that you may want to quote in your paper.

One important reason for limiting the amount of quotations is that by stating most of the ideas and information in the paper in your own words, you show the readers that you understand the subject.  Secondly, the paper will be much more coherent and well-organized when the majority of it is written in your own words.

Here are some simple suggestions to good note taking:

• Use 4” by 6” note cards: Your paper is most likely not going to be in the same order as the notes you take.  By writing your notes on cards, they are free to be rearranged later into an order that best fits your paper.  If using notebook paper it is suggested that you write only on one side and leave sufficient space between notes so you can later cut the notes apart and rearrange them.

• Put only one subject or idea on each card, and identify it with a HEADING. Place this, as well as the author, page number and call number of the reference, at the top of the card for easy access at a later date. You can later order your note cards based on their headings.

• Record the author and page number of all borrowed material: ideas, words, facts, and opinions.  This applies to summaries and paraphrases as well as direct quotations.

• When writing down a quotation, include the context in which it was said.  In addition, it is important to quote exactly, including the punctuation marks in the original, and check each quotation as soon as you’ve copied it.  Also, be sure to supply the page reference for the quote.

• Be sure to only use quotation marks when you’re actually quoting verbatim, and check to see that the marks begin and end exactly where they should.  Use the dots known as ellipses to indicate where you have skipped some material within the quotation.

• When paraphrasing or summarizing, transform the material into your own language or understanding as you write it down.  Then acknowledge the method you used and be sure to supply the page reference.

• Distinguish between your own comments and those of the text you’re using.  Use brackets or your initials as signals that the following remarks are yours, not those of the author.