Taking Notes

Recommended Practices

• Avoid accidental plagiarism by taking careful notes now. Clearly identify all quoted material in your notes, using quotation marks or clear labels. Accidental plagiarism is often the result of sloppy notes, when a student goes back and does not realize that material is quoted directly or paraphrased incorrectly.

• Before you even start writing things down, make sure you have identified a clear focus for your research. It may help to create a working outline, a rough idea of what the different parts of your paper or project will contain, to guide you. If you think what you are reading is really important but it doesn't relate to your working outline, you may need to adjust your focus.

• Only write down information that you think will be useful evidence for your claims. Do not write down everything you read. Remember, you are taking notes for research, not preparing for a test on a chapter in your textbook.

• Don’t overuse quotations in your notes. If you’re copying too much into your notes, you are not digesting and synthesizing the information, which will make organizing and writing much more difficult later. When you paraphrase, make sure you are using only your own original words, not a hybrid. Be careful now to avoid plagiarism later.

• Each time you start taking notes on a new source, record all the information you need to cite it later. If you are taking notes on index cards, you can create a "source card" with this information. If you are using NoodleTools, enter it directly into your list of sources.

• Limit yourself to ONE main point or idea per note. If each notes contains one "chunk" of information, you will be able to put them in order when you go to write your outline. Ideally your notes can be rearranged without being recopied, a benefit of index cards as well as many electronic systems of note-taking.

• Label each note with a HEADER or TOPIC to make it easy to organize later.

• Label each note with a clear SOURCE so you can cite it later. If you do not know the source, you cannot use the information in your assignment. Don't forget to include page numbers for print sources.

• You do not need to write in complete sentences, but make sure you include enough information that it will make sense to you days, weeks, or even months later, depending on the scope of the project.

• Double check your work now to save headaches later. Do all your notes have sources? Are all quotations reproduced exactly as in the original, word for word, comma for comma? Have you double checked all statistics?

• Keep copies of your digital sources and hold onto library books until you are done with your assignment, if possible. Because research is recursive you may need to go back for more information at a later stage.

• Make sure you are taking notes on diverse sources, not just focusing on one. You want to weave together ideas and information from multiple points of view when creating your own.

• Back up your notes regularly if you can, especially for longer projects. If you are taking notes in the cloud, as in NoodleTools or Google Drive, this may be automatic. If you are taking notes in a computer file, make a copy in case something happens to the original. If you are writing in a notebook, consider making a photocopy (or be really, really careful!).

For International Students

Every country has its own ideas about scholarship and cheating. In the United States we have a very strict standard for academic integrity and rules around intellectual property. If you have any questions, speak with your teacher or a librarian. Begin now, while you are taking notes, to avoid problems down the road.

Tools for Taking Notes

For very short or informal research, it may be enough to jot your notes in a word processing file or notebook, or on sticky notes or printouts of your sources. For longer projects, you will need something more.

• • Index cards. Tried and true. Create one card for each source with the citation information, and then tag each note card you create using that source with the author's last name. Give each note card a topic or subtopic so that you can easily organize them later. Only write one main point on each card and avoid writing on the back so that you can lay out and organize your ideas later. It is a good idea to use ink instead of pencil and real index cards instead of paper so that your notes don’t rub away or stick together as you use them.

  • Digital note cards. You can also use a computer to create note cards. As with index cards, label each note with a source and topic. Digital notes can be easily rearranged to create an outline and printed to start your rough draft. Depending on the platform, your notes may be accessible from any computer and backed up automatically. If you do take notes digitally, be careful not to overuse copy-and-paste and to clearly label all quotations. An excellent platform for digital notes is NoodleTools. The school provides a paid subscription to NoodleTools for all students. The clearly labeled boxes in NoodleTools can help you to avoid accidental plagiarism by clearly labeling quotations, summary/paraphrase, and your own ideas.

  • Note-taking forms. Most note-taking forms organize the research by source. Take notes on one side of the paper only so you can cut them apart later (after labeling each note with the source) to create an outline. A version of the note-taking form from the previous edition of this handbook is available online.

  • Graphic organizers. Graphic organizers can provide more structure to your note taking, especially for shorter research projects. Your teacher may provide you with a graphic organizer tailored to a specific assignment, or you can find one online or create your own.

  • Mind-mapping software. Use mind mapping software like Popplet or MindMeister to make a web of information as you find it, connecting and organizing ideas on the fly.

  • Social bookmarking tools. Tools like Diigo allow you to bookmark digital sources and highlight and take notes directly on the web.