This blog post from Zenkit is a must-read about smart note-taking and offers the following best tips for practice:

• Find relevant and authoritative literary material through the search bar of literary databases and institutions.

• Practice citation repeatedly! Always keep a record of the reference book title, author, page number, and source location. At best, format the citation in the necessary format from the beginning. 

• Organize your notes according to topic or reference to easily find the information again when in the writing stage. Work invested in the early stages eases the writing and editing process of the later stages.

• Summarize research notes and write in your own words as much as possible. Cite direct quotes and clearly mark copied text in your notes to avoid plagiarism.