You will read numerous sources while exploring your topic, developing a research question and thesis, and creating a literature review. As you read sources and identify useful ideas within them, it is important to carefully organize what you learn. Doing so can:
There is no "one-size-fits-all" guaranteed method to organize your sources as you research. Everyone's method varies slightly. But here are some key elements you should incorporate into the method that works best for you:
What should you record?
Step 1: When you find an article you might use, before you do anything else, record the full citation in your research log.
Step 2: When you encounter a useful passage in your article, before you do anything else, write down the page number(s) where you found the passage with the useful information. If the article has no page numbers, write down the section number or heading.
Step 3: Then, summarize or paraphrase the passage. Write a big S(ummary) or P(araphrase) to indicate summary or paraphrase. If you write down a phrase verbatim, put quotation marks around it so you know these are the authors words. (Do NOT use direct quotations in BNS 210 research papers!)
Step 4: (Optional, but very useful) Record thoughts about how you searched to find the information or why the information is important. Clearly mark them as your own thoughts in some way.
Where should you record this information?
You should record the information listed in Steps 1-4 using a tool that is:
Tool | Note cards | Word document or Google Doc | Excel spreadsheet or Google sheet | Citation Manager |
Advantages |
Commonly available Easy to use Easiest to categorize and reorder by simply shuffling cards |
Commonly available Easy to use Easy to copy/paste |
Commonly available Easy to copy/paste Easy to organize info by reordering/inserting rows Helps you visualize where you need more research |
Free tool Easy to collaborate Links your notes to their associate saved document |
Possible disadvantages |
Requires you to record information by hand May misplace one or all cards by accident |
Beware of copy/paste leading to unintentional plagiarism - carefully note direct quotes | Beware of copy/paste leading to unintentional plagiarism - carefully note direct quotes | Need to reference each article for notes / difficulty of organizing arguments |
The library recommends: Zotero [zoh-TAIR-oh] - a tool that helps you to collect and store sources, manage collaboration with other scholars, and cite your references. Using Zotero, you can:
Zotero automatically updates itself when new citation style updates are released, so you will always be up-to-date.