Note-taking methods vary greatly from one researcher to another, so you may decide to use a digital file, a notebook, or index cards. Regardless of the method, however, you should (1) record enough information to help you recall the major points of the source; (2) put the information in the form in which you are most likely to incorporate it into your research essay, whether a summary, a paraphrase, or a quotation; and (3) note all the information you will need to cite the source accurately, including the author’s name, the shortened title, and, for print sources, the page number(s) on which the quotation appears. Make sure you have a corresponding working-bibliography entry with complete source information (12c).

The following example shows the major items a note should include:

Use a subject heading. Label or title each note with a brief, descriptive heading so that you can group similar subtopics together.

Identify the source. List the author’s name and a shortened title of the source, and a page number, if available. Your working-bibliography entry (12c) for the source will contain the full bibliographic information, so you don’t need to repeat it in each note.

Indicate whether the note is a direct quotation, paraphrase, or summary. Make sure quotations are copied accurately. Put square brackets around any change you make, and use ellipses if you omit material.

Taking complete notes will help you digest the source information as you read and incorporate the material into your text without inadvertently plagiarizing the source (see Chapter 14). Be sure to reread each note carefully, and recheck it against the source to make sure quotations, statistics, and specific facts are accurate. (For more information on working with quotations, paraphrases, and summaries, see Chapter 13.)

Using quotations

Some of the notes you take will contain quotations, which give the exact words of a source.

Here is a note with a quotation that student Benjy Mercer-Golden used in his research paper (9l):

Name of document indicates subject

Author and short title of source (no page number for electronic source)

Direct quotation

Using paraphrases

A paraphrase accurately states all the relevant information from a passage in your own words and sentence structures, without any additional comments or elaborations. A paraphrase is useful when the main points of a passage, their order, and at least some details are important but—unlike passages worth quoting—the particular wording is not. Unlike a summary, a paraphrase always restates all the main points of a passage in the same order and often in about the same number of words.

To paraphrase without plagiarizing inadvertently, do not simply substitute synonyms, and do not imitate an author’s style. If you wish to cite some of an author’s words within a paraphrase, enclose them in quotation marks. The following examples of paraphrases resemble the original either too little or too much:

This paraphrase starts off well enough, but it moves away from paraphrasing the original to inserting the writer’s ideas; Crystal says nothing about learning new languages or pursuing education.

Because the highlighted phrases are either borrowed from the original without quotation marks or changed only superficially, this paraphrase plagiarizes.

Although this paraphrase does not rely explicitly on the words of the original, it does follow the sentence structures too closely. Substituting synonyms while keeping the original paragraph structure is not enough to avoid plagiarism. The paraphrase must represent your own interpretation of the material and thus must show your own thought patterns.

Here are two paraphrases of the same passage that express the author’s ideas accurately and acceptably, the first completely in the writer’s own words and the second, from David Craig’s notes (32e), including a quotation from the original.

Using summaries

A summary is a significantly shortened version of a passage or even of a whole chapter or work that captures main ideas in your own words. Unlike a paraphrase, a summary uses just the main points of a source. Your goal is to keep the summary as brief as possible without distorting the author’s meaning.

Here is David Craig’s note recording a summary of the Crystal passage. The note states the author’s main points selectively—without using his words.

Subject heading

Author, title, page reference

Summary of source

Taking other kinds of notes

Many researchers take notes that don’t fall into the categories of quotations, paraphrases, or summaries. Those who work with media sources, especially, need alternatives. Some researchers take key-term notes, which might include the topic addressed in the source along with names or short statements to jog their memories when they begin drafting. Others record personal or critical notes—questions, criticisms, or other ideas that come to mind as they read. In fact, an exciting part of research occurs when the materials you are reading spark new ideas in your mind, ideas that may become part of your thesis or argument. Don’t let them get away. While you may later decide not to use these ideas, you need to make notes about them just in case.

David Craig’s notes

As part of his study on messaging language and youth literacy, David Craig analyzed messaging conversations and kept notes on each occurrence of nonstandard English spellings and words and their frequencies. Since he was attempting to categorize these occurrences as well as quantify them, he labeled each note with the type of change that he was noticing. David’s notes not only helped him synthesize his data; they also made it easier for him to present the data in a clear, concise chart (32e). Researchers also take field notes, which record their firsthand observations or the results of their surveys or interviews (11e).

Whatever form your notes take, be sure to list the source’s title, author, and a way to find the information again, such as page number(s), links, or time codes. In addition, check that you have carefully distinguished your own thoughts and comments from those of the source itself.

Annotating source material

Sometimes you may photocopy or print out a source you intend to use. In such cases, you can annotate the photocopies or printouts with your thoughts and questions and highlight interesting quotations and key terms. You can also use video or audio annotation tools to take notes on media sources.

If you take notes in a computer file, you may be able to copy online sources electronically, paste them into the file, and annotate them there. Try not to rely too heavily on copying or printing out whole pieces, however; you still need to read the material very carefully. Also resist the temptation to treat copied material as notes, an action that could lead to inadvertent plagiarizing. (In a computer file, using a different color for text pasted from a source will help prevent this problem.)