research paper note taking worksheet

Note-Taking Template for Journal Articles

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Use this worksheet to help you take notes and learn important content in journal articles.

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Note-Taking Template for Journal Articles

Use this worksheet to help you take notes and learn important content in journal articles.

Title of Article: ______________________________ Publication: __________________

Author(s) __________________________________ Date: __________________

Download Note-Taking Template for Journal Articles Word Document

Download Note-Taking Template for Journal Articles PDF File

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Writing a Research Paper: 5. Taking Notes & Documenting Sources

• Getting Started
• 1. Topic Ideas
• 2. Thesis Statement & Outline
• 3. Appropriate Sources
• 4. Search Techniques
• 5. Taking Notes & Documenting Sources
• 6. Evaluating Sources
• 7. Citations & Plagiarism
• 8. Writing Your Research Paper

Taking Notes & Documenting Sources

How to take notes and document sources.

Note taking is a very important part of the research process.  It will help you:

• keep your ideas and sources organized
• effectively use the information you find
• avoid plagiarism

When you find good information to be used in your paper:

• Read the text critically, think how it is related to your argument, and decide how you are going to use it in your paper.
• Select the material that is relevant to your argument.
• Copy the original text for direct quotations or briefly summarize the content in your own words, and make note of how you will use it.
• Copy the citation or publication information of the source.
• << Previous: 4. Search Techniques
• Next: 6. Evaluating Sources >>
• Last Updated: Sep 26, 2023 5:26 PM
• URL: https://kenrick.libguides.com/writing-a-research-paper

Library Learning Commons

Innovating tomorrow by educating today

• Staff Resources
• Research Process
• Note-Taking
• Note-Taking Templates
• Note-Taking Checklist
• 1 Reference Source Templates
• 1.1 Online Doc/Printable Downloads
• 2 Book Source Templates
• 2.1 Online Doc/Printable Downloads
• 3 Journal Source Templates
• 3.1 Online Doc/Printable Downloads
• 4 Website Source Templates
• 4.1 Online Doc/Printable Downloads

Use these templates to take notes from different kinds of sources. These templates will help you to understand:

• what kind of information to gather from each kind of source
• how to keep track of what data you got from each source
• what further information you need to gather

Each template is available in Google Doc format, for your convenience. Some WRDSB high schools have versions of these templates which have been customized to suit that school’s specific requirements. Check your school library website for further information.

Reference Source Templates

• Use for finding facts and figures
• Note information that needs to be verified by checking other sources
• Jot down potential sub-topics suggested by information from each source
• Record source information (title, date, etc.)

Online Doc/Printable Downloads

• MLA Reference Encyclopedia G-Doc
• APA Reference Encyclopedia G-Doc
• MLA Specialized Print Encyclopedia G-Doc

Book Source Templates

• Record main ideas in point form
• Take note of your own responses to these ideas, or questions that you have about them
• Record any great quotes that you find that support your main ideas: be sure to copy the quote exactly and note the page number for your citation
• Record source information
• MLA Book G-Doc
• APA Book G-Doc
• CMS Book G-Doc
• APA Book Chapter G-Doc
• MLA Anthology G-Doc
• CMS Anthology G-Doc

Journal Source Templates

• Use for print or online journals, and for journal articles accessed through an online database from the Virtual Library
• Take note of your own responses and ideas
• Record quotes that support your ideas: be sure to copy the quote exactly
• MLA Journal Magazine G-Doc
• CMS Journal Magazine G-Doc
• APA Academic Journal with DOI G-Doc
• APA Periodicals without DOI (magazines, popular journals, news articles) G-Doc

Website Source Templates

• Note main ideas in point form
• Record your own responses to these ideas
• Note information that needs to be verified from another source
• Identify the steps you took to validate this source: when researching from the web, you are particularly responsible for making sure that your source is reliable
• APA Website G-Doc
• MLA Page from Website G-Doc
• APA Page from Website G-Doc
• CMS Page from Website G-Doc
• CMS Online Image G-Doc
• APA Online Multimedia G-Doc
• MLA Online Multimedia G-Doc
• CMS Online Multimedia G-Doc

This information expires once printed. Please always refer to the online version for the most current information.

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13.5 Research Process: Making Notes, Synthesizing Information, and Keeping a Research Log

Learning outcomes.

By the end of this section, you will be able to:

• Employ the methods and technologies commonly used for research and communication within various fields.
• Practice and apply strategies such as interpretation, synthesis, response, and critique to compose texts that integrate the writer’s ideas with those from appropriate sources.
• Analyze and make informed decisions about intellectual property based on the concepts that motivate them.
• Apply citation conventions systematically.

As you conduct research, you will work with a range of “texts” in various forms, including sources and documents from online databases as well as images, audio, and video files from the Internet. You may also work with archival materials and with transcribed and analyzed primary data. Additionally, you will be taking notes and recording quotations from secondary sources as you find materials that shape your understanding of your topic and, at the same time, provide you with facts and perspectives. You also may download articles as PDFs that you then annotate. Like many other students, you may find it challenging to keep so much material organized, accessible, and easy to work with while you write a major research paper. As it does for many of those students, a research log for your ideas and sources will help you keep track of the scope, purpose, and possibilities of any research project.

A research log is essentially a journal in which you collect information, ask questions, and monitor the results. Even if you are completing the annotated bibliography for Writing Process: Informing and Analyzing , keeping a research log is an effective organizational tool. Like Lily Tran’s research log entry, most entries have three parts: a part for notes on secondary sources, a part for connections to the thesis or main points, and a part for your own notes or questions. Record source notes by date, and allow room to add cross-references to other entries.

Summary of Assignment: Research Log

Your assignment is to create a research log similar to the student model. You will use it for the argumentative research project assigned in Writing Process: Integrating Research to record all secondary source information: your notes, complete publication data, relation to thesis, and other information as indicated in the right-hand column of the sample entry.

Another Lens. A somewhat different approach to maintaining a research log is to customize it to your needs or preferences. You can apply shading or color coding to headers, rows, and/or columns in the three-column format (for colors and shading). Or you can add columns to accommodate more information, analysis, synthesis, or commentary, formatting them as you wish. Consider adding a column for questions only or one for connections to other sources. Finally, consider a different visual format , such as one without columns. Another possibility is to record some of your comments and questions so that you have an aural rather than a written record of these.

Writing Center

At this point, or at any other point during the research and writing process, you may find that your school’s writing center can provide extensive assistance. If you are unfamiliar with the writing center, now is a good time to pay your first visit. Writing centers provide free peer tutoring for all types and phases of writing. Discussing your research with a trained writing center tutor can help you clarify, analyze, and connect ideas as well as provide feedback on works in progress.

Quick Launch: Beginning Questions

You may begin your research log with some open pages in which you freewrite, exploring answers to the following questions. Although you generally would do this at the beginning, it is a process to which you likely will return as you find more information about your topic and as your focus changes, as it may during the course of your research.

• What information have I found so far?
• What do I still need to find?
• Where am I most likely to find it?

These are beginning questions. Like Lily Tran, however, you will come across general questions or issues that a quick note or freewrite may help you resolve. The key to this section is to revisit it regularly. Written answers to these and other self-generated questions in your log clarify your tasks as you go along, helping you articulate ideas and examine supporting evidence critically. As you move further into the process, consider answering the following questions in your freewrite:

• What evidence looks as though it best supports my thesis?
• What evidence challenges my working thesis?
• How is my thesis changing from where it started?

Creating the Research Log

As you gather source material for your argumentative research paper, keep in mind that the research is intended to support original thinking. That is, you are not writing an informational report in which you simply supply facts to readers. Instead, you are writing to support a thesis that shows original thinking, and you are collecting and incorporating research into your paper to support that thinking. Therefore, a research log, whether digital or handwritten, is a great way to keep track of your thinking as well as your notes and bibliographic information.

In the model below, Lily Tran records the correct MLA bibliographic citation for the source. Then, she records a note and includes the in-text citation here to avoid having to retrieve this information later. Perhaps most important, Tran records why she noted this information—how it supports her thesis: The human race must turn to sustainable food systems that provide healthy diets with minimal environmental impact, starting now . Finally, she makes a note to herself about an additional visual to include in the final paper to reinforce the point regarding the current pressure on food systems. And she connects the information to other information she finds, thus cross-referencing and establishing a possible synthesis. Use a format similar to that in Table 13.4 to begin your own research log.

Types of Research Notes

Taking good notes will make the research process easier by enabling you to locate and remember sources and use them effectively. While some research projects requiring only a few sources may seem easily tracked, research projects requiring more than a few sources are more effectively managed when you take good bibliographic and informational notes. As you gather evidence for your argumentative research paper, follow the descriptions and the electronic model to record your notes. You can combine these with your research log, or you can use the research log for secondary sources and your own note-taking system for primary sources if a division of this kind is helpful. Either way, be sure to include all necessary information.

Bibliographic Notes

These identify the source you are using. When you locate a useful source, record the information necessary to find that source again. It is important to do this as you find each source, even before taking notes from it. If you create bibliographic notes as you go along, then you can easily arrange them in alphabetical order later to prepare the reference list required at the end of formal academic papers. If your instructor requires you to use MLA formatting for your essay, be sure to record the following information:

• Title of source
• Title of container (larger work in which source is included)
• Other contributors
• Publication date

When using MLA style with online sources, also record the following information:

• Date of original publication
• Date of access
• DOI (A DOI, or digital object identifier, is a series of digits and letters that leads to the location of an online source. Articles in journals are often assigned DOIs to ensure that the source can be located, even if the URL changes. If your source is listed with a DOI, use that instead of a URL.)

It is important to understand which documentation style your instructor will require you to use. Check the Handbook for MLA Documentation and Format and APA Documentation and Format styles . In addition, you can check the style guide information provided by the Purdue Online Writing Lab .

Informational Notes

These notes record the relevant information found in your sources. When writing your essay, you will work from these notes, so be sure they contain all the information you need from every source you intend to use. Also try to focus your notes on your research question so that their relevance is clear when you read them later. To avoid confusion, work with separate entries for each piece of information recorded. At the top of each entry, identify the source through brief bibliographic identification (author and title), and note the page numbers on which the information appears. Also helpful is to add personal notes, including ideas for possible use of the information or cross-references to other information. As noted in Writing Process: Integrating Research , you will be using a variety of formats when borrowing from sources. Below is a quick review of these formats in terms of note-taking processes. By clarifying whether you are quoting directly, paraphrasing, or summarizing during these stages, you can record information accurately and thus take steps to avoid plagiarism.

Direct Quotations, Paraphrases, and Summaries

A direct quotation is an exact duplication of the author’s words as they appear in the original source. In your notes, put quotation marks around direct quotations so that you remember these words are the author’s, not yours. One advantage of copying exact quotations is that it allows you to decide later whether to include a quotation, paraphrase, or summary. ln general, though, use direct quotations only when the author’s words are particularly lively or persuasive.

A paraphrase is a restatement of the author’s words in your own words. Paraphrase to simplify or clarify the original author’s point. In your notes, use paraphrases when you need to record details but not exact words.

A summary is a brief condensation or distillation of the main point and most important details of the original source. Write a summary in your own words, with facts and ideas accurately represented. A summary is useful when specific details in the source are unimportant or irrelevant to your research question. You may find you can summarize several paragraphs or even an entire article or chapter in just a few sentences without losing useful information. It is a good idea to note when your entry contains a summary to remind you later that it omits detailed information. See Writing Process Integrating Research for more detailed information and examples of quotations, paraphrases, and summaries and when to use them.

Other Systems for Organizing Research Logs and Digital Note-Taking

Students often become frustrated and at times overwhelmed by the quantity of materials to be managed in the research process. If this is your first time working with both primary and secondary sources, finding ways to keep all of the information in one place and well organized is essential.

Because gathering primary evidence may be a relatively new practice, this section is designed to help you navigate the process. As mentioned earlier, information gathered in fieldwork is not cataloged, organized, indexed, or shelved for your convenience. Obtaining it requires diligence, energy, and planning. Online resources can assist you with keeping a research log. Your college library may have subscriptions to tools such as Todoist or EndNote. Consult with a librarian to find out whether you have access to any of these. If not, use something like the template shown in Figure 13.8 , or another like it, as a template for creating your own research notes and organizational tool. You will need to have a record of all field research data as well as the research log for all secondary sources.

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Organizing the literature, reading effectively, note-taking, note-taking worksheets for literature.

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• 3 Steps to Create a Search Formula (Video)
• Boolean Operators Cheat Sheet
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• Find Grey Literature
• Four Steps to Narrow Your Research Topic (Video) This 3-minute video provides instructions on how to narrow the focus of your research topic.
• Zotero: How to Organize Your References (Video)
• Reading Critically
• Note-taking and Writing Tips to Avoid Accidental Plagiarism (Video)
• Grouping Topics or Conversations in your Literature Review This handout describes the analogy of a banquet hall as a useful strategy for organizing and structuring your literature review. This handout has an accompanying video on Youtube called Writing the Literature Review: A Banquet Hall Analogy.
• Single Source - Note-taking Analysis Worksheet Use this handout to record essential information for every article that you read. You can refer to these notes when writing a research paper or literature review.
• Multiple Sources - Note-taking Analysis Worksheet This table is designed to help you organize all your sources (e.g., books, articles, government documents) based on common themes, topics, methods, theories, etc. List your sources and group common themes to compare their information. For printing, select 11x17 ledger paper size.
• Theory, Model, or Method-Building - Single Source - Note-taking Analysis Worksheet Use this handout to record essential information for every article that you read. You can refer to these notes when developing and/or justifying a new theory, model, or research method.
• Theory and Model-Building - Multiple Sources - Note-taking Analysis Worksheet This table is designed for theory-building, model-building, or methods-building. This table is designed to help you organize all your notes on different theories/models/methods (depending on your type of research) in order to strengthen your knowledge. Use the filters (downward arrow) to group common themes and compare information.
• << Previous: Seven Steps to Writing a Literature Review
• Next: Resources for Writing and Revising >>
• Last Updated: Jan 8, 2024 2:25 PM
• URL: https://guides.lib.uoguelph.ca/LiteratureReview

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Academic Integrity

Taking notes.

When conducting research and preparing to write essays, reports and assignments, students should remember to keep a record of information that will help them to track the source of information, as well as help answer assigned questions. Good note taking and research methods should help students avoid not remembering the source a quotation came from, or forgetting to note another author’s text with quotation marks. Students may wish to use research worksheets to track keywords, source titles and links, and passages that will be paraphrased or quoted directly in a final product.

When researching, students should also review the assignment criteria to focus their reading and identify subtopics that are to be explored. Students shouldn’t try to write down everything but rather, should try to compress ideas and summarize them in their own words, so they can be integrated into their own writing. Carefully examine prepared summaries to ensure that exact phrases from the original source have not been used. Avoid copying and pasting large sections of text, particularly when taking electronic notes.

In some courses, instructors may choose to use plagiarism detection software. Such software may detect and highlight any text that has been published elsewhere, in a source or in another archived student paper. If highlighted text has not been properly cited in an assignment, the student who submitted the paper may be subject to a sanction for plagiarism under the Code.

• Tip Sheet: Notes from Research (Writing at U of T)
• Tip Sheet: Note Taking & Listening (Academic Advising at UTSC)
• Tip Sheet: Understanding Essay Topics (Writing at U of T)
• Tip Sheet: Research Using the Internet (Writing at U of T)
• Tip Sheet: Summarizing (Writing at U of T)
• Tip Sheet: Paraphrase and Summary (Writing at UofT)
• Research guides (U of T Library)
• Library Workshops
• Track Your Research (from U of T Library guide “Citing Sources”)
• Citations, Quoting and Paraphrasing