How to Organize Research Notes

Having your notes in order will make the actual writing of a research paper, if not a breeze, then at least much easier than it might have been otherwise.

Difficulty: Moderately challenging

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Stress Relief Products
• Desk Lamps
• Desks
• Index Cards
• Classes On Writing A Research Paper

1. Take notes on index cards during your reading. (See "How to Take Research Notes.")

2. Gather all your note cards together.

3. Sift through the cards, dividing them into piles by topic.

4. Plot out the trajectory of your argument, and order the piles accordingly.

5. Sort the cards within each pile according to how you want the details of your argument to proceed.

Tips & Warnings

• Have your bibliographic index cards on hand for ease of reference. (See "How to Find Sources for a Research Paper.")
• Consider taking a class on writing a research paper.

[Quickstar]

on 2/9/2009 great comments on organizing note cards.

on 11/22/2005 I forgot to say that it is also a good idea to make an alphabet code for your list of authors. For example, if you have a list of 5 authors, give them the letters A through E and then write these letters in the top corner of each notecard along with the page number. This saves a lot of time and also helps a lot when you do your footnotes or citations. In the process of writing the cards you will probably memorize the letters for each author and the procedure will become even more streamlined.

on 11/22/2005 A good way to make sure you don't fall prey to sorting your note cards in the order you wrote them is to take the stack of cards and throw it in the air in a room where you can find all the cards you have thrown. Pick them up in their random order. Then order them in a stack. This will help you to sort them properly and put them in the best possible order for your paper. Follow the outline you have made for the paper.
The best way to get the most out of notecards is to give each card a short title on the top of the card before you take the notes on that card. Then restrict the content of the card to one short note. There should be no more than two phrases on each card. Paraphrase in your own words. This saves time and also prevents plagiarism. The little titles on each notecard will help you to sort them when you have picked them up after throwing them in the air.