Research 101

Imagine this scenario: You locate an article that seems relevant to your topic. You stop what you are doing and read the entire article. You select information from the article to support your argument and immediately write it in your paper. You cite the source and add it to your References. You are done with this article. You return to your search to locate further resources.

That's not how it works.

In fact, we discourage reading entire articles while you are actively in search mode (see Digging In). Not only that, but you may want to return to a relevant resource again and again over the course of your research. As you find resources that seem relevant to your topic, you will need a way to keep track of them.

Mendeley and Zotero are free software programs that help you keep track of your research. They have slightly different sets of functions, and different interfaces. Explore them at the links below to determine which-- if either-- of these programs would work best for you.

Maybe you prefer to come up with your own way of organizing and keeping track of the information you find. Maybe you need or want to supplement a digital tool (like the ones above) with something more analog (like notecards). When it comes to keeping track of your research, there is only one rule: do what works best for you. 

Here is an example of the information you may want to include in your notes during active searching:

• Topic
  • Note the topic at the top of your card. You may find yourself writing another paper where the same resource would be useful, so being able to quickly identify the topic of the resource is helpful.
• Title and other publication information
  • This will help you locate the resource again, and give you most of the information you need for the References portion of your paper
• Location
  • Where did you find the source? Is it a book? Was it in a particular database?
• A short note
  • Write down why the resource is relevant to the topic. You can always add more notes on the resource later. When you do make more thorough notes later, remember to write down page numbers!