Writing a Research Paper

How to Make Note Cards

Write one piece of information per note card. (This is so they may be arranged in order for your research paper.)

For example, you would not write about two different poems on the same note card.

List the source on EVERY card. You may abbreviate.

For example, since the following source does not have an author, you could write “mus”, short for “Museum”.

Write full notes. In other words, full, well-developed sentences.

It will make writing the final copy easier.

Keep everything!

Use a page protector or ziploc bag to keep your note cards.

Label personal notes. (PN, Me, etc.)

Personal notes are YOUR ideas.

Use MLA format citations on your note cards.

This will make the final copy easier.

What are personal notes?

These are completely your ideas. They may be phrases or complete sentences.

What are direct quotation notes?

These are used when you quote a source directly.● Use the exact words from the source.● Use in-text citation (Jones 34-35).● You may and should often give the

author’s name at the beginning of the quote.

For example:Smithson and Myers assert, “John F. Kennedy was a victim of a centralized political plot” (42).● In-text citation goes outside the quotation mark but inside the final period.● Quoted material should be important and well-phrased, not common

knowledge.Correct: “John F. Kennedy’s Peace Corp left a legacy of lasting compassion for the downtrodden” (Rupert 233).Trivial: “John F. Kennedy was a Democrat from Massachusetts” (Rupert, 233).

What are summary notes?

● Brief summaries of stories, poems, etc. to inform the reader.

● For example:o

The Crucible is a play about….. (a paragraph or 2). *Usually in the opening paragraph.

What are paraphrasing notes?

These include information from a source in your own words. Most of your cards will be paraphrasing notes.