Good Practices

The “Old” Days◦ 2-3 pages

◦ 1 or 2 sources

◦ Organized by source

◦ 1 source per paragraph (or page)

◦ Wikipedia = OK

Now◦ 6-8 pages

◦ 7+ REPUTABLE, ACADEMIC sources

◦ Organized by IDEA

◦ MULTIPLE sources per paragraph

◦ Wikipedia ≠ OK

Report◦ Spit back the

information you found

◦ Relies solely on fact (not analysis)

Senior Thesis◦ Original thesis Thesis: an unproved

statement put forward as a premise in an argument

◦ Organized by subtopics CHOSEN by you

◦ All ideas are tied to your thesis

◦ Requires your analysis of info you find

The foundation for a well-written research paper.

Do◦ Put it in your own

words.◦ Keep track of your

sources by color.◦ Make note of page

numbers.◦ Indicate “direct

quotes.”◦ Differentiate between

speaker and author.◦ Take more notes than

you think you need.

Don’t◦ COPY (or paste) notes◦ Take too few notes. No

notes = no paper.◦ Leave your citations for

later.

Note: There are notes from four sources here, each represented by a different color.

Note: The black text represents my analysis of the notes I took from the source above.

Notes from Source #1= Red

Source #1 Citation = Red

**Choose a different color for each source!**

Note: This student has used 5 sources to discuss one subtopic.

Note: The same student relied on her color system for her in-text citations.

Detailed notes = detailed research paper

Organize notes (sources) by COLOR

Use black text to signify your thoughts and analysis of the information.

Organize outline by SUBTOPIC / SUB-QUESTION◦ Subtopics should include multiple sources

In-text citations indicate sources within paragraphs in your draft

1. Put your Topic and Guiding Question at the top of your NOTES file.

2. Create sub-topics OR copy the KEY QUESTIONS you selected on the green sheet OR copy the subtopics from our library day into your NOTES file.

3. Record notes in the appropriate section.4. Use the Inquiry topics on the SENIOR THESIS

page Web page (Projects & Research) to guide you to the best databases.

5. Take notes in COLOR!6. Copy and paste the entire CITATION into your

Notes page. Use COLOR here too.