how to make source cards for research paper

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How to Make Bibliography Cards

Organizing your research can make the research paper writing process easier. Nowadays, you may keep track of your research electronically through your word processing program, an electronic spreadsheet or other means. An older method is to use 3-by-5-inch bibliography and note cards to organize the sources you find and the information in them. Your teacher may assign these cards to teach you how to do research and cite your sources.

Citation Information

The bibliography card includes the citation information, which you will later use to create your research paper’s bibliography, or Works Cited page. Create a new bibliography card each time you find a new source. Write the author’s last name, followed by a comma and first name, and then the title. If the source has no author, start with the title. Lastly, add publication information, such as the city of publication and the publisher of a book or the journal’s name, volume and issue. For example, to cite a book in MLA Style, use the following format: Author, Name. Title of book (italicized). City: Publisher, Year of Publication.

Location and Summary

The front of the bibliography card should also include the location of the source. For library sources, write the name of the library and the call number. If you found the source online, write the URL. This brief location information should help you easily find the source again. Then, on the back of the bibliography card, write a brief summary about the source so that you remember why you chose that source for your research paper.

Note Cards and Organization

The bibliography card also helps you organize your notes from the source on the note cards. Each note card includes one fact from the source. It may be a quotation, a paraphrase or a summary. To organize and keep track of your research, write a letter on each bibliography card, and then, on each note card for that source, write the same letter and a number. For example, if the bibliography card is "A," then the first note card is "A1," and the second is "A2."

Final Tips and Advice

Instead of 3-by-5-inch cards, you could also choose 4-by-6-inch cards if you need more room, but always use the same size for both the bibliography and note cards so you can keep them together more easily. You could also use different colors for different types of sources or information. Write clearly and neatly so you can read the information long after you have written it. Mistakes can be costly, so proofread each card. For example, an error in the bibliographic information can cause you to make a mistake on the Works Cited page.

Melissa McDonald has been writing about education since 2006. Her work has appeared in “AdjunctNation,” “JCW” and “Honor Cord” e-zine. She holds a Master of Arts in English from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette and currently works in higher education as a writing consultant. Beyond her work as educator and writer, McDonald volunteers as a judge in both local and national writing competitions for high school and college students.

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The Note Card System

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When you are faced with starting a research paper, the most important part of researching and beginning to write is organizing the information and your thoughts. If you are not organized, it will take considerably more time to write the paper.

To make it easy on yourself, you can use an index card system as you gather information. With this method, you categorize the information you find by topic. For each topic, you could have any number of cards from several different sources. Later, as you write your paper, each card topic becomes a body paragraph (supporting idea) in your paper.

Researching

As you find interesting facts about your topic during your research, you should write them down. Each sentence or idea that you find should be paraphrased (summarized in your own words), and written on a card. In order to keep your ideas in order, and to remember where you found the ideas, there are four items that you should include on the index card, as you will see below.

Although it may seem tedious to give each note card a topic name, it serves two purposes:

The source title is the name of the book, magazine, website, etc., in which you found the information. In the previous example, the source was given a number , instead of writing out the entire title. You could write out the title on each card, or simply list your sources on a separate sheet of paper, like the example here. Number your sources on this list, and then use the numbers on the note cards to specify which source provided which fact.

Sample Source List

Remember, this is not a complete works cited, bibliography, or reference page. You will need to add the publication information and use the correct citation format (APA, MLA, Chicago/Turabian, etc.) for the formal works cited page.

Item number three is the paraphrased information that you found. It is helpful to paraphrase , or summarize , your research on the index cards while you are taking notes. If you are consistent in paraphrasing at this stage, then you will be certain not to accidentally plagiarize someone else’s work. You will also have less work to do when you are actually writing the paper. the image of a notecard with a mark on page.

It is important to be accurate with the page numbers on your note cards, as you will need them for citations throughout your research paper. Be sure you know which form of citation your teacher requires. (For information on citing your sources, look at English Works! handouts on MLA, APA, and Chicago/Turabian Style citations).

Once you have written the information down on the note cards, you only need to go back and organize your cards by topic. Group together all the cards that have the same topic (i.e. all the cards titled: “ Hughes’ Poetry ” should be together). When you finish, you should have your cards in piles, one topic per pile. You can have any number of piles and any number of cards in each pile. The length and detail of your paper will determine how many piles and cards you have.

Your piles may look like:

Make an Outline and Start Writing

Once you have separated your cards into piles, each topic pile should become a body paragraph in your paper. That is the key to this system. If every topic directly supports your thesis statement, then each topic pile should become a supporting idea, body paragraph, or part of a paragraph in your paper.

But before you actually begin writing, you should make an outline of the order you want to present these topics in your paper. (For help making an outline, see the English Works web page on Pre-writing and Outlines ). Once the outline is complete, use your note cards as guides and begin writing.

For further help on writing a research paper, refer to the English Works! web page Process of Doing a Research Paper , Guide to Developing Thesis Statements , and/or Guide to Writing Introductions and Conclusions .

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Organizing Your Research

• Research Note Cards

You may have used Research Note Cards in the past to help your organize information for a research paper. Research Note Cards have you write out quotes or paraphrased information on a note card and include information such as the topic of the source and where you found the source.

There are five parts to Research Note Cards:

• This is going to be the main idea from your research assignment that your quote will connect to. Creating and organizing your information will make it easier to focus your research and complete your assignment.
• This will be the name of the source that your information is from.
• This will be either the quote or your paraphrased sentence(s) from the source. What evidence in this source did you find that will support your thesis statement?
• This is the page number that you found the quote on. If your source does not have page numbers (like an internet source)you can either leave this blank of include the section of the online source that you found this information in.
• Include the complete citation for your source on the back of the note card.

*Note:  It is important to only put one quote or paraphrase per note card.

In the top left corner of the note card is the topic that the quote relates to in the research paper.

Underneath the topic in the top left corner of the note card is an abbreviated name of the source this quote came from.

In the center of the note card is the quote/paraphrased information from the source.

In the bottom right corner of the note card is the page number the information came from.

On the back of the note card is the full citation for the source.

*Note:  Keep in mind, your note card might not be organized the exact same way as the example. That is okay, as long as you make sure you have all the information needed listed on the note card.

Because the quotes and paraphrases are on their own note card, you can group and reorder them in the way you want them to appear in your research paper.

• Use the topic at the top of each note card to group cards by subject.
• Put the groups in the order they should appear in your paper to support your thesis.
• Within each group of note cards, order the note cards in the way they'll appear in each paragraph of your paper.
• Think about the order information needs to be presented in order to build a case for your thesis.

Once everything is organized by topic and in order, you will have created a map or guide to follow when writing your paper. It may also allow you to spot holes in your reasoning or evidence -- you can then return to your sources (or find additional sources) to fill in the needed information.

Work Cited

"The Note Card System."  Gallaudet University , 2021, www.gallaudet.edu/tutorial-and-instructional-programs/english-center/the-process-and-type-of-writing/pre-writing-writing-and-revising/the-note-card-system/.

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How to Make Source Cards in MLA

When writing a research paper or essay in Modern Language Association (MLA) style, source cards can help you stay organized and make preparing your works cited page much easier. If you document each source that you refer to during the writing process, you will also easily be able to identify and return to relevant sources for further study. Although some teachers or professors may ask that source cards be turned in with your draft or final paper, source cards are primarily a tool for the writer and meant to make the writing process flow more smoothly.

On a 3-inch by 5-inch index card, document each source you find that may inform your paper. Because MLA style doesn't prescribe a specific format for source cards, the Research Paper Manual published by the Washington Township Public School District in Sewell, New Jersey, advises that you refer to your assignment guidelines for your teacher's formatting preference.

List all identifying information on your card that will be required on a works cited page. Refer to Purdue's Online Writing Lab to determine specific requirements for citing books, periodicals, electronic sources and other types of references to make sure your source card contains complete citation information.

Include information to help you easily locate the source again in case you need to conduct further research. For example, write the name of the library and the call number, if applicable. This information is for your benefit only and will not be included on your final works cited page.

About the Author

Pam Murphy is a writer specializing in fitness, childcare and business-related topics. She is a member of the National Association for Family Child Care and contributes to various websites. Murphy is a licensed childcare professional and holds a Bachelor of Arts in English from the University of West Georgia.

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How to Write a Research Paper: Note Cards

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Back from the library and ready to go

Read your sources and take notes.

After you've gathered your sources, begin reading and taking notes.

• Use 3 x 5 index cards, one fact or idea per card. This way related ideas from different sources can be easily grouped together or rearranged.
• On each index card, be sure to note the source, including the volume number (if there is one) and the page number. If you wind up using that idea in your paper, you will have the information about the source ready to put in your footnote or endnote.
• If you copy something directly from a book without putting it in your own words, put quotation marks around it so that you know it is an exact quotation. This will help you to avoid plagiarism . (For more, see What is Plagiarism? ).
• Before you sit down to write your rough draft, organize your note cards by subtopic (you can write headings on the cards) and make an outline.

Check out the differences between these two note cards for a research paper on baseball:

Good note card:

WB, 2, p.133 Many Americans could name every major league player, his batting average, and other accomplishments. (What batting records were set?)

Bad note card:

Ty Cobb (Detroit Tigers) outfielder one of the great all-time players. Another star was Honus Wagner, a bowlegged shortstop. "Whoever wants to know the heart and mind of America had better learn baseball."

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• How to Write a Research Paper: Footnotes and Endnotes

Using Source (Bibliography) Cards

Creating bibliography cards for each source is extremely important when using numerous sources for an assignment. Once a student has decided that a particular source has information to be noted, a source or bibliography card should be created. This will help the student in creating tags (internal citations) to include on note cards since the tag is determined by the bibliographic entry (what will be the works cited entry on the final paper).

The writer writes the names of the books, encyclopedias, websites, library databases, interviews, magazines, journals, and/or newspapers on these 3 x 5 index cards.

Each source is written on a separate 3 x 5 card (source card), following the correct format. If using colored cards, the writer should use a different color for each source.

The writer should copy the information carefully, as these cards will eventually become the Works Cited page. The first line of the entry on the card begins at the left hand margin. The remainder of the entry is indented ½ inch.

After all of the sources are written on source cards, the writer should arrange the cards in alphabetical order according to the name or first word on the entry, unless the word is a, an , or the . If the first word is a, an , or the , then the second word is used to put the cards in alphabetical order.

If correct MLA format and complete information is used for the source cards, then the writer can easily copy and paste the information when it is time to do the Works Cited page.

Students can also write a brief summary or abstract of the article under the Works Cited or bibliographic entry, which can be helpful if students have to create an annotated bibliography.

Sample Cards

Svetkey, Benjamin. "Even Cowboys Get the Blues: Will Smith is Back in the Saddle, Fighting the Bad Guys—And Bad Press." Entertainment Weekly , 9 July 1999, pp. 20+. Biography Resource Center . n/a. Accessed 25 Nov. 2002.

"Thomas Jefferson." American Eras, Volume 3: The Revolutionary Era, 1754-1783 . Gale Research, 1998. Biography Resource Center . n/a. Accessed 16 July 2007.

Visitors may freely link to resources on this site so long as such links do not obscure or prevent users from seeing the original web address of the page and clear acknowledgement is given of the copyright. Please obtain written permission prior to downloading, printing, or otherwise distributing any of these materials.

How to Do Research: A Step-By-Step Guide: 4a. Take Notes

• Get Started
• 1a. Select a Topic
• 1b. Develop Research Questions
• 1c. Identify Keywords
• 1d. Find Background Information
• 1e. Refine a Topic
• 2a. Search Strategies
• 2d. Articles
• 2e. Videos & Images
• 2f. Databases
• 2g. Websites
• 2h. Grey Literature
• 2i. Open Access Materials
• 3a. Evaluate Sources
• 3b. Primary vs. Secondary
• 3c. Types of Periodicals
• 4a. Take Notes
• 4b. Outline the Paper
• 4c. Incorporate Source Material
• 5a. Avoid Plagiarism
• 5b. Zotero & MyBib
• 5c. MLA Formatting
• 5d. MLA Citation Examples
• 5e. APA Formatting
• 5f. APA Citation Examples
• 5g. Annotated Bibliographies

Note Taking in Bibliographic Management Tools

We encourage students to use bibliographic citation management tools (such as Zotero, EasyBib and RefWorks) to keep track of their research citations. Each service includes a note-taking function. Find more information about citation management tools here . Whether or not you're using one of these, the tips below will help you.

Tips for Taking Notes Electronically

• Try using a bibliographic citation management tool to keep track of your sources and to take notes.
• As you add sources, put them in the format you're using (MLA, APA, Chicago, etc.).
• Group sources by publication type (i.e., book, article, website).
• Number each source within the publication type group.
• For websites, include the URL information and the date you accessed each site.
• Next to each idea, include the source number from the Works Cited file and the page number from the source. See the examples below. Note that #A5 and #B2 refer to article source 5 and book source 2 from the Works Cited file.

#A5 p.35: 76.69% of the hyperlinks selected from homepage are for articles and the catalog #B2 p.76: online library guides evolved from the paper pathfinders of the 1960s

• When done taking notes, assign keywords or sub-topic headings to each idea, quote or summary.
• Use the copy and paste feature to group keywords or sub-topic ideas together.
• Back up your master list and note files frequently!

Tips for Taking Notes by Hand

• Use index cards to keep notes and track sources used in your paper.
• Include the citation (i.e., author, title, publisher, date, page numbers, etc.) in the format you're using. It will be easier to organize the sources alphabetically when creating the Works Cited page.
• Number the source cards.
• Use only one side to record a single idea, fact or quote from one source. It will be easier to rearrange them later when it comes time to organize your paper.
• Include a heading or key words at the top of the card. 
• Include the Work Cited source card number.
• Include the page number where you found the information.
• Use abbreviations, acronyms, or incomplete sentences to record information to speed up the notetaking process.
• Write down only the information that answers your research questions.
• Use symbols, diagrams, charts or drawings to simplify and visualize ideas.

Forms of Notetaking

Use one of these notetaking forms to capture information:

• Summarize : Capture the main ideas of the source succinctly by restating them in your own words.
• Paraphrase : Restate the author's ideas in your own words.
• Quote : Copy the quotation exactly as it appears in the original source. Put quotation marks around the text and note the name of the person you are quoting.

Example of a Work Cited Card

Example notecard.

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How To Make Notecards For Research Paper In Most Effective Way

Many supervisors, mentors, and teachers recommend their students and apprentices use research note cards while writing research papers. Notecards could be a great tool to organize your word and elements of research.

Note cards might seem like an old and outdated research method, but they still work. They do more than be a tool for you. Notecards help you organize your thoughts that are beneficial in your research and beyond. Let’s talk about some tips and tricks on how to make notecards for research papers.

Table of Contents

Why And How To Make Notecards For Research Paper?

With research note cards, it is easier to track your citations. When citing a source in your dissertation, you can write the source’s name on the note card and add the page number where you found the information. This way, you can quickly find the needed information.

Before writing notecards, look at all the information to write your research document. Once you know basic ideas, gather the main points of your research. Preferably, a 3″ x5″ note card would do your bidding.

Also, notecards look fantastic, and even if they’re scattered around the room, they would add an aesthetic touch to your room rather than making it look messy. Writing notecards will help you stay organized and  write a research paper fast .

Steps Towards Writing Notecards For Research

Here are steps to write perfect notecards for your research paper.

Get Yourself a Pack Of Fresh, Nice Smelling Notecards

When you think of how to make notecards for a research paper, the first thing that will pop up in your mind is: Where are the research note cards? For a dissertation, we will need a lot of them. Try to get some extra. That way, even if you grow short, you will have a new bundle to open and save time during your research process.

Gather More Ideas Than You Need

The more is always safe. It will be great to gather as many ideas and sources as possible when you have the  best research topic . It is the quality of a great writer to always  cite sources . It’s easier than ever to collect sources from the Internet as many as possible. The Internet is like an infinite library. When you have more data, sources, and ideas, you will have more choices to filter out the best. For example, you are  writing an outline for your dissertation  and adding critical points that you are about to discuss. You have twenty key points written on your notecards. When you reconsider and filter out the best, you will probably have half of them left, which is close to ten.

Shortlist The Sources

You have a lot of ideas and a lot of sources written on your notecards. Could you have a look at them again? Now you see that not all ideas sound impeccable anymore. You can take those notecards out, leaving you with the best of them. How easier was it with notecards? Imagine if you were doing this filtration process without notecards. You would have to write a whole new draft for this.

Use A Full Notecard For Each Idea

Remember we talked about getting extra notecards? Now you understand why. Every notecard must be devoted to a single idea. Using a separate note card for each citation, source, or quote would be best. Using one card for more than one idea will cause leaving out essential details. It will also confuse you and make you double-minded. Whatever the page number is, making index cards would always help. Whether you’re researching a 10-page research document or  writing a thesis for a research paper , every notecard must consist of a single idea, be it your own words or some text from a resource.

Write Down The Quotes

In the history of research, quoting and paraphrasing can be great tools to make your paper authentic and reliable. Please use separate notecards to include quotes. A direct statement in quotation marks or creating a bunch of them can make your research look more authentic. Note cards will help you remember where or when you will use them.

Label and Number The Note cards

Labeling and numbering note cards help you avoid trouble and confusion. Imagine the mess if your notecards suddenly fall out of your table and get scattered. It would be like having all your work wasted. You will need hours to reorganize them. Labeling and giving numbers will help you sort them and use them at the exact moment you are going to need them. If your note cards are all labeled and aligned, they can tell you a lot about  how to organize your research paper  as well.

Include Every Attribute / Aspect

A notecard must include every aspect of the source or citation you will use. Let’s create an outline of those factors. A notecard will typically include these necessary points:

• Name of The Author
• The Topic / Title of The Citation
• The Book / Paper that is cited
• Exact Number Of The Page
• Other contributors
• Editions / Versions / Volume
• Date of Publication

Let us discuss one trick that will help you beyond  writing research papers . It will help you in real life too. Whenever you do or say anything, ask yourself first:

Is it necessary?

The same goes for note cards. Only include what’s necessary.

Don’t Use Abbreviations Or Acronyms

When we are talking about how to make notecards for a research paper,  our writers  will disapprove of using abbreviations or acronyms. One abbreviation might have more than one meaning. The same goes for acronyms. This can lead to confusion. Staying accurate is the ultimate goal.

Now you can see that creating note cards for your dissertation is not rocket science if you have the right guide and  Academic writing service . We also learned that note cards are not as old as some might say, and they can help you get the best out of your research. However, if you still need clarification about how to make notecards for a research paper, wait to lose your heart. You can  contact us , and we can provide valuable insights we have learned while writing research over the years.

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Note-taking techniques I: The index card method

I graduated with my PhD years ago and I’ve been a professor for a pretty long time, so I thought that maybe I needed to settle down and clarify my ideas of the process I follow to take notes. In this series, I will share my processes to take notes using different methods. The very first method I use is the Index Cards Method. Other authors have referred to the process Niklas Luhman followed ( Zettelkasten ). Hawk Sugano has shared his Pile of Index Cards (PoIC) method as well. Mine isn’t all that sophisticated, and since I combine my very analog Everything Notebook and notes in index cards with digital synthetic notes , memorandums , Conceptual Synthesis Excel Dumps , and Evernote , I don’t know that my system would be extraordinarily systematic. But here goes more or less how it works.

People have asked me if you could digitize (or make analogous) all my processes. Of course. What I call synthetic notes (summaries of articles, books) can be done in traditional index cards. And the reverse, you can digitally store these in Evernote. Make sure to note page number pic.twitter.com/6MyK9MWtyU — Dr Raul Pacheco-Vega (@raulpacheco) November 26, 2018

I produce at least 5 different types of index cards, which are more or less the same categories other folks have all agreed upon. Here are some resources on taking notes in index cards that I found useful as I was trying to make sense of my own system.

1. The Direct Quotations Index Card I use index cards to write direct quotations (with page number and full bibliographic reference) from articles, books and book chapters I find useful. This card is the analog equivalent of my Synthetic Note method .

I am more used to writing index cards of books than of articles. I usually write important quotations but other times I summarize chapters or the entire book. pic.twitter.com/tMUdmyabR3 — Dr Raul Pacheco-Vega (@raulpacheco) November 27, 2018

2. The Bibliographic Reference Index Card It’s rare that I do this one anymore because I have been using Mendeley and EndNote as reference managers for more than 15 years, but this was my study method and strategy to conduct research before: I would write the full bibliographic reference in a 3″x5″ index card. Then I would write a small paragraph on the back summarizing the entire book, or at least, the main idea behind it.

This is an example of “bibliographic index card” – it’s basically the full citation plus keywords. It is VERY rare that I use an index card purely for bibliographic data as I use Mendeley, but it’s still worth discussing. pic.twitter.com/w5MZ6fTfMZ — Dr Raul Pacheco-Vega (@raulpacheco) November 29, 2018

3. The One Idea Index Card I find that these are useful for when you’re studying for an exam, testing your ability to recall, or when you’re giving a talk without reading a set of Power Point slides (e.g. when you’re leading a seminar, using each card as a theme for the seminar). I also use them to remind me of key authors who discuss particular themes and topics.

Some people use the 3"x5" index cards to write one major idea (theme) and a couple of sentences about it, like I do: pic.twitter.com/kDiDFgBjDZ — Dr Raul Pacheco-Vega (@raulpacheco) November 28, 2018

As I said on Twitter, this is very rare for me to do, and I usually combine my own types.

Some people recommend writing JUST ONE IDEA/quotation per index card. I don’t do this. I use 1 index card per article, and per book chapter. If a book has 9 chapters I write one for each chapter (more of chapter is very dense). Note this paper by @rioconpiedras on nonhuman agency pic.twitter.com/IFbCMpNB28 — Dr Raul Pacheco-Vega (@raulpacheco) November 27, 2018

4. The Summary Index Card This type of index card is a summary of a particular journal article, or book chapter, more than of an entire book.

I also write index cards of journal articles, particularly when I feel that they’re particularly powerful or relevant to my research. As you can see, this index card shows my notes of this article rather than direct quotations. pic.twitter.com/XTUHzmQdpJ — Dr Raul Pacheco-Vega (@raulpacheco) November 27, 2018

5. The Combined (or Content) Index Card

As its name indicates, the Content Index Card is a combination type of index card that includes direct quotations, draft notes and ideas, conceptual diagrams, etc. that are all associated with the main article, book chapter or book discussed in the index card. I use larger (5″ x 8″) index cards for those cases.

This is what some people call a “combined” or “content” index card. Note I included direct quotations (with page #s ) from Debbané and @rkeil ’s paper but I *also* write my own thoughts (e.g. “this paper converses with @andrewbiro and his social construction of scale paper” pic.twitter.com/dgkhh9lgpB — Dr Raul Pacheco-Vega (@raulpacheco) November 27, 2018

There are obvious questions that people ask me, so I’ll try to answer them here.

1. Can you do digital index cards? For sure. You can either do combinations as I do (physical index cards, then row entry in a Conceptual Synthesis Excel Dump row), or all digital (either in Evernote or simply in Excel, or synthetic notes or memorandums in Word or Scrivener as you may choose).

You can do digital or analog, or a combination, whatever suits you best. I combine, because I find that as I write on an index card, by hand, new ideas come to me. When I read full books, I write copious synthetic notes and then write a row entry in my Excel Dump. pic.twitter.com/IRCZSzgBls — Dr Raul Pacheco-Vega (@raulpacheco) November 26, 2018

When I designed my Conceptual Synthesis Excel Dump, I made sure to include a column with the Quotation and another with the Page Number. This is important because as we know, plagiarism is bad, terrible citation practice, and can lead to degree termination/career ending! pic.twitter.com/VDGgjAjZ2z — Dr Raul Pacheco-Vega (@raulpacheco) November 26, 2018

2. How do you store and classify index cards? I usually have boxes that fit my index cards, and add a plastic tab with the reference in Author (Date) format. Other people use different classification systems (by keyword, by topic, by author). I just recommend that the process be consistent across.

If you like the index card by hand method you may want to use plastic tabs and label each index card and store them in a box pic.twitter.com/QxNy1HW7Gr — Dr Raul Pacheco-Vega (@raulpacheco) November 27, 2018

3. When should I use memorandums and synthetic notes and Excel Dumps, when should I write in my Everything Notebook, when should I craft index cards?

This question has such a personal preference type of answer.

If I'm on a plane to Santiago, 8 hours by plane, my laptop battery lasts 3 hours, no chargers on plane – if I want to be awake and work on the plane, I need to write by hand, either in my Everything Notebook or on index cards. Also, if I feel mentally blocked, I write index cards — Dr Raul Pacheco-Vega (@raulpacheco) November 27, 2018

I'm always stressed and under pressure to write, submit, revise and publish papers, but I have slowly come to the realization that it's better to let my thinking simmer and evolve, and mull ideas over, and writing by hand helps me do exactly that. So, yes, I do write index cards. — Dr Raul Pacheco-Vega (@raulpacheco) November 27, 2018

Can all this process be digital? Sure thing. Even a combination can work. You could scan your index cards into an optical character recognition thingie and store the digital content into Evernote, tag it and easily search through your bank of notes. Or you could simply type them. — Dr Raul Pacheco-Vega (@raulpacheco) November 27, 2018

4. What size of index card should I use? This is again, a personal preference as I note in my tweet below.

I have index cards in 3 sizes: 3”x5” (for quick ideas, but could be used as bibliographic reference cards), 4”x6” (for quotations from journal articles and summaries), and 5”x8” (for full books or very dense articles and book chapters) pic.twitter.com/L9qZYStZa2 — Dr Raul Pacheco-Vega (@raulpacheco) November 27, 2018

I do teach my students the Index Card Method of Note-Taking because I believe it is important to learn the old-school techniques, but also because I find that it helps me, and I strongly believe that if it helps ME, then it may also help THEM. In subsequent blog posts I’ll share some of my note-taking techniques when using my Everything Notebook, and other types of media.

You may be interested in my other posts on taking notes, which you can access by clicking on this link .

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Posted in academia , writing .

Tagged with index cards , note-taking , taking notes .

By Raul Pacheco-Vega – November 28, 2018

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I’m going to try this method. How do you store different sized cards? How do you find what you are looking for? Do you put tabs on them all?

Dear Dr @RaulPacheco-Vega. I would like to appreciate you for the frequent advice and for sharing useful material. To be honest, I bought index cards while I was working on my PhD but I never used them. I think it was because I was unfamiliar. After going through this blog post, I am thinking of getting them and I am hoping to share my experience soon

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Making Note Cards

Ask these questions:

How do I do it?

1. Write the subtopic heading of the note at the top of each note card. (see Tip Sheet 11: Creating Subtopic Headings )

2. Write only one main point on a note card

3. Only write information directly related to your Statement of Purpose. (see Tip Sheet 9: Writing a Statement of Purpose )

4. Write only essential words, abbreviate when possible.

5. Be accurate: double check direct quotes and statistics.

6. Identify direct quotes with quotation marks and the person's name.

7. Bracket your own words [ ] when you add them into a quote.

8. Use ellipsis points (...) where you leave out non-essential words from a quote.

9. Distinguish between 'fact' and 'opinion'.

10. Include the source's number on the card (see Tip Sheet 4: Making Source Cards )

11. Write the page number of the source after the note.

12. Use the word 'over' to indicate information on the back of the card.

Sample note card:

:

How to Take Notes

How to Use Sources Effectively

Most articles in periodicals and some of the book sources you use, especially those from the children’s room at the library, are probably short enough that you can read them from beginning to end in a reasonable amount of time. Others, however, may be too long for you to do that, and some are likely to cover much more than just your topic. Use the table of contents and the index in a longer book to find the parts of the book that contain information on your topic. When you turn to those parts, skim them to make sure they contain information you can use. Feel free to skip parts that don’t relate to your questions, so you can get the information you need as quickly and efficiently as possible.

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Don’t—start reading a book and writing down information on a sheet of notebook paper. If you make this mistake, you’ll end up with a lot of disorganized scribbling that may be practically useless when you’re ready to outline your research paper and write a first draft. Some students who tried this had to cut up their notes into tiny strips, spread them out on the floor, and then tape the strips back together in order to put their information in an order that made sense. Other students couldn’t even do that—without going to a photocopier first—because they had written on both sides of the paper. To avoid that kind of trouble, use the tried-and-true method students have been using for years—take notes on index cards.

Taking Notes on Index Cards

As you begin reading your sources, use either 3″ x 5″ or 4″ x 6″ index cards to write down information you might use in your paper. The first thing to remember is: Write only one idea on each card. Even if you write only a few words on one card, don’t write anything about a new idea on that card. Begin a new card instead. Also, keep all your notes for one card only on that card. It’s fine to write on both the front and back of a card, but don’t carry the same note over to a second card. If you have that much to write, you probably have more than one idea.

After you complete a note card, write the source number of the book you used in the upper left corner of the card. Below the source number, write the exact number or numbers of the pages on which you found the information. In the upper right corner, write one or two words that describe the specific subject of the card. These words are like a headline that describes the main information on the card. Be as clear as possible because you will need these headlines later.

After you finish taking notes from a source, write a check mark on your source card as a reminder that you’ve gone through that source thoroughly and written down all the important information you found there. That way, you won’t wonder later whether you should go back and read that source again.

Taking Notes on Your Computer

Another way to take notes is on your computer. In order to use this method, you have to rely completely on sources that you can take home, unless you have a laptop computer that you can take with you to the library.

If you do choose to take notes on your computer, think of each entry on your screen as one in a pack of electronic note cards. Write your notes exactly as if you were using index cards. Be sure to leave space between each note so that they don’t run together and look confusing when you’re ready to use them. You might want to insert a page break between each “note card.”

When deciding whether to use note cards or a computer, remember one thing—high-tech is not always better. Many students find low-tech index cards easier to organize and use than computer notes that have to be moved around by cutting and pasting. In the end, you’re the one who knows best how you work, so the choice is up to you.

How to Take Effective Notes

Knowing the best format for notes is important, but knowing what to write on your cards or on your computer is essential. Strong notes are the backbone of a good research paper.

Not Too Much or Too Little

When researching, you’re likely to find a lot of interesting information that you never knew before. That’s great! You can never learn too much. But for now your goal is to find information you can use in your research paper. Giving in to the temptation to take notes on every detail you find in your research can lead to a huge volume of notes—many of which you won’t use at all. This can become difficult to manage at later stages, so limit yourself to information that really belongs in your paper. If you think a piece of information might be useful but you aren’t sure, ask yourself whether it helps answer one of your research questions.

Writing too much is one pitfall; writing too little is another. Consider this scenario: You’ve been working in the library for a couple of hours, and your hand grows tired from writing. You come to a fairly complicated passage about how to tell if a dog is angry, so you say to yourself, “I don’t have to write all this down. I’ll remember.” But you won’t remember—especially after all the reading and note taking you have been doing. If you find information you know you want to use later on, get it down. If you’re too tired, take a break or take off the rest of the day and return tomorrow when you’re fresh.

To Note or Not to Note: That is the Question

What if you come across an idea or piece of information that you’ve already found in another source? Should you write it down again? You don’t want to end up with a whole stack of cards with the same information on each one. On the other hand, knowing that more than one source agrees on a particular point is helpful. Here’s the solution: Simply add the number of the new source to the note card that already has the same piece of information written on it. Take notes on both sources. In your paper, you may want to come right out and say that sources disagree on this point. You may even want to support one opinion or the other—if you think you have a strong enough argument based on facts from your research.

Paraphrasing—Not Copying

Have you ever heard the word plagiarism? It means copying someone else’s words and claiming them as your own. It’s really a kind of stealing, and there are strict rules against it.

The trouble is many students plagiarize without meaning to do so. The problem starts at the note-taking stage. As a student takes notes, he or she may simply copy the exact words from a source. The student doesn’t put quotation marks around the words to show that they are someone else’s. When it comes time to draft the paper, the student doesn’t even remember that those words were copied from a source, and the words find their way into the draft and then into the final paper. Without intending to do so, that student has plagiarized, or stolen, another person’s words.

The way to avoid plagiarism is to paraphrase, or write down ideas in your own words rather than copy them exactly. Look again at the model note cards in this chapter, and notice that the words in the notes are not the same as the words from the sources. Some of the notes are not even written in complete sentences. Writing in incomplete sentences is one way to make sure you don’t copy—and it saves you time, energy, and space. When you write a draft of your research paper, of course, you will use complete sentences.

How to Organize Your Notes

Once you’ve used all your sources and taken all your notes, what do you have? You have a stack of cards (or if you’ve taken notes on a computer, screen after screen of entries) about a lot of stuff in no particular order. Now you need to organize your notes in order to turn them into the powerful tool that helps you outline and draft your research paper. Following are some ideas on how to do this, so get your thinking skills in gear to start doing the job for your own paper.

Organizing Note Cards

The beauty of using index cards to take notes is that you can move them around until they are in the order you want. You don’t have to go through complicated cutting-and-pasting procedures, as you would on your computer, and you can lay your cards out where you can see them all at once. One word of caution—work on a surface where your cards won’t fall on the floor while you’re organizing them.

Start by sorting all your cards with the same headlines into the same piles, since all of these note cards are about the same basic idea. You don’t have to worry about keeping notes from the same sources together because each card is marked with a number identifying its source.

Next, arrange the piles of cards so that the order the ideas appear in makes sense. Experts have named six basic types of order. One—or a combination of these—may work for you:

• Chronological , or Time, Order covers events in the order in which they happened. This kind of order works best for papers that discuss historical events or tell about a person’s life.
• Spatial  Order organizes your information by its place or position. This kind of order can work for papers about geography or about how to design something—a garden, for example.
• Cause and Effect  discusses how one event or action leads to another. This kind of organization works well if your paper explains a scientific process or events in history.
• Problem/Solution explains a problem and one or more ways in which it can be solved. You might use this type of organization for a paper about an environmental issue, such as global warming.
• Compare and Contrast  discusses similarities and differences between people, things, events, or ideas.
• Order of  Importance  explains an idea, starting with its most important aspects first and ending with the least important aspects—or the other way around.

After you determine your basic organization, arrange your piles accordingly. You’ll end up with three main piles—one for sounds, one for facial expressions, and one for body language. Go through each pile and put the individual cards in an order that makes sense. Don’t forget that you can move your cards around, trying out different organizations, until you are satisfied that one idea flows logically into another. Use a paper clip or rubber band to hold the piles together, and then stack them in the order you choose. Put a big rubber band around the whole stack so the cards stay in order.

Organizing Notes on Your Computer

If you’ve taken notes on a computer, organize them in much the same way you would organize index cards. The difference is that you use the cut-and-paste functions on your computer rather than moving cards around. The advantage is that you end up with something that’s already typed—something you can eventually turn into an outline without having to copy anything over. The disadvantage is that you may have more trouble moving computer notes around than note cards: You can’t lay your notes out and look at them all at once, and you may get confused when trying to find where information has moved within a long file on your computer screen.

However, be sure to back up your note cards on an external storage system of your choice. In addition, print hard copies as you work. This way, you won’t lose your material if your hard drive crashes or the file develops a glitch.

Developing a Working Bibliography

When you start your research, your instructor may ask you to prepare a working bibliography listing the sources you plan to use. Your working bibliography differs from your Works Cited page in its scope: your working bibliography is much larger. Your Works Cited page will include only those sources you have actually cited in your research paper.

To prepare a working bibliography, arrange your note cards in the order required by your documentation system (such as MLA and APA) and keyboard the entries following the correct form. If you have created your bibliography cards on the computer, you just have to sort them, usually into alphabetical order.

Developing an Annotated Bibliography

Some instructors may ask you to create an annotated bibliography as a middle step between your working bibliography and your Works Cited page. An annotated bibliography is the same as a working bibliography except that it includes comments about the sources. These notes enable your instructor to assess your progress. They also help you evaluate your information more easily. For example, you might note that some sources are difficult to find, hard to read, or especially useful.

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Research Note Cards

• Writing Research Papers
• Writing Essays
• English Grammar
• M.Ed., Education Administration, University of Georgia
• B.A., History, Armstrong State University

Many teachers require students to use note cards to collect information for their first big term paper assignment. While this practice may seem old fashioned and out of date, it is actually still the best method for collecting research. 

You will use research note cards to collect all the information necessary to write your term paper--which includes the details you need for your bibliography notes.

You should take extreme care as you create these note cards, because any time you leave out a single detail, you are creating more work for yourself. You will have to visit each source again if you leave out essential information the first time around.

Remember that citing every source completely and correctly is critical for success. If you don't cite a source, you are guilty of plagiarism! These tips will help you collect research and write a successful paper.

• Start with a fresh pack of research note cards. Large, lined cards are probably best, especially if you want to make your own detailed personal notes. Also, consider color coding your cards by topic to keep your paper organized from the start.
• Devote an entire note card to each idea or note. Don't try to fit two sources (quotes and notes) on one card. No sharing space!
• Gather more than you need. Use the library and the Internet to find potential sources for your research paper . You should continue to research until you have quite a few potential sources—about three times as many as your teacher recommends.
• Narrow down your sources. As you read your potential sources, you will find that some are helpful, others are not, and some will repeat the same information you already have. This is how you narrow your list down to include the most solid sources.
• Record as you go. From each source, write down any notes or quotes that could be useful in your paper. As you take notes, try to paraphrase all the information. This reduces the chances of committing accidental plagiarism .
• Include everything. For each note you will need to record author's name, the title of reference (book, article, interview, etc.), reference publication information, to include publisher, date, place, year, issue, volume, page number, and your own personal comments.
• Create your own system and stick to it. For instance, you may want to pre-mark each card with spaces for each category, just to make sure you don't leave anything out.
• Be exact. If at any time you write down information word for word (to be used as a quote), be sure to include all punctuation marks , capitalizations, and breaks exactly as they appear in the source. Before you leave any source, double-check your notes for accuracy.
• If you think it might be useful, write it down. Don't ever, ever pass over information because you're just not sure whether it will be useful! This is a very common and costly mistake in research. More often than not, you find that the passed-over tidbit is critical to your paper, and then there's a good chance you won't find it again.
• Avoid using abbreviations and code words as you record notes —especially if you plan to quote. Your own writing can look completely foreign to you later. It's true! You may not be able to understand your own clever codes after a day or two, either.
• Strategies for Writing a 20-Page Paper
• How to Develop a Research Paper Timeline
• Tips for Typing an Academic Paper on a Computer
• How to Find Trustworthy Sources
• Finding Trustworthy Sources
• How to Write a 10-Page Research Paper
• How to Narrow the Research Topic for Your Paper
• Ethos, Logos, Pathos for Persuasion
• What Is a Bibliography?
• Creating a Table of Contents
• Et Al. Meaning and How to Use It
• Understanding the Progressive Era
• Unreliable Sources for Your Research Project
• Convince Me: A Persuasive Writing Activity
• Writing an Annotated Bibliography for a Paper
• What Is a Senior Thesis?

How to Write a Source Card for an Internet Source

How to cite the 4th amendment.

A source card is an index card with a citation on it to a source, such as a newspaper article, book or website. Source cards can be written in a variety of citation styles such as Modern Language Associate and American Psychological Association formats.

Web Page or Article

When citing a Web page, include the author's name, title of the Web page or article, the date the page or article was accessed and the full URL to the source. When using MLA format, write the citation as: Author Last Name, First Name. "Title of Article/Web Page." Title of Website. Month and Year of Publication. Web. Day Month Year Accessed. The title of the website should be underlined or italicized and all lines after the first should be indented. If the author's name is not given, write "Unknown" in its place.

In APA format, the citation should look like this: Author Last Name, First Name (Date of publication). Title of article or page. Retrieved from http://full article URL. The title of the article or Web page should be italicized. Indent all lines after the first.

Online Journal Article or Encyclopedia

When citing an online journal or encyclopedia, include the author or editor's name, article title, encyclopedia, database or journal title, copyright date, online publisher or sponsoring institution and date accessed. Write the citation in MLA format as follows: Author Last Name, First Name. “Article Title.” Database or Journal Title. Month and Year of Publication. Online Publisher or Institution Name. Web. Day Month Year Accessed. The title of the journal, database or encyclopedia should be underlined or italicized. Indent all lines after the first.

In APA format, write the citation for an online journal like this: Author Last Name, First Name. (Date of publication). Title of article. Title of Journal, volume number, page range. Retrieved from http://full article URL. For an online encyclopedia, write the citation as: Article Name. (n.d.). In Name of Encyclopedia online. Retrieved from http://full article URL. The name of the encyclopedia should be italicized.

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Based in Gatineau, Canada, Kat Walcott has been writing entertainment and informative articles since 2008. Her work has appeared in major publications including Her Campus, Equals6 and Uppercase. She holds an honors diploma in social science from Heritage College and is currently majoring in communication studies and minoring in sexuality studies.

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• Citing sources

How to Cite Sources | Citation Generator & Quick Guide

Citing your sources is essential in  academic writing . Whenever you quote or paraphrase a source (such as a book, article, or webpage), you have to include a  citation crediting the original author.

Failing to properly cite your sources counts as plagiarism , since you’re presenting someone else’s ideas as if they were your own.

The most commonly used citation styles are APA and MLA. The free Scribbr Citation Generator is the quickest way to cite sources in these styles. Simply enter the URL, DOI, or title, and we’ll generate an accurate, correctly formatted citation.

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Table of contents

When do you need to cite sources, which citation style should you use, in-text citations, reference lists and bibliographies.

Scribbr Citation Generator

Other useful citation tools

Citation examples and full guides, frequently asked questions about citing sources.

Citations are required in all types of academic texts. They are needed for several reasons:

• To avoid plagiarism by indicating when you’re taking information from another source
• To give proper credit to the author of that source
• To allow the reader to consult your sources for themselves

A citation is needed whenever you integrate a source into your writing. This usually means quoting or paraphrasing:

• To quote a source , copy a short piece of text word for word and put it inside quotation marks .
• To paraphrase a source , put the text into your own words. It’s important that the paraphrase is not too close to the original wording. You can use the paraphrasing tool if you don’t want to do this manually.

Citations are needed whether you quote or paraphrase, and whatever type of source you use. As well as citing scholarly sources like books and journal articles, don’t forget to include citations for any other sources you use for ideas, examples, or evidence. That includes websites, YouTube videos , and lectures .

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Usually, your institution (or the journal you’re submitting to) will require you to follow a specific citation style, so check your guidelines or ask your instructor.

In some cases, you may have to choose a citation style for yourself. Make sure to pick one style and use it consistently:

• APA Style is widely used in the social sciences and beyond.
• MLA style is common in the humanities.
• Chicago notes and bibliography , common in the humanities
• Chicago author-date , used in the (social) sciences
• There are many other citation styles for different disciplines.

If in doubt, check with your instructor or read other papers from your field of study to see what style they follow.

In most styles, your citations consist of:

• Brief in-text citations at the relevant points in the text
• A reference list or bibliography containing full information on all the sources you’ve cited

In-text citations most commonly take the form of parenthetical citations featuring the last name of the source’s author and its year of publication (aka author-date citations).

An alternative to this type of in-text citation is the system used in numerical citation styles , where a number is inserted into the text, corresponding to an entry in a numbered reference list.

There are also note citation styles , where you place your citations in either footnotes or endnotes . Since they’re not embedded in the text itself, these citations can provide more detail and sometimes aren’t accompanied by a full reference list or bibliography.

(London: John Murray, 1859), 510.

A reference list (aka “Bibliography” or “Works Cited,” depending on the style) is where you provide full information on each of the sources you’ve cited in the text. It appears at the end of your paper, usually with a hanging indent applied to each entry.

The information included in reference entries is broadly similar, whatever citation style you’re using. For each source, you’ll typically include the:

• Author name
• Publication date
• Container (e.g., the book an essay was published in, the journal an article appeared in)
• Location (e.g., a URL or DOI , or sometimes a physical location)

The exact information included varies depending on the source type and the citation style. The order in which the information appears, and how you format it (e.g., capitalization, use of italics) also varies.

Most commonly, the entries in your reference list are alphabetized by author name. This allows the reader to easily find the relevant entry based on the author name in your in-text citation.

In numerical citation styles, the entries in your reference list are numbered, usually based on the order in which you cite them. The reader finds the right entry based on the number that appears in the text.

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The AI-powered Citation Checker helps you avoid common mistakes such as:

• Missing commas and periods
• Incorrect usage of “et al.”
• Ampersands (&) in narrative citations
• Missing reference entries

Because each style has many small differences regarding things like italicization, capitalization , and punctuation , it can be difficult to get every detail right. Using a citation generator can save you a lot of time and effort.

Scribbr offers citation generators for both APA and MLA style. Both are quick, easy to use, and 100% free, with no ads and no registration required.

Just input a URL or DOI or add the source details manually, and the generator will automatically produce an in-text citation and reference entry in the correct format. You can save your reference list as you go and download it when you’re done, and even add annotations for an annotated bibliography .

Once you’ve prepared your citations, you might still be unsure if they’re correct and if you’ve used them appropriately in your text. This is where Scribbr’s other citation tools and services may come in handy:

Plagiarism Checker

Citation Checker

Citation Editing

Plagiarism means passing off someone else’s words or ideas as your own. It’s a serious offense in academia. Universities use plagiarism checking software to scan your paper and identify any similarities to other texts.

When you’re dealing with a lot of sources, it’s easy to make mistakes that could constitute accidental plagiarism. For example, you might forget to add a citation after a quote, or paraphrase a source in a way that’s too close to the original text.

Using a plagiarism checker yourself before you submit your work can help you spot these mistakes before they get you in trouble. Based on the results, you can add any missing citations and rephrase your text where necessary.

Try out the Scribbr Plagiarism Checker for free, or check out our detailed comparison of the best plagiarism checkers available online.

Scribbr Plagiarism Checker

Scribbr’s Citation Checker is a unique AI-powered tool that automatically detects stylistic errors and inconsistencies in your in-text citations. It also suggests a correction for every mistake.

Currently available for APA Style, this is the fastest and easiest way to make sure you’ve formatted your citations correctly. You can try out the tool for free below.

If you need extra help with your reference list, we also offer a more in-depth Citation Editing Service.

Our experts cross-check your in-text citations and reference entries, make sure you’ve included the correct information for each source, and improve the formatting of your reference page.

If you want to handle your citations yourself, Scribbr’s free Knowledge Base provides clear, accurate guidance on every aspect of citation. You can see citation examples for a variety of common source types below:

And you can check out our comprehensive guides to the most popular citation styles:

At college level, you must properly cite your sources in all essays , research papers , and other academic texts (except exams and in-class exercises).

Add a citation whenever you quote , paraphrase , or summarize information or ideas from a source. You should also give full source details in a bibliography or reference list at the end of your text.

The exact format of your citations depends on which citation style you are instructed to use. The most common styles are APA , MLA , and Chicago .

The abbreviation “ et al. ” (Latin for “and others”) is used to shorten citations of sources with multiple authors.

“Et al.” is used in APA in-text citations of sources with 3+ authors, e.g. (Smith et al., 2019). It is not used in APA reference entries .

Use “et al.” for 3+ authors in MLA in-text citations and Works Cited entries.

Use “et al.” for 4+ authors in a Chicago in-text citation , and for 10+ authors in a Chicago bibliography entry.

The Scribbr Citation Generator is developed using the open-source Citation Style Language (CSL) project and Frank Bennett’s citeproc-js . It’s the same technology used by dozens of other popular citation tools, including Mendeley and Zotero.

You can find all the citation styles and locales used in the Scribbr Citation Generator in our publicly accessible repository on Github .

APA format is widely used by professionals, researchers, and students in the social and behavioral sciences, including fields like education, psychology, and business.

Be sure to check the guidelines of your university or the journal you want to be published in to double-check which style you should be using.

MLA Style  is the second most used citation style (after APA ). It is mainly used by students and researchers in humanities fields such as literature, languages, and philosophy.

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