Note-taking strategies for research projects

1. Note-Taking
Quoting and paraphrasing to avoid plagiarism
Richelle O’Neil, Prosper ISD

2. • Skim and scan
• Keep your keywords in mind
• Read titles, subheading, and photo/illustration captions
• Skip what you don’t need
• Use the highlight and sticky note tools on your PDF
article
Strategies

3. ABC - PQR
•Abbreviations
•Bullets
•Caveman language
•Paraphrase
•Quote
•Record the source and page number
Strategies
Mary Alice Osborne, http://www.slideshare.net/maryaliceosborne/learning-to-take-notes

4. • Shortened form of words
• Examples
• United States – U.S.
• Assistant – asst.
• National – natl.
• Text speak
Abbreviations

5. Secondhand smoke can cause
•Heart attacks
•Lung cancer
•Asthma
•Respiratory infections
Bullets

6. Caveman language
Image credit: http://www.cartoonstock.com/directory/s/sentence_structure.asp

7. • Read the passage until you understand it
• Set the article aside and re-write the passage in your own
words
• Check your version against the original passage to make
sure you hit the key points
Paraphrase

8. • Cigarette smoke contains nicotine (a highly addictive
chemical), tars, nitrosamines, and polycyclic
hydrocarbons, all of which are carcinogenic. It also
contains carbon monoxide which, when inhaled,
interferes with transportation and utilization of oxygen
throughout the body.
Paraphrase

9. • The only time you may copy/paste from your source.
• Add quotation marks so you know it’s a direct quote.
• Use this sparingly – your paper should not be made up of
all quotes!
Quotes

10. Key words from your topic and subtopics
Source number
from bibcard
Article’s page
number you got
info from. If
your notes come
from multiple
pages, use pg3-4
Record the source and
page number

11. When in doubt,
cite your source!
Image credit: http://www.plagiarismchecker.net/plagiarism-checkers/plagiarism-checkers-do-they-help-students-cheat/