What are Research Notes?
Research notes are the records you keep while researching a project: what each source says, the evidence you might use, quotations with page numbers, and your own thoughts and questions, all linked to where they came from. Good research notes mean you can write from your notes rather than re-reading every source. ("Research note" is also the name of a short journal article type reporting a brief finding, as in the journal BMC Research Notes.)
How to Write Research Note Cards
The classic method uses index cards, and it still works well in digital form:
- Source cards: one per source, with full reference details and a number.
- Note cards: one idea per card, with a heading (the topic), the source number, the page, and the note.
- Sorting: group the note cards by heading, and the groups become the sections of your outline.
Label Every Note
- Q: direct quotation, in quotation marks, with the page.
- P: paraphrase in your own words.
- S: summary of a whole section or argument.
- Me: your own idea, question or criticism.
Clear labels are the simplest protection against accidental plagiarism: you always know which words are yours.
Organising Research Notes
- Link every note to your research question or a sub-question.
- Use a synthesis table: one row per source, columns for themes (see note-taking for other methods).
- Tag notes by theme so you can pull them together later.
- Keep a research log of searches you ran and dates, useful for a methods section or a systematic review.
Tools for Research Notes
- Reference managers: Zotero, Mendeley and EndNote keep notes and PDF annotations attached to each source (see citation management).
- Note apps: Obsidian, OneNote or Notion for linked notes across sources.
- Spreadsheets: for synthesis tables.
Can I Use ChatGPT to Write a Research Paper From My Notes?
AI tools can help organise notes or suggest a structure, but the analysis and writing must be yours, and many institutions restrict or require you to declare AI use. Never let a tool summarise sources you have not read: it can misstate them. Check your course's rules first.