Research Process: Making Notes, Synthesizing Information, and Keeping a Research Log
A research log is essentially a journal in which you collect information, ask questions, and monitor the results. Even if you are completing the annotated bibliography for Writing Process: Informing and Analyzing [New Tab], keeping a research log is an effective organizational tool. Most entries have three parts: a part for notes on secondary sources, a part for connections to the thesis or main points, and a part for your own notes or questions. Record source notes by date and allow room to add cross-references to other entries.
Research Log
Before you create your outline for the research essay, you may want to create a research log similar to the student model. The research log will help you to keep track by recording all secondary source information such as your notes, complete publication data, relation to thesis, and other information as indicated in the right-hand column of the sample entry.
Another Lens: Customize the research log for your needs or preferences. You can apply shading or colour coding [New Tab] headers, rows, and/or columns in the three-column format. Or you can add columns to accommodate more information, analysis, synthesis, or commentary, formatting them as you wish. Consider adding a column for questions only or one for connections to other sources. Finally, consider a different visual format [New Tab], such as one without columns. Another possibility is to record some of your comments and questions so that you have an aural rather than a written record of these.
Review your assignment and customize your research log to fit the task.
Writing Centre
At this point, or at any other point during the research and writing process, you may find that your school’s writing centre can provide extensive assistance. If you are unfamiliar with the writing centre, now is a good time to pay your first visit. Writing centres provide free peer tutoring for all types and phases of writing. Discussing your research with a trained writing centre tutor can help you clarify, analyze, and connect ideas as well as provide feedback on works in progress.
Quick Launch: Beginning Questions
You may begin your research log with some open pages in which you free write, exploring answers to the following questions. Although you generally would do this at the beginning, it is a process to which you likely will return as you find more information about your topic and as your focus changes, as it may during the course of your research.
- What information have I found so far?
- What do I still need to find?
- Where am I most likely to find it?
These are beginning questions. You will come across general questions or issues that a quick note or free write may help you resolve. The key to this section is to revisit it regularly. Written answers to these and other self-generated questions in your log clarify your tasks as you go along, helping you articulate ideas and examine supporting evidence critically. As you move further into the process, consider answering the following questions in your freewrite:
- What evidence looks as though it best supports my thesis?
- What evidence challenges my working thesis?
- How is my thesis changing from where it started?
Creating the Research Log
As you gather source material for your argumentative research paper, keep in mind that the research is intended to support original thinking. That is, you are not writing an informational report in which you simply supply facts to readers. Instead, you are writing to support a thesis that shows original thinking, and you are collecting and incorporating research into your paper to support that thinking. Therefore, a research log, whether digital or handwritten, is a great way to keep track of your thinking as well as your notes and bibliographic information.
In the model below, the author records the correct MLA bibliographic citation for the source. Then, she records a note and includes the in-text citation here to avoid having to retrieve this information later. Perhaps most important, Tran records why she noted this information—how it supports her thesis: The human race must turn to sustainable food systems that provide healthy diets with minimal environmental impact, starting now. Finally, she makes a note to herself about an additional visual to include in the final paper to reinforce the point regarding the current pressure on food systems. And she connects the information to other information she finds, thus cross-referencing and establishing a possible synthesis. Use a format similar to that in Table 1 to begin your own research log.
| Information | Connection to Thesis/Main Points | Notes/Cross-References/Synthesis |
|---|---|---|
| Date: 6/06/2021
It has been estimated, for example, that by 2050, milk production will increase 58 percent and meat production 73 percent (Chai, et al., 2019). |
Shows the pressure being put on food systems that will cause the need for more sustainable systems | Maybe include a graph showing the rising pressure on food systems.
Connects to similar predictions about produce and vegan diets. See Lynch et al. |
| Chai, B. C., van der Voort, J. R., Grofelnik, K., Eliasdottir, H. G., Klöss, I., Perez-Cueto, J. A. (2019). Which diet has the least environmental impact on our planet? A systematic review of vegan, vegetarian and omnivorous diets. Sustainability, 11(40), 4110. https://doi.org/10.3390/su11154110. | ||
| Date: | ||
| Source/Citation: | ||
| Date: | ||
| Source/Citation: | ||
Types of Research Notes
Bibliographic Notes
These identify the source you are using. When you locate a useful source, record the information necessary to find that source again. It is important to do this as you find each source, even before taking notes from it. If you create bibliographic notes as you go along, then you can easily arrange them in alphabetical order later to prepare the reference list required at the end of formal academic papers. If your instructor requires you to use MLA formatting for your essay, be sure to record the following information:
- Author
- Title of source
- Title of container (larger work in which source is included)
- Other contributors
- Version
- Number
- Publisher
- Publication date
- Location
When using MLA style with online sources, also record the following information:
- Date of original publication
- Date of access
- URL
- DOI (A DOI, or digital object identifier, is a series of digits and letters that leads to the location of an online source. Articles in journals are often assigned DOIs to ensure that the source can be located, even if the URL changes. If your source is listed with a DOI, use that instead of a URL.)
It is important to understand which documentation style your instructor will require you to use. Check the Georgian Library Citation Guide for more details on APA.
Informational Notes
These notes record the relevant information found in your sources. When writing your essay, you will work from these notes, so be sure they contain all the information you need from every source you intend to use. Also try to focus your notes on your research question so that their relevance is clear when you read them later. To avoid confusion, work with separate entries for each piece of information recorded. At the top of each entry, identify the source through brief bibliographic identification (author and title), and note the page numbers on which the information appears. Also helpful is to add personal notes, including ideas for possible use of the information or cross-references to other information. As noted in Using Sources to Support your Writing you will be using a variety of formats when borrowing from sources. Below is a quick review of these formats in terms of note-taking processes. By clarifying whether you are quoting directly, paraphrasing, or summarizing during these stages, you can record information accurately and thus take steps to avoid plagiarism.
Direct Quotations, Paraphrases, and Summaries
A direct quotation is an exact duplication of the author’s words as they appear in the original source. In your notes, put quotation marks around direct quotations so that you remember these words are the author’s, not yours. One advantage of copying exact quotations is that it allows you to decide later whether to include a quotation, paraphrase, or summary. ln general, though, use direct quotations only when the author’s words are particularly lively or persuasive.
A paraphrase is a restatement of the author’s words in your own words. Paraphrase to simplify or clarify the original author’s point. In your notes, use paraphrases when you need to record details but not exact words.
A summary is a brief condensation or distillation of the main point and most important details of the original source. Write a summary in your own words, with facts and ideas accurately represented. A summary is useful when specific details in the source are unimportant or irrelevant to your research question. You may find you can summarize several paragraphs or even an entire article or chapter in just a few sentences without losing useful information. It is a good idea to note when your entry contains a summary to remind you later that it omits detailed information. See Paraphrasing and Summarizing for more detailed information and examples of quotations, paraphrases, and summaries and when to use them.
Other Systems for Organizing Research Logs and Digital Note-Taking
Students often become frustrated and at times overwhelmed by the quantity of materials to be managed in the research process. If this is your first time working with both primary and secondary sources, finding ways to keep all of the information in one place and well organized is essential.
Because gathering primary evidence may be a relatively new practice, this section is designed to help you navigate the process. As mentioned earlier, information gathered in fieldwork is not catalogued, organized, indexed, or shelved for your convenience. Obtaining it requires diligence, energy, and planning. Online resources can assist you with keeping a research log. Your college library may have subscriptions to tools such as Todoist or EndNote. Consult with a librarian to find out whether you have access to any of these. If not, use something like the template shown in Figure 1, or another like it, as a template for creating your own research notes and organizational tool. You will need to have a record of all field research data as well as the research log for all secondary sources.
Attribution & References
Except where otherwise noted, this section is adapted from “13.5 Research Process: Making Notes, Synthesizing Information, and Keeping a Research Log” In Writing Guide with Handbook(OpenStax) by Michelle Bachelor Robinson, Maria Jerskey and featuring Toby Fulwiler, licensed under CC BY 4.0.
Access for free at Writing Guide with Handbook (OpenStax)
Reference
Chai, B. C., van der Voort, J. R., Grofelnik, K., Eliasdottir, H. G., Klöss, I., Perez-Cueto, J. A. (2019). Which diet has the least environmental impact on our planet? A systematic review of vegan, vegetarian and omnivorous diets. Sustainability, 11(40), 4110. https://doi.org/10.3390/su11154110
