Research & Note-Taking

A source list at the end of a report helps readers locate the books and articles you used. MLA calls this list Works Cited.

For a magazine or journal article, write the author's surname, a comma, their given name and a full stop. Put the article's title in quotation marks, with its full stop before the closing quotation mark. Next write the publication's name in italics. Follow it with the volume and issue numbers if given, the publication date and the page range if available. Separate these parts with commas and finish with a full stop.

For an online article, include its web address. You may also include the date you visited it, especially if your teacher requests this. Give each article its own entry. Arrange entries alphabetically using authors' surnames. Clear references let readers find your sources and check your work.

Give credit whenever your writing uses another source's facts or ideas. A citation tells readers where to look and lets them check the information.

Ask your teacher which referencing style to follow before researching. Subjects may use different styles.

As you use each source, record its author, title and publication date. Also save its location, such as a web address, or the publisher's name for a book. A note card or document can hold these details.

Use your records to prepare the source list at the end of your report. Saving details immediately matters: a source may be difficult to locate later.

Paraphrasing expresses an idea from a source using different wording. You still need a citation because the idea came from someone else.

Read until you understand the meaning. Without looking at the original, explain it aloud, then write your explanation. Compare both versions. Keep the meaning, but rebuild the sentences rather than replacing a few words.

Place a citation after the paraphrase, following your assigned style. APA uses the author's surname and publication year, for example (Patel, 2021). Other styles use different formats. If you copy exact wording, quotation marks are needed as well as a citation.

Your paraphrase shows understanding; its citation helps readers locate the source.

In this project, you become a reporter writing about a real job: stormwater engineer. A stormwater engineer helps keep rain water clean and moving safely through a city. Here is your task. First, watch two informational videos about stormwater. While you watch, take notes on the important ideas. Next, read a job description for a stormwater engineer and take notes on that too. Use your own words instead of copying. Then answer three research questions using what you learned from all your sources. Finally, write an article that explains to your class why this job matters. When you finish, look back at your notes and list every source you used at the end of your article.

Research is how people find answers to questions they are curious about. A source is any place you find information, like a book, an article, a website, or a video. Good researchers never rely on just one source. They collect information from several places and compare what each one says. Here is how to do it. Step one, ask a clear question. Decide exactly what you want to find out. Step two, gather information. Look in books, articles, and trusted websites. Take notes as you go, and write down where each fact came from. Step three, look at all your notes together. Some sources might agree, and some might add new details. Step four, put the pieces together in your own words to answer your question. When you use more than one source, your answer becomes stronger, and you can be more sure it is right.