Notetaking Checklist

1. Record all bibliographic information before you begin to examine a source.
2. For all notes taken on a text, clearly indicate the page reference. If you are putting notes on separate cards, you will also need to indicate the author and title of the work on each card.
3. Place all direct quotations inside quotation marks. If you modify a quotation, use square brackets or ellipsis dots to indicate the changes you have made.
4. As you paraphrase, ensure that you do not borrow syntax or phrasing from the original text. What you cannot put in your own words, put inside quotation marks.
5. Keep your quotations short: try not to record passages too lengthy to be used as quotations in your essay.

Following this system scrupulously will save you from both inadvertently plagiarizing and unnecessarily giving an author credit for your own ideas.