Research for a Term Paper

1. Start early.

2. Use as many primary sources as you can.

3. Jot down your ideas as they come to you.  You may not remember them later.

4. Take careful notes on your reading.  Label your notes completely and precisely.  Distinguish meticulously and systematically between what you are directly quoting and what you are summarizing in your own words.  Write down not just the page of the quotation or idea, but also the whole run of pages where the matters is discussed.  Reread all of your notes periodically to make sure that you still understand them and are compiling what you will need to write your paper.  Just accept that there is something anal about good note taking.

5. Note cards allow you to see all of them simultaneously, as you lay them out on a big table to get the big picture.

6. Note cards encourage you to rethink and to rework your ideas into a unified whole.

7. Do not start to write until you have a good outline.

8. Make sure that your paper has a thesis.

9. Check and recheck your facts.

10. Footnote properly.

11. Save plenty of time to proofread.

12. Start early.

 [Information was gathered from the website of the Department of History at Hamilton College]