10 Social Studies: Gather & Organize Evidence

No matter which note-taking strategy you choose, be sure you: 

• Decide on a strategy and stick with it
• Paraphrase everything (Writing in your own words helps you understand)
• Trace every idea in your notes back to a source
• Write just enough to remember what you meant, but not copy everything 
• Use symbols, abbreviations, diagrams, drawings 

The rule of 4: Each note must contain

• Source
• Quoted material (in quotation marks)
• Paraphrase
• Your Comment

Research Notes Templates: Choose one and stick with it

• Grid Style: Google or Word
• Category Style: Google or Word
• Notecard Style: Google or Word

Beginning Steps:

• Write your thesis at the top of the page
• Review your notes and identify categories to create headings and sub-headings
• Write these in an order that makes sense for building an argument to prove your thesis
• Include an Introduction & Conclusion, but remember that generally no outside evidence will be included there, only your own ideas

Step 2:

• Paste your evidence under the headings and sub-headings (with source #s)
• List evidence within each heading or sub-heading in an order that makes sense
• Use a hierarchy to show how your ideas & evidence fit together
• Indicate quoted material in your outline with quotation marks and source #
• Indicate paraphrases with source #
• Include your own ideas as needed to show how you will build your argument
• Consider including a topic sentence or main idea as a sub-heading for each paragraph
• Generally, each section or paragraph in your paper will include 2-3 points with supporting evidence

• Samples showing categories only (scroll down to see three samples)
• Via MIT for a short paper, using Roman Numeral structure
• Three samples for detailed outlines