It's essential to note all research sources used to complete an assignment, whether you use index cards, a document or spreadsheet, or a free citation-tracking application like Zotero.
In addition to the citation (author(s), book title or journal and article titles, date of publication, page numbers, etc.), you should also record the following in your notes:
- Whether you’re noting a quotation verbatim or whether you're paraphrasing an idea. Remember that a direct quote often requires quotation marks and the page number where that quote appeared within a book or article, depending on the citation style (APA, MLA, Chicago, etc.) assigned by your instructor.
- The address (or URL: Uniform Resource Locator) of any websites cited in your research, and the dates of when the website was published and when you visited that website.