Hello to dear researchers, students, professors, associates and working professionals!
It is always an amazing experience to research and produce something of help for our fellow scholars out there. Though, we are not a direct part of any of your scholastic and pedagogical labors yet it always feels great to be some sort of indirect aid.
Ok, so today we will be organizing research notes with you. Research notes typically include research materials, reference resources and bibliography examples as you sift through the web, collecting and recording content for your research.
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How to Take Research Notes the Smart Way?
Either you are working on a dissertation or writing a research paper, somewhere along the way you will be juggling your thesis statement, introduction writing or formatting the conclusion for your thesis. The back and forth process of checking and analyzing research information can be a tedious task unless you follow an organized and self-disciplined approach which would help you in getting done with your research, faster.
Working in the offline mode, students normally opt for research note cards or research paper notes. The process involves a lot of writing and then editing and re-editing. In summing up the scenario, a lot of time is taking in organizing your research rather than writing your research.
Working With Research Notes
Working with research notes, on the internet can save you a lot of time spent otherwise in organizing materials. You can simply use one or a couple of research tools to store and record your data.
As you work in narrowing down your focus you will find yourself in need of more and more facts to back up your opinion. We always advise to first have a bird’s eye view of all types of available opinions and speculations and then handle your angle of choice by evaluating materials available by your side.
The method of your research notes, hence vastly depends on your research methodology and the type of your research design:
- Quantitative (Fixed) Research Design
- Qualitative (Flexible) Research Design
- Mixed Research Methods
Collaboration and Organizing of Your Research Notes from Multiple Formats (PDF, Word, Excel and Text Files)
The premier responsibility of a research note organizer should be the ability to collect, record and organize your research notes in multiple formats. Next requisite is the ability to retrieve and use your data with ease and speed.
As per your need and requirement, you can choose between web based applications or simple browser add-ons to help you in your in handling and taking your research notes.
Helpful Browsers Add-Ons to Organize Your Research Notes
Blue Organizer
Blue Organizer is available as a Firefox add-on and helps you to collect and record all types of content including, mp3s, documents, images, videos and podcasts etc. The tool also personalizes your research experience by looking into your browsing history and offers you valuable suggestions and resources.
EverNote
EverNote is an application which comes with browser a add-on. It would help you to organize and save your research material notes by either adding clippings of web pages or saving entire URLs.
Zotero
Zotero is an amazing add-on for Firefox which is very helpful for managing and organizing your bibliographies and reference materials The tool has the option to take and save your notes and analyze your research.
Web Based Applications for Managing Research Notes
Noodle Tools
NoodleTools is an excellent web based application for note-taking, outlining, citation, document management, archiving/annotation and collaborative research and writing.
Research Gate
Research Gate is a great web based organizing tools for scientific research with collaboration and available research publications at your end for quick referencing and note taking.
Docear
Docear is is an academic literature suite. It integrates everything you need to search, organize and create academic literature into a single application: digital library with support for PDF documents, reference manager, note taking and with mind maps taking a central role. What’s more, Docear works seamlessly with many existing tools like Mendeley, Microsoft Word, and Foxit Reader
Personal Brain
Personal Brain helps you to organize your notes in multiple formats and is more of a mind mapping tool. It helps to project your ideas, notes and snippets in front of you to evaluate and synthesize from all materials, while not missing anything in your research.
Mac Based Research Note Organizers
Devonthink
Devoonthink is a commercial research organizing tool for Macintosh. It aims in enabling you to work in a paperless office by collecting and storing all of your data in easily accessible style.
Papers
Papers help you in downloading organizing and citing research materials and references, all from one source. The app also offers the option to collaborate with fellow colleagues and researchers for peer review and information sharing with your research notes.
