The following example outline is from a 3-5 page research paper on the
pancreas: ... Diabetes tends to lead to a variety of illnesses, including heart
attacks and ...
How do I organize the information that I am reading? Before even starting to read, you need to understand what your professor is asking you to do. Your goals are found in the instructions to the assignment therefore you must understand these instructions before you begin reading (See: How do I get started?). Determine your research question Once you have understood the instructions, make a research question based on those instructions. This to help you to narrow your topic, otherwise you will likely read too much or read too much of the wrong information. Your research question should be the focus for your paper. The question may change as you read, write, and re-write; however, the purpose of the question at this early stage is to help you get to the right information as quickly as possible so that you can get writing! What do I read first? When deciding which sources to read first, consider the following question: How much do I know about the subject before I start reading? If you know very little about the topic, carefully read information that is written for a non-expert audience first, before reading information written for professionals in the field. In this case you might start at general public health websites such as: • Health Canada http//: www.hc-sc.gc.ca • Ontario Ministry of Health and Long Term Care http//: www.health.gov.on.ca/English/hlinks_mn.html If you have some knowledge about the topic (or after looking at the information written for nonprofessionals), focus most of your attention on: • books, articles, or case studies from Bison, databases, or other sources suggested by your professor that focus on the specific topic of your assignment • information by authors that your professor has told you are experts in your topic area, or any other sources that your professor has recommended (Hubbuch, 1989). Why take notes while I read? I strongly suggest that you take notes while you read for the following reasons: (1) Taking notes will help you focus your attention. There is less chance that your mind will wander to what your plans are for the weekend, who is good-looking, and what is on television if you take notes while you read.
Created by Cosette Taylor, Communications Instructor for the Faculty of Nursing at the University of Manitoba, cosette_taylor@umanitoba.ca
(2) You will actively process the information as you read, rather than passively receive the information. Passive readers often forget what they read by the time they are finished reading it! (3) If you record information on note cards, you can physically move the cards around to organize the ideas into categories/groups that will eventually form your paragraphs. (4) If you write your own ideas in a different colour of ink, you can keep track of what ideas are borrowed from authors (blue ink=need to cite and reference) and which ideas are yours (black ink=do not need to cite and reference). You need to know the difference (See: APA Resources Section). (5) The library may ask for the books back early, but you can always keep your notes. Avoid library fines. (6) Similarly, why look up the information on a database or website several times when you can read it once and take notes? Save time! (7) You should not destroy library/reference books by writing or underlining in them. (8) Not only is it a waste of time and money to photocopy a book, you could also be breaking copyright laws (the copyright fines cost a lot more than the library late fees). What do I record? For the content of your paper record the main ideas and FIRES: • facts= F • incidences= I • reasons= R • examples/evidence=E • statistics= S (Barrett, 2004)
• • • • • • • •
For the APA requirements record: Book: author(s)’s names: first initial, last name year of publication: most recent title of the book: may have two parts title and author name of the chapter you read edition: 1st, 2nd, 3rd, etc. editor(s): first initial and last name publisher: do not need to record Inc. or Pub. city, province or state it was published: chose the city closest to your university geographically
Print Journal (you can physically hold the journal in your hands): • author(s) name: first, initial, last name Created by Cosette Taylor, Communications Instructor for the Faculty of Nursing at the University of Manitoba, cosette_taylor@umanitoba.ca
• • • •
date of publication article title name of the journal and volume issue number and page numbers
Online source (includes databases): • exact location on a website: starting with http and ending with html. The URL should directly link the reader to your source • doi • author and/or organization • name of the on-line only journal and volume number, article number or page numbers (if possible) This step takes time For many students reading is one of the most time-consuming steps in the writing process. Yet, if sufficient time and care are taken in reading and recording, it will be much easier to write the first draft/version of the paper/assignment. Besides, you will lose a lot more time if you can’t remember where you got a piece of information and you have to go through all your sources to find it. This is a true waste of time and energy. Make an outline Once you have finished reading and you have a pile of notes or note cards, you should make an outline. An outline is like a roadmap that gives you directions for how to write your paper. Students commonly get lost or stuck when they do not have a clear organized sense of where they are going before they begin writing. Start with your research question; this question is your super highway. Next, break the answer(s) to your research question into routes called your main ideas/main points. Then your main ideas should be broken down into smaller streets off of the main idea routes, known as supporting details for the main ideas. Therefore, the streets (supporting details) lead to the routes (main ideas) which lead back to your super highway (the research question). An example outline The following example outline is from a 3-5 page research paper on the pancreas: Research Question: What does the pancreas do? Your research tells you: The pancreas is a gland which produces: (1) substances which aid in digestion and (2) insulin which regulates the blood sugar. Main Idea One: enzymes in the pancreas aid in digesting (a) fat, (b) protein, and (c) carbohydrates so that they can be absorbed by the intestine.
Supporting details/a few sentences each on: Created by Cosette Taylor, Communications Instructor for the Faculty of Nursing at the University of Manitoba, cosette_taylor@umanitoba.ca
(a) the digestion of fat (b) the digestion of protein (c) the digestion of carbohydrates
Main Idea Two: The pancreas produces the hormone insulin which regulates the blood sugar level in the blood.
Supporting details/a few sentences each on: (a) too much insulin in the blood: diabetes (b) too little insulin in the blood
Once you have made an outline for your paper, you should begin writing by following your map: • The research question will go in the introduction to the paper • The main ideas for your paper will be the first sentence in each paragraph • the supporting details will make up the paragraphs The following paragraph is an example of how Main Idea Two was written (compare the outline above with the paragraph below): Insulin is an important hormone produced by the pancreas. The hormone regulates the blood sugar level in the blood. It enables cells to use blood sugar by passing blood sugar into the cells if energy is required, or into storage in the liver if no energy is required. If there is too little of the hormone insulin in the body, a condition called diabetes can occur. Diabetics have too much sugar in the blood, which is a potential threat to almost every organ in the human body: the blood vessels, the eyes, the kidneys, and the nerves. Diabetes tends to lead to a variety of illnesses, including heart attacks and strokes, kidney failure, blindness, nerve damage, or impotence. Insufficient insulin in the body can be treated. In milder cases, diets low in sugar and back-up in the form of pills may stimulate the pancreas to produce more insulin. More serious cases may require injections of insulin from animals or manufactured insulin. Although insulin was discovered in the 1920s, scientists are only just beginning to understand how it works (McGarell & Brillenger, 2002, p.22).
Main Idea One: Adapted from http//:www.gicare.com/pated/ecdgs13.htm
Created by Cosette Taylor, Communications Instructor for the Faculty of Nursing at the University of Manitoba, cosette_taylor@umanitoba.ca
