Writing · Writing: Research, Forms and ConventionsResearch III: Note-Making, Synthesis and the Annotated Bibliography
1.3About 70 minutes
Learning goals- I can take research notes that separate a source's words, its ideas and my own thinking.
- I can paraphrase a difficult passage accurately without patchwriting.
- I can organize notes by sub-question in a synthesis matrix and see where sources agree, disagree or leave gaps.
- I can write an MLA annotated bibliography entry that summarizes, assesses and reflects on a source.
Words to know
note-making
Recording information from sources in an organized way that also captures your own thinking about it.
source code
A short label (often the author's last name) that links each note to its full source entry.
patchwriting
Changing a few words of a source while keeping its sentence structure; it counts as plagiarism even with a citation.
synthesis
Combining information from several sources to show how they agree, disagree or build on each other.
synthesis matrix
A grid with sources as columns and sub-questions or ideas as rows, used to compare sources.
annotated bibliography
A list of sources in citation format, each followed by a short paragraph that summarizes, evaluates and explains its use.
annotation
The paragraph after each entry in an annotated bibliography.
Forty tabs and a copy-paste document
It is the night before your report is due. You have forty browser tabs open and a document full of pasted paragraphs. You start writing and soon cannot tell which sentences you wrote and which you copied. You are now one tired click away from accidental plagiarism.
Good researchers avoid this with a simple habit: at the moment they take a note, they mark whose words and whose ideas it contains, and where it came from. This lesson teaches a note-making system, a tool for comparing sources (the synthesis matrix), and the annotated bibliography, a common Grade 11 and university assignment that also counts as part of expectation 1.3: recording sources with proper documentation.
Remember from Grade 10
In Grade 10 you chose between quoting, paraphrasing and summarizing, avoided patchwriting, introduced sources with signal phrases, built the quotation sandwich, and wrote basic MLA in-text citations and Works Cited entries. All of that depends on notes that are honest about whose words are whose.
A note-making system that prevents plagiarism
Whether you use index cards, a notebook, a spreadsheet or a document table, every note needs five parts:
- Source code (usually the author's last name) that matches a full entry in your working bibliography.
- Location: page number, paragraph or timestamp.
- Sub-question the note helps answer (SQ1, SQ2...).
- The note itself, labelled Q, P or S. Q (quotation): exact words, in quotation marks, copied carefully. P (paraphrase) and S (summary): in your own words and your own sentence structure.
- Your thinking, kept visibly separate: questions, connections, where you might use it.
One idea per note. Short notes are easier to rearrange when you outline.
Keep a working bibliography from day one: the full citation details (author, title, container, date, URL or publisher, pages) of every source you take notes from. Copying them at the moment you take the note takes ten seconds; finding them again the night before takes an hour.
Paraphrasing hard passages
In Grade 11, sources get harder: journal articles, government reports, literary criticism. Patchwriting happens most when you do not fully understand a passage, so understanding comes first.
- Read the passage until you can explain it. Look up unfamiliar terms.
- Cover it and write the idea from memory, as if explaining it to a friend.
- Check against the original: is the meaning exactly the same? Did any distinctive phrase sneak in? Put any phrase you kept in quotation marks.
- Keep technical terms. You do not need a synonym for circadian rhythm or photosynthesis; specialized terms are not plagiarism.
- Cite the paraphrase. The idea is still the author's.
Original (invented): "Adolescents experience a delay in the timing of melatonin secretion, which shifts their preferred sleep onset to a later hour."
Patchwritten (plagiarism): Teenagers experience a delay in when melatonin is secreted, which moves their preferred sleep start to a later time.
Real paraphrase: As teenagers go through puberty, their bodies release the sleep hormone melatonin later in the evening, so they naturally feel sleepy later (Bello 12).
Synthesis: making sources talk to each other
A weak research report goes source by source: Bello says... Kaur says... The board says... A strong one goes idea by idea, showing how sources relate: Both Bello and Kaur trace late bedtimes to a shift in the body clock, but only Kaur also points to screens.
A synthesis matrix makes this easy. Put sources across the top and sub-questions (or ideas) down the side. Fill each cell with a short note. Then read across each row:
- Where do sources agree? (Strong evidence.)
- Where do they disagree? (Something to discuss and explain.)
- Where are there blanks? (A gap: search again, or acknowledge it.)
The annotated bibliography
An annotated bibliography lists your sources in MLA format (alphabetical, hanging indent, double-spaced), and after each entry adds an annotation, usually 100 to 200 words in your teacher's required length, written in full sentences. Most annotations do three jobs:
- Summarize: the source's main argument or findings, and its scope (who, where, what kind of source).
- Assess: its reliability, objectivity and completeness (Lesson 2), and any limits.
- Reflect: how it fits your research: which sub-question or point it supports, and how it compares with your other sources.
In MLA style, the annotation starts on the line after the entry and is indented as a block, so the entry's first line still stands out; follow the exact layout your teacher gives. Use your own words; the annotation is your evaluation, not a copied abstract.
Worked exampleLet's write an annotation
Source (invented): Kaur, Priya. "Later Bells, Fewer Lates: One Ontario Board's Experiment." Canadian Journal of School Health, vol. 12, no. 3, 2021, pp. 33-49. The study compared attendance and late arrivals in five high schools for two years before and two years after a board moved start times from 8:00 to 8:50 a.m. It found fewer late arrivals and slightly better first-period attendance; it did not measure marks. It notes that the schools also launched an attendance campaign in the second year.
- Write the MLA entry first, with a hanging indent: Kaur, Priya. "Later Bells, Fewer Lates: One Ontario Board's Experiment." Canadian Journal of School Health, vol. 12, no. 3, 2021, pp. 33-49. (journal title in italics).
- Summarize (2 sentences): Kaur compares attendance and late arrivals in five Ontario high schools before and after their board moved the start time from 8:00 to 8:50 a.m. After the change, late arrivals fell and first-period attendance improved slightly.
- Assess (2 sentences): As a peer-reviewed study using school records over four years, the article is reliable, and Kaur openly notes that an attendance campaign in the second year may also explain the improvement. It is limited to one board and does not measure academic achievement.
- Reflect (1 to 2 sentences): This study gives my report Ontario evidence for sub-question 3 and balances Bello's health research with real school results. Because it says nothing about marks, I will avoid claiming that later starts raise grades.
- Check: own words, no copied abstract, the limits stated honestly, and a clear link to the report.
An entry in correct MLA format followed by a five-sentence annotation that summarizes, assesses (including the campaign as a possible cause) and reflects on how the source will be used.
Hands-on activityAn annotated bibliography from your bookshelf
You need: three sources you can find at home or online (for example, a cookbook, a magazine article and a government web page about the same topic, such as food safety or winter driving), paper or a document.
- Choose one sub-question your three sources can help answer (e.g., How should food be stored safely in a power outage?).
- Take three notes from each source using the five-part note format, including at least one quotation, one paraphrase and one summary overall.
- Draw a small synthesis matrix and fill it in. Circle one agreement and one gap.
- Write an MLA entry and a 100-word annotation for each source.
What to look for: notes that clearly show Q, P or S; paraphrases that change both words and structure; annotations with all three moves (summarize, assess, reflect); and entries in alphabetical order with hanging indents.
Just for funA student once paraphrased The cat sat on the mat as The feline was seated upon the floor covering. Every word changed, the structure stayed exactly the same, and the cat was not fooled. That is patchwriting in a fancy coat.
Your turn
1Name the five parts every research note should have.
Source code, location (page or paragraph), sub-question, the note labelled Q/P/S, and your own thinking kept separate.
2Why should you record full citation details at the moment you take a note?
So you can cite accurately later and never lose track of where an idea came from. It saves time and prevents accidental plagiarism.
3Is this a paraphrase or patchwriting? Original: The council approved funding to expand the trail network. Student: The council approved money to expand the path network.
Patchwriting: only two words changed and the structure is identical. A paraphrase: Trails in the town will grow because council voted to pay for them (Source).
4Does keeping the technical term melatonin in a paraphrase count as plagiarism?
No. Specialized terms can be kept; the rest of the wording and structure must be your own, and the idea must be cited.
5In a synthesis matrix, what does a blank row tell you?
A gap: no source yet answers that sub-question, so you need to search again or acknowledge the gap.
6What three moves does a typical annotation make?
Summarize, assess, reflect (how you will use the source).
7Rewrite this source-by-source sentence as synthesis: Bello says teens' body clocks shift later. Kaur also says body clocks shift later and adds that screens matter.
Example: Both Bello and Kaur trace late bedtimes to a shift in teens' body clocks, though Kaur also points to evening screen use.
More practice: warm-up
1What does the label Q on a note mean?
The note is an exact quotation, in quotation marks.
2What is a working bibliography?
A running list of full citation details for every source you take notes from.
3Should an annotation copy the source's abstract?
No. It must be in your own words and include your evaluation.
4What order are entries in an annotated bibliography?
Alphabetical, like a Works Cited.
5How many ideas should go on one note?
More practice: on your own
1Paraphrase this (invented) passage properly and add a citation: "Snowmelt now arrives an average of two weeks earlier in the region than it did in 1980, according to stream gauge records." (Tran, page 8)
Example: Stream measurements show that the region's spring melt has moved about two weeks earlier since 1980 (Tran 8). It keeps the facts, changes words and structure, and cites the source.
2Your matrix shows Source A and Source B disagree on whether a bike-lane program reduced traffic. How should you handle this in your report?
Present both and explain the disagreement: compare their methods, dates, samples or purposes (e.g., one measured one street for a month, the other the whole city for a year), and say which is stronger and why. Disagreement is something to analyse, not hide.
3Write the assess part of an annotation for a city council web page that lists snow-clearing priorities but gives no data on how fast streets are cleared.
Example: As the city's official page, this source is reliable for the stated priorities, but it is not objective about performance and is incomplete, because it gives no data on how quickly streets are actually cleared.
4A classmate's note reads: teens need sleep 8-10 hours. What two things are missing that could cause trouble later?
The source code and location (whose information and what page), and a Q/P/S label. Also no sub-question link. Without them, the writer cannot cite it or tell if the wording is copied.
5Explain why going idea by idea is stronger than going source by source in a research report.
Idea by idea shows how sources relate (agree, disagree, add), keeps each paragraph focused on the writer's point, and shows analysis. Source by source reads like a list of summaries and leaves the connections to the reader.
Challenge
1Write a complete annotation (about 100 words) for this (invented) source: A 2024 podcast episode by a Toronto youth radio collective interviewing five Grade 12 students about part-time jobs and sleep.
Look for: summary (who is interviewed, main ideas, e.g., students describe late shifts and early starts); assessment (primary source with authentic student voices; not reliable for general claims because only five students, chosen by the collective; no data; community media perspective); reflection (useful for a human example or quotation on sub-question 4 about costs and trade-offs, balanced with statistical sources). Written in full sentences, own words, about 100 words.
2Your research on a community garden project includes an interview with an Anishinaabe Knowledge Keeper about traditional plant knowledge. Explain how your note-making and annotation should handle this source respectfully and accurately.
Look for: ask permission to record and to use what is shared, and check whether any knowledge should not be written down or published; record the person's name, Nation or community, the date and topic as they wish to be identified; quote or paraphrase accurately and check your notes with them if possible; in the annotation, describe the source as knowledge shared by a named Knowledge Keeper (not as anonymous "folklore"), and assess it as an authoritative source on that knowledge. Lesson 4 shows how to cite it.
3Explain how a synthesis matrix can reveal confirmation bias in your research, and what you should do if it does.
If one side's rows are full and the opposing or limitations rows are empty, or all your sources come from one kind of organization, the matrix shows you collected mostly agreeing sources. Fix it by searching deliberately for the other side (critics, costs, other perspectives) and adding those sources, then report the balance of evidence honestly.
Quiz
1. Which note is labelled correctly?
3. In a synthesis matrix, rows are often:
4. Which sentence shows synthesis?
6. Which is true about paraphrases?
Big idea: expectation 1.3 includes recording sources with proper documentation. Organized notes and an annotated bibliography are the best protection against accidental plagiarism, and annotated bibliographies are common in Grade 11, Grade 12 and university courses.
How to help: ask your teen to show you one note and tell you whether it is a quotation, paraphrase or summary. Ask to read one annotation aloud and ask: What is your opinion of this source, and how will you use it?
Common difficulties:
- Pasting chunks of text into notes without quotation marks.
- Patchwriting difficult passages instead of understanding them first.
- Annotations that only summarize and never evaluate.
- Going source by source in the final report instead of idea by idea.
If your teen interviews someone, especially an Elder or Knowledge Keeper, encourage them to ask permission first and to follow the person's wishes about what may be recorded and shared.