Academic writing requires that authors be familiar with the sources they cite in their projects. Some people wait until the drafting and revision process to get fully acquainted with their sources, but it can be very helpful to figure these things out during a pre-writing process. The note-taking questions below offer one way to approach this task. Sometimes, when the answer to one of these questions is not obvious, an entire project might focus on addressing that ambiguity (the most common case of this is in deciding on the purpose of a source). Whether you use these note-taking questions or not, make sure you have good answers to all of these questions for the sources you cite in the final draft of your project. If the answer is up for debate, this is fine! Try to acknowledge this in your paper in some way.
- Describe the genre of this source. What is it (play, story in a collection, article on a website, article in a peer-reviewed journal) and how does that matter?
- Describe the author/creator, starting with the full name. If it was created collaboratively, try to include all of the people who contributed in a significant way to the creation of the source. For each significant contributor, Include birth and (if relevant) death dates, country of origin, and noteworthy bits of biography. Then explain how these things matter.
- Describe the publisher, starting with the name of the publisher. Is this a company selling stories? An academic press? An individual who has self-published on the Internet? A company more interested in selling a product other than the source? What does the publisher tell you about the quality of the information presented in the source?
- When and where was this source originally published/produced and who do you think it was produced for? Was this the original publication date or has it been republished for a new audience? How does this publication history matter?
- What do you think the purpose of this source was when it was first published? If the source was translated or edited for a later publication, you might also comment on the purpose of the source at that time.
