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Organizing Papers and References without Losing your Mind

In January, Ulrike Träger wrote a great PLOS ECR post describing how to stay on top of reading during graduate school. If you haven’t read it yet, go take a look, as it’s relevant for people at all career stages. As a follow up, here are a few tips on how to keep track of the papers you want to read without losing your mind.

Choose a reference manager. Sure, you can get by creating a poster or two without a reference manager, but it’s incredibly risky to cite references by hand for manuscripts and grant proposals. Choosing and using a reference manager is also a great way to track papers as you collect them, particularly because reference managers often have powerful search functions. There are many to choose from. Some are free, like Zotero and some versions of Mendeley . Others, like Papers and EndNote , are not, though some paid programs may be free through your institution. Spend some time researching which manager fits your needs, but don’t get bogged down, you can always switch later. Personally, I have transferred references from RefWorks to Zotero to Mendeley to EndNote over the past several years without much trouble.

Choose a place to keep unread papers. Whether it’s a physical folder on your desk or a virtual folder on your desktop, it’s important to have a designated place for unread papers. This folder is more than just a storage space, it should also be a reminder for you to review unread papers. It’s tempting to download papers and forget about them, falling prey to PDF alibi syndrome , wherein you fool yourself into thinking that by downloading a paper you’ve somehow read it. So, set aside some time every few weeks (on your calendar if you need to) to review papers. You won’t necessarily read each paper in detail, but you should complete a quick skim and take a few notes. Try to resist the urge to leave notes like “finish reading later.” However, if needed, consider using notes like “need to read again before citing” for papers that were skimmed particularly quickly.

Choose how to keep track of your notes. It’s a great idea to create a summary of each paper as you read it, but where do you keep this information? Some people write separate documents for each paper (e.g., using the Rhetorical Précis Format ), others write nothing at all, but tag papers (virtually or physically) with key words. The exact components of your system matter less than having a system. Right now, I keep a running document with a few sentences about each paper I read. I also note whether I read it on paper or as a PDF so that I can find notes taken on the paper itself later. If I’m doing a deep read on a specific topic, I might also start another document that has in-depth summaries. I usually keep notes in Word documents, but it’s also possible to store these notes in many reference managers.

Choose how to file read papers. Again, having a system probably matters more than which system you choose. Given the interdisciplinary nature of science, it can be complex to file by topic. Therefore, I find it easiest to file papers by last name of the first author and the publication year. It’s also useful to include a few words in the file name that summarize its content. This will help you differentiate between articles written by authors with similar last names. So, for example, using this method, you might label this blog post as Breland_2017_tracking refs. I keep articles I’ve read in a folder labeled “Articles” that includes a folder for each letter of the alphabet. Therefore, I’d file this blog post in the “B” folder for Breland.

TL;DR. The goal of creating a system to organize papers and references is to be able to easily access them later. If you follow the steps above, it’s relatively easy to keep track of and use what you’ve read – if you want to find a paper, you can search for a key word in your reference manager and/or in your running document of article summaries and then find a copy of the paper in the appropriate alphabetized folder. That said, there is no right way to organize references and I’m curious about how others manage their files. Chime in through the comments and we’ll update the post with any interesting answers!

Pat Thomson (2015) PDF alibi syndrome , Patter blog. Accessed 2/27/17.

Ulrike Träger (2017) Ten tips to stay on top of your reading during grad school , PLoS ECR Community Blog.

Sample Rhetorical Précis: http://oregonstate.edu/instruct/phl201/modules/rhetorical-precis/sample/peirce_sample_precis_click.html

Featured image available through CC0 license.

[…] Organizing Papers And References Without Losing Your Mind – Jessica Breland […]

You have a great organizing skills! I appreciate your tips!

Fantastic tips! Thank you for sharing.

Great tips! It helps me a lot while I’m doing my final diploma project. Thank you.

This is great, very helpful. Nicely written and clearly organized [like your ref lib 😉 ] C

im at the start of my phd and already feeling that i have a lot of literature. i am taking your notes onboard and going to spend some time to organise my files asap. thanks

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15 Best Free Web Tools to Organize Your Research

How to stay organized when researching and writing papers

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Organizing research is important not only for your own sanity, but because when it comes time to unfold the data and put it to use, you want the process to go as smoothly as possible. This is where research organizers come in.

There are lots of free web-based organizers that you can use for any purpose. Maybe you're collecting interviews for a news story, digging up newspaper archives for a history project, or writing a research paper over a science topic. Research organizers are also helpful for staying productive and preparing for tests.

Regardless of the topic, when you have multiple sources of information and lots to comb through later, optimizing your workflow with a dedicated organizer is essential.

Patrick Tomasso / Unsplash

Many of these tools provide unique features, so you might decide to use multiple resources simultaneously in whatever way suits your particular needs.

Research and Study

You need a place to gather the information you're finding. To avoid a cluttered space when collecting and organizing data, you can use a tool dedicated to research.

• Pocket : Save web pages to your online account to reference them again later. It's much tidier than bookmarks, and it can all be retrieved from the web or the Pocket mobile app .
• Mendeley : Organize papers and references, and generate citations and bibliographies.
• Quizlet : Learn vocabulary with these free online flashcards .
• Wikipedia : Find information on millions of different topics.
• Quora : This is a question and answer website where you can ask the community for help with any question.
• SparkNotes : Free online study guides on a wide variety of subjects, anything from famous literary works of the past century to the present day. 
• Zotero : Collect, manage, and cite your research sources. Lets you organize data into collections and search through them by adding tags to every source. This is a computer program, but there's a browser extension that helps you send data to it.
• Google Scholar : A simple way to search for scholarly literature on any subject.
• Diigo : Collect, share, and interact with information from anywhere on the web. It's all accessible through the browser extension and saved to your online account.
• GoConqr : Create flashcards, mind maps, notes, quizzes, and more to bridge the gap between your research and studying.

Writing Tools

Writing is the other half of a research paper, so you need somewhere useful to go to jot down notes, record information you might use in the final paper, create drafts, track sources, and finalize the paper.

• Web Page Sticky Notes : For Chrome users, this tool lets you place sticky notes on any web page as you do your research. There are tons of settings you can customize, they're backed up to your Google Drive account, and they're visible not only on each page you created them on but also on a single page from the extension's settings.
• Google Docs or Word Online : These are online word processors where you can write the entire research paper, organize lists, paste URLs, store off-hand notes, and more.
• Google Keep : This note-taking app and website catalogs notes within labels that make sense for your research. Access them from the web on any computer or from your mobile device. It supports collaborations, custom colors, images, drawings, and reminders.
• Yahoo Notepad : If you use Yahoo Mail , the notes area of your account is a great place to store text-based snippets for easy recall when you need them.
• Notion : Workflows, notes, and more, in a space where you can collaborate with others.

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How to Manage Research Papers: A Cheat Sheet for Graduate Students

• August 1, 2022
• PRODUCTIVITY

Often, researchers find themselves overwhelmed by the vast number of papers they have to read and keep track of.

One of the biggest reasons for this is that we are not using existing tools and services to make our lives easier by managing research papers. In addition, it’s hard to find a versatile product that meets all our needs under one interface, but that is a topic for another post.

Our search for the best research paper management system might not be as straightforward as we think.

Manage research papers is an art that can be developed over time, starting with some handy resources.

Here are some tools I use to keep track of my favorite research papers and also keep up to date with the latest studies.

The main focus of this blog post will be on consumption (rather than writing), and I will cover:

Managing the input

Managing the process, managing the output.

Choose a place to keep unread papers.

Some people like printing papers and some don’t, and that’s okay! I used to print relevant papers for my research that I found interesting.

In the long run, printing all the papers might be overwhelming.

A designated place for unread papers is important, whether a physical folder on your desk or a virtual folder on your desktop.

The folder should serve more than just as a storage area; it should also be a reminder to read your unread papers. You may be tempted to download papers and forget about them, falling victim to PDF alibi syndrome , whereby you fool yourself into thinking you’ve read them.

So, schedule time to review papers every few weeks (on your calendar if necessary). A quick skim and a few notes are all you need to do. You won’t necessarily read each paper in detail.

Avoid the temptation to leave notes like “finish reading later.” However, if necessary, consider using notes like “need to read again before citing” for papers that were skimmed too quickly.

TIP: In case you don’t want to download the papers or have a file system like the one described above, try using an internet plugin such as “ MyMind “. You can sort your files, color code them and use tags.

Choose a reference manager.

An automated system will save a great deal of time in manuscript preparation if you are still manually formatting your references.

I downloaded all the research papers that interested me in the past, but now I realize that’s a bad idea. In addition to not reading even 10 percent of those papers, they also took up a lot of space and were messy without adding anything to my knowledge. I could have sorted the papers properly with a system after downloading them.

A little research led me to a solution.

While taking an online course, I heard about the reference manager, Zotero . I have been using Mendeley, but Zotero has some interesting features that I enjoy. One of these reasons is linking notes with Obsidian (which is my primary note-taking app).

As a result, I started using Zotero , and managing research papers has never been easier.

It is possible to create a poster or two without a reference manager, but citing references by hand for manuscripts and grants is extremely risky.

You can also track papers as you collect them by using a reference manager, especially since most reference managers offer powerful search functions. There are many options to choose from.

In addition to Zotero , Mendeley could be a good alternative. These two reference managers are both free. Several paid software may be free through your institution, including Papers and EndNote .

Take your time to choose the research paper manager that suits your needs, but don’t get overwhelmed. If you decide to switch later, you can always do so. Over the past several years, I have successfully transferred references from RefWorks to Mendeley to Zotero.

A reference-management tool such as Zotero, Mendeley, or Endnote helps you create lists of references, store them, and organize them in a database of folders, keywords, and tags. A browser plugin is available for saving a paper with a single click, and a word processor plugin is available for creating bibliographies and adding in-text citations.

Whenever I find a paper I’m interested in reading; I add it immediately to my reference manager. Once it’s safely stored, I can close the browser tab, knowing it’s easily accessible in the future.

TIP: It might be better to add papers to your reference manager through their web plugin rather than manually (by downloading a .pdf file) since manually adding them might not update all the necessary metadata.

Choose how to keep track of your notes.

Writing a summary of each paper as you read it is a great idea, but where do you store it?

Keeping track of your thoughts on papers you read is one of the most important aspects of managing research papers.

It is common for people to write separate documents for each paper, while others don’t write anything at all but simply tag papers (either virtually or physically) with keywords.

In the past, I kept a running a document with a few sentences about each paper I read.

However, this workflow can sometimes be overwhelming.

I’ve realized I was spending more time managing research papers than reading them. For me, it was not a very constructive methodology.

I wanted to use the most straightforward research paper managing system to store my output, so I took notes directly in my reference manager (Zotero has an in-built PDF reader for taking notes).

The annotations I take are extracted into a new file and kept in the same location as the paper.

Later, I extracted these notes to my primary note-taking app, Obsidian , and made some additional notes there.

Choose how to file papers.

The importance of having a system probably outweighs the importance of choosing a system.

But, no matter the system you have, it would be better to file the papers properly.

It can be difficult to file by topic due to the interdisciplinary nature of science.

The best thing to do would be to develop a file name system (per each .pdf file). However, if you had to do it manually, you might only do it for the first few papers. Therefore, you may need to automate the file renaming process.

I use the Zotero plugin “ Zotfile .” to do this task.

By using research paper information, you can name a file. Using the first author’s name, the year the article was published, and the first three words of the article title, you might name the file “ azamSelectiveProbingThinFilm2019 “(first author first name: Azam, first three words of the title: Selective Probing ThinFilm, year of publication: 2019).

Alternatively, you can use Zotero’s “ Citekey ” feature to generate a filename.

Final words

It is important to create a system to manage research papers so that they can be easily accessed in the future. You can easily keep track of what you’ve read if you follow the steps above.

However, there is no “one” right way to manage research papers, and I’m curious about how others do it. Feel free to comment, and we will update the post with any interesting responses!

This is the second post of the four-part blog series:  The Bulletproof Literature Management System . Follow the links below to read the other posts in the series:

• How to How to find Research Papers
• How to Manage Research Papers (You are here)
• How to Read Research Papers
• How to Organize Research Papers

Images courtesy : Phase vector created by new7ducks – www.freepik.com , Creative process vector created by storyset – www.freepik.com

Aruna Kumarasiri

Founder at Proactive Grad, Materials Engineer, Researcher, and turned author. In 2019, he started his professional carrier as a materials engineer with the continuation of his research studies. His exposure to both academic and industrial worlds has provided many opportunities for him to give back to young professionals.

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Organizing Research Papers: A Step-by-Step Guide

Writing research papers can be an arduous task, especially when it comes to organizing the materials needed for a successful paper. In order to simplify this process, this article will provide a step-by-step guide on how to effectively organize your research papers. It will discuss topics such as where and how to store information, proper citing practices, effective note taking strategies and more in depth guidance that is essential for producing quality work. By following these instructions you will not only save time but also produce better results from your efforts in writing comprehensive research papers.

I. Introduction to Organizing Research Papers

Ii. benefits of an effective research paper organization system.

• III. Creating a Research Plan: A Step-by-Step Guide

IV. The Importance of Properly Formatting and Referencing Sources

V. utilizing index cards for topic outlining and categorization, vi. constructing file folders to store relevant materials efficiently, vii . conclusion: implementing structured strategies for long-term success.

Research papers can be a daunting task for any student. To make the process easier, it’s important to have an organized approach . A research paper organizer helps keep all of your notes and resources in one place so that you don’t miss anything or lose focus while writing. It also allows you to easily search for relevant information and quickly move between sources.

An easy way to start organizing is by using a basic outline format with headers and subheaders such as: I. Introduction; II. Background Information; III. Methodology & Results; IV Conclusion & Future Directions.

• The introduction should provide context on why the topic is being discussed and how your work relates.
• Background info should include prior works related to the topic from other authors, if applicable.
• Methodology outlines what data was collected, how it was analyzed, etc..

Maximizing the Outcomes of Research Paper Writing Organization is a crucial part in producing an effective research paper. Having a systematic system to structure one’s work will yield results that are both productive and efficient, especially when it comes to meeting deadlines. A research paper organizer can help organize ideas before committing them onto written form. This allows for more structured thought process with better clarity on which information should be included or excluded from the final product. The use of an organized approach can lead to higher-quality outputs as well as increased productivity overall due to less time spent revising after submission deadline passes. It is also easier for readers or evaluators of the document follow through its content if there exists a logical flow between sections instead of having all arguments scattered throughout the entire page without any tangible direction linking these together.

Furthermore, organizing one’s thoughts with the aid of devices such as color coding makes it simpler to navigate within texts by visually highlighting important points while potentially disregarding those that may not be necessary at first glance; allowing researchers better efficiency in identifying which areas need further examination or expansion upon during their writing journey thus creating an effective organizational tool for researchers looking improve their quality and increase output timeliness.

• Color Coding:

A simple yet highly useful organization technique used in arranging text.

• Research Paper Organizer:

Developing a Research Plan: Creating an effective research plan is essential for successful execution of the project. It involves formulating questions, selecting appropriate sources and materials, establishing timelines and budgets, and outlining tasks that need to be completed. Here is a step-by-step guide to help you create your own customized research plan:

• Establish Your Goals – Start by deciding what information or results you hope to gain from your project.
• Research Paper Organizer – Use this tool to keep track of references used in the paper as well as other relevant resources.

Organize Resources & Collect Data – Establish parameters for data collection (e.g., type of source material). Gather all relevant documents, reports, articles etc that support your goal objectives.

• Outline Tasks – Draft up a comprehensive list outlining steps necessary for completion.

Create Timeline/Set Deadlines – Set deadlines for each task along with due dates on key milestones such as drafts , revisions etc Finally , develop an efficient system so you can stay on top of everything . Monitor progress frequently while remaining flexible enough if changes have to be made midway through .

Correctly Citing Sources and Proper Formatting Enhance Academic Writing It is essential for students to properly cite sources when writing an academic paper. Proper citation allows readers to identify the origin of borrowed ideas, thoughts, and information used in a text. Additionally, correctly citing sources helps authors avoid accusations of plagiarism which can lead to serious consequences including failure on assignments or even expulsion from college. Referencing outside materials also provides authors with credibility since they are able to back up their work with reliable evidence that has been obtained by other well-respected professionals within a field of study. To ensure proper citations are utilized throughout an entire paper, writers should create a research paper organizer . This will help them remember all applicable references as well as provide them with accurate formatting information such as:

• The typeface size.
• Spacing between lines.

Moreover, correctly referencing sources can also add value to one’s own written work due it allowing others potential access into other related fields of research often generated by experts in those respective areas; thus providing readers with further points for consideration not originally included within the body itself. Therefore following correct source formats gives any writer additional insight into topics being discussed while strengthening his/her argument overall through useful contextual support sourced externally beyond their original scope of content generation alone.

Organizing Ideas with Index Cards Index cards are an excellent tool for organizing ideas and structuring research papers. Not only do they help keep information organized, but index cards also allow you to quickly move around pieces of your project as needed while keeping everything together in one place.

Using the right colors for different categories can make a big difference when it comes to sorting through data. For example, red could be used to designate all primary sources; yellow could denote secondary sources; green or blue might identify keywords associated with the topic being researched. Once each card has been properly labeled and categorized, using them becomes much easier because you know exactly where everything should go!

An easy way to organize multiple lines of thought is by writing a main idea on an individual card then taping several other related cards underneath it. This makes for quick access when trying to find certain notes at a later date – just flip over the original card and voila! It’s like having your own personal research paper organizer.

• Create separate sections in notebooks (or on digital documents) so that changes can be made without compromising existing work.
• Label each page according to its category—for instance: “Primary Sources” or “Secondary Sources”.

Having this system allows researchers not only track progress but easily refer back if necessary. Assembling topics into logical sequences is another key component when utilizing index cards during outlining stages — use numbering systems that connect subtopics under headings so they’re more cohesive upon completion

Organizing Your Research Materials

Research papers can quickly become overwhelming if materials are not stored in an organized manner. One of the most efficient ways to keep everything together is by constructing file folders for each research paper topic you cover. You can use any type of filing system such as manila files, plastic folders or online documents that all store information related to a particular project.

When making your folder, it’s important to remember what materials need to be included within the designated space. This may include:

• Drafts and outlines of research papers
• Notes from relevant books, articles and other sources
• Audio recordings from interviews conducted

Any items that could help further support your paper should also be saved along with these above materials – creating a comprehensive research paper organizer. Keep all physical copies in labeled manilla envelopes so they don’t get mixed up while digital versions can stay sorted on different drives or external hard disks. Having this organized will save time when having to refer back at some point during the writing process.

Structured strategies are essential for achieving long-term success in any endeavor. To that end, there have been a number of research studies exploring the various elements of successful strategy implementation.

• Motivation: What drives individuals and organizations to achieve success?

The key is not only setting realistic objectives but also having a comprehensive approach when it comes time for implementing those objectives. This requires an understanding of the particular context in which the organization finds itself—which means being aware of both internal and external factors such as technological advancements, changes in consumer tastes, or economic cycles—and taking steps toward bridging any gaps between current capabilities and desired outcomes. Companies should take a holistic view when constructing their strategies, making sure each element serves its own unique purpose while working together with others towards common goal attainment over time.

As this step-by-step guide to organizing research papers illustrates, a well thought out and organized approach can save time and ensure more successful research outcomes. By following the outlined steps from creating a preliminary structure to utilizing efficient information retrieval systems, researchers can easily refine their process in order to maximize productivity while still producing quality results. It is imperative that those conducting research remain cognizant of the importance of organization for not only successful completion but also for ethical considerations related to reproducibility and accuracy of data collection methods. Such intentional structuring should be applied consistently throughout all stages of the project’s lifecycle in order create greater efficiencies in both time management as well as resources used along the way—ultimately resulting in higher quality output with fewer missteps along the path toward success.

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Work hack: How to organize your research literature – and make it sharable

A must-have strategy for fieldwork.

Credit: cifotart/Getty Images

17 July 2020

cifotart/Getty Images

The amount of literature researchers are expected to stay abreast of can be overwhelming so it’s vital to have a system that allows documents and images to be stored, recalled, and easily shared.

This is particularly true for researchers who conduct fieldwork and need to access information on the fly.

For PhD candidate, Yi-Kai Tea, a taxonomist and systematist at the University of Sydney in Australia, setting up a cloud-based system early on in his career was one of the most important things he did.

“The more you read, the more familiar you are with the field and the groups you’re working with,” says Tea. “I keep my literature very well sorted because it’s so important.”

Tea specializes in describing and naming new species of coral reef fishes. He’s particularly interested in fairy wrasses, and was responsible for naming a new species last year , Cirrhilabrus wakanda , inspired by the Marvel film Black Panther .

“It’s hard to do this kind of work by yourself because of the sheer number of species out there. I work collaboratively with a lot of fish enthusiasts, scientists, and collectors who go out in the field and send information to me,” says Tea.

How do your Google Drive and Dropbox systems work?

I have an account where I put in everything that’s related to fairy wrasses: every single species description that’s been written about them since the 1800s, every single colour photo, distribution map, vectors, diagrams - everything you can think of that might be relevant to this group. I maintain a well-curated folder that can be accessed online.

I’ve also have decked it out so I can access the most important files offline.

I share it with any collaborators that I’m working with now or might be working with in the future, so they can access it in the field. It helps with my research as well, to have all these papers at my disposal. It’s my own personal library.

How did you set it up?

I’ve been filling it in over a number of years. Some of the literature is hard to find – a lot of the original descriptions are in manuscript form, and some of them haven’t been published, so to get these, you need to go to the museums and libraries and photocopy them, scan them, make pdfs, and upload them.

It took a while to track down all the literature and species descriptions, but once you have it, you have it forever and can keep curating it. I save every PDF that I download. I keep it in a folder, name it, and order it by author and by date. I follow this system quite religiously.

What web resources do you use to source your literature?

Some of the old manuscripts I need to access are archived in online repositories such as the Biodiversity Heritage Library , so having this link saved in my tabs is a really useful tool.

Other important web resources I use a lot are Eshmeyer's Catalogue of Fishes hosted by the California Academy of Sciences, and iNaturalist , a catalogue that keeps a pretty up-to-date record of all species, complete with references.

iNaturalist is a fantastic resource to search for in-situ photos of whatever taxon you might be interested in. I often seek out photographers from iNaturalist who are willing to contribute photos I may need for my research. Many of them are very willing, or may already have photos up that are free for use.

How do you organize your own data in the field?

I have ready-made excel spreadsheets with standardized columns containing anatomical features that I need to measure. I then modify it slightly to accommodate whatever taxon I happen to be working on.

I do same for manuscripts – I have a basic skeleton written for diagnoses and descriptions, with placeholder symbols where values would eventually go.

A lot of taxonomic papers follow a consistent and ‘tried and tested’ formula, so this works very well, especially for fairy wrasses, where most of the methodology and description follow previous papers that I've published.

How to Organize Research: Notes, PDF Files, & Documents

Topics covered ✅.

• How to organize research papers and PDF files
• How to organize research projects
• Organizing research notes
• Organizing research notes software
• Organizing research tools
• Research organizer template
• How to organize research material

If you are a busy college student, creator, or blogger your life can get really cluttered. But the messiness in our lives can extend much farther than just a dorm room or office. As active researchers, we can often struggle to organize research in the form of copious amounts of articles, journals, academic writings, thesis, rough drafts, etc.

It gets pretty exhausting.

But where do you even begin?

What's the best way to organize research?

We believe we have created the best recipe for organizing your research and you will never go back to your old ways.

1. Note-taking and Mind mapping – How to Hack Your Mind

First, start by organizing your notes into categories. You can do this on a sticky note or on a mind map.

Even though you may feel like a middle school kid using colorful sticky paper, sticky notes are proven to be one of the most effective ways to organize research.

You'll want to do some research before you begin writing.

Use sticky notes to organize the information you find, and write down any thoughts or ideas that come up as you read or listen.

Also, sticky notes are great if you want to jot down quick notes during a lecture or discussion with friends about the topic at hand.

You can write down important points and make connections between them on sticky notes.

An option similar to this is creating a mind map.

If you are a very visual learner, this style of research may appeal to you because you can visually see where you will be taking this research into categories and subcategories.

Plus it’s fun making them!

2. The Hard Part – Research & Writing

You should be familiar with the different types of sources that you can use when writing a research paper.

5 Examples of Sources

Here are a few examples of sources:

• Primary sources (original documents like letters or speeches)
• Secondary sources (articles, books, etc.)
• Audio files (podcasts, interviews, etc.)
• Online databases (Academic Search Complete, JSTOR, LexisNexis)
• Tertiary sources (reviews of other people's research and analysis of your topics

Bibliographies

When conducting research for your essay, be sure to use academic sources only!

Academic sources are those written by experts in their field who have been published in peer-reviewed journals or books and are therefore considered credible resources for learning more about any given topic.

Academic sources will always include citations at the end of each paragraph (or chapter) so that readers can easily identify where they can go if they'd like to learn more about the topic being discussed in each section of the text.

You can use secondary sources for information about your topic, but make sure that they are academically-reputable sources.

Primary sources are also great for finding information, but they provide only one side of the story and should be used with caution.

Overall, try to use a variety of sources as this will strengthen the argument you are defending.

We recommend putting a lot of emphasis on option five (tertiary sources) because it is something that we were not previously familiar with and we believe it should become more known as it is super helpful.

Tertiary sources are those that have been compiled by other people, such as academic journals and published books.

They can be great resources for getting more background information on a topic, but they aren't original works of scholarship—so be sure to cite them accordingly!

Quick Bibliographies

As you organize research, there’s no need to get bogged down in how you structure or create your bibliography.

For starters, here’s a simple list of tools for quick bibliographies:

• Bibliography.com

3. Putting Your Thoughts On Paper

One of the hardest parts is the beginning of the writing process. You should always keep in mind your thesis statement when you write.

It's easy to get carried away with details and forget what you're trying to say—but if you can keep your thesis statement in mind, it will help you stay focused on the main point of your work.

The writing process is a great way to get started with your research because it helps you organize your thoughts before writing them down into sentences and paragraphs.

You'll be able to take notes faster because everything is already written down for you!

Moving on, an excellent strategy that works best for me is just word vomiting onto a page to get a basis of everything you want to say, and then after that is done, organize and clean up what was written.

This is especially useful if you have collected all the data and you just don't know how to put your thoughts into actual words.

Claim My Free Research Organizer Template

This free research organizer template comes pre-built with folders, subfolders, aesthetic formatting, and much more.

4. The Finishing Touches

If there is anything you should take away from this, it’s to use a reference manager.

Reference managers help ensure that all your citations are correct and up-to-date.

When choosing one, make sure it's compatible with whatever citation style is required by your instructor or institution.

Research doesn't have to be something that you dread or bores you out of your mind.

Being organized can make this process fun and exciting.

So now it's time to put on your thinking cap and get to work.

Notion user? You might also like...

Research Voyage

Research Tips and Infromation

How to Effectively Organize your Research Articles on your System

Importance of Organizing Research Articles

Brief overview of the article, create a folder structure, use file naming conventions, utilize metadata and tags, backup and sync files, use a reference management software, regularly review and update folder structure, keep related articles together, adding meta description, introduction.

In today’s fast-paced environment, research and knowledge are constantly produced at an exponential rate. When there is so much information to keep track of, the organization may be a challenge. A system for efficiently managing, storing, and retrieving academics’ and researchers’ papers and research materials is essential. By doing this, you not only save time but also ensure that you never lose track of important information and discoveries.

This article will discuss how to organize your research papers on a computer, providing you with step-by-step instructions and suggestions to keep everything organized and easy to discover.

This article’s information and suggestions will give you the methods and tools you need to efficiently manage and arrange your research articles, whether you’re a student, academician or researcher. So let’s get going.

The organization of the research articles is a critical phase in the study procedure. A well-organized research library guarantees that you never overlook important findings or miss important information in addition to saving you time and effort. Research articles are the cornerstones of your career and the source of original ideas and discoveries. When your articles are arranged correctly, you can quickly and easily retrieve the information you need, utilize it as a source in your writing, and expand on it in future pieces.

In this post, you will learn in detail how to arrange your research articles on your desktop. You will learn how to back up and sync your files, use metadata and tags, use file naming conventions, and organize your files into folders. We’ll also cover how to use reference management software and regularly update your folder structure as well as how to keep your research papers organized. By the time you finish reading this article, you will be familiar with all the techniques and resources needed to effectively organize and manage your research papers.

Steps to Organize Research Articles on Desktop

• Main Folder for All Research Articles : Start by creating a main folder that will serve as the home for all your research articles. You can name this folder something like “Research Articles” or “My Library.” This will provide a centralized location for all of your research materials, making it easy to find what you need.
• Sub-Folders for Each Topic or Project : Next, create sub-folders within the main folder to categorize your research articles by topic or project. For example, you might have sub-folders for “My Papers” as “2010, 2011 etc ” or “Author1, Author2.” This helps to keep related articles together and makes it easier to find what you’re looking for.
• Identical and Detailed File Names : Utilizing a standardized and informative file naming strategy is crucial when archiving your research publications. Use a format like “Author Last Name – Article Title,” for instance. This helps to guarantee that the file names are distinctive and descriptive while also making it simpler to find the items you need quickly.
• Make use of keywords in file names : It’s beneficial to add pertinent keywords to the file names in addition to using descriptive file names. You might include “Machine Learning” in the file name if the article is on machine learning, for instance. This makes it simpler to look up and locate particular articles based on the subjects they cover.

• Add Relevant Information to the File Properties : Adding relevant information to the file properties, such as the author, date, and publication information, can help you quickly identify and categorize your research articles. This information is often included in the metadata of the file, which can be accessed by right-clicking on the file and selecting “Properties.”
• Use Tags to Categorize and Search for Articles Easily : Using tags to categorize and search for your research articles can also be a helpful tool. For example, you might add tags like “Computer Science,” “Machine Learning,” or “History.” This allows you to quickly find articles based on the topics they cover, even if they are stored in different folders.
• Importance of Backup : Backing up your research articles is an important step in the process of organizing your files. This ensures that you will not lose your research materials in the event of a technical issue, such as a computer crash or data loss.
• Options for Backup and Syncing (e.g. Cloud Storage) : There are several options for backing up and syncing your research articles, including cloud storage services like Google Drive or Dropbox. These services allow you to store your files in the cloud and access them from anywhere, providing an extra layer of protection and ensuring that your research materials are always safe and accessible.

Tips for Keeping Research Articles Organized

• Reference management software is a tool that can help you manage and organize your research articles and citations. These programs provide a centralized location for your research materials, making it easy to store, manage, and retrieve your articles and information.
• One popular example of reference management software is Mendeley . Mendeley allows you to store and organize your research articles, add notes and annotations, and create bibliographies in a variety of formats. It also includes a desktop application and a web-based interface, allowing you to access your research materials from anywhere.

You can visit my article on How Mendeley Reference Management Software makes Researcher’s Life Easy? . The article will help you in organizing your research articles in an optimal way.

• It’s important to regularly review and update your folder structure to ensure that your research articles are properly organized and easily accessible. This will help you identify any areas where your folder structure may be lacking, or where additional sub-folders may be needed.
• A good practice is to review your folder structure at least once a quarter, or as needed. During this review, you can assess your folder structure and make any necessary updates to ensure that your research articles are properly categorized and organized. You may also want to consider regularly reviewing the metadata and tags associated with your files to ensure that they are up-to-date and relevant.
• Project-wise : Let’s say you are working on a research project about the impacts of climate change on coastal ecosystems. To organize your papers project-wise, you could create a folder for your climate change project and sub-folders for each aspect of the research, such as “Sea Level Rise,” “Ocean Acidification,” and “Coastal Ecosystems.” Within each sub-folder, you can store your research articles, notes, and any other related materials.
• Methodology-wise : If you are interested in exploring different research methods, you could create a folder for each method, such as “Quantitative Research,” “Qualitative Research,” and “Mixed Methods.” Within each folder, you can store papers that discuss or use that particular method, making it easy to compare and contrast the different approaches.
• Keyword-wise : If you are exploring a specific topic, such as “Artificial Intelligence,” you could create a folder with that keyword and store all of the articles, papers, and other materials related to the topic. This method allows you to quickly find all of the information you have related to a particular topic, making it easier to stay informed and up-to-date with the latest developments in the field.
• Format-wise : If you have a mix of different types of research materials, such as articles, conference papers, and book chapters, you could create folders for each format and store your materials accordingly. For example, you could create folders for “Articles,” “Conference Papers,” and “Book Chapters,” and store your materials in the appropriate folder. This method allows you to quickly find the type of information you need, regardless of the format in which it is stored.

These are just a few examples of the different methods for organizing research papers. The best method for you will depend on your research needs and preferences, and you may find it useful to use a combination of methods, depending on your research needs.

Adding meta descriptions to your folders can help you quickly understand what each folder contains and why it is important. Here’s how to add a meta description to a folder:

• Create a text file or Excel file: In the same folder, you want to add a description, create a new text file or Excel file. You can name this file “Description” or “Meta Description.”
• Write a brief summary: In the text/Excel file, write a brief summary of the contents of the folder and its purpose. For example, if you have a folder for “Articles” you might write “This folder contains all of my research articles on the topic of X.”
• Save the file: Save the text/Excel file with the description in the same folder that you want to describe.

Note: The process for adding a meta description will vary depending on the operating system and file management software you are using. However, the general principle of creating a text/Excel file with a brief summary remains the same.

By adding meta descriptions to your folders, you can quickly understand the contents of each folder and why it is important. This can save you time and help you stay organized as you work on your research.

To remain effective and productive as a researcher, it’s crucial to organize research articles on your desktop computer. You may quickly discover the information you need by using one of the various organizing techniques covered in this article, whether your search is project-, methodology-, keyword-, or format-based. Additionally, by including meta descriptions in your folders, you can save time and stay organized by understanding quickly what each folder includes and why it’s important. Organizing your research articles is crucial for staying on top of your work and making the most of your research efforts, whether you are a student, academic, or professional.

By taking the time to organize your research articles, you can streamline your workflow, stay informed about the latest developments in your field, and ultimately, make the most of your research efforts.

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How to Organize Qualitative Research: A Step-by-Step Guide

Have you been struggling to dig out research that’s buried in long emails or Slack threads?

Not only can this be a time suck, but it can make all your hard-won data inaccessible, therefore, useless. As Tracy Teal, executive director of The Carpentries that teaches coding and data skills to researchers globally, points out , “your data are not useful unless people — and ‘future you’ — know what they are.”

The solution? Organizing qualitative data.

Sure, this sounds like a big commitment at first thought. But, it always pays off in the future.

So, in this post, we’ll cover:

• A recap of what qualitative data is
• All the work you need to do to organize qualitative data
• How Aurelius can help reduce the manual work involved

Let's get to it.

What is qualitative data?

Qualitative data is long-form data gathered using sources like user interviews (written or recorded), survey responses, questionnaires, and observational notes.

Unlike quantitative data, this data type provides in-depth insights into the respondents’ minds that reveal their emotional responses.

However, as valuable as this data is, its usefulness and all your hard work can easily go down the drain if you don’t take qualitative data management into account.

How do you organize qualitative data?

Before we dig in, it’s important to mention here that we’re proponents of organizing data before you start researching. Or, at least, as you research.

This comes with numerous benefits including:

• It speeds up user research data analysis . Since you’ve everything organized, you’re less likely to hit roadBlocks as you analyze data.
• Makes it easy to find and reuse data in the future . Naturally, this reduces work on your plate, boosting productivity and helping you make data-informed decisions.
• Easier (and faster) to apply all the takeaways from your research insights . You build up institutional knowledge and a better understanding of your product space and target audience over time.

With that, let’s get to the meaty part: steps in organizing qualitative data.

1. Start with a plan

Taking a planning-first approach sets you up for consistency in organizing qualitative data.

Two important things you should be addressing here:

Identify if you should be organizing qualitative data by project or product

Either pattern or a combination of the two are correct:

• Organizing by project . Example: user interviews for website UX – 2020
• Organizing by product or feature . Example: usability tests for leaving comments feature – 2020

But, the right way is the one that suits your team and those who will be accessing research data in the future.

So it’s helpful to involve key team members to get their thoughts on the organization pattern. Or, if your team has already been organizing research data using either pattern, stick to it

Agree on who will be incharge of all the data organizational work

You know what they say about too many cooks spoiling the broth. Sure, everyone on the UX research team can make notes and should have access to the data library (we’ll talk about this in a bit).

But having a dedicated person for housekeeping is an effective way to ensure all data is filed and organized according to the defined ground rules.

2. Settle on the organization tool you’ll use

A research organization tool is where you’ll be hosting and managing all the data. It’s here that you and your team will be taking notes too.

Keep in mind that memo writing or note-taking are essential in the research process. You record your thoughts, observations, and any follow-up questions. By doing so, you can easily pick up research from where you leave it. Not to mention, note-taking helps with qualitative data analysis too.

So there are three types of notes you and your team will be making throughout the research process:

• Observational notes: Notes on researcher’s observation based on what they see and listen.
• Theoretical notes: Notes compiling researcher’s controlled thoughts on analyzing what they observe (data interpretation notes).
• Methodological notes: Notes recording reminders for the research process including a critique on researcher’s tactics and method-related pointers such as sequencing, timing, stage setting, and so on.

Tip: You can add in-process memos as well. These address methodological questions like what to observe next and follow-up question(s) to ask – helping focus and guide future analysis and observation.

With your team aware of the different notes they are taking, agree on how to name each type of note.

For example, if a researcher on the team makes observational notes, they should add a previously agreed upon tag or name such as an abbreviation ‘ON’ for the note type. This saves notes from becoming unorganized personal monologues.

And, to ensure notes are all accessible, work out the organizational tool that’ll house them. A note-taking app, spreadsheet, and a research organization tool like Aurelius can help.

The latter, of course, comes with more benefits than a synced and shared note document or spreadsheet.

A dedicated tool, for example, reduces manual work involved in organizing data while helping create an accessible central research repository.

Want to shift all your current data from various spreadsheets and other random text files? Aurelius makes it easy for you with the following options:

• Upload data from a spreadsheet
• Upload audio files and the software transcribes it for you
• Copy and paste from any text file like Google Docs or Microsoft Word
• Use Zapier integrations to pull data from other tools like SurveyMonkey, Google Forms, Qualtrics, etc.
• Magic upload

Tip: Add tags to your notes so they’re easily findable. In fact, with tags in place, you can search your entire user research project by a tag to see all notes with that tag. Just make sure you create a parent note explaining how you’re adding tags.

3. Define a consistent file naming system

In the previous step, we’ve suggested you develop a consistent note naming system. Let’s expand on it further.

If everyone names research files with whatever name they think suits it best, it’ll quickly become challenging to keep track of all the files. This is where a file naming system comes into the picture.

Ideally, it’s best to settle on the document naming process at the start of a research project. A logical and consistent file naming system will help you and others locate research easily. It’ll also simplify organizing future research correctly.

So how do you create a file naming system?

As you settle on the way to name your files, make sure the system you devise is:

• Meaningful to you and your colleagues
• Makes it easy for everyone to find files

To this end, agree on the following file naming elements: vocabulary, dates, punctuation, order, and numbers. It’s best you create a name around these attributes:

• Data collection date
• Data collection method
• Participant ID number
• Site of data collection

Avoid using special characters such as dots and / \ : * ? " < > as they can make it difficult to maintain consistency.

4. Record key insights or UX nuggets

With choosing an accessible organization tool and settling on a file naming system out of the way, let’s get you to analyze data as you research.

While creating detailed reports is one way to record your findings, there’s a better, much more digestible way too: creating UX nuggets . Unlike research reports that are tedious to read, UX nuggets are easy to share, understand, and revisit.

Essentially, UX nuggets are key insights or findings, communicating what you’ve learned from your research – packaged as one snackable, therefore, reusable, insight at a time. This, in turn, helps you get more mileage from past research.

Basically, key insights capture answers to questions you ask as you research a topic, product, or feature.

To create your own consistent UX nuggets, address these four areas:

• Key insight statement - Example: Design team is looking to find out how they can improve the blog’s readability.
• Key insight description - Example: We learned adding more whitespace can help improve the blog’s readability.
• Supporting notes and/or documents - Add any specific notes or support material like videos, interviews, and so on.
• Tags - Example: #site-usability #readability

Tip: Add tags to key insights in Aurelius to make them easily searchable.

5. Organize data into themes and categories

Now, start combining notes, key insights, and data files sharing a common theme into broad categories.

Use folders or Group Tag in Aurelius to group these files so all information on a particular theme, topic, or category is located in one folder or under one broad tag.

If you’re manually creating folders, keep the following pointers in mind as you organize them:

• Name folders appropriately
• Structure folders hierarchically
• Separate ongoing and completed work

If you’re using Aurelius, you only need to add tags. For this, add all similar-themed tags (those you’ve added to your notes, UX nuggets, and other files) into a Tag Group.

6. Create a code library

Now is the part where you create notes on how you’ve been tagging different research insights. In other words: explain how you’re labeling each tag, Tag Group/folder to correspond to a particular category.

Technically, this process is known as coding, which Kathy Charmaz defines in their book , Constructing grounded theory: A practical guide through qualitative analysis , as

“Coding means naming segments of data with a label that simultaneously categorizes, summarizes, and accounts for each piece of data. Coding is the first step in moving beyond concrete statements in the data to making analytic interpretations.”

Therefore, a simple action step: pull out a new note in Aurelius and create a table of contents-like code dictionary or code table that enlists which Tag Groups contain which research. This way, you can organize folders properly.

If you prefer, add depth to this library by writing instructions explaining the criteria to include or exclude data under a tag or Tag Group. Pair each criterion with a data excerpt to show how the filing criterion has been applied (and can be in the future).

However, none of this would be possible if you haven’t mapped out buyer personas to guide recruitment.

7. Create a data inventory

If there’s a lot of research that your company creates, you’ll find it useful to create a data inventory. It’s a library of the code tables for different research projects you’ve conducted.

Since the data inventory provides a full record of all the accessible data a company owns, you need to include all the essential topical information to complete it.

Add the following elements:

• Researcher(s)
• Study description including researching purpose and research questions.
• Study method including information on participants (how many recruited and how – covering criteria for sampling as well).
• Information on study methods used (focus group, in-person or online interviews, and so on).
• Study duration answering when the study was conducted and how long it took.
• Data description offering details on the data such as how much data you have. This can be further divided into video or interview transcripts, research context, and appendices including any chart with a summary of data and data sample.

8. Share your research

“Research that isn’t shared is research that hasn’t been done,” observes Lindsey Redinger, InVision’s Manager of User Research and Operations on our podcast.

With that in mind, let’s dig into how to share your research as the last step in organizing qualitative data.

Traditionally, research reports and presentation decks have been used as the go-to way to share research. But those can not only be tedious to create but also to read.

A good solution then is sharing key insights in Collections.

Each research often answers questions that are of no value at that time. But they can be useful later on.

This is why all this work that you put into capturing, organizing, and managing your research work is helpful, serving as a vitamin in the long haul. It’s also what makes it easy to reshare new information from past studies.

So the best way to share research is by sharing high-level points or key insights from your research log over email.

To begin with, search through your tags to find relevant UX nuggets. Do so whenever:

• Someone on your team or another department asks if you’ve research on X topic or
• When you’re making a case for or against a point and want to back it up with research

Then, put them in a Collection, a shareable custom group of research data and insights. You can also attach a tag or two to share the raw data and notes that back the key findings.

From there, share the Collection by either adding the person’s email address or emailing them a link containing the read-only version.

If needed, schedule a follow-up call. At Aurelius, we’ve found this to be the most effective approach to sharing and revisiting research insights.

Tying it all together

See? Organizing qualitative research wasn’t so hard, was it?

To recap, start organizing qualitative data before you start researching. Then follow through this checklist for steps in organizing qualitative data:

• Agree on a qualitative data organization pattern (project-, feature-, or product-based) and a tool to host all your data, files, and notes.
• Create a consistent file naming system and start tagging notes.
• Create and tag UX nuggets or key insights to analyze data as you go.
• Put all tagged files, UX nuggets, sharing a topic, theme, or any other criteria you select into folders or Tag Groups.
• Create a code table to explain how you’ve tagged and grouped tagged files to set the foundation for future tags.
• Build a data inventory for developing a research repository as your research projects grow.
• Share key insights from current and past research projects using Collections and email them to even those who don’t have an Aurelius account.

Thanks to Masooma Memon for this expert guest post

Getting into the right mindset to read scientific papers quickly:

Before you start anything, you need to isolate your singular goal for reading papers in the first place. Otherwise, you’ll be passively reading every paper that comes up rather than hunting for specific details. Don’t be a forager, consuming anything edible that crosses your path. Be a hunter: have a specific target that keeps you selective, efficient, and guides every step you take.

Most of these tips are designed to help you focus on extracting value efficiently so you won’t give up after two papers! So, what is your goal here? Is it:

• Getting a solid foundation in your field?
• Collecting the newest research for a cutting-edge literature review?
• Finding ideas and inspiration to further your own research?  

I’ll be honest here: The first dozen papers of a new subject will be a grind. But it gets easier, I promise! When you find yourself blasting through the “template” introduction and recognizing citations you’ve already read, you know you’re close to being an expert. At this point, if you’re struggling to understand a new paper in the field, it’s likely the authors’ fault, not yours. 

Keep in mind that academics aren’t exactly known for concise writing. Practice skimming paragraphs for high-value verbs, numerical values and claims. Skip over wordy low-value prose like “We thus appear to have potentially demonstrated a novel and eco-friendly synthesis method for…” It’s easy to fall back to a casual fiction-reading mentality. Try to stay in a high-energy search mode and you’ll be effectively done in half the time.

Later on I’ll reference our journal article notes template , which I used to synthesize notes for my literature review. Go ahead now and open it in Google Drive where you can download and edit it for free. We just ask that you drop your email so that we can stay in touch on new helpful resources and awesome new tools for scientists.

How do you read scientific papers effectively?

Below are my tips for how to read scientific papers most effectively. I used this methodology to write a critical literature review in a brand new field in about 4 months, citing over 150 papers. My first-author paper now has nearly 1000 citations in only six years since publication, making it my advisor’s most highly-cited paper in his 30-year career! You can do this. Just keep reading: 

1. Briefly read the Abstract

The abstract is your most condensed look at the paper. Read it quickly and highlight any claims or phrases that you want more details on. I like to copy the entire abstract text or screenshot into the journal article notes template for later reference. It also helps to copy the keyword text into the template or your citation manager tags so you can search for them later. Things to read for:

• Is the research applicable to what you need right now?
• Are the findings significant enough to help you with your goal?
• What is the most interesting aspect of this paper?

2. Carefully read the Conclusion

Reading the conclusion gives you an instant look at the quality of the paper. Do the authors seem to make claims bigger than appropriate for the scope of the paper? Do they use hyperbole to inflate the importance of the work? Are the results not clearly stated? These could be red flags identifying a poor quality paper. 

Highlight and copy a few of the most important phrases or sentences out of the conclusion into the journal article template in the first bulleted section or into the notes section of your reference manager. Look for:

• What the authors think they accomplished in this work.
• The reasoning behind their results. Any useful insights?
• Ideas for future experiments.  

3. Identify the most important figures and dig through the Results & Discussion for more detail

If you’re still interested after the first two steps, start digging into the results and discussion for more details. Before making the deep dive, write down the specific questions you need to answer in your notes section. Search the paper for those answers, writing down new questions as they come to mind. 

One favorite strategy here is to look at each figure, read the caption and then dig through the text for supporting information (use Ctrl+F for “Fig. 3”, for example). The figures should tell the story as well as (and more quickly than) the text. 

Copy and paste specific claims you may want to quote or paraphrase later. Isolate what the authors think they did from your own commentary and summarize it in your own words.

4. Search the Methods section to answer questions if necessary

The Methods section is usually the most tedious and tiring to read. That’s why we don’t do it first. Only go through it when necessary or you’ll never get to the 100 other papers you just downloaded.

Go back through the Methods when:

• This paper showed a different result than another similar paper, and the methods may have caused the difference. 
• You’re sure you want to include the paper and you want to be critical of the way they conducted their experiments. 
• You may want to replicate their experiment in your own work.

Make sure to note anything unique, odd, or unexpected in their methods. Maybe it will lead to a breakthrough in your own work or help explain a surprise result!

5. Summarize your thoughts and critiques

Re-read your notes so far to check for any missed questions. Go back and extract sentences or paragraphs of the paper that you want to challenge so you can quickly find them verbatim. Write your own thoughts and questions around those topics so you can copy them into your literature review later. Ideas for notes:

• What would you have done differently in the experiment or data analysis?
• Is there an obvious gap or follow-up experiment?
• Does this paper uniquely contribute to the field’s body of knowledge? What is its contribution?

6. Copy important figures into your notes

This is the most important step but many don’t do this. Figures are the anchors of every good journal article and the authors who spend the most time making excellent figures also will get cited the most often in review papers. This leads to even more citations from experimental articles. My secret for getting the most citations of my review paper was to spend more time than typical finding or creating the best possible figures for explaining the content. You can do this too, it just takes time!

The best reference manager Zotero doesn’t have an “add image” button in the “Notes” section but you can actually screenshot the image with the Snipping Tool then Ctrl+v paste it into the notes section! Now when you come back to the paper you’ll get an instant look at the most significant figures. If you know you want to use one of these figures in your review, add a tag to the paper like “Figure Rev. Paper 1”.

7. Pick important references (especially review papers) out of the Introduction and Discussion

Now that you have a good understanding of the paper, it’s time to start tidying things up and thinking of where to go next. Skim the introduction for helpful references or check the first 5-10 listed in the References section to find mostly review papers you can use for new leads. Go and download these into an “Unread review papers” folder in your citation manager for when you get stuck later. 

Then, go to the journal/library website and check for new papers that have cited this paper. This will help you follow the trail of a specific research topic to see how it’s developing. Download the interesting ones and put them in an “unread” folder for this very specific research topic. In Zotero, you can even tag the paper as “related” to the current paper for quick access later.  

8. Clean up the metadata if you plan on citing this paper later

If there’s a chance you’ll cite this paper later, make sure to clean up the metadata so your word processor citation plugin creates a clean reference section. Author initials may be backward, special characters in the title may be corrupted, the year or issue of the journal could be missing or the “type” of citation could be wrong (listed as a book instead of journal article) which would change the format.

Fully tag the paper using whatever system you’ve come up with. Keywords, chemicals, characterization methods or annotation tags like “Best” can all be useful. One other trick I used was to come up with an acronym for the paper I was about to write - “NMOBH” for example - and use that as a tag in any paper that I planned to cite later.

Being methodical in your post-read organization will save you many hours and endless frustration later on. Follow these tips on how to organize your research papers and you’ll be a pro in no time. You’re almost done, but don’t skip this part!

9. Take a break, then repeat!

This methodology makes it a little easier to get through a paper quickly once you get some practice at it. But what about 10 papers? 100?! You can’t do all of your reading in a week. I set a habit for myself over the summer to read two papers a day for 2 months. If I missed a day, I made it up the next day. This keeps you fresh for each paper and less likely to miss important points because you’re falling asleep!

Get comfortable. I preferred to kick back on a couch or outside in a chair using my laptop in tablet mode so I had a long vertical screen and a stylus to highlight or circle things. Reading 2-column scientific articles on a 13 inch 16:9 laptop screen at a desk for hours on end is a special kind of torture that I just couldn’t endure. Change scenery often, try different beverages, take breaks, and move around!

Here are some bonus tips for breaking the monotony between papers:

• Pick your top few most controversial, confusing, or interesting papers and ask a colleague or advisor for their thoughts. Bring them some coffee to discuss it with you for another perspective. 
• Email the authors to ask a question or thank them for their contribution. This is a great way to make a connection. Don’t ask for too much on the first email or they may not respond - they are busy!  
• Reward yourself for every paper read. Maybe a small snack or a short walk around the block. Physically cross this paper off your to-do list so you internalize the good feeling of the accomplishment!

How do you choose which papers to read next?

So you’re downloading 15 new papers for every 1 paper you read? This could get out of control quickly! How do you keep up? Here are some tips for prioritization:

Google Scholar is an excellent tool for tracking citation trees and metrics that show the “importance” of each paper. Library portals or the journal websites can also be good for this.

• If you’re starting a search on a new topic, begin with a relevant review paper if one exists. Beware of reading too many review papers in a row! You’ll end up with an intimidating pile of citations to track down and it will be difficult to know where to start after a few-day break. 
• Prioritize experimental papers with high citation numbers, in journals with high impact factors and by authors with a high h-index (30+) published within the last 5 years. These papers will set the bar for every paper you read after. You can check the journal’s rank in your field by using Scimago . 
• Identify the most prominent authors in this field and find their most recent papers that may not have many citations (yet). This indicates where the field is heading and what the top experts are prioritizing. 
• After you’ve covered a lot of ground above, start taking more chances on less-established authors who may be taking new approaches or exploring new topics. By now you’ll be well-equipped to identify deficiencies in methods, hyperbolic claims, and arguments that are not well-supported by data. 

Final takeaways for how to read a scientific paper:

• Don't be a passive word-for-word reader. Be actively hunting and searching for info.
• Read in this order: Abstract, Conclusion, Figures, Results/Discussion, Methods.
• The figures are the anchors. Save the best ones to reproduce in your article and spend extra time to create your own summary figures to supercharge your chances of citation.
• Clean up the metadata and use a good tagging system to save time later. 
• Set your daily goal, reward yourself for finishing, and take breaks to avoid burnout!

Lastly, remember that this blog is sponsored by BioBox Analytics ! BioBox is a data analytics platform designed for scientists and clinicians working with next-generation-sequencing data. Design and run bioinformatic pipelines on demand, generate publication-ready plots, and discover insights using popular public databases. Get on the waitlist and be the first to access a free account at biobox.io !

What sections of a research paper should you read first?

The Abstract and Conclusion sections of a research paper give you a quick sense if you should continue spending time on the paper. Assess the quality of the research and whether the results are significant to your goals. If so, move to the most important Figures and find additional details in the Results and Discussion when necessary. 

What is the fastest way to read a research article?

Skim the Abstract and highlight anything of interest. Skip to the Conclusions and do the same. Write questions that pop up. Examine each Figure and find the in-line reference text for further details if needed for understanding. Then search the Results and Discussion for answers to your pre-written questions.  

What is the best citation manager software to use for my scientific papers?

I used Mendeley through grad school but recently Zotero seems to be more popular. Both are free and have all the features you need! EndNote is excellent but expensive, and if you lose your institutional license you’ll have a hard time transferring to one of the free offerings. Zotero is your best bet for long-term organizational success!

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How to code and organize research notes for analysis like a pro

15 Minute Read

Conducting high quality, rigorous research is tough, regardless of how seasoned you are, because each research project is completely unique. In addition to actually doing the research itself, aggregating and organizing research notes can be overwhelming. 

Making sense of research data during synthesis and writing up a research report takes a lot of time. And if you don't organize your research notes and set yourself up for success early on, it will take even longer. You’ll miss out on important observations that will slow down your analysis and impact the quality of your research findings.

Taking the time to code and organize your research notes is key to avoid feeling overwhelmed by the sheer volume of data. In this article, we’ll share some practical tips to set you up for doing high quality analysis and synthesis. 

Re-Organize, Re-Group, Re-Compile: A method for making meaning out of mess.

You must be wondering - organize, group and compile make sense. But what does the 'Re' mean? This is a recursive approach to research. You cast a wide net to gather as many ideas and data points as you can when conducting your research. Don’t filter the data or try to make sense of it prematurely.  

This data-gathering stage is where you pull in qualitative data, like interview transcripts with direct quotes from a user interview analysis and/or observations from a user researcher’s notes. Only once you’ve collected all of your data do you start analysis.

It’s useful to timebox synthesis to a day or two, depending on the size of your study. Because of how fresh the data needs to be in your mind, it isn’t the type of thing you can span over weeks. Ideally, this process can be done with a teammate, but it can also be a solo activity. 

Break down information into smaller pieces of data that might become sub-topics, and then cluster that data into groups that display likeness or tension. Group and regroup that data to sharpen it and you’ll start to recognize recurring patterns or themes using a grounded theory approach. 

Don’t think about it too much, these groups aren’t set it stone, so just go with your gut. Later on, we’ll talk about how color coding and tags can augment you here.

 Once the initial cluster analysis is done, you begin to dive deeper into the data. Your research hasn't quite crossed the chasm to become anything meaningful quite yet, but you might start to sense emerging insights. During this messy middle stage of analysis, data still appears to be a bunch of disparate observations, anecdotes, and verbatims bunched into subtopics.

You may feel the need to do additional research as some points need to be elaborated further, or you want to add additional points. Continue to follow the above method again if you do bring in more data. 

Using physical or digital research notes

This process can be done with physical sticky notes or digital sticky notes . Some researchers prefer working outside of the physical limitations of a screen and to manipulate and marinade with the data in person. I’m a big fan of the physical war room, but there are a lot of upsides to working data digitally. Using tools designed specifically for this process, you won’t lose track of where data came from and will save time otherwise wasted writing and manually coding sticky notes.

Whether you opt for physical or digital notes, continue to regroup your data into sub-topics and then topics, until you feel confident with the higher level themes that are emerging.  

Applying meaning to research notes with color and tags

Coloring and tagging, otherwise known as “coding” in research, are effective ways to organize research notes and assign meaning to pieces of data. They are helpful as you start to pull apart and apply different lenses to your data during the synthesis process. 

Color as a visual cue

Color can be a powerful visual cue to see how patterns distribute across your themes. For example, using a unique color for each participant or persona type can reveal an interesting visual that becomes a nugget of an emerging insight. 

How heavily are you influencing one theme by a certain persona type or participant?

You can also assign a color to sentiment and see how positive or negative emotions are distributed across or concentrated in a particular product experience or workflow. This too can be done with either physical or digital sticky notes. 

Global versus project tags

You can think of tags in two buckets: global or project-based. Some tags will be universally applicable to any research, while others will surface during analysis and be completely unique to that dataset. 

For example, you may decide to code data across all research projects with persona type, like “Parent” or “Teacher.” Or you may get more specific and assign it to a participant as well, like “P1” or “T2.” You might also decide as a research organization to adopt tags like “Pain Point”, “Motivation”, “Goal”, or “Need.”

An example of a tag that might organically reveal itself in the data would be “Inequity”, “Age appropriateness”, or “Student interaction.” Notice that these are much more specific.

You can code data physically on sticky notes by simply writing the tag in the bottom of each note. However, there are constraints to this method, like if one note should be coded by several different tags and fits into multiple themes. In this scenario, you can duplicate the note.

If this process of coding data sounds tedious and time consuming, it certainly can be. But it’s also important. Turning over every stone and marinating in the data is important to fully immerse yourself into the synthesis process. 

Create your own AI-powered templates for better, faster research synthesis. Discover new customer insights from data instantly.

The top 10 things Notably shipped in 2023 and themes for 2024.

Using notably to code and organize research notes.

Notably is designed specifically for a research workflow, so you can speed up the tedious parts of coding and slow down to find meaningful insights.  

Notably has four sections in a research project: Info, Data, Analysis, and Insights. 

The Info tab serves as a space to document your research plan and goals. It can also be where you document the global and project tags used along with their meaning. This helps the team stay on track and on the same page, as well as orient any stakeholders or coworkers to the project. 

The Data tab is where you organize your raw research data, including written observations, video and audio recordings, photos, and more. This is where you start the process of coding data, highlighting important parts and tagging them with your global or project tags. Each highlight turns into digital sticky notes on the canvas and a row in a table in the analysis section.  

The Analysis tab is where you begin making sense of your notes. This is where you apply the method we discussed earlier of re-organizing, re-grouping, and re-compiling your notes. In this workspace you can group your data into “themes”, recolor your data by different criteria, as well as use AI to run a sentiment analysis from your notes. As you continue grouping and regrouping your data, patterns will start to emerge which will inform your research insights.

In the Insights tab, you can begin to develop thematic takeaways from your research.  What does the data mean, and why does it matter? Each insight allows you to add evidence from your data to support your conclusions. This is especially helpful once you begin to button up your research into a report, to then share with your team and stakeholders. The thematic takeaways you discover through your research allow you to know what future research needs to be done to expand on topics, which direction you may need to pivot to, and most importantly to develop a plan to better benefit your users and customers.  

With best research practices already baked into the foundation of Notably, you and your team can speed up your research process, and develop better, stronger insights to share. Find out more about Notably here: https://www.notably.ai/

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9 Organizing Research: Taking and Keeping Effective Notes

Once you’ve located the right primary and secondary sources, it’s time to glean all the information you can from them. In this chapter, you’ll first get some tips on taking and organizing notes. The second part addresses how to approach the sort of intermediary assignments (such as book reviews) that are often part of a history course.

Honing your own strategy for organizing your primary and secondary research is a pathway to less stress and better paper success. Moreover, if you can find the method that helps you best organize your notes, these methods can be applied to research you do for any of your classes.

Before the personal computing revolution, most historians labored through archives and primary documents and wrote down their notes on index cards, and then found innovative ways to organize them for their purposes. When doing secondary research, historians often utilized (and many still do) pen and paper for taking notes on secondary sources. With the advent of digital photography and useful note-taking tools like OneNote, some of these older methods have been phased out – though some persist. And, most importantly, once you start using some of the newer techniques below, you may find that you are a little “old school,” and might opt to integrate some of the older techniques with newer technology.

Whether you choose to use a low-tech method of taking and organizing your notes or an app that will help you organize your research, here are a few pointers for good note-taking.

Principles of note-taking

• If you are going low-tech, choose a method that prevents a loss of any notes. Perhaps use one spiral notebook, or an accordion folder, that will keep everything for your project in one space. If you end up taking notes away from your notebook or folder, replace them—or tape them onto blank pages if you are using a notebook—as soon as possible.
• If you are going high-tech, pick one application and stick with it. Using a cloud-based app, including one that you can download to your smart phone, will allow you to keep adding to your notes even if you find yourself with time to take notes unexpectedly.
• When taking notes, whether you’re using 3X5 note cards or using an app described below, write down the author and a shortened title for the publication, along with the page number on EVERY card. We can’t emphasize this point enough; writing down the bibliographic information the first time and repeatedly will save you loads of time later when you are writing your paper and must cite all key information.
• Include keywords or “tags” that capture why you thought to take down this information in a consistent place on each note card (and when using the apps described below). If you are writing a paper about why Martin Luther King, Jr., became a successful Civil Rights movement leader, for example, you may have a few theories as you read his speeches or how those around him described his leadership. Those theories—religious beliefs, choice of lieutenants, understanding of Gandhi—might become the tags you put on each note card.
• Note-taking applications can help organize tags for you, but if you are going low tech, a good idea is to put tags on the left side of a note card, and bibliographic info on the right side.

Organizing research- applications that can help

Using images in research.

• If you are in an archive: make your first picture one that includes the formal collection name, the box number, the folder name and call numbe r and anything else that would help you relocate this information if you or someone else needed to. Do this BEFORE you start taking photos of what is in the folder.
• If you are photographing a book or something you may need to return to the library: take a picture of all the front matter (the title page, the page behind the title with all the publication information, maybe even the table of contents).

Once you have recorded where you find it, resist the urge to rename these photographs. By renaming them, they may be re-ordered and you might forget where you found them. Instead, use tags for your own purposes, and carefully name and date the folder into which the photographs were automatically sorted. There is one free, open-source program, Tropy , which is designed to help organize photos taken in archives, as well as tag, annotate, and organize them. It was developed and is supported by the Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media at George Mason University. It is free to download, and you can find it here: https://tropy.org/ ; it is not, however, cloud-based, so you should back up your photos. In other cases, if an archive doesn’t allow photography (this is highly unlikely if you’ve made the trip to the archive), you might have a laptop on hand so that you can transcribe crucial documents.

Using note or project-organizing apps

When you have the time to sit down and begin taking notes on your primary sources, you can annotate your photos in Tropy. Alternatively, OneNote, which is cloud-based, can serve as a way to organize your research. OneNote allows you to create separate “Notebooks” for various projects, but this doesn’t preclude you from searching for terms or tags across projects if the need ever arises. Within each project you can start new tabs, say, for each different collection that you have documents from, or you can start new tabs for different themes that you are investigating. Just as in Tropy, as you go through taking notes on your documents you can create your own “tags” and place them wherever you want in the notes.

Another powerful, free tool to help organize research, especially secondary research though not exclusively, is Zotero found @ https://www.zotero.org/ . Once downloaded, you can begin to save sources (and their URL) that you find on the internet to Zotero. You can create main folders for each major project that you have and then subfolders for various themes if you would like. Just like the other software mentioned, you can create notes and tags about each source, and Zotero can also be used to create bibliographies in the precise format that you will be using. Obviously, this function is super useful when doing a long-term, expansive project like a thesis or dissertation.

How History is Made: A Student’s Guide to Reading, Writing, and Thinking in the Discipline Copyright © 2022 by Stephanie Cole; Kimberly Breuer; Scott W. Palmer; and Brandon Blakeslee is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

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Three Tips to Organize Thesis and Article Sources

In the course of a literature review, you may come across hundreds of research papers that will contribute to your understanding of the field and possibly even be cited in a manuscript. So how do you keep track of these sources?

Write an annotated bibliography — An annotated bibliography is going to be a list of the sources that you’ve read along with important notes to explain the source’s importance and relevance to your research. While some people do this by hand, that can be laborious, particularly when you are searching for a source after the fact. My suggestion for the modern annotated bibliography is to use a searchable format such as Word, Rmarkdown, OneNote, or EndNote, etc. That will allow you to easily re-reference a source and (re)identify sources that talk about particular concepts. Below is a list of components to include in each entry (and here’s a worksheet ).

Citation — In addition to the author(s) and year of publication, you should also make a note of the doi (so you can find it later using https://doi.org/[insert doi] ), and the filename of the pdf. The filename is especially important since it allows you to find the pdf you already have, without opening 20 files one-by-one.

Methods — Are any of the methods used especially relevant to your work? This might be because you need the protocol, they are key to interpreting the data, and/or are insufficient (i.e., they provide an opportunity for you to improve the field).

Results — What are the key results and findings? What figure is central to their story?

Limitations — What are the limitations of the research? What could be done differently to improve the robustness of the research?

Your thoughts — What do you think about the paper? Use this as an opportunity to present your unfiltered thoughts, feelings, musings, and big ideas. That way you can find them later.

Follow up — Are there any references that you should read in the future?

Keep a spreadsheet — Spreadsheets are another option for keeping track of the sources you have identified in a searchable and easy to skim format. In this case, you would likely have more information about the source’s origins, citations, accessibility, etc. (See “Organizing Sources” in the resources below for a template)

Use a citation management system — Some citation management systems are great for keeping track of relevant sources. Mendeley is a particularly good option because you can import, read, highlight, annotate, and search for a pdf. However, it has undergone some recent changes that make it more difficult to use and transfer your references if necessary. (See the resources below for some handy web tools)

Tips for Organizing Sources for Research Papers

Organizing Sources

What’s the best way to organize my research?

Organize Your Research With These Free Web Tools

Ada K. Hagan, Ph.D.

Owner, lead consultant.

I am a microbiologist with a passion for making science accessible. I hope to use my background in communications and higher education to help make scientific concepts more easily understood and make the academy more inclusive to future scientists from all backgrounds.

Tools and Apps for Organizing Research Materials

by Cathy Hannabach | Oct 25, 2016

Popular culture often represents the stereotype of messy professor offices with giant piles of papers and books about to fall over, with the professors themselves struggling to find that one journal article or grade book they know must be in there somewhere.

Yet as Jessie Daniels and Polly Thistlethwaite point out in their book Being a Scholar in the Digital Era , most of the research materials and other stuff we accumulate these days is digital. Depending on our fields, that might mean any combination of articles, books, pdfs, videos, websites, images, audio files, emails, and documents.

Here are some key apps and tools for organizing research materials, teaching items, and all the other digital stuff we accumulate as scholars.

The art of organizing research materials

Digital resource management tools are your friend. A good digital resource management tool does a few things:

• Captures resources as you come across them in your daily life
• Organizes those resources into some semblance of order
• Keeps resources from getting lost
• And most importantly: Lets you find an object whenever and wherever you want it

To start setting up your digital resource management system, take a look at some tools that can help you start to organize all that digital stuff.

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Browser bookmarks.

You might already use these to bookmark websites you want to come back to later. In your web browser’s bookmarks settings, you can organize your bookmarks into nested folders and add tags for easy searching. This is a great way to group together websites for different projects, and search them later.

If you use bookmarks, make sure to back them up regularly when you back up your computer (if you don’t regularly back up your computer, this is a great time to start).

Evernote is awesome. It’s available for all your devices, and lets you capture, organize, and use all your research materials, as well as take note s on everything.

Evernote is a great way to keep track of your different projects . You can also use it to annotate pdfs, draft manuscripts, rearrange pieces of your writing, or make to-do lists.

Evernote is free.

DevonThink is a more robust version of Evernote, which can organize more file formats (video, audio, images, pdfs, documents, websites).

It also has a very cool artificial intelligence feature that can find conceptual connections between your research materials that you might not have noticed before.

DevonThink is not free, but it does have a free trial and educational discount.

Zotero is reference management software that lets you keep track of your academic sources (books, articles, websites, etc.).

Zotero also formats your references in the citation format of your choosing and can produce bibliographies for your scholarly projects. It integrates with Word and OpenOffice, allowing you to create citations as you write.

You can take notes on pdfs and sync across your devices. If you’re always thinking “I swear I have a pdf article about that somewhere…” or “What is the difference between APA and Chicago style again?”, Zotero can be a great solution.

Zotero is free.

Find what works for you

Here is a worksheet that helps you find the digital resource management tools that work for you.

You can use the worksheet to identify 3 resource management apps that you are curious about (there is a list of options in the activity worksheet, or you can find your own). You should play around with each one—read each app’s website, see what features and design it has, and maybe read a review or two.

Then you can use the worksheet table to evaluate each app, considering 4 main things:

What can it do? What can it not do? Are there any missing features that you could supplement with another tool?

What is the price? Does the price fit with your budget and needs? Is the price worth it for the value it delivers? Think about this realistically for your own life. Oftentimes a free app is the best option, but sometimes a paid app that frees up more of your time and energy than the free version can be worth it.

Do you like the app’s visual design? Would you want to look at it every day? This isn’t frivolous—if the design is going to bug you, you won’t use it. And the best project management tool in the world can’t help if you don’t use it.

How does it fit into your existing routines? Is it available for your devices and the way you want to engage with your projects? If you prefer to run everything on your phone, and an app only comes in a desktop or web version, maybe that’s not the best app for you. Or if you only intermittently have wi-fi access, maybe an app that only works with Internet access isn’t the best fit. Or if you hate bouncing between a ton of different apps, maybe the best app for you would be one that combines multiple functions (calendar, email, to-do lists, contacts, notes, etc.).

From these three, pick one to test out for the next 2–3 weeks. Sign up for an account (or if it is a paid app, try a free trial first), download the app, and add a few projects and tasks in there. I recommend choosing 2–3 projects to test out your app with, unless you absolutely know you want to stick with the app you chose. Try out the different features, see how the project management system fits into your daily routine, and evaluate how or if it helps you make progress toward your goals.

After 2 or 3 weeks, evaluate how the app has been working for you. If you discover that the app you chose isn’t working for you, swap out another one. Or maybe add an analog (physical, non-digital) one. The point is to try out digital resource management tools in your real life to see what works and what doesn’t.

Once you find the tools that work for you, you can start organizing all of your research materials, finding materials when you need them, and using all those materials to write your kick-ass interdisciplinary scholarship.

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Home › Blog › 15 Genius Tips for Storing Papers and Getting Organized

15 Genius Tips for Storing Papers and Getting Organized

By Donella Crigger

Published May 12, 2022

Storing papers can be a real pain. They accumulate quickly, and before you know it, your desk is buried. But there are plenty of clever ways to get rid of paper clutter so that they’re out of sight but still within reach and easily findable when you need them. Below, you’ll find creative paper storage ideas for everything from your kid’s artwork and school papers to receipts to scrapbook paper. Once you get a handle on the paper clutter, you’ll be amazed at how much better you’ll feel. Getting organized is therapeutic, isn’t it? Here are 15+ ideas to get you started.

How Do You Organize Years of Paperwork?

Many people find themselves overwhelmed by piles of paper. Old bills, school papers, and mementos can quickly take over a home or office. The key to keeping paper clutter under control is to develop a system for storing papers. One way to do this is to create a filing system. Papers can be sorted by month, year, or type of document. Another option is to scan important documents and store them electronically. This can save space and make it easier to search for specific items. Whatever storage system you choose, the important thing is to be consistent in using it. By taking the time to organize your papers, you can create a more efficient and clutter-free home or workspace.

How Does Marie Kondo Organize Papers?

Marie first sorts papers into two categories: papers to be dealt with and papers to be saved. Dealing with papers refers to things like school forms for your children, letters that need a reply, or something that needs to be read (a magazine or newspaper, for example). She divides the papers that are to be saved further into frequently used papers and infrequently used papers. Everything else should be thrown out or saved digitally. And although she recommends storing all infrequently used paperwork together, we’d recommend storing things like birth certificates, death certificates, social security cards, and insurance policies in a fireproof safe or document box.

How Long Should You Keep Paperwork?

Storing papers can be a tricky business. On the one hand, you want to keep important documents safe and sound. On the other hand, you don’t want your home to turn into a paper graveyard. So how do you strike the right balance?

Here are a few general guidelines to help you decide how long to keep paperwork:

• Tax returns and supporting documents: 3-7 years, per IRS guidelines
• Bank statements: 1 year
• Credit card statements: 1 year if you rely on paper copies, 3 years if you use them for tax purposes
• Pay stubs: 1 year
• Utility bills: 1 year unless you’ve used some monthly bills as a home office deduction in which case you should keep them for 3 years
• Insurance policies: at least as long as the policy is active, but ideally for up to 3 years in case there have been any mistakes on past claims
• Warranties and receipts: as long as the item is under warranty but if used for tax purposes, then keep for 3 years

Of course, these are just general guidelines. You may need to keep certain documents for longer periods of time, depending on your personal situation.

Don’t forget to invest in a good paper shredder for shredding documents with sensitive information before throwing them out.

Ideas for Storing Papers

Ready to get started organizing your papers? Here are some smart tips and tricks to organize just about every type of paper you can think of.

Scan documents and save them as PDFs on your computer or in the cloud.

This first tip is obvious, but it’s an important one. Save as many papers digitally as you can to minimize the physical papers that you have to keep. You can scan everything from old newspaper clippings to your child’s artwork instead of maintaining physical copies. Just make sure that you have a copy of wherever you’re storing your digitized papers. If you’re saving them to your computer or an external hard drive, for instance, a cloud backup is a great idea. Just a Girl and Her Blog offers some great tips on organizing papers with Evernote . Digital storage is handy because you can use apps like Evernote on all your devices, from your smartphone to your laptop, desktop, or tablet.

Set up a homework station to organize school papers.

We love this station setup from Life’s Carousel. They have four cardboard magazine files to hold all the school-related papers at their organization station . The first one labeled “paper” holds lined paper and plain paper so the kids can do their homework. The “to sign” file holds all the papers the parent or guardian needs to fill out. The “to school” file holds papers and library books that need to go back to the school. And finally, the “keep” file holds things like the school calendar, study guides, etc. It would also be a great place to keep the meal plan if your kids do hot lunches at school.

Create a changeable kids’ art display.

Kids are super proud of their art, and parents love putting it on display. But if you don’t want your walls and fridge absolutely covered in the stuff, follow this tutorial from Ikea Hackers for a kids art display box . Each box can hold quite a few pieces of art, and the kids can switch out the one they want displayed in front. Once the box is full, have your child go through them saving 1-3 of their favorite pieces, and scan the rest to save digitally. Put the others in the trash or pass some along to Grandma and Grandpa for safekeeping.

Use color coded files to organize important documents.

Color coding your files is a great idea to find what you need at a glance. Anna uses color-coded hanging files to keep a handle on her paperwork. Bills are sorted by month rather than by company. Tax documents are all kept in a certain color, as are her business-related expenses. Each member of the family also has their own color of file where important documents like birth certificates, passports, and sentimental documents are stored.

Set up a mobile command center.

If your kitchen is the central area of your home where paper clutter tends to pile up, use this genius mobile command center idea from A Bowl Full of Lemons to keep it under control. It’s a quick and easy system for sorting mail and other incoming papers into actionable items like incoming and outgoing mail, things to file, bills to pay, and things to sign and return.

Make a receipt drop box to hold receipts until you can file them.

If you save receipts for tax purposes or have to file for reimbursements from your employer, you may find yourself looking for receipts in half a dozen places. Eliminate that problem with a super simple receipt drop box like this one from Carissa Shaw made from none other than an empty tissue box. It’s so easy I’m smacking my forehead and wondering why I’ve never thought of this.

Store documents you use frequently in color coded binders.

Have a lot of documents that you refer to frequently? Store them in color-coded binders as you see here at A Bowl Full of Lemons. Each category—medical, manuals, pets, house, personal, and auto gets its own color. The only one I’d eliminate is the “manuals” binder only because most manuals for electronics and appliances can be found online these days, so there’s no real reason to keep them.

Organize incoming and outgoing mail at the door.

With such a big movement to get away from paper products, you’d think that the junk mail would have decreased by now, but it hasn’t. So, if you’re inundated with mail on a daily basis, set up a mail system like this one from Her Tool Belt to organize coupons, bills, incoming, and outgoing mail. Personally, I’d toss the ads right away instead of making a section for them, but if you plan to shred and use those ads for mulch, then keep that category.

Store school papers in separate bins for each child.

Kids and parents alike can be a little sentimental when it comes to their school papers. To allow them to keep documents that are important to them without letting it get out of hand, give each child a keepsake box for their special papers. Inside each box, keep a folder labeled with each grade. Keep the reports, papers, and artwork that they’re really proud of, and get rid of the rest.

Maintain an organized desk with multiple paper systems.

Can a girl have a dream desk? If so, this is mine. Design Improvised uses several paper organization systems to manage the chaos. First up are the file folders sitting right on her desk for the most common types of papers such as bills, receipts, and coupons. Papers that she wants to flip through are kept in binders (recipes, kids’ artwork, etc.). She uses boxes to store things like checkbooks, mementos, stationery, and shipping supplies. Finally, important reminders are pinned to a cork board.

Organize receipts by month.

Keep this small monthly organizer in your car (or purse if you carry a large one) to organize your receipts right away. The DIY Playbook is organizing hers by month, but you could try by category like food, clothing, gas, etc. if that suits your needs better. Label the organizer in a way that makes sense to you! She also has tips for organizing receipts digitally.

Utilize clipboards to organize papers.

Okay, so these are styled clipboards , but you can totally run with this idea for keeping up with your kids’ school papers or chores. Have a clipboard for each child with their homework assignments, chore list, forms, and anything else they need. Simple, functional, and quick to grab!

Make a kitchen command center inside a cabinet.

In smaller homes where space is limited, a kitchen command center like this one from Organizing Home Life is a great idea. She utilizes both the cabinet door and inside the cabinet to maximize space. On the inside of the door, she has various pockets for receipts and bills to pay or file. You’ll also find 3-ring binders and stackable bins to further keep things organized. (Psst… we have more command center ideas you should check out!)

Use envelopes in a binder to store receipts.

Here’s another nifty receipt storage idea, this time using envelopes inside a binder. A new envelope is created for each month with the month and year on the front. All month long, you’ll slide your receipts inside. At the end of the month, put the flap down, and add a new envelope—great idea from Megan Nielsen!

Display and store colored paper on a paper rack.

Crafty types have large stashes of colorful and patterned papers, but when it comes time to find the perfect color or design, well, that can get a little tricky. It’s hard to find what you need when it’s all in a pile, right? Use this wire rack storage idea from Hey Let’s Make Stuff to store and see all the papers you have available in a snap. (We have more ideas for organizing your craft room , too.)

We hope you found some useful ways to store your papers here. Pin this list to come back to it later!

More Helpful Storage Ideas:

• 12 Smart Gift Wrap Storage Ideas
• 18 Clever Hidden Storage Ideas to Hide Clutter
• Document Storage Tips To Keep You Organized

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Reference management. Clean and simple.

The top list of academic search engines

1. Google Scholar

4. science.gov, 5. semantic scholar, 6. baidu scholar, get the most out of academic search engines, frequently asked questions about academic search engines, related articles.

Academic search engines have become the number one resource to turn to in order to find research papers and other scholarly sources. While classic academic databases like Web of Science and Scopus are locked behind paywalls, Google Scholar and others can be accessed free of charge. In order to help you get your research done fast, we have compiled the top list of free academic search engines.

Google Scholar is the clear number one when it comes to academic search engines. It's the power of Google searches applied to research papers and patents. It not only lets you find research papers for all academic disciplines for free but also often provides links to full-text PDF files.

• Coverage: approx. 200 million articles
• Abstracts: only a snippet of the abstract is available
• Related articles: ✔
• References: ✔
• Cited by: ✔
• Links to full text: ✔
• Export formats: APA, MLA, Chicago, Harvard, Vancouver, RIS, BibTeX

BASE is hosted at Bielefeld University in Germany. That is also where its name stems from (Bielefeld Academic Search Engine).

• Coverage: approx. 136 million articles (contains duplicates)
• Abstracts: ✔
• Related articles: ✘
• References: ✘
• Cited by: ✘
• Export formats: RIS, BibTeX

CORE is an academic search engine dedicated to open-access research papers. For each search result, a link to the full-text PDF or full-text web page is provided.

• Coverage: approx. 136 million articles
• Links to full text: ✔ (all articles in CORE are open access)
• Export formats: BibTeX

Science.gov is a fantastic resource as it bundles and offers free access to search results from more than 15 U.S. federal agencies. There is no need anymore to query all those resources separately!

• Coverage: approx. 200 million articles and reports
• Links to full text: ✔ (available for some databases)
• Export formats: APA, MLA, RIS, BibTeX (available for some databases)

Semantic Scholar is the new kid on the block. Its mission is to provide more relevant and impactful search results using AI-powered algorithms that find hidden connections and links between research topics.

• Coverage: approx. 40 million articles
• Export formats: APA, MLA, Chicago, BibTeX

Although Baidu Scholar's interface is in Chinese, its index contains research papers in English as well as Chinese.

• Coverage: no detailed statistics available, approx. 100 million articles
• Abstracts: only snippets of the abstract are available
• Export formats: APA, MLA, RIS, BibTeX

RefSeek searches more than one billion documents from academic and organizational websites. Its clean interface makes it especially easy to use for students and new researchers.

• Coverage: no detailed statistics available, approx. 1 billion documents
• Abstracts: only snippets of the article are available
• Export formats: not available

Consider using a reference manager like Paperpile to save, organize, and cite your references. Paperpile integrates with Google Scholar and many popular databases, so you can save references and PDFs directly to your library using the Paperpile buttons:

Google Scholar is an academic search engine, and it is the clear number one when it comes to academic search engines. It's the power of Google searches applied to research papers and patents. It not only let's you find research papers for all academic disciplines for free, but also often provides links to full text PDF file.

Semantic Scholar is a free, AI-powered research tool for scientific literature developed at the Allen Institute for AI. Sematic Scholar was publicly released in 2015 and uses advances in natural language processing to provide summaries for scholarly papers.

BASE , as its name suggest is an academic search engine. It is hosted at Bielefeld University in Germany and that's where it name stems from (Bielefeld Academic Search Engine).

CORE is an academic search engine dedicated to open access research papers. For each search result a link to the full text PDF or full text web page is provided.

Science.gov is a fantastic resource as it bundles and offers free access to search results from more than 15 U.S. federal agencies. There is no need any more to query all those resources separately!

How To Write A Research Paper

Step-By-Step Tutorial With Examples + FREE Template

By: Derek Jansen (MBA) | Expert Reviewer: Dr Eunice Rautenbach | March 2024

For many students, crafting a strong research paper from scratch can feel like a daunting task – and rightly so! In this post, we’ll unpack what a research paper is, what it needs to do , and how to write one – in three easy steps. 🙂 

Overview: Writing A Research Paper

What (exactly) is a research paper.

• How to write a research paper
• Stage 1 : Topic & literature search
• Stage 2 : Structure & outline
• Stage 3 : Iterative writing
• Key takeaways

Let’s start by asking the most important question, “ What is a research paper? ”.

Simply put, a research paper is a scholarly written work where the writer (that’s you!) answers a specific question (this is called a research question ) through evidence-based arguments . Evidence-based is the keyword here. In other words, a research paper is different from an essay or other writing assignments that draw from the writer’s personal opinions or experiences. With a research paper, it’s all about building your arguments based on evidence (we’ll talk more about that evidence a little later).

Now, it’s worth noting that there are many different types of research papers , including analytical papers (the type I just described), argumentative papers, and interpretative papers. Here, we’ll focus on analytical papers , as these are some of the most common – but if you’re keen to learn about other types of research papers, be sure to check out the rest of the blog .

With that basic foundation laid, let’s get down to business and look at how to write a research paper .

Overview: The 3-Stage Process

While there are, of course, many potential approaches you can take to write a research paper, there are typically three stages to the writing process. So, in this tutorial, we’ll present a straightforward three-step process that we use when working with students at Grad Coach.

These three steps are:

• Finding a research topic and reviewing the existing literature
• Developing a provisional structure and outline for your paper, and
• Writing up your initial draft and then refining it iteratively

Let’s dig into each of these.

Need a helping hand?

Step 1: Find a topic and review the literature

As we mentioned earlier, in a research paper, you, as the researcher, will try to answer a question . More specifically, that’s called a research question , and it sets the direction of your entire paper. What’s important to understand though is that you’ll need to answer that research question with the help of high-quality sources – for example, journal articles, government reports, case studies, and so on. We’ll circle back to this in a minute.

The first stage of the research process is deciding on what your research question will be and then reviewing the existing literature (in other words, past studies and papers) to see what they say about that specific research question. In some cases, your professor may provide you with a predetermined research question (or set of questions). However, in many cases, you’ll need to find your own research question within a certain topic area.

Finding a strong research question hinges on identifying a meaningful research gap – in other words, an area that’s lacking in existing research. There’s a lot to unpack here, so if you wanna learn more, check out the plain-language explainer video below.

Once you’ve figured out which question (or questions) you’ll attempt to answer in your research paper, you’ll need to do a deep dive into the existing literature – this is called a “ literature search ”. Again, there are many ways to go about this, but your most likely starting point will be Google Scholar .

If you’re new to Google Scholar, think of it as Google for the academic world. You can start by simply entering a few different keywords that are relevant to your research question and it will then present a host of articles for you to review. What you want to pay close attention to here is the number of citations for each paper – the more citations a paper has, the more credible it is (generally speaking – there are some exceptions, of course).

Ideally, what you’re looking for are well-cited papers that are highly relevant to your topic. That said, keep in mind that citations are a cumulative metric , so older papers will often have more citations than newer papers – just because they’ve been around for longer. So, don’t fixate on this metric in isolation – relevance and recency are also very important.

Beyond Google Scholar, you’ll also definitely want to check out academic databases and aggregators such as Science Direct, PubMed, JStor and so on. These will often overlap with the results that you find in Google Scholar, but they can also reveal some hidden gems – so, be sure to check them out.

Once you’ve worked your way through all the literature, you’ll want to catalogue all this information in some sort of spreadsheet so that you can easily recall who said what, when and within what context. If you’d like, we’ve got a free literature spreadsheet that helps you do exactly that.

Step 2: Develop a structure and outline

With your research question pinned down and your literature digested and catalogued, it’s time to move on to planning your actual research paper .

It might sound obvious, but it’s really important to have some sort of rough outline in place before you start writing your paper. So often, we see students eagerly rushing into the writing phase, only to land up with a disjointed research paper that rambles on in multiple

Now, the secret here is to not get caught up in the fine details . Realistically, all you need at this stage is a bullet-point list that describes (in broad strokes) what you’ll discuss and in what order. It’s also useful to remember that you’re not glued to this outline – in all likelihood, you’ll chop and change some sections once you start writing, and that’s perfectly okay. What’s important is that you have some sort of roadmap in place from the start.

At this stage you might be wondering, “ But how should I structure my research paper? ”. Well, there’s no one-size-fits-all solution here, but in general, a research paper will consist of a few relatively standardised components:

• Introduction
• Literature review
• Methodology

Let’s take a look at each of these.

First up is the introduction section . As the name suggests, the purpose of the introduction is to set the scene for your research paper. There are usually (at least) four ingredients that go into this section – these are the background to the topic, the research problem and resultant research question , and the justification or rationale. If you’re interested, the video below unpacks the introduction section in more detail. 

The next section of your research paper will typically be your literature review . Remember all that literature you worked through earlier? Well, this is where you’ll present your interpretation of all that content . You’ll do this by writing about recent trends, developments, and arguments within the literature – but more specifically, those that are relevant to your research question . The literature review can oftentimes seem a little daunting, even to seasoned researchers, so be sure to check out our extensive collection of literature review content here .

With the introduction and lit review out of the way, the next section of your paper is the research methodology . In a nutshell, the methodology section should describe to your reader what you did (beyond just reviewing the existing literature) to answer your research question. For example, what data did you collect, how did you collect that data, how did you analyse that data and so on? For each choice, you’ll also need to justify why you chose to do it that way, and what the strengths and weaknesses of your approach were.

Now, it’s worth mentioning that for some research papers, this aspect of the project may be a lot simpler . For example, you may only need to draw on secondary sources (in other words, existing data sets). In some cases, you may just be asked to draw your conclusions from the literature search itself (in other words, there may be no data analysis at all). But, if you are required to collect and analyse data, you’ll need to pay a lot of attention to the methodology section. The video below provides an example of what the methodology section might look like.

By this stage of your paper, you will have explained what your research question is, what the existing literature has to say about that question, and how you analysed additional data to try to answer your question. So, the natural next step is to present your analysis of that data . This section is usually called the “results” or “analysis” section and this is where you’ll showcase your findings.

Depending on your school’s requirements, you may need to present and interpret the data in one section – or you might split the presentation and the interpretation into two sections. In the latter case, your “results” section will just describe the data, and the “discussion” is where you’ll interpret that data and explicitly link your analysis back to your research question. If you’re not sure which approach to take, check in with your professor or take a look at past papers to see what the norms are for your programme.

Alright – once you’ve presented and discussed your results, it’s time to wrap it up . This usually takes the form of the “ conclusion ” section. In the conclusion, you’ll need to highlight the key takeaways from your study and close the loop by explicitly answering your research question. Again, the exact requirements here will vary depending on your programme (and you may not even need a conclusion section at all) – so be sure to check with your professor if you’re unsure.

Step 3: Write and refine

Finally, it’s time to get writing. All too often though, students hit a brick wall right about here… So, how do you avoid this happening to you?

Well, there’s a lot to be said when it comes to writing a research paper (or any sort of academic piece), but we’ll share three practical tips to help you get started.

First and foremost , it’s essential to approach your writing as an iterative process. In other words, you need to start with a really messy first draft and then polish it over multiple rounds of editing. Don’t waste your time trying to write a perfect research paper in one go. Instead, take the pressure off yourself by adopting an iterative approach.

Secondly , it’s important to always lean towards critical writing , rather than descriptive writing. What does this mean? Well, at the simplest level, descriptive writing focuses on the “ what ”, while critical writing digs into the “ so what ” – in other words, the implications. If you’re not familiar with these two types of writing, don’t worry! You can find a plain-language explanation here.

Last but not least, you’ll need to get your referencing right. Specifically, you’ll need to provide credible, correctly formatted citations for the statements you make. We see students making referencing mistakes all the time and it costs them dearly. The good news is that you can easily avoid this by using a simple reference manager . If you don’t have one, check out our video about Mendeley, an easy (and free) reference management tool that you can start using today.

Recap: Key Takeaways

We’ve covered a lot of ground here. To recap, the three steps to writing a high-quality research paper are:

• To choose a research question and review the literature
• To plan your paper structure and draft an outline
• To take an iterative approach to writing, focusing on critical writing and strong referencing

Remember, this is just a b ig-picture overview of the research paper development process and there’s a lot more nuance to unpack. So, be sure to grab a copy of our free research paper template to learn more about how to write a research paper.

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Ways To Avoid Plagiarism In Your Research Paper

Introduction The best way to avoid plagiarism is not to plagiarize the work intentionally. It might sound simplistic, but some people can perceive themselves as copying just a few concepts or ideas that will help them meet their deadlines. This might be suitable for the corporate setting, but it is a fool’s game in academic writing. Thus, unintentional plagiarism is common, but since it is considered unintentional, it does not make it an expectation. The rest of the paper examines how to avoid common practices that risk unadvertised plagiarism in your research paper. While you must know how to avoid plagiarism, some of you might be completely unaware of the concept. In this article, we will emphasize tricks and tips for avoiding plagiarism in your research paper. What Is Considered Plagiarism In A Paper? Copying someone else’s work as a reference for writing your work is considered plagiarism. But, if you cite the source, it adds credit to the author as well as supports your evidence. Thus, look at things and practices that constitute plagiarism and that you need to avoid while writing a research paper:  Avoid using direct quotations without using quotation marks.  Cheating by copy-pasting.  Do not use in-text citations and source the reference of the article used.  An incorrect reference style can lead to plagiarism when detected using a plagiarism tool.

 Using someone else’s work as your own without any citation and acknowledgment. As a student, you must be utterly mindful when adding citations and references to avoid plagiarism and protect yourself from academic dishonesty. So, carefully consider these points and save your research paper from cancellation or deduction of marks. Tip To Avoid Plagiarism In Your Research Paper The majority of research and academic institutions generally have zero-tolerance policies toward plagiarism. However, some journals sometimes allow up to 12% to 15% plagiarism in a research paper. What can you do if you need to learn how to remove or avoid plagiarism without a specific strategy? Here is a list of tips to help you avoid plagiarism in your research paper.

• Conduct In-depth Research To avoid plagiarism, you must conduct your research for your thesis or dissertation paper. Thus, before writing your introduction or thesis statement, you must cite the text sources in your academic research. This will help you avoid plagiarism detection when you upload your file to Turnitin. However, the concept or theory you use as a reference ensures you paraphrase them accurately without leaving any trace of plagiarism in the research paper. In addition, you need to understand the research’s thesis and topic and aim to avoid quoting, copying, and paraphrasing the text already in the database. If you are running out of time and your deadline is near, hire a paper writing service. This will be helpful as paraphrasing takes sufficient time.
• Express Main Ideas In Own Language Instead of copying or pasting the sources’ ideas or concepts, you can explore what you have to say about them. Moreover, ask yourself what innovative perspective or concept you can contribute to your writing that is entirely your own. Therefore, try to keep in mind that if you are referring to a source’s idea to frame your own point, you will still need to cite the source.

So, recycling some of the previously used words can be tempting if you are writing on the same topic in different assignments. This is known as self-plagiarism. You need to avoid them from further plagiarism detection.

• Change The Sequence If Paraphrasing There must be more than paraphrasing a particular concept or idea to avoid plagiarism. So, knowing the right technique for unplagiarized and effective paraphrasing is important. So, altering a phrase or a word with its synonyms in a sentence structure is a tapestry. For instance:  Original sentence: icebergs are increasing exponentially due to global warming.  Good paraphrasing: global warming leads to expeditious and extensive icebergs and defrosting.  Bad paraphrasing: Icebergs are defrosting at a massive speed due to global warming.
• Use Quotation Marks It is always better to write something in your own words rather than just copy-pasting the definition or saying by a particular author. Thus, to avoid plagiarism, you should use paraphrasing or summarised techniques. Here is a quick way you can fix the issue:  Original sentence: AI is on the rise, leading to greater demand for emerging tools.  Warong way of saying it: The use of AI in the present days is resulting in greater demand for emerging technologies.  Proper use: The application of AI in technology is on the rise, leading to massive demand for innovative tools.
• Citing Own Material If some of the material you are using for the research paper was originally used in your present class or previous academic year, then you must cite it yourself. You only need to treat the text the same as you would for someone else. While it might sound appropriate, using material you had used before is called self-plagiarism, and it is not acceptable.
• Make A Reference List

Ensure you use a reference list, as it is mandatory nowadays. But you can be reassured if you are not aware of the full details of how to generate one. All you need to do is use Google Scholar or cite this for me and create citations for your sources. Therefore, maintain a reference list in a separate file and incorporate it at your research’s end. Hence, the reference list will help you pass the test easily without revealing any similarity to the work already present in the database.

• Check Content With Plagiarism Checker While researching a topic, certain sentences stick with you so well that you end up including them. To save yourself from these situations, ensure to check your entire piece of work. Thus, you can use an online plagiarism-checking tool to help you catch the issues before making the final submission. Why Should You Avoid Plagiarism In Academic Writing? You need to avoid plagiarism for the following reasons:  To avoid hampering your reputation in the class or workplace.  To ensure academic integrity.  To ensure ethical research practice.  Credit should be given to the authors of the work you are referencing because it is a form of respecting someone’s work and effort. Wrapping Up This, adopting measures and watts stated in the above section, allows one to submit a plagiarism- free paper. However, you can use a plagiarism checker to ensure the uniqueness and novelty of your paper. This will mark out the faulty areas and assist you in making rectifications in the required areas. However, these tips and tricks can help make your research

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Storing and backing up research data is, of course, critical during research. However, these actions are not sufficient to ensure the data’s future usability for you and your research community. When ending a research project or project phase such as data collection, consider taking time to prepare a copy of your research data for preservation. Preserving research data for long-term access is not simply taking stored data out of active use; it requires a few additional steps:

• protecting data: requiring safeguards and periodic checks of file integrity on storage media
• documenting data to ensure that data can be used and interpreted in the future, especially by others. This includes organizing the data as an identifiable collection with a stable reference.

Preserving research data builds upon the storage process, providing for long-term access to the data and preparing the data for deposit into a data repository if desired. View the Publish and Share Research section to learn more about how to prepare to share your research data on a data repository.

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Code of Best Practices in Fair Use for Software Preservation

This document provides guidance on how to preserve software to ensure long-term access. Here is a brief introductory article about this document and some additional resources. 

Data preservation

A data preservation guide created by the University of Exeter. It provides a flowchart to help researchers decide whether to preserve certain data or not. 

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5 Things To Keep In Mind While Writing A College Paper

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Research before writing the research paper

Writing a research paper is not an easy task, and it makes students most of the time very stressed. Sometimes the future depends on the research paper, which is why writing it correctly is essential. Most of the time, different niches of paper have another format, but the point of view of writing is the same. Professors want students to write the paper in such a way that they quickly convey their research.

To help you more about writing a research paper, here are some points that should not be missed. These key points will help you in writing and make the process of registering easy.

Select A Good Topic:

The first thing that earns the brownie point is the topic selected for writing the research paper. If the topic is good, the professor instantly grabs attention and reads it correctly. Selecting a good topic is the crucial point of writing any research paper. While choosing the case, always choose a unique topic and will help in knowing the subject better.

A good topic selection shows that the student is clear about the research and keen to deliver their studies to society.

Research Well About The Topic:

After selecting the topic, the next thing to do is research well about the subject. Read all the information from different-different sources and do not summit from a single source. It is essential to know the topic well before you start writing it down. While researching, always check if the source is reliable and then grasp that information of the relevant subject.

When the research is done up to the mark, it becomes easy to write it on paper. As the topic is precise, you can easily convey your points and make professors communicate about your research.

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Include All The Necessary Details:

The third thing after completing the research is to write it down in the paper. Whatever you researched about the topic, try to include it in your research paper. While writing, always follows the format as it gives a direction to the research paper. Also, when a student follows the design, it makes professors comfortable in reading the article.

Even while referring different-different sources, it is essential to mention all the details in the paper. So that professors get to know the basis of your information.

Check For Errors:

The fourth thing to do is to check all the errors. If the research paper is filled with mistakes, it might get rejected. Also, after writing the essay, proofread it two times and check its error on different-different software. Edit all the grammatical mistakes and before submitting it, check and remove even the slightest syntax error.

An error-free research paper helps in scoring better marks as it gives professors a vision that students are clear about the topic and know what they want to convey about their observations.

Write Good Citations:

Citation plays a significant role in what you are going to convey in your research paper . Try to get your message directly and include all your opinion with facts. Whatever you are trying to say, convey it now without any twist and turn. Always try to make the flow and language easy to understand.

By following these steps, a student can write a good research paper. A well-written essay helps students know the subject better and helps in grabbing a good opportunity in the future. Always remember to research the topic well and cite it from a clean and clear point of view. After completing the paper, always check the errors and proofread them before the submissions. You can also check out our blog on how to write a research paper appendix .

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• Best Futures Trading Platforms Best Options Trading Platforms Best Penny Stock Brokers Best International Brokers All Guides arrow_right_alt

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Best Stock Trading Platforms for Beginners of May 2024

Written by Sam Levine, CFA, CMT Edited by Carolyn Kimball Fact-checked by Steven Hatzakis Reviewed by Blain Reinkensmeyer

Are you ready to start investing, but aren’t quite sure where to begin? It’s easier than ever to get started with your first broker account. Brokers continue to roll out or enhance beginner-friendly features such as fractional shares, practice accounts (also called paper trading or simulated trading), and basic investor education.

I opened accounts and entered trades at 17 online brokers and chose the top five that I recommend the most for beginners. All the online brokers on this list are easy to use and offer great investor education. But, after spending a year testing, I’ve found they each have unique strengths that will appeal to different investors. Here are my faves for 2024 and why they made it onto my shortlist.

Why you can trust StockBrokers.com

Since 2009, we've helped over 20 million visitors research, compare, and choose an online broker. Our writers have collectively placed thousands of trades over their careers. Here's how we test .

Best Trading Platforms for Beginners

• Fidelity - Best overall for beginners
• Merrill Edge - Best research for beginners
• E*TRADE - Best trading app for beginners
• Charles Schwab - Outstanding market research
• Interactive Brokers - Best for global investors
• Robinhood - Best for Ease of Use
• Ally Invest - Best for Ally Bank customers

Best overall for beginners

Fidelity is a winner for beginners, thanks to its plethora of educational resources that includes a Learning Center stocked with videos, infographics, and even podcasts. Fidelity also offers an innovative Youth Account – a first-of-its-kind brokerage account for teens aged 13 to 17. Read full review

• Excellent research and mobile app
• Top-notch education
• Decades of reliable client service
• No dedicated mobile app for active trading

Best research for beginners

Merrill Edge offers $0 trades with industry-leading research tools and customer rewards. Learning about investing is a pleasant experience, thanks to excellent organization, quality and in-house curated content. Its Stock Stories and Fund Stories do phenomenal jobs presenting information in a friendly way. Read full review

• Portfolio Story, Dynamic Insights, and the Stock and Fund Stories are groundbreaking features
• High-quality proprietary research
• Some site elements slow to load
• No crypto, futures, forex or penny stocks

Best trading app for beginners

Earning a recommendation based on its trading platform alone, E*TRADE is great for any beginner stock trader. Power E*TRADE is easy to use and offers features including paper (practice) trading and note-taking. Its educational content, though plentiful, can be a challenge to navigate. Read full review

• Watch lists are the best in the business
• Smooth mobile navigation
• High-quality high-net-worth Morgan Stanley proprietary research
• Cryptocurrencies not currently available
• Margin rates are high compared to other brokers

Outstanding market research

Charles Schwab is a terrific all-around choice for everyday investors that offers a thorough educational experience and support for beginners, with its Choiceology podcast a standout. Paper (practice) trading is not available, however. Read full review

• TD Ameritrade’s excellent thinkorswim trading platforms now available
• Trading-friendly app and browser enhancements
• Exceptional high net worth services
• No cryptocurrency trading
• Mutual fund fees are complex

Best for global investors

Beginners and foreign stock aficionados will enjoy using Global Trader, which allows fractional stock trades, options trading and convenient access to foreign shares. Everything is clearly laid out and easy to operate. I’d rank Global Trader above many apps from beginner-focused brokers. Read full review

• Astounding array of customizable tools
• Allows trading in foreign markets
• Convenient apps for individual investors
• Restrictive trading permissions
• Main platforms might feel cold

Best for Ease of Use

Robinhood is very easy to use and its educational content is a joy to read. But, in today’s competitive market for your investing dollars, there are several more compelling options among brokerages. Read full review

• Famously easy to use
• Extensive crypto support with zero commissions and no markups or markdowns
• Learn section has some excellent writing
• Charges $5 monthly fee for data and research that’s free at many other brokers
• Limited investment choices
• Not enough tools for active trading

Best for Ally Bank customers

For current Ally customers looking to invest in stocks, Ally's universal-accounts experience and easy-to-use website offer a convenient solution. Its website is far stronger than the mobile app. Read full review

• Excellent banking via Ally Bank
• Universal account management
• $0 stock and ETF trades alongside a $0 minimum deposit
• Trails industry leaders in areas including platforms, tools, research, and education

compare_arrows Compare trading platforms head-to-head

Use the broker comparison tool to compare over 150 different account features and fees.

Compare brokers now

Winners Summary

Best overall for beginners - fidelity.

Fidelity, our 2024 winner for Best Overall Broker, is also my top pick for beginners. Our testing found that Fidelity has two beginner-friendly mobile apps, an extensive investor education library and high-quality independent research. Fidelity is easy to use and allows fractional trades of stock and ETF shares. It also offers a Youth account, which netted our Best Innovation award in 2022. Read review .

Screenshot tour of Fidelity's market research

Screenshot tour of Fidelity's educational resources

Best research for beginners - Merrill Edge

If you’re interested in investing in individual stocks or funds, my testing found that Merrill Edge’s Stock Stories and Fund Stories do phenomenal jobs presenting highly relevant info in a friendly way. I don’t think there’s a better way for everyday investors to learn how to research stocks than starting with Merrill’s Stock or Fund Stories. If I had these available when I taught stock investing at a business school, I would have used them in my class.

Once you’ve mastered the Stories and are ready to take a deeper dive into the numbers, Merrill has an extensive selection of Bank of America Securities and third-party research at the ready. Read review .

Screenshot tour of Merrill Edge's market research

Screenshot tour of Merrill Edge's educational resources

The Stock Story feature on the Merrill Edge mobile app.

Best trading app for beginners - E*TRADE

Our testing found that E*TRADE has the best trading app for beginners and has one of the best trading websites, too. New investors will appreciate the intuitive layouts and well-organized menus of portfolio and market information.

The same can’t be said for its investor education, which we found to be a mixed bag in our testing. E*TRADE does not allow clients to buy fractional shares, but does offer paper trading on its advanced trading platform, Power E*TRADE, at no cost. Read review .

Screenshot tour of E*TRADE's market research

Screenshot tour of E*TRADE's educational resources

Pricing and fees comparison

Here's a comparison of pricing across beginner trading platforms. To compare all our collected data side by side, check out our online broker comparison tool .

Beginner education comparison

Here's a comparison of the most popular educational features offered by beginner trading platforms. To compare all our collected data side by side, check out our online broker comparison tool .

Trading platforms tested, data findings

As part of our research process, we create a list of features, set strict definitions for each so our testing is uniform, collect the data, then extrapolate the resulting data to see how common each feature is across the industry as a whole. Here's our findings. To compare all our collected data side by side, check out our online broker comparison tool .

What is a trading platform and how does it work?

A trading platform, otherwise known as an online brokerage account, allows you to buy and sell investments via computer or mobile app. The brokerage holds your investmenta and deposited cash for you and provides activity reports and account statements. It also credits any interest accrued and dividends to your account. To open an online broker account in the United States, you will need a Social Security number and you will be required to enter basic financial information such as your name, address, phone number, and trading experience.

In the United States, brokers are regulated by both FINRA and the SIPC. The SIPC insures $500,000 per account including up to $250,000 in cash against theft or the firm going belly-up. It’s important to remember, however, that insurance does not protect any investor against losses due to market fluctuations.

How much money do you need to start investing?

Most trading platforms in the United States don’t require minimum account balances. Now you can open an account, fund it with a dollar or two, and buy a fraction of a share of stock. You can also practice investing with no money at all at a broker that offers virtual trading, also called paper trading. See our top broker picks for paper trading .

Which type of trading is best for beginners?

Beginners should consider starting off with swing trading, which means holding an investment for more than one day and less than a couple of months. It’s less time-consuming and stressful than day trading. Stocks are particularly good for beginners to test the waters. Wait until you have more experience before using options, short selling, and buying on margin.

Learn more: Are penny stocks worth investing in? Read our guide, Best Brokers for Penny Stock Trading . Not sure if trading is right for you? Check out our guide on how to invest on our sister site, investor.com.

Can I teach myself how to trade?

Yes, you can teach yourself to trade, provided you have realistic expectations and stay at it through a full market boom-and-bust cycle. Don’t invest more than a fraction of your trading capital at once, and keep a trading journal noting why you entered and exited each trade and how well that trade performed. Most traders fail because they focus on chasing the upside more than managing risk. Dive deeper: Learn more about trading journals for stock trading on our sister site, investor.com.

How do beginners trade stocks?

• Open a self-directed brokerage account.
• Decide how much money you can afford to risk.
• Deposit or transfer the money to your new account.
• Learn how to place an order and view your stocks at the broker you’ve chosen.
• Practice trading, either through a virtual portfolio or very small amounts of your own money with each trade.
• Keep a trading journal.
• Read, read, read. Here's a list of the best stock trading books on our sister site, investor.com.
• Follow market news and practice forming your own opinions.
• Monitor your results closely and adjust when it’s not working. Stay with it.

What is paper trading?

Paper trading, or virtual trading, is a trading platform feature that enables the trading of stocks, ETFs, and options with virtual currency (fake money). This helpful learning tool is popular with beginners and is a great way to practice stock trading without risking real money. Dive deeper: Best brokers for paper trading .

What are fractional shares?

A fractional share is a portion of a full share of a publicly traded company. Fractional shares enable investors with smaller budgets to buy a stake in companies with high stock prices. For example, instead of spending over $87 to buy one Amazon (AMZN) share, a trader could purchase a $10 fractional share – and then own a proportional fraction of that share. A real-world example is Charles Schwab's Schwab Stock Slices, which are fractional shares of any company in the S&P 500 and carry a minimum purchase of $5. Other brokers that offer fractional trading include Fidelity, Interactive Brokers, Webull, SoFi Invest, and Robinhood.

What is a market order?

A market order is an order to buy or sell a security (such as stock) at the current best-available market price. Market orders are the most common type of order, as they are the fastest and easiest way to buy and sell shares.

What is a limit order?

A limit order lets you buy or sell a security at a pre-specified price or better. Since limit orders are fixed to a prespecified price, they will only fill when the limit price is reached. Limit orders are best when you know the exact price you want to buy or sell a stock.

Is online trading safe?

Online trading is safe if you use a regulated online stock broker and never invest more than you are willing to lose. Trading stocks online is inherently risky. Start with a small amount of money, read investing books, and keep it simple by buying and holding for the long term rather than trying to time the market.

Our Research

Why you should trust us.

Sam Levine, CFA, CMT , the lead writer for StockBrokers.com, has over 30 years of investing experience and actively trades stocks, ETFs, options, futures, and options on futures. He's held roles as a portfolio manager, financial consultant, investment strategist and journalist. He holds the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) and the Chartered Market Technician (CMT) designations and served on the board of directors of the CMT Association.

Blain Reinkensmeyer , head of research at StockBrokers.com, has been investing and trading for over 25 years. After having placed over 2,000 trades in his late teens and early 20s, he became one of the first in digital media to review online brokerages. Blain created the original scoring rubric for StockBrokers.com and oversees all testing and rating methodologies.

For this guide:

• Whenever possible, we used our own brokerage accounts for testing. For several brokers, we used a test account that was provided to us.
• We collected more than 3,000 data points (196 per broker).
• We tested each online broker's website, browser-based trading platform (where applicable), downloadable desktop trading platform (where applicable), and of course, the mobile app (or apps in the case of several brokers).

How we tested

Our research team rigorously tests the most important features sought by beginning investors and traders, including the quality and variety of educational resources, ease of use of any available trading platforms and the availability of of market research and commentary suitable for novices. We also looked at which brokers offer unique features like webinars, live seminars, videos, progress tracking, paper trading (aka a stock market simulator) and interactive educational elements such as quizzes.

StockBrokers.com uses a variety of computing devices to evaluate trading platforms. Our reviews were conducted using the following devices: iPhone 12 Pro, iPhone 15 Pro Max, MacBook Pro M1 with 8 GB RAM running the current MacOS, and a Dell Vostro 5402 laptop i5 with 8 GB RAM running Windows 11 Pro. In testing platforms and apps, our reviewers place actual trades for a variety of instruments.

As part of our data check process, we sent a data profile link to each broker summarizing the data we had on file and the data they provided us last year, with a field for entering any data that had since changed. For the brokers that filled out these profiles, we audited the information for any discrepancies between our data and the broker’s data to ensure accuracy.

As part of our review process, all brokers had the opportunity to provide updates and key milestones in a live meeting that took place in the fall. Meetings with broker teams also took place throughout the year as new products rolled out. Insights gathered from these calls helped steer our testing efforts to ensure every feature and tool was assessed.

Trading platforms tested

• Ally Invest review
• Charles Schwab review
• eToro review
• E*TRADE review
• Fidelity review
• Firstrade review
• Interactive Brokers review
• J.P. Morgan Self-Directed Investing review
• Merrill Edge review
• Public.com review
• Robinhood review
• SoFi Invest review
• tastytrade review
• TradeStation review
• Tradier review
• Vanguard review
• Webull review

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More guides

Popular stock broker reviews, about the editorial team.

Sam Levine has over 30 years of experience in the investing field as a portfolio manager, financial consultant, investment strategist and writer. He also taught investing as an adjunct professor of finance at Wayne State University. Sam holds the Chartered Financial Analyst and the Chartered Market Technician designations and is pursuing a master's in personal financial planning at the College for Financial Planning. Previously, he was a contributing editor at BetterInvesting Magazine and a contributor to The Penny Hoarder and other media outlets.

Carolyn Kimball is managing editor for Reink Media and the lead editor for the StockBrokers.com Annual Review. Carolyn has more than 20 years of writing and editing experience at major media outlets including NerdWallet, the Los Angeles Times and the San Jose Mercury News. She specializes in coverage of personal financial products and services, wielding her editing skills to clarify complex (some might say befuddling) topics to help consumers make informed decisions about their money.

Steven Hatzakis is the Global Director of Research for ForexBrokers.com. Steven previously served as an Editor for Finance Magnates, where he authored over 1,000 published articles about the online finance industry. Steven is an active fintech and crypto industry researcher and advises blockchain companies at the board level. Over the past 20 years, Steven has held numerous positions within the international forex markets, from writing to consulting to serving as a registered commodity futures representative.

Blain Reinkensmeyer has 20 years of trading experience with over 2,500 trades placed during that time. He heads research for all U.S.-based brokerages on StockBrokers.com and is respected by executives as the leading expert covering the online broker industry. Blain’s insights have been featured in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Forbes, and the Chicago Tribune, among other media outlets.