Organizing & Synthesizing Information

1. Note Taking
   Note Cards
   Notebook Paper Files
   Research Grid
   Sequential Organizer
   Cause & Effect Organizer
2. Plagiarism
3. Citing Sources

Organizing and synthesizing the information you find is the way this information becomes your own to use. You should be prepared to summarize, interpret, explain and analyze as you research. You cannot skip this step and truly own the information you find. Any form of cutting and pasting OR copying OR highlighting indicates only that you have located information. It does not indicate that you know how you would use it to answer your research questions. Using information without taking the steps to organize and synthesize almost always leads to some form of plagiarizing.