N ormally, when a student-writer responds to an essay question, so much reading is required that it is impossible to store all the information mentally in order to complete the assignment. N otes should be brief enough to enable the reader-writer to recycle information using his own words, while not so brief that meaning becomes lost. Where an academic writer fails to acknowledge that an extract is indeed a quote, he is guilty of plagiarising.
Plagiarism is, in fact, so serious that it is an offence.
It is thus necessary to make notes while reading information which is relevant to the assignment question. E veryone develops their own style of notemaking, but here are some sound suggestions if you need guidance. Notes are well spread out. It is difficult to refer to bits of information which are indistinguishable one from the other on the page. Main information is noted flush with the margin, written in capital letters, underlined, highlighted, or marked with a star or a dot - or a combination of these.