Determining how you are going to manage or organize your research now may seem daunting, but it will save you time later. Here are some ways that you can collect, manage, and cite your research sources.
Most Basic, Citing Your Sources: you will need to cite the sources that you use in your assignments, thus attributing the information to the original author. Your instructor may specify which citation style you should use. The most common citation style in Communication-related disciplines is APA Style, but some scholars use Chicago Style or MLA Style. See the Citation Styles & Tools Guide for links to online citation help, citation generators, and more.
More Advanced, Using a Citation Manager: create your own web-based research database by saving your citations (and sometimes the complete texts) using citation management software. The UW Libraries support EndNote, Mendeley, and Zotero. See the Citation Management Software page for a comparison of EndNote, Mendeley, and Zotero and help using them.