Writing Research Log

Who this is for

Where every fact came from. Each line records a question you looked up, the source, what you found and the chapter or scene that uses it, so any detail can be checked again at revision or when a reader asks.

Historical, crime and literary novelists, non-fiction authors, and anyone whose book leans on facts about places, periods, professions or procedures they had to look up.

What this helps you track

• Each question or topic you researched, with the date
• The source for each fact: book, archive, website or person
• Where the fact is used in the manuscript
• Which facts are verified and which need a second source
• Open questions still to research

How to use it

1. Write the project and the main topic areas you expect to research at the top.
2. Add any question you cannot answer yet to the open questions table as it comes up, so drafting can carry on.
3. When you look something up, add a line to the log with the source in enough detail to find it again: title, page, web address or name.
4. Write where the fact is used once it goes into the manuscript, and tick verified when a second source agrees.
5. At revision, work down the follow-up column and check every unverified line.

Formats

• Printable PDF (A4 and US Letter)
• Fillable PDF with form fields
• Fill in online, saved in your browser

The printable is laid out inside a box that fits both A4 and US Letter, so the two files are identical and neither one is scaled. The fillable PDF has real form fields. The online version keeps what you enter in your own browser and builds the completed PDF on your device.

How to print

Download the A4 or US Letter file to match the paper in your printer, open it in a PDF reader and print at 100% — not "fit to page", which shrinks the writing space. Both files leave a 14 mm margin, which clears the unprintable edge on home printers. To print the online version with your entries in it, use the Print this sheet button, which prints only the sheet and none of the page around it. More on printing.

Questions

How much detail should I write for a source?

Enough to find it again in a year: author, title and page for a book, the full address and date seen for a web page, the name and date for a conversation. A vague source is almost as bad as none.

What does verified mean here?

Whatever standard you set for your book. Many writers tick it when a second, independent source agrees. The sheet does not set a rule; it gives you a column to record your own.

Why a separate table for open questions?

So a gap in your knowledge does not stop the draft. Note the question, keep writing and come back to the list in a research session. Answered questions move into the log.

Can I use it for a genealogy or local history book?

Yes. The log suits any book built on research. Sources for family records are often worth recording in more detail, with reference numbers, so another researcher can find them.