Hi, I am having this problem that I am to begin writing a paper that I left unfinished a few months back. I am done with grasping the efiles that I downloaded at that time. Now I am left with the heap of articles (more than 100). Can anyone guide me the best way of filing these articles that I physically have so that I am able to locate then when need to check a reference for instance?
Kindly note that I am one of those people who highlight and take notes in the margins and have a sense of ownership of the written notes taken on the actual article.
I will be grateful for any guidance wrt filing
many thanks iman

Couple of large ring binders and a-z index cards. I file by first author surname, but you know whatever works!

I have a small filing cabinet that has been a life-saver. Everything's nicely organised by theme and spaced out so it's easy to find something when I need to.

Hi, thanks very much for the advice/sharing your experience. So when you organise around the themes, then how do you mange if one paper has two themes for instance space/resistance?

That's a tough one, I'll admit! I guess you know how your mind works more than anyone else, and with my articles for example, I guess I think about how I'll remember them in the future - what's the key theme that I'll think about first? Which theme is most relevant to my topic? Otherwise, alphabetical (or even chronological?) is a good way to organise as you can't argue with the alphabet!