article annotation template

How to Prepare an Annotated Bibliography

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Sample Annotations

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SAMPLE DESCRIPTIVE ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY ENTRY FOR A JOURNAL ARTICLE

The following example uses the APA format for the journal citation.

Waite, L. J., Goldschneider, F. K., & Witsberger, C. (1986). Nonfamily living and the erosion of traditional family orientations among young adults. American Sociological Review, 51 (4), 541-554.

This example uses the MLA format for the journal citation. NOTE: Standard MLA practice requires double spacing within citations.

Waite, Linda J., Frances Kobrin Goldscheider, and Christina Witsberger. "Nonfamily Living and the Erosion of Traditional Family Orientations Among Young Adults." American Sociological Review 51.4 (1986): 541-554. Print.

More Sample Annotations

• ​​ Annotated Bibliography Examples
• ​ Annotated Bibliography Samples

The University of Toronto offers  an example  that illustrates how to summarize a study's research methods and argument.

The Memorial University of Newfoundland presents  these examples of both descriptive and critical annotations.

The Writing Center at the University of Wisconsin gives examples  of the some of the most common forms of annotated bibliographies.

The Writing Center at the University of North Carolina gives examples of several different forms of annotated bibliographies in 3 popular citation formats: 

• MLA Example
• APA Example
• CBE Example

This page was adapted with permission from the following:

http://guides.library.cornell.edu/annotatedbibliography

How to prepare an annotated bibliography Research & Learning Services Olin Library Cornell University Library  Ithaca, NY, USA

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How To Annotate An Article: Learn Annotation Strategies

Understand how to Annotate an Article through this tutorial. Learn efficient strategies for effective annotation using online tools, etc:

Whether you are a student or a professional, knowing how to annotate will surely be a valuable tool in your repertoire. Annotation is an active learning strategy that will help you get the most out of any text in terms of both comprehension and retention.

Learning how to annotate will give you a way to better engage with various types of complex reading material, such as articles, essays, literary texts, research papers. But what does ‘annotate’ mean, and how do you do it?

Read this tutorial to find out what annotation is, why it is useful, and how to annotate an article or a bibliography. We’ve also added some useful strategies for effective annotation.

Table of Contents:

What Does ‘Annotate’ Mean

Why is annotation useful, how do you annotate, what is an annotated bibliography, #1) using a key/legend, #2) using stationery, #3) using online tools, frequently asked questions, was this helpful, recommended reading, how to annotate an article.

To ‘annotate’ is, simply, to ‘add notes’. These could be comments, explanations, criticisms, or questions pertaining to whatever text you’re reading.

To annotate a text, you generally highlight or underline important pieces of information and make notes in the margin. You can annotate different texts.

As a student, you can annotate articles , essays , or even textbooks . Research students who compile and reference a long list of sources for their thesis will find it useful to know how to annotate a bibliography .

As a professional, knowing how to annotate will help you easily comprehend and retain any important information from reports  or other official documents  that you might have to read in the course of your work.

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A well-annotated text can give you a better understanding of complex information. There are several reasons you should annotate a text.

Few of them are enlisted below:

• Annotating an article lets you become familiar with the location and organization of its content. Thus, it becomes easier and faster to find important information when reviewing .
• When you annotate a text, you clearly identify and distinguish the key points from the supporting details or evidence, which makes it easier to follow the development of ideas and arguments .
• You can also use annotations to build an organized knowledge base, by structuring or categorizing information in an easy-to-access way. Annotating is particularly handy when you need to extract important information , such as relevant quotes or statistics.
• Annotating is an excellent way of actively engaging with a text , by adding your own comments, observations, opinions, questions, associations, or any other reactions you have as you read the text.
• Annotations are especially useful when you need to work on a shared document . You can use annotations to draw your team’s attention towards certain important or interesting information, or even to initiate group discussions on a particular concept, problem, or question.

Annotating a text involves a ‘close reading’ of it. In this section, you will find some examples of annotated texts.

Example of an annotated article: Does ‘‘Science’’ Make You Moral?

Example of an annotated literary text: Annotations on a poem – The Road Not Taken

Follow these key steps when annotating any text:

Step 1: Scan

This is really a pre-reading technique.

• At first glance, make a note of the title of the text, and subheadings, if any, to identify the topic of the text.
• Analyze the source, i.e. the author or the publisher, to evaluate its reliability and usefulness.
• Look for an abstract if there is one, as well as any bold or italicized words and phrases, which might offer further clues about the text’s purpose and intended audience.

Step 2: Skim

Use this first read-through to quickly find the focus of the text, i.e. its main idea or argument. Do this by reading just the first few lines of each paragraph.

• Identify and highlight/underline the main idea.
• Write a summary (only a sentence or two) of the topic in your own words, in the margins, or up top near the title.

Step 3: Read

The second read-through of the text is a slower, more thorough reading. Now that you know what the text is about, as well as what information you can expect to encounter, you can read it more deliberately, and pay attention to details that are important and/or interesting.

• Identify and highlight/underline the supporting points or arguments in the body paragraphs, including relevant evidence or examples.
• Paraphrase and summarize key information in the margins.
• Make a note of any unfamiliar or technical vocabulary.
• Note down questions that come to your mind as you read, any confusion, or your agreement or disagreement with ideas in the text.
• Make personal notes – write your opinion, your thoughts, and reactions to the information in the text.
• Draw connections between different ideas, either within the text itself, or to ideas in other texts, or discussions.

Step 4: Outline

To really solidify your understanding of the content and organization of the text, write an outline tracking the points at which new ideas are introduced, as well as the points where these ideas are developed.

An effective outline will include:

• A summary of the text’s main idea.
• Supporting arguments/evidence.
• Opposing viewpoints (if relevant)

A Bibliography is a list of the books (or other texts) referred to, or cited, in academic texts such as essays, thesis, and research papers, and is usually included at the end of the text. It is also known as a Reference List , or a List of Works Cited , depending on the style of formatting.

The APA (American Psychological Association) and MLA (Modern Language Association) styles of formatting are most commonly used. The format may vary depending on the institution or publication, however, the same basic information is required for each individual reference or citation in a bibliography.

This includes:

• Author’s name
• Title of the text
• Date of publication
• Source of publication i.e. the journal, magazine, or website where the text is published

An Annotated Bibliography contains, in addition to the basic information above, a descriptive summary, as well as and an evaluation of each individual entry. The purpose of this is to inform the reader about the relevance, accuracy, and reliability of each reference or citation.

An annotated bibliography is titled ‘ Annotated Reference List ’ or ‘ Annotated List of Works Cited ’, which can be listed alphabetically by author, title, date of publication, or even by subject.

Let us see an example of an entry in an annotated bibliography, formatted in both the APA and MLA styles.

Example of an APA-style annotated bibliography:

Example of an MLA-style annotated bibliography:

Strategies For Annotation

Depending on whether you are reading printed or online text, you can either annotate by hand, using stationery and/or symbols or by using document programs.

The following strategies will help you annotate as you read:

Create a key or legend for annotating your text with different types of markings and specify what kind of information each marking indicates. This will help to easily identify and access relevant pieces of content.

For example, you can underline key points, highlight quotes or statistics, and circle unfamiliar words/phrases. You can also use punctuation – question marks for things that spark your curiosity as you read; exclamation points for something that catches your attention, or maybe surprises you; arrows that link the content to other points or ideas within the text, or outside of it.

Pens and markers are most commonly used to highlight or underline key points in the text. These are, however, the least active ways of engaging with any text, and you might end up highlighting or underlining more of the text than is necessary.

It also isn’t always possible to use pens and markers on printed text. You might have to return the book or magazine to the library. For example,  you can always use post-its in such cases.

If you are using markers and/or post-its, use different colors for different types of annotations in the text. For example, use green for definitions and explanations, yellow for questions, and pink for personal notes.

Once you know how to annotate a text, you can do this online too! There are different mobile apps and online softwares that can help you annotate digital documents such as PDFs, online articles, and web pages.

Digital annotation tools allow you to mark up online text by adding notes and comments, highlighting key information, and capturing screenshots. They also let you perform various other tasks, including draw on, bookmark, and share webpages. They are particularly useful when you need to work on shared documents with a team.

Here is a list of the most commonly used digital annotation tools:

• hypothes.is

Some of these digital annotation tools are free, such as Diigo and A.nnotate , while others like Filestage and Cronycle are paid tools. You can also download extensions that will allow you to annotate webpages, such as hypothes.is , which is a free browser extension, or Grackle , an add-on tool for Google Docs.

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Q #1) How do you annotate step by step?

Answer: Here is how to annotate an article in three simple steps:

• First, before reading the article in full, look for some basic important information such as the title and author, subheadings if relevant. This will give you an idea as to the topic and intended audience of the article.
• Second, skim through the article to identify the main idea, along with supporting arguments or evidence.
• Third, read the article thoroughly while noting down more details such as comments, questions, and your personal responses to the article.

Q #2) What are the benefits of annotation?

• If you know how to annotate a text, you can actively engage with, and make sense of, the information presented in any text.
• Annotation familiarizes you with the organization of information, so you can follow the development of ideas in the text.
• Knowing how to annotate an article of text is helpful when you review, as you can access relevant pieces of information more easily and quickly.
• Annotating also makes it easier and more efficient to work with others on shared documents.

Q #3) What are 5 different ways to annotate?

Answer: There are many ways to annotate a text or article. Such as:

• Highlight and/or underline important information.
• Paraphrase and/or summarize key points.
• Make notes in the margin.
• Write an outline of the text.
• Use online tools to annotate web pages, online articles, and PDFs.

Q #4) What are some annotation strategies?

Answer: You can get the most out of annotating a text by adding a key or legend, which uses different markings for different types of information. You can also use pens, markers, and post-its effectively by assigning different colors to different purposes.

If you are working with online documents, you can use digital annotation softwares such as Diigo and A.nnotate , or free extensions/add-ons like hypothes.is or Grackle .

Q #5) What should you look for while annotating?

Answer: When annotating any text, look for and make note of the following:

• Key points i.e. the main or important ideas.
• Questions that occur to you as you read.
• Recurring themes or symbols.
• Quotes or statistics.
• Unfamiliar and technical concepts or terminology.
• Links to ideas in texts or related to experiences.

There are several benefits to learning how to annotate an article as you read. The more you practice, the more effective you will become at annotation, which will improve how easily and quickly you can make sense of texts that you read.

• Read the text once to gain an insight into the topic of the article, marking only essential information, such as the focus of the text and the main idea, based on the title and subheadings.
• Read the text again, highlighting or underlining as you read, to identify and summarize relevant information, such as supporting arguments or evidence.
• Make notes, add comments and questions, including personal responses to the text.
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How to Write an Annotated Bibliography - APA Style (7th Edition)

What is an annotation, how is an annotation different from an abstract, what is an annotated bibliography, types of annotated bibliographies, descriptive or informative, analytical or critical, to get started.

An annotation is more than just a brief summary of an article, book, website, or other type of publication. An annotation should give enough information to make a reader decide whether to read the complete work. In other words, if the reader were exploring the same topic as you, is this material useful and if so, why?

While an abstract also summarizes an article, book, website, or other type of publication, it is purely descriptive. Although annotations can be descriptive, they also include distinctive features about an item. Annotations can be evaluative and critical as we will see when we look at the two major types of annotations.

An annotated bibliography is an organized list of sources (like a reference list). It differs from a straightforward bibliography in that each reference is followed by a paragraph length annotation, usually 100–200 words in length.

Depending on the assignment, an annotated bibliography might have different purposes:

• Provide a literature review on a particular subject
• Help to formulate a thesis on a subject
• Demonstrate the research you have performed on a particular subject
• Provide examples of major sources of information available on a topic
• Describe items that other researchers may find of interest on a topic

There are two major types of annotated bibliographies:

A descriptive or informative annotated bibliography describes or summarizes a source as does an abstract; it describes why the source is useful for researching a particular topic or question and its distinctive features. In addition, it describes the author's main arguments and conclusions without evaluating what the author says or concludes.

For example:

McKinnon, A. (2019). Lessons learned in year one of business.  Journal of Legal Nurse Consulting ,  30 (4), 26–28. This article describes some of the difficulties many nurses experience when transitioning from nursing to a legal nurse consulting business. Pointing out issues of work-life balance, as well as the differences of working for someone else versus working for yourself, the author offers their personal experience as a learning tool. The process of becoming an entrepreneur is not often discussed in relation to nursing, and rarely delves into only the first year of starting a new business. Time management, maintaining an existing job, decision-making, and knowing yourself in order to market yourself are discussed with some detail. The author goes on to describe how important both the nursing professional community will be to a new business, and the importance of mentorship as both the mentee and mentor in individual success that can be found through professional connections. The article’s focus on practical advice for nurses seeking to start their own business does not detract from the advice about universal struggles of entrepreneurship makes this an article of interest to a wide-ranging audience.

An analytical or critical annotation not only summarizes the material, it analyzes what is being said. It examines the strengths and weaknesses of what is presented as well as describing the applicability of the author's conclusions to the research being conducted.

Analytical or critical annotations will most likely be required when writing for a college-level course.

McKinnon, A. (2019). Lessons learned in year one of business.  Journal of Legal Nurse Consulting ,  30 (4), 26–28. This article describes some of the difficulty many nurses experience when transitioning from nursing to a nurse consulting business. While the article focuses on issues of work-life balance, the differences of working for someone else versus working for yourself, marketing, and other business issues the author’s offer of only their personal experience is brief with few or no alternative solutions provided. There is no mention throughout the article of making use of other research about starting a new business and being successful. While relying on the anecdotal advice for their list of issues, the author does reference other business resources such as the Small Business Administration to help with business planning and professional organizations that can help with mentorships. The article is a good resource for those wanting to start their own legal nurse consulting business, a good first advice article even. However, entrepreneurs should also use more business research studies focused on starting a new business, with strategies against known or expected pitfalls and issues new businesses face, and for help on topics the author did not touch in this abbreviated list of lessons learned.

Now you are ready to begin writing your own annotated bibliography.

• Choose your sources - Before writing your annotated bibliography, you must choose your sources. This involves doing research much like for any other project. Locate records to materials that may apply to your topic.
• Review the items - Then review the actual items and choose those that provide a wide variety of perspectives on your topic. Article abstracts are helpful in this process.
• The purpose of the work
• A summary of its content
• Information about the author(s)
• For what type of audience the work is written
• Its relevance to the topic
• Any special or unique features about the material
• Research methodology
• The strengths, weaknesses or biases in the material

Annotated bibliographies may be arranged alphabetically or chronologically, check with your instructor to see what he or she prefers.

Please see the  APA Examples page  for more information on citing in APA style.

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American Psychological Association (APA) Annotations

Creating an annotated bibliography in APA style

The Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association  7th edition (APA Manual) is kept behind the iDesk on the First Floor.

This example is based on the APA style guide, but your instructor might give you other formatting instructions . 

General guidelines

Some annotations are merely descriptive , summarizing the authors' qualifications, research methods, and arguments. 

Many annotations evaluate the quality of scholarship in a book or article.  You might want to consider the logic of authors' arguments, and the quality of their evidence.  Your findings can be positive, negative, or mixed.

Your professor might also want you to explain why the source is relevant to your assignment. 

Sample Page: APA-formatted annotated bibliography

Rules! rules! rules!

The Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (7th ed.) states the following formatting rules:

• The text and the reference list should be double-spaced.
• Numbering starts on the title page, at the top right of the page.
• Reference list entries must have a hanging indent (to do this in Microsoft Word 2003, click Format, then Paragraph, then Special, and choose Hanging).
• There should be 1 inch (2.54 cm) margins all around (top, bottom, left, and right) on each page.
• Use Times Roman font, or a similar serif font.
• Each paragraph should be indented.

More Sample Annotations

Cornell University Library offers these instructions on preparing an annotated bibliography.

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How to Annotate Texts

Use the links below to jump directly to any section of this guide:

Annotation Fundamentals

How to start annotating , how to annotate digital texts, how to annotate a textbook, how to annotate a scholarly article or book, how to annotate literature, how to annotate images, videos, and performances, additional resources for teachers.

Writing in your books can make you smarter. Or, at least (according to education experts), annotation–an umbrella term for underlining, highlighting, circling, and, most importantly, leaving comments in the margins–helps students to remember and comprehend what they read. Annotation is like a conversation between reader and text. Proper annotation allows students to record their own opinions and reactions, which can serve as the inspiration for research questions and theses. So, whether you're reading a novel, poem, news article, or science textbook, taking notes along the way can give you an advantage in preparing for tests or writing essays. This guide contains resources that explain the benefits of annotating texts, provide annotation tools, and suggest approaches for diverse kinds of texts; the last section includes lesson plans and exercises for teachers.

Why annotate? As the resources below explain, annotation allows students to emphasize connections to material covered elsewhere in the text (or in other texts), material covered previously in the course, or material covered in lectures and discussion. In other words, proper annotation is an organizing tool and a time saver. The links in this section will introduce you to the theory, practice, and purpose of annotation. 

How to Mark a Book, by Mortimer Adler

This famous, charming essay lays out the case for marking up books, and provides practical suggestions at the end including underlining, highlighting, circling key words, using vertical lines to mark shifts in tone/subject, numbering points in an argument, and keeping track of questions that occur to you as you read. 

How Annotation Reshapes Student Thinking (TeacherHUB)

In this article, a high school teacher discusses the importance of annotation and how annotation encourages more effective critical thinking.

The Future of Annotation (Journal of Business and Technical Communication)

This scholarly article summarizes research on the benefits of annotation in the classroom and in business. It also discusses how technology and digital texts might affect the future of annotation. 

Annotating to Deepen Understanding (Texas Education Agency)

This website provides another introduction to annotation (designed for 11th graders). It includes a helpful section that teaches students how to annotate reading comprehension passages on tests.

Once you understand what annotation is, you're ready to begin. But what tools do you need? How do you prepare? The resources linked in this section list strategies and techniques you can use to start annotating. 

What is Annotating? (Charleston County School District)

This resource gives an overview of annotation styles, including useful shorthands and symbols. This is a good place for a student who has never annotated before to begin.

How to Annotate Text While Reading (YouTube)

This video tutorial (appropriate for grades 6–10) explains the basic ins and outs of annotation and gives examples of the type of information students should be looking for.

Annotation Practices: Reading a Play-text vs. Watching Film (U Calgary)

This blog post, written by a student, talks about how the goals and approaches of annotation might change depending on the type of text or performance being observed. 

Annotating Texts with Sticky Notes (Lyndhurst Schools)

Sometimes students are asked to annotate books they don't own or can't write in for other reasons. This resource provides some strategies for using sticky notes instead.

Teaching Students to Close Read...When You Can't Mark the Text (Performing in Education)

Here, a sixth grade teacher demonstrates the strategies she uses for getting her students to annotate with sticky notes. This resource includes a link to the teacher's free Annotation Bookmark (via Teachers Pay Teachers).

Digital texts can present a special challenge when it comes to annotation; emerging research suggests that many students struggle to critically read and retain information from digital texts. However, proper annotation can solve the problem. This section contains links to the most highly-utilized platforms for electronic annotation.

Evernote is one of the two big players in the "digital annotation apps" game. In addition to allowing users to annotate digital documents, the service (for a fee) allows users to group multiple formats (PDF, webpages, scanned hand-written notes) into separate notebooks, create voice recordings, and sync across all sorts of devices. 

OneNote is Evernote's main competitor. Reviews suggest that OneNote allows for more freedom for digital note-taking than Evernote, but that it is slightly more awkward to import and annotate a PDF, especially on certain platforms. However, OneNote's free version is slightly more feature-filled, and OneNote allows you to link your notes to time stamps on an audio recording.

Diigo is a basic browser extension that allows a user to annotate webpages. Diigo also offers a Screenshot app that allows for direct saving to Google Drive.

While the creators of Hypothesis like to focus on their app's social dimension, students are more likely to be interested in the private highlighting and annotating functions of this program.

Foxit PDF Reader

Foxit is one of the leading PDF readers. Though the full suite must be purchased, Foxit offers a number of annotation and highlighting tools for free.

Nitro PDF Reader

This is another well-reviewed, free PDF reader that includes annotation and highlighting. Annotation, text editing, and other tools are included in the free version.

Goodreader is a very popular Mac-only app that includes annotation and editing tools for PDFs, Word documents, Powerpoint, and other formats.

Although textbooks have vocabulary lists, summaries, and other features to emphasize important material, annotation can allow students to process information and discover their own connections. This section links to guides and video tutorials that introduce you to textbook annotation. 

Annotating Textbooks (Niagara University)

This PDF provides a basic introduction as well as strategies including focusing on main ideas, working by section or chapter, annotating in your own words, and turning section headings into questions.

A Simple Guide to Text Annotation (Catawba College)

The simple, practical strategies laid out in this step-by-step guide will help students learn how to break down chapters in their textbooks using main ideas, definitions, lists, summaries, and potential test questions.

Annotating (Mercer Community College)

This packet, an excerpt from a literature textbook, provides a short exercise and some examples of how to do textbook annotation, including using shorthand and symbols.

Reading Your Healthcare Textbook: Annotation (Saddleback College)

This powerpoint contains a number of helpful suggestions, especially for students who are new to annotation. It emphasizes limited highlighting, lots of student writing, and using key words to find the most important information in a textbook. Despite the title, it is useful to a student in any discipline.

Annotating a Textbook (Excelsior College OWL)

This video (with included transcript) discusses how to use textbook features like boxes and sidebars to help guide annotation. It's an extremely helpful, detailed discussion of how textbooks are organized.

Because scholarly articles and books have complex arguments and often depend on technical vocabulary, they present particular challenges for an annotating student. The resources in this section help students get to the heart of scholarly texts in order to annotate and, by extension, understand the reading.

Annotating a Text (Hunter College)

This resource is designed for college students and shows how to annotate a scholarly article using highlighting, paraphrase, a descriptive outline, and a two-margin approach. It ends with a sample passage marked up using the strategies provided. 

Guide to Annotating the Scholarly Article (ReadWriteThink.org)

This is an effective introduction to annotating scholarly articles across all disciplines. This resource encourages students to break down how the article uses primary and secondary sources and to annotate the types of arguments and persuasive strategies (synthesis, analysis, compare/contrast).

How to Highlight and Annotate Your Research Articles (CHHS Media Center)

This video, developed by a high school media specialist, provides an effective beginner-level introduction to annotating research articles. 

How to Read a Scholarly Book (AndrewJacobs.org)

In this essay, a college professor lets readers in on the secrets of scholarly monographs. Though he does not discuss annotation, he explains how to find a scholarly book's thesis, methodology, and often even a brief literature review in the introduction. This is a key place for students to focus when creating annotations. 

A 5-step Approach to Reading Scholarly Literature and Taking Notes (Heather Young Leslie)

This resource, written by a professor of anthropology, is an even more comprehensive and detailed guide to reading scholarly literature. Combining the annotation techniques above with the reading strategy here allows students to process scholarly book efficiently. 

Annotation is also an important part of close reading works of literature. Annotating helps students recognize symbolism, double meanings, and other literary devices. These resources provide additional guidelines on annotating literature.

AP English Language Annotation Guide (YouTube)

In this ~10 minute video, an AP Language teacher provides tips and suggestions for using annotations to point out rhetorical strategies and other important information.

Annotating Text Lesson (YouTube)

In this video tutorial, an English teacher shows how she uses the white board to guide students through annotation and close reading. This resource uses an in-depth example to model annotation step-by-step.

Close Reading a Text and Avoiding Pitfalls (Purdue OWL)

This resources demonstrates how annotation is a central part of a solid close reading strategy; it also lists common mistakes to avoid in the annotation process.

AP Literature Assignment: Annotating Literature (Mount Notre Dame H.S.)

This brief assignment sheet contains suggestions for what to annotate in a novel, including building connections between parts of the book, among multiple books you are reading/have read, and between the book and your own experience. It also includes samples of quality annotations.

AP Handout: Annotation Guide (Covington Catholic H.S.)

This annotation guide shows how to keep track of symbolism, figurative language, and other devices in a novel using a highlighter, a pencil, and every part of a book (including the front and back covers).

In addition to written resources, it's possible to annotate visual "texts" like theatrical performances, movies, sculptures, and paintings. Taking notes on visual texts allows students to recall details after viewing a resource which, unlike a book, can't be re-read or re-visited ( for example, a play that has finished its run, or an art exhibition that is far away). These resources draw attention to the special questions and techniques that students should use when dealing with visual texts.

How to Take Notes on Videos (U of Southern California)

This resource is a good place to start for a student who has never had to take notes on film before. It briefly outlines three general approaches to note-taking on a film. 

How to Analyze a Movie, Step-by-Step (San Diego Film Festival)

This detailed guide provides lots of tips for film criticism and analysis. It contains a list of specific questions to ask with respect to plot, character development, direction, musical score, cinematography, special effects, and more. 

How to "Read" a Film (UPenn)

This resource provides an academic perspective on the art of annotating and analyzing a film. Like other resources, it provides students a checklist of things to watch out for as they watch the film.

Art Annotation Guide (Gosford Hill School)

This resource focuses on how to annotate a piece of art with respect to its formal elements like line, tone, mood, and composition. It contains a number of helpful questions and relevant examples. 

Photography Annotation (Arts at Trinity)

This resource is designed specifically for photography students. Like some of the other resources on this list, it primarily focuses on formal elements, but also shows students how to integrate the specific technical vocabulary of modern photography. This resource also contains a number of helpful sample annotations.

How to Review a Play (U of Wisconsin)

This resource from the University of Wisconsin Writing Center is designed to help students write a review of a play. It contains suggested questions for students to keep in mind as they watch a given production. This resource helps students think about staging, props, script alterations, and many other key elements of a performance.

This section contains links to lessons plans and exercises suitable for high school and college instructors.

Beyond the Yellow Highlighter: Teaching Annotation Skills to Improve Reading Comprehension (English Journal)

In this journal article, a high school teacher talks about her approach to teaching annotation. This article makes a clear distinction between annotation and mere highlighting.

Lesson Plan for Teaching Annotation, Grades 9–12 (readwritethink.org)

This lesson plan, published by the National Council of Teachers of English, contains four complete lessons that help introduce high school students to annotation.

Teaching Theme Using Close Reading (Performing in Education)

This lesson plan was developed by a middle school teacher, and is aligned to Common Core. The teacher presents her strategies and resources in comprehensive fashion.

Analyzing a Speech Using Annotation (UNC-TV/PBS Learning Media)

This complete lesson plan, which includes a guide for the teacher and relevant handouts for students, will prepare students to analyze both the written and presentation components of a speech. This lesson plan is best for students in 6th–10th grade.

Writing to Learn History: Annotation and Mini-Writes (teachinghistory.org)

This teaching guide, developed for high school History classes, provides handouts and suggested exercises that can help students become more comfortable with annotating historical sources.

Writing About Art (The College Board)

This Prezi presentation is useful to any teacher introducing students to the basics of annotating art. The presentation covers annotating for both formal elements and historical/cultural significance.

Film Study Worksheets (TeachWithMovies.org)

This resource contains links to a general film study worksheet, as well as specific worksheets for novel adaptations, historical films, documentaries, and more. These resources are appropriate for advanced middle school students and some high school students. 

Annotation Practice Worksheet (La Guardia Community College)

This worksheet has a sample text and instructions for students to annotate it. It is a useful resource for teachers who want to give their students a chance to practice, but don't have the time to select an appropriate piece of text. 

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How to Write an Annotated Bibliography

Writing annotations.

• Introduction
• New RefWorks
• Formatting Citations
• Sample Annotated Bibliographies

An annotation is a brief note following each citation listed on an annotated bibliography.  The goal is to briefly summarize the source and/or explain why it is important for a topic.  They are typically a single concise paragraph, but might be longer if you are summarizing and evaluating.

Annotations can be written in a variety of different ways and it’s important to consider the style you are going to use.  Are you simply summarizing the sources, or evaluating them?  How does the source influence your understanding of the topic?  You can follow any style you want if you are writing for your own personal research process, but consult with your professor if this is an assignment for a class.

Annotation Styles

• Combined Informative/Evaluative Style - This style is recommended by the library as it combines all the styles to provide a more complete view of a source.  The annotation should explain the value of the source for the overall research topic by providing a summary combined with an analysis of the source.  

Aluedse, O. (2006). Bullying in schools: A form of child abuse in schools.  Educational Research Quarterly ,  30 (1), 37.

The author classifies bullying in schools as a “form of child abuse,” and goes well beyond the notion that schoolyard bullying is “just child’s play.” The article provides an in-depth definition of bullying, and explores the likelihood that school-aged bullies may also experience difficult lives as adults. The author discusses the modern prevalence of bullying in school systems, the effects of bullying, intervention strategies, and provides an extensive list of resources and references.

Statistics included provide an alarming realization that bullying is prevalent not only in the United States, but also worldwide. According to the author, “American schools harbor approximately 2.1 million bullies and 2.7 million victims.” The author references the National Association of School Psychologists and quotes, “Thus, one in seven children is a bully or a target of bullying.” A major point of emphasis centers around what has always been considered a “normal part of growing up” versus the levels of actual abuse reached in today’s society.

The author concludes with a section that addresses intervention strategies for school administrators, teachers, counselors, and school staff. The concept of school staff helping build students’ “social competence” is showcased as a prevalent means of preventing and reducing this growing social menace. Overall, the article is worthwhile for anyone interested in the subject matter, and provides a wealth of resources for researching this topic of growing concern.

(Renfrow & Teuton, 2008)

• Informative Style -  Similar to an abstract, this style focuses on the summarizing the source.  The annotation should identify the hypothesis, results, and conclusions presented by the source.

Plester, B., Wood, C, & Bell, V. (2008). Txt msg n school literacy: Does texting and knowledge of text abbreviations adversely affect children's literacy attainment? Literacy , 42(3), 137-144.

Reports on two studies that investigated the relationship between children's texting behavior, their knowledge of text abbreviations, and their school attainment in written language skills. In Study One, 11 to 12 year-old children reported their texting behavior and translated a standard English sentence into a text message and vice versa. In Study Two, children's performance on writing measures were examined more specifically, spelling proficiency was also assessed, and KS2 Writing scores were obtained. Positive correlations between spelling ability and performance on the translation exercise were found, and group-based comparisons based on the children's writing scores also showed that good writing attainment was associated with greater use of texting abbreviations (textisms), although the direction of this association is not clear. Overall, these findings suggest that children's knowledge of textisms is not associated with poor written language outcomes for children in this age range. 

(Beach et al., 2009)

• Evaluative Style - This style analyzes and critically evaluates the source.  The annotation should comment on the source's the strengths, weaknesses, and how it relates to the overall research topic.

Amott, T. (1993). Caught in the Crisis: Women in the U.S. Economy Today . New York: Monthly Review Press.

A very readable (140 pp) economic analysis and information book which I am currently considering as a required collateral assignment in Economics 201. Among its many strengths is a lucid connection of "The Crisis at Home" with the broader, macroeconomic crisis of the U.S. working class (which various other authors have described as the shrinking middle class or the crisis of de-industrialization).

(Papadantonakis, 1996)

• Indicative Style - This style of annotation identifies the main theme and lists the significant topics included in the source.  Usually no specific details are given beyond the topic list . 

Example: 

Gambell, T.J., & Hunter, D. M. (1999). Rethinking gender differences in literacy. Canadian Journal of Education , 24(1) 1-16.

Five explanations are offered for recently assessed gender differences in the literacy achievement of male and female students in Canada and other countries. The explanations revolve around evaluative bias, home socialization, role and societal expectations, male psychology, and equity policy.

(Kerka & Imel, 2004)

Beach, R., Bigelow, M., Dillon, D., Dockter, J., Galda, L., Helman, L., . . . Janssen, T. (2009). Annotated Bibliography of Research in the Teaching of English.  Research in the Teaching of English,   44 (2), 210-241. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/27784357

Kerka, S., & Imel, S. (2004). Annotated bibliography: Women and literacy.  Women's Studies Quarterly,  32 (1), 258-271. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/233645656?accountid=2909

Papadantonakis, K. (1996). Selected Annotated Bibliography for Economists and Other Social Scientists.  Women's Studies Quarterly,   24 (3/4), 233-238. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/40004384

Renfrow, T.G., & Teuton, L.M. (2008). Schoolyard bullying: Peer victimization an annotated bibliography. Community & Junior College Libraries, 14(4), 251-­275. doi:10.1080/02763910802336407

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• What Is an Annotated Bibliography? | Examples & Format

What Is an Annotated Bibliography? | Examples & Format

Published on March 9, 2021 by Jack Caulfield . Revised on August 23, 2022.

An annotated bibliography is a list of source references that includes a short descriptive text (an annotation) for each source. It may be assigned as part of the research process for a paper , or as an individual assignment to gather and read relevant sources on a topic.

Scribbr’s free Citation Generator allows you to easily create and manage your annotated bibliography in APA or MLA style. To generate a perfectly formatted annotated bibliography, select the source type, fill out the relevant fields, and add your annotation.

An example of an annotated source is shown below:

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Table of contents

Annotated bibliography format: apa, mla, chicago, how to write an annotated bibliography, descriptive annotation example, evaluative annotation example, reflective annotation example, finding sources for your annotated bibliography, frequently asked questions about annotated bibliographies.

Make sure your annotated bibliography is formatted according to the guidelines of the style guide you’re working with. Three common styles are covered below:

In APA Style , both the reference entry and the annotation should be double-spaced and left-aligned.

The reference entry itself should have a hanging indent . The annotation follows on the next line, and the whole annotation should be indented to match the hanging indent. The first line of any additional paragraphs should be indented an additional time.

In an MLA style annotated bibliography , the Works Cited entry and the annotation are both double-spaced and left-aligned.

The Works Cited entry has a hanging indent. The annotation itself is indented 1 inch (twice as far as the hanging indent). If there are two or more paragraphs in the annotation, the first line of each paragraph is indented an additional half-inch, but not if there is only one paragraph.

Chicago style

In a  Chicago style annotated bibliography , the bibliography entry itself should be single-spaced and feature a hanging indent.

The annotation should be indented, double-spaced, and left-aligned. The first line of any additional paragraphs should be indented an additional time.

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For each source, start by writing (or generating ) a full reference entry that gives the author, title, date, and other information. The annotated bibliography format varies based on the citation style you’re using.

The annotations themselves are usually between 50 and 200 words in length, typically formatted as a single paragraph. This can vary depending on the word count of the assignment, the relative length and importance of different sources, and the number of sources you include.

Consider the instructions you’ve been given or consult your instructor to determine what kind of annotations they’re looking for:

• Descriptive annotations : When the assignment is just about gathering and summarizing information, focus on the key arguments and methods of each source.
• Evaluative annotations : When the assignment is about evaluating the sources , you should also assess the validity and effectiveness of these arguments and methods.
• Reflective annotations : When the assignment is part of a larger research process, you need to consider the relevance and usefulness of the sources to your own research.

These specific terms won’t necessarily be used. The important thing is to understand the purpose of your assignment and pick the approach that matches it best. Interactive examples of the different styles of annotation are shown below.

A descriptive annotation summarizes the approach and arguments of a source in an objective way, without attempting to assess their validity.

In this way, it resembles an abstract , but you should never just copy text from a source’s abstract, as this would be considered plagiarism . You’ll naturally cover similar ground, but you should also consider whether the abstract omits any important points from the full text.

The interactive example shown below describes an article about the relationship between business regulations and CO 2 emissions.

Rieger, A. (2019). Doing business and increasing emissions? An exploratory analysis of the impact of business regulation on CO 2 emissions. Human Ecology Review , 25 (1), 69–86. https://www.jstor.org/stable/26964340

An evaluative annotation also describes the content of a source, but it goes on to evaluate elements like the validity of the source’s arguments and the appropriateness of its methods .

For example, the following annotation describes, and evaluates the effectiveness of, a book about the history of Western philosophy.

Kenny, A. (2010). A new history of Western philosophy: In four parts . Oxford University Press.

A reflective annotation is similar to an evaluative one, but it focuses on the source’s usefulness or relevance to your own research.

Reflective annotations are often required when the point is to gather sources for a future research project, or to assess how they were used in a project you already completed.

The annotation below assesses the usefulness of a particular article for the author’s own research in the field of media studies.

Manovich, Lev. (2009). The practice of everyday (media) life: From mass consumption to mass cultural production? Critical Inquiry , 35 (2), 319–331. https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1086/596645

Manovich’s article assesses the shift from a consumption-based media culture (in which media content is produced by a small number of professionals and consumed by a mass audience) to a production-based media culture (in which this mass audience is just as active in producing content as in consuming it). He is skeptical of some of the claims made about this cultural shift; specifically, he argues that the shift towards user-made content must be regarded as more reliant upon commercial media production than it is typically acknowledged to be. However, he regards web 2.0 as an exciting ongoing development for art and media production, citing its innovation and unpredictability.

The article is outdated in certain ways (it dates from 2009, before the launch of Instagram, to give just one example). Nevertheless, its critical engagement with the possibilities opened up for media production by the growth of social media is valuable in a general sense, and its conceptualization of these changes frequently applies just as well to more current social media platforms as it does to Myspace. Conceptually, I intend to draw on this article in my own analysis of the social dynamics of Twitter and Instagram.

Before you can write your annotations, you’ll need to find sources . If the annotated bibliography is part of the research process for a paper, your sources will be those you consult and cite as you prepare the paper. Otherwise, your assignment and your choice of topic will guide you in what kind of sources to look for.

Make sure that you’ve clearly defined your topic , and then consider what keywords are relevant to it, including variants of the terms. Use these keywords to search databases (e.g., Google Scholar ), using Boolean operators to refine your search.

Sources can include journal articles, books, and other source types , depending on the scope of the assignment. Read the abstracts or blurbs of the sources you find to see whether they’re relevant, and try exploring their bibliographies to discover more. If a particular source keeps showing up, it’s probably important.

Once you’ve selected an appropriate range of sources, read through them, taking notes that you can use to build up your annotations. You may even prefer to write your annotations as you go, while each source is fresh in your mind.

An annotated bibliography is an assignment where you collect sources on a specific topic and write an annotation for each source. An annotation is a short text that describes and sometimes evaluates the source.

Any credible sources on your topic can be included in an annotated bibliography . The exact sources you cover will vary depending on the assignment, but you should usually focus on collecting journal articles and scholarly books . When in doubt, utilize the CRAAP test !

Each annotation in an annotated bibliography is usually between 50 and 200 words long. Longer annotations may be divided into paragraphs .

The content of the annotation varies according to your assignment. An annotation can be descriptive, meaning it just describes the source objectively; evaluative, meaning it assesses its usefulness; or reflective, meaning it explains how the source will be used in your own research .

A source annotation in an annotated bibliography fulfills a similar purpose to an abstract : they’re both intended to summarize the approach and key points of a source.

However, an annotation may also evaluate the source , discussing the validity and effectiveness of its arguments. Even if your annotation is purely descriptive , you may have a different perspective on the source from the author and highlight different key points.

You should never just copy text from the abstract for your annotation, as doing so constitutes plagiarism .

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APA Style (7th edition)--For Prof. YPB's Classes: Sample Paper, Reference List & Annotated Bibliography

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Quick Rules for APA Reference List

What is an Annotated Bibliography

Annotations

Annotated Bibliographies - How To Guide with Template

Useful Links for Annotated Bibliographies

Sample Paper & Reference List

• APA Sample Paper Template

This sample paper includes a title page, sample first page, and references list in APA format. It can be used as a template to set up your assignment.

Sample Paper With Comments and Explanations

The American Psychological Association (APA) has created a sample paper that includes explanations of the elements and formatting in APA 7th ed. 

If your instructor requires you to use APA style headings and sub-headings, this document will show you how they work.

• Heading Level Template: Student Paper This template explains how to use heading in a student paper.
• APA Headings Example This is the same as the file above, but with example headings applied for heading Level 1 and heading Level 2.

If you are adding an appendix to your paper there are a few rules to follow that comply with APA guidelines:

• The Appendix appears  after  the References list
• If you have more than one appendix you would name the first appendix Appendix A, the second Appendix B, etc.
• The appendices should appear in the order that the information is mentioned in your essay
• Each appendix begins on a new page
• APA Sample Paper Template - with Appendix

APA End of Paper Checklist

• APA Style: Student Paper Checklist (Concise Guide, 7th edition) Use this checklist to help you make final edits on your APA Style paper.
• Writing Tutors Finished your assignment? Get feedback from a Polk State College writing tutor by submitting a paper to TLCC Online Tutoring.

Quick Rules for an APA Reference List

Your research paper ends with a list of all the sources cited in the text of the paper. Here are nine quick rules for this Reference list.

• Start a new page for your Reference list. Centre the title, References, at the top of the page.
• Double-space the list.
• Start the first line of each reference at the left margin; indent each subsequent line five spaces (a hanging indent).
• Put your list in alphabetical order. Alphabetize the list by the first word in the reference. In most cases, the first word will be the author’s last name. Where the author is unknown, alphabetize by the first word in the title, ignoring the words a, an, the.
• For each author, give the last name followed by a comma and the first (and middle, if listed) initials followed by periods.
• Italicize the titles of these works: books, audiovisual material, internet documents and newspapers, and the title and volume number of journals and magazines.
• Do not italicize titles of most parts of works, such as: articles from newspapers, magazines, or journals / essays, poems, short stories or chapter titles from a book / chapters or sections of an Internet document.
• In titles of non-periodicals (books, videotapes, websites, reports, poems, essays, chapters, etc), capitalize only the first letter of the first word of a title and subtitle, and all proper nouns (names of people, places, organizations, nationalities).
• If a web source (not from the library) is not a stable archived version, or you are unsure whether it is stable, include a statement of the accessed date before the link.

What is an Annotated Bibliography?

An annotated bibliography is a list of citations for various books, articles, and other sources on a topic. The annotated bibliography looks like a Reference page but includes an annotation after each source cited. An annotation is a short summary and/or critical evaluation of a source. Annotated bibliographies can be part of a larger research project, or can be a stand-alone report in itself.

Types of Annotations

 A summary annotation describes the source by answering the following questions: who wrote the document, what the document discusses, when and where was the document written, why was the document produced, and how was it provided to the public. The focus is on description. 

 An evaluative annotation includes a summary as listed above but also critically assesses the work for accuracy, relevance, and quality. Evaluative annotations can help you learn about your topic, develop a thesis statement, decide if a specific source will be useful for your assignment, and determine if there is enough valid information available to complete your project. The focus is on description and evaluation.

Annotated Bibliographies: How-To Guide

• Annotated Bibliography: APA Style This link goes to another libguide that has an example of a book and journal article annotated bibliography. This page also has a sample template of an APA Style annotated bibliography in Microsoft Word. Lastly, links to additional resources on annotated bibliographies are provided.

Below is a sample of an Evaluative Annotation:

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Below you will find sample annotations from annotated bibliographies, each with a different research project. Remember that the annotations you include in your own bibliography should reflect your research project and/or the guidelines of your assignment.

As mentioned elsewhere in this resource, depending on the purpose of your bibliography, some annotations may summarize, some may assess or evaluate a source, and some may reflect on the source’s possible uses for the project at hand. Some annotations may address all three of these steps. Consider the purpose of your annotated bibliography and/or your instructor’s directions when deciding how much information to include in your annotations.

Please keep in mind that all your text, including the write-up beneath the citation, must be indented so that the author's last name is the only text that is flush left.

Sample MLA Annotation

Lamott, Anne. Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life . Anchor Books, 1995.

Lamott's book offers honest advice on the nature of a writing life, complete with its insecurities and failures. Taking a humorous approach to the realities of being a writer, the chapters in Lamott's book are wry and anecdotal and offer advice on everything from plot development to jealousy, from perfectionism to struggling with one's own internal critic.

In the process, Lamott includes writing exercises designed to be both productive and fun. Lamott offers sane advice for those struggling with the anxieties of writing, but her main project seems to be offering the reader a reality check regarding writing, publishing, and struggling with one's own imperfect humanity in the process. Rather than a practical handbook to producing and/or publishing, this text is indispensable because of its honest perspective, its down-to-earth humor, and its encouraging approach.

Chapters in this text could easily be included in the curriculum for a writing class. Several of the chapters in Part 1 address the writing process and would serve to generate discussion on students' own drafting and revising processes. Some of the writing exercises would also be appropriate for generating classroom writing exercises. Students should find Lamott's style both engaging and enjoyable.

In the sample annotation above, the writer includes three paragraphs: a summary, an evaluation of the text, and a reflection on its applicability to his/her own research, respectively.

For information on formatting MLA citations, see our MLA 9th Edition (2021) Formatting and Style Guide .

Sample APA Annotation

Ehrenreich, B. (2001). Nickel and dimed: On (not) getting by in America . Henry Holt and Company.

In this book of nonfiction based on the journalist's experiential research, Ehrenreich attempts to ascertain whether it is currently possible for an individual to live on a minimum-wage in America. Taking jobs as a waitress, a maid in a cleaning service, and a Walmart sales employee, the author summarizes and reflects on her work, her relationships with fellow workers, and her financial struggles in each situation.

An experienced journalist, Ehrenreich is aware of the limitations of her experiment and the ethical implications of her experiential research tactics and reflects on these issues in the text. The author is forthcoming about her methods and supplements her experiences with scholarly research on her places of employment, the economy, and the rising cost of living in America. Ehrenreich’s project is timely, descriptive, and well-researched.

The annotation above both summarizes and assesses the book in the citation. The first paragraph provides a brief summary of the author's project in the book, covering the main points of the work. The second paragraph points out the project’s strengths and evaluates its methods and presentation. This particular annotation does not reflect on the source’s potential importance or usefulness for this person’s own research.

For information on formatting APA citations, see our APA Formatting and Style Guide .

Sample Chicago Manual of Style Annotation

Davidson, Hilda Ellis. Roles of the Northern Goddess . London: Routledge, 1998.

Davidson's book provides a thorough examination of the major roles filled by the numerous pagan goddesses of Northern Europe in everyday life, including their roles in hunting, agriculture, domestic arts like weaving, the household, and death. The author discusses relevant archaeological evidence, patterns of symbol and ritual, and previous research. The book includes a number of black and white photographs of relevant artifacts.

This annotation includes only one paragraph, a summary of the book. It provides a concise description of the project and the book's project and its major features.

For information on formatting Chicago Style citations, see our Chicago Manual of Style resources.

APA annotated bibliography

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Website Book Journal Video

An annotated bibliography is a special type of bibliography that provides additional information about the sources listed in the references list. The additional information about a source is called an annotation. An annotation can be given for all types of sources such as journals, books, or reports. The length of the annotation can extend up to 150 words.

Aim of an annotated bibliography

The aim of an annotated bibliography is to either provide details of the topics discussed in the source or assess the source. The primary goal of adding an annotation is to give the reader the significance, merit, and benefit of using a source. Never try to provide proof, take the author’s text verbatim, or discuss irrelevant points in your annotation.

Classification of annotations

Annotations are classified into two types:

Descriptive

The descriptive type gives crucial details of the source or describes the source. It gives insight into the topic covered in the source. It can also explain the purpose of the source.

An evaluative annotation analyzes a source. It explores a source and shows its relevance by examining its preciseness. An evaluative annotation tries to correlate the source with other recognized sources or studies on the same topic. It may also talk about the merits and demerits of a source.

Parts of an annotated bibliography

An annotated bibliography consists of

• The citation
• The annotation

The citation includes all components of a source. For example, the author, book title, publisher, and publication year are important components to be included in a book citation.

Fairclough, N. (2015). Language and power . Routledge.

The annotation provides the necessary fundamental details of the source. As mentioned, the details can be either descriptive or evaluative.

Descriptive annotation

It gives a brief description of all relevant information of the source. The below example is taken from Fairclough (2015). Complete information of the source is given below the annotation.

The book focuses on how language functions in maintaining and changing power relations in modern society, the ways of analyzing language which can reveal these processes, and how people can become more conscious of them, as well as more able to resist and change them. Norman Fairclough includes a substantial new introduction and brings the discussion up to date. He shows both the importance of the book in the development of critical discourse analysis over the past three decades and how language and power relations have changed due to major socioeconomic changes.

Evaluative annotation

An evaluative annotation mirrors the views of the author, highlights the benefits of the work, and also provides a detailed evaluation of the source.

This book of Fairclough is a preamble to the study of discourse analysis. The book shows its steady importance and contribution to language and power. The book clearly illustrates the relationship between language and power with sufficient evidence. The book is important for students pursuing discourse analysis and other related fields.

Rules for creating annotated bibliographies

• The annotation is added after the reference-list entry of a source.
• The annotation extends up to 150 words.
• Both phrases and full sentences are permitted in the annotation.
• Write the annotation in a single paragraph. However, if you want to include multiple paragraphs, indent the second and subsequent paragraphs. However, the paragraphs should not have any extra line spaces in between.

Writing annotated bibliographies

To write an annotated bibliography in APA, follow the below guidelines:

• The annotation should be short and concise.
• Use various links such as “while,” “but,” and “in addition” to connect sentences. This will enhance the readability of your content.
• Do not use words that serve no purpose in your sentences.
• Avoid very long sentences.
• Put forth your views directly.
• Avoid contractions such as “won’t” and ‘isn’t” in the annotation.

Formatting annotated bibliographies

To format an annotated bibliography in APA, follow the below recommendations:

• Begin your annotated bibliography on a new page after the end of the body text.
• The annotated bibliography appears before the figures, tables, and appendices.
• Set the left, right, top, and bottom margins at 1 inch.
• The lines are double-spaced.
• The title should be “Annotated Bibliography.” Format the heading in bold.
• Center align the title to the page.
• All references are aligned left in the annotated bibliography. For entries running over more than a line, provide 0.5 inches indent to the second and subsequent lines from the left margin.
• Entries are arranged according to the alphabetical arrangement of the author’s surnames.
• Each annotation is added below its corresponding reference entry. Annotations are indented 0.5 inches from the left margin.

Arranging annotated bibliographies

There is no need to look at annotations for arranging them. Arrange the reference entries alphabetically per the author’s surname and place the annotation below the corresponding entry.

For references without authors, arrange the entries by their title.

Example annotated bibliography

The below example shows an annotated bibliography:

• Annotated Bibliography

Lim, L. (2014). Ideology, rationality and reproduction in education: A critical discourse analysis. Discourse: Studies in the Cultural Politics of Education, 35 (1), 61–76. https://doi:10.1080/01596306.2012.739467

Lim focuses on problems of power and perception dominant in academic discourses of logic to study a discourse analysis of the goals of the most important subjects in teaching thinking. He proves that social and group responsibilities are reproduced as thinking that is treasured by all in society. Through his research, Lim asserts that such courses retain our understanding of thinking and reasoning. It must enhance the social reproduction of a specific proportion of the normal group of people.

Key takeaways

• An annotated bibliography is a special type of bibliography that provides additional information about the sources listed in the references list.
• The aim of an annotated bibliography is to either provide details of the topics discussed in the source or assess the source.
• The two types of annotations are descriptive and evaluative.
• The heading should be “Annotated Bibliography.”
• Annotation can be written up to 150 words.

APA Formatting

• Block Quotes
• Headings & Headers
• In-text Citations
• Reference Page
• Paper Format
• View APA Formatting Guide

Citation Examples

• APA Citation Generator

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Home / Guides / Citation Guides / APA Format / APA Annotated Bibliography Format

APA Annotated Bibliography Format

The American Psychological Association states that your instructor should set the guidelines for your annotated bibliography, but does ask that the list be formatted according to their standard reference page rules (see Section 9.51 of the  Publication Manual ). Since there are no set rules for creating one, you may be wondering how to create an annotated APA bibliography. If your teacher or professor requests one, don’t worry, here are our recommendations:

• Make sure you create your references according to APA’s guidelines. If you need some help, here’s a great  APA citation website , which shows how to create references for electronic sources. We also have a page on developing a reference for an  APA journal . Need other source types? Check out the other helpful pages on EasyBib.com.
• Annotations should be kept short and are usually not more than one paragraph.
• For more information on writing an annotation, visit the general  annotated bibliography guide .

Here’s a run-through of everything this page includes:

• Quick APA formatting guidelines

Annotation example

Visual example, using the easybib annotation tool, troubleshooting, quick  apa  formatting guidelines:.

• Use 1-inch page margins on all sides.
• The entire page should be double-spaced.
• Title your page, “Annotated Bibliography”. Center and bold it.
• Left-align references. If a reference runs over more than one line, any line(s) that comes after the first should be indented a ½ inch from the left margin.
• Organize your references alphabetically by the first word in the reference. (See further details in this  APA Reference Page  guide).
• Add the annotations on the line right after their corresponding reference.
• Indent annotations ½ inch from the left margin.
• Include a page number in the upper right corner; if this is a professional paper, it should be a running head.

For an annotated bibliography APA example, we’re using the same description as above. The only thing we’re going to change is the structure of the reference. For an APA bibliography, the reference needs to be an  APA citation , and the description can be formed the same way as above.

Here’s what the  APA book citation  for  The Elements of Eloquence: Secrets of the Perfect Turn of Phrase  looks like:

Forsyth, M. (2014).  The elements of eloquence: Secrets of the perfect turn of phrase.  Penguin Books.

The author, Mark Forsyth, examines the rhetorical devices used in the English language, analyzing the patterns and formats that create memorable quotes. He traces the history of rhetoric to the Ancient Greeks, and provides an abridged timeline, following their use and evolution through to modern day. The author also explores the broader subject of persuasion and maps out the role that the figures of rhetoric play in it. In all, he examines over thirty devices, dissecting notable passages and phrases from pop music, the plays of William Shakespeare, the Bible, and more to explore the figures of rhetoric at work within each of them. Thorough definitions accompany this examination of structure to demonstrate how these formulas have been used to generate famously memorable expressions as well as how to reproduce their effects.

The EasyBib citation generator has an annotation tool that can help you easily add your annotation to a citation.

• To do this, begin creating a citation in the EasyBib citation generator. Already have a citation on EasyBib.com? Go to the citation, open your citation options and select “Edit citation.”
• Once you get to the citation form (where you review found information), scroll to the bottom until you see the sections “More options.”
• Under that section, click on the “Add annotation” link to open the annotation box.
• Copy and paste your annotation into the box.
• Complete your citation.
• Your annotation will automatically be included and formatted with your citation. You can copy and paste directly into your paper!

Again, even though the APA style does not support the creation of bibliographies that include annotations, many schools and professors expect their students to include summaries or commentary alongside their citations in APA style.

Solution #1: How to write an annotation

Annotations are brief paragraph summaries of your source and may include details about how you plan to use the information in your paper, or the quality of information in your source. Take these steps:

• Read through the source.
• Identify the main thesis theme of the source then consider how you would summarize the article and its purpose in one sentence.
• Evaluate the source. Is the author(s) qualified? Is the source and its arguments credible? Well-written? Why or why not?
• How does the source relate to your paper?
• Write your annotation based on the above steps. Choose only the points that would most help you or your reader gain an understanding of the source and its significance.

Here are writing tips:

• Avoid describing every event, statistic, or detail that occurs in your source.
• Focus on details that are relevant to your topic or your paper. Help the reader understand why the source was selected and is importance.
• Think about how the information impacts your perspective, how it contributes to your topic, and the effect on your overall paper.

Annotated paragraph example:

Solution #2: How to correctly format an annotation with multiple paragraphs

• Indent the entire annotated paragraph at ½ of an inch. When done correctly, the left edge of the annotated paragraph will look entirely straight, as in the first example below.
• If there are multiple paragraphs, follow step one but use a second 0.5-inch indention on the second and following paragraphs.
• Avoid indenting the paragraph at 0.5 inch like a regular essay paragraph, as shown in the third example.

Single annotated paragraph example:

Multiple annotated paragraphs example:

In his novel, “A True Story of John Doe,” Samuel Smith outlines his life through the eyes of a fictional character. His recollection outlines the immigrant experience and demonstrates how modern life in England came to be.

          Chapters two and three outline the novelty of moving to a new location by describing the eventual progression to culture shock. Smith describes life as beautiful and wonderous in chapter two by emphasizing sensory experiences. However, in chapter three, he slowly gains awareness of the differences between his current and previous lives and of how the locals treat him. Smith nullifies the sensory experiences and, instead, focuses on the depth of the human emotion. I intend to use this source to compare to my own experience as an immigrant.

APA Formatting Guide

APA Formatting

• Annotated Bibliography
• Block Quotes
• et al Usage
• In-text Citations
• Multiple Authors
• Paraphrasing
• Page Numbers
• Parenthetical Citations
• Reference Page
• Sample Paper
• APA 7 Updates
• View APA Guide

Citation Examples

• Book Chapter
• Journal Article
• Magazine Article
• Newspaper Article
• Website (no author)
• View all APA Examples

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To create an annotated APA bibliography, follow the below recommendations:

• Order your reference entries in alphabetical order similar to how you would order entries in the reference list.
• If you want to add an annotation to an entry, add it as a new paragraph below the reference entry. The entire annotation is indented 0.5 inches from the left margin.

For example:

Lim, L. (2014). Ideology, rationality and reproduction in education: A critical discourse analysis. Discourse: Studies in the Cultural Politics of Education, 35 (1), 61–76. https://doi.org/10.1080/01596306.2012.739467 Lim focuses on issues of power and ideology dominant in curricular discourses of rationality to study a discourse analysis of the goals of one of the most important curricula in the teaching of thinking. He proves that political and class commitments are reproduced in the forms of thinking that are valued in societies. Through his research, Lim asserts that such curricula engage in creating our understanding of what thinking and rationality are.

To format an annotated bibliography in APA, follow the recommendations given below:

• Set the left, right, top, and bottom margins as 1 inch.
• Use double-line spacing.
• Title the page “Annotated Bibliography.” Set it in bold.
• The title should be aligned to the center of the page.
• As you format reference entries, left-align all references in the annotated bibliography section. If any entry runs over more than a line, indent the subsequent lines 0.5 inches from the left margin.
• Arrange all reference entries alphabetically according to the surname of the authors.
• Provide your annotations below the reference entry for which you want to give your annotation. Indent annotations 0.5 inches from the left margin.

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Sample Annotations

This example uses MLA format for an online magazine.  It both summarizes and assesses the article in the annotation. First it provides a brief summary of the article, covering the main points of the work. Then it notes its limitation.

Dickenson’s article gives a history of the oil spill created by the explosion on the Deepwater Horizon rig and efforts to downplay the disaster by BP and the Obama administration. The author concedes the role of the Bush administration in allowing oil companies to control the Mineral Management Service (MMS), but he blames the Obama administration for not correcting this problem and not taking responsibility for the cleanup immediately after the spill. BP drilled the well using cost-cutting methods instead of safer construction plans and without a strategy for sealing a leak. BP has a history of safety violations and should not have been trusted with the cleanup. Officials from NOAA warned of the extent of the spill immediately, but both BP and the President downplayed the damage. Dickenson concludes that the President’s decision not to act immediately after the spill will affect the Gulf region for many years. This article provides readers with details about obvious problems with the Deepwater Horizon well before the explosion and explains how a quicker response by the President could have prevented some of the damage to the fragile Gulf ecosystem. Although the article was written only a month after the disaster, it shows early reactions to the spill and cleanup attempts. 

Dolgin begins his essay by describing research into RNA vaccines.  In 2012, researcher Andy Geall used RNA nucleotides to vaccinate rats against a respiratory virus, and in 2013 he developed a vaccination against an avian flu, but his vaccine was not used. The advent of COVID-19 speeded up research into the development of RNA vaccines, and now major pharmaceutical companies are researching using them to prevent diseases like rabies, malaria, and HIV. Once the genome sequence of a virus in known, developing a vaccine is quicker when using RNA technology. One issue with RNA vaccines is that they must be stored at cold temperatures, although two companies claim to have solved this problem. Although RNA vaccines require two injections at this time, researchers are looking for easier ways to deliver them; one example is using patches placed on the skin to deliver the vaccine slowly, which may reduce side effects. Research is continuing in hopes of creating vaccines for diseases like muscular dystrophy and cystic fibrosis, although many believe that this research will slow when COVID-19 is no longer in the news. Dolgin’s essay is documented with footnotes citing major medical publications like Lancet and Vaccine and published in Nature, a respected journal that includes peer-reviewed research. Dolgin is a science journalist with a PhD in evolutionary genetics who contributes articles to journals like Scientific American and The Scientist. Although this essay does include scientific terms, it is easy to understand because it is written for a general audience. 

This material was developed by the COMPSS team and is licensed under a  Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License . All materials created by the COMPSS team are free to use and can be adopted, adapted, and/or shared at will as long as the materials are attributed. Please keep this information on COMPSS materials you adapt, adopt, and/or share.

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How to Annotate an Article

Last Updated: September 26, 2023 Fact Checked

This article was co-authored by Emily Listmann, MA . Emily Listmann is a Private Tutor and Life Coach in Santa Cruz, California. In 2018, she founded Mindful & Well, a natural healing and wellness coaching service. She has worked as a Social Studies Teacher, Curriculum Coordinator, and an SAT Prep Teacher. She received her MA in Education from the Stanford Graduate School of Education in 2014. Emily also received her Wellness Coach Certificate from Cornell University and completed the Mindfulness Training by Mindful Schools. There are 9 references cited in this article, which can be found at the bottom of the page. This article has been fact-checked, ensuring the accuracy of any cited facts and confirming the authority of its sources. This article has been viewed 402,174 times.

Annotating a text means that you take notes in the margins and make other markings for reading comprehension. Many people use annotation as part of academic research or to further their understanding of a certain work. To annotate an article, you'll need to ask questions as you go through the text, focus on themes, circle terms you don't understand, and write your opinions on the text's claims. You can annotate an article by hand or with an online note-taking program.

Following General Annotation Procedures

• Background on the author
• Themes throughout the text
• The author’s purpose for writing the text
• The author’s thesis
• Points of confusion
• How the text compares to other texts you are analyzing on the same topic
• Questions to ask your teacher or questions to bring up in class discussions

• Later on, you can gather all of these citations together to form a bibliography or works cited page, if required.
• If you are working with a source that frequently changes, such as a newspaper or website, make sure to mark down the accession date or number (the year the piece was acquired and/or where it came from).

• If you were given an assignment sheet with listed objectives, you might look over your completed annotation and check off each objective when finished. This will ensure that you’ve met all of the requirements.

• You can also write down questions that you plan to bring up during a class discussion. For example, you might write, “What does everyone think about this sentence?” Or, if your reading connects to a future writing assignment, you can ask questions that connect to that work.

• You could write, “Connects to the theme of hope and redemption discussed in class.”

• Use whatever symbol marking system works for you. Just make sure that you are consistent in your use of certain symbols.
• As you review your notes, you can create a list of all of the particular words that are circled. This may make it easier to look them up.
• For example, if the tone of the work changes mid-paragraph, you might write a question mark next to that section.

• To increase your reading comprehension even more, you might want to write down the thesis statement in the margins in your own words.
• The thesis sentence might start with a statement, such as, “I argue…”

• For example, reading online reviews can help you to determine whether or not the work is controversial or has been received without much fanfare.
• If there are multiple authors for the work, start by researching the first name listed.

• You might write, “This may contradict any earlier section.” Or, “I don’t agree with this.”

Annotating an Article by Hand

• You can also file away this paper copy for future reference as you continue your research.

• If you are visual learner, you might consider developing a notation system involving various colors of highlighters and flags.

• Depending on how you’ve taken your notes, you could also remove these Post-its to create an outline prior to writing.

• This rough annotation can then be used to create a larger annotated bibliography. This will help you to see any gaps in your research as well. [11] X Research source

Annotating an Article on a Webpage

• You could also use a program, such as Evernote, MarkUp.io, Bounce, Shared Copy, WebKlipper, or Springnote. Be aware that some of these programs may require a payment for access.

• Depending on your program, you may be able to respond to other people’s comments. You can also designate your notes as private or public.

Community Q&A

• Annotating takes extra time, so make sure to set aside enough time for you to complete your work. [15] X Research source Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0
• If traditional annotation doesn’t appeal to you, then create a dialectical journal where you write down any quotes that speak to you. Thanks Helpful 1 Not Helpful 0

• If you end up integrating your notes into a written project, make sure to keep your citation information connected. Otherwise, you run the risk of committing plagiarism. Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0

You Might Also Like

• ↑ https://research.ewu.edu/writers_c_read_study_strategies
• ↑ http://penandthepad.com/annotate-newspaper-article-7730073.html
• ↑ https://www.hunter.cuny.edu/rwc/handouts/the-writing-process-1/invention/Annotating-a-Text/
• ↑ https://learningcenter.unc.edu/tips-and-tools/annotating-texts/
• ↑ https://www.biologycorner.com/worksheets/annotate.html
• ↑ https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/general_writing/common_writing_assignments/annotated_bibliographies/annotated_bibliography_samples.html
• ↑ https://elearningindustry.com/the-5-best-free-annotation-tools-for-teachers
• ↑ http://www.macworld.com/article/1162946/software-productivity/how-to-annotate-pdfs.html
• ↑ http://www.une.edu/sites/default/files/Reading-and-Annotating.pdf

About This Article

To annotate an article, start by underlining the thesis, or the main argument that the author is making. Next, underline the topic sentences for each paragraph to help you focus on the themes throughout the text. Then, in the margins, write down any questions that you have or those that you’d like your teacher to help you answer. Additionally, jot down your opinions, such as “I don’t agree with this section” to create personal connections to your reading and make it easier to remember the information. For more advice from our Education reviewer, including how to annotate an article on a web page, keep reading. Did this summary help you? Yes No

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Annotated Bibliographies

• Annotations vs. Abstracts
• Descriptive Annotations
• Critical Annotations
• Evaluating your Annotations
• Sample APA Annotations
• Sample MLA Annotations

Want additional critical annotation samples?

• Annotation examples from Eastern Nazarene College

Credit Where Credit is Due

Critical annotation example in APA format is reproduced from "How to write annotated bibliographies" on the Memorial University Libraries website. 

Critical annotation example in MLA format is reproduced from "Writing an Annotated Bibliography" on the Saint Mary's University Library's website.

What are Critical Annotations?

Critical annotations also include an EVALUATION, or analysis, of the work.

 What might a good critical annotation include?

• The strengths and weaknesses of the article, book, or other source;
• The usefulness of the source for the research topic;
• How the source compares to other books, articles, etc. on the same topic.

In the example annotations on this page, critical/evaluative content is shown in BOLD .

Example Critical Annotation in APA Format

London, H. (1982). Five myths of the television age.  Television quarterly 10,  1, 81-89.

       Herbert London, the Dean of Journalism at New York University and author of several books and articles, explains how television contradicts five commonly believed ideas. He uses specific examples of events seen on television, such as the assassination of John Kennedy, to illustrate his points. His examples have been selected to contradict such truisms as: "seeing is believing"; "a picture is worth a thousand words"; and "satisfaction is its own reward." London uses logical arguments to support his ideas which are his personal opinion. He doesn't refer to any previous works on the topic;  however, for a different point of view, one should refer to Joseph Patterson's "Television is Truth" (cited below).  London's style and vocabulary would make the article of interest to any reader.  The article clearly illustrates London's points, but does not explore their implications, leaving the reader with many unanswered questions.

Click here to see what a descriptive annotation for this article would look like.

Example Critical Annotation in MLA Format

Summers, Montague.  The Vampire, His Kith and Kin.  New York: Dutton, 1929.

       "The first serious study in English of the Vampire, and kindred traditions from a general, as well as from a theological and philosophical point of view." Concludes that "it is hard to believe that a phenomenon which has so complete a hold over nations both old and young, in all parts of the world, at all times of history, has not some underlying and terrible truth however rare this may be in its more remarkable manifestations." The study covers appearance, characteristics, causes for, feeding habits of, and precautions to be taken against. Includes case histories, ancient accounts, an anthropological-type survey of various nations, asides on premature burial, necrophilia, and various perverse and antisocial acts. Contains a chapter on the vampire in literature and a bibliography of both true and fictitious vampires.  Although useful as a source for broad historical background, this work does not fully address the issue of the vampire's cultural significance. For a review of recent cultural studies work on the figure of the vampire that argues that its current popularity, with both the cultures that represent and the post-modern critics who study it, resides in the vampire’s representation of “racial and sexual mixing,” see Shannon Winnubst, cited below.  

Click here to see what a descriptive annotation for this same book would look like .

• << Previous: Descriptive Annotations
• Next: Evaluating your Annotations >>
• Last Updated: Jan 30, 2024 3:23 PM
• URL: https://library.piercecollege.edu/annotatedbib

My Zotero annotation template that works

As I’ve been struggling for few days to make it right, I’d like to share my implementation of Zotero annotations template that I built and I believe looks very nice.

• Simple layout
• Focuses on the content
• Large headers based on annotation color (Default is red annotation = h5)
• Includes highlights, boxes, comments

Requirements:

• Obsidian (obviously)
• Zotero with Better Bibtex installed
• “Zotero Integration” plugin for Obsidian
• Copy my template into a new document of yours
• Direct the integration plugin into that template
• Activate the CSS snippet that I’m attaching
• Pull the annotation from Zotero using the integration plugin

CSS Snippet (ZoteroHighlights.css)

Below are some screenshots (I’m using “Things” theme)

Just wanted to say thank you so much for posting this. I have finally been able to get my Zotero notes imported into Obsidian after spending hours fiddling around with it.

This is such a big help!

here’s my rendition - with the help of you and others ( Source1 ), used with BibTex and Zotero integration. I’m not the best with this templating stuff, so many apologies if its messy!

thanks for the inspiration in this channel. I would like to share my flavour → GitHub - nocona71/obsidian-literature-note: MD template and CSS to generate a literature not based on Zotero PDF annotations and notes

It’s an early version. Feedback welcome.

First, very nice template! I have a question tho… I’m fiddling a little with your callout headers. I’d like them to have the same name on each calloutHeader as the header they sort under. Now they are hard coded into:

{%- set calloutHeaders = { “highlight”: “Relevant / Important”, “strike”: “Disagree”, “underline”: “Todo / Read later”, “image”: "Image } -%}

I’ve tried a lot but my nunjuck-fu is too poor. Could you please help me to point out where to edit? In the setting above or in the object call further down?

This is the best thing I have found for my Obsidian and finally got my Zotero workflow working. However, could you possibly help me change a few things in it? I have no understanding of coding.

Hi ize, I just saw your post. I am not sure I understand your request. Could you please elaborate a little more what you would like to achieve? Thanks

thanks and I appreciate you like my script. Feedback and inspiration is always welcome. Please consider using the issues section in the corresponding git-repo .

Thanks for your support

Hi everyone !

Thanks to this thread and to elena razlogova’s notetaking process I’ve writed my own script for when I read research article and to import my annotations into Obsidian. I also wanted to make it look good.

It put each highlights/notes/image into a callout of its own which color correspond to the annotation’s color in Zotero with underneath your comment if there is one. Then you can link it to your main writing notes.

Hope that it can help someone !

CSS snippet :

To whom it might concern:

Hi @Muk , I answered on github…

Thank you for share your template. Obsidian are a powerful tool, but could be frustrating for people like me that doesnt undestand so much about coding

Hello, these posts have been so helpful, thank you! I have one problem – I can’t get the {{bibliography}} to produce anything in my import. Obsidian says “style getCiteProc is not a function” – does anyone know where I’m going wrong, or could point me to any information on how to set this aspect up?

Hey georgie, had the same problem. Your citation/bibliography style must be the same as your Quick Copy item format in Zotero (Preferences > Export > Item Format).

If not present, you can add new styles under Preference > Cite > click ‘Get additional styles’.

Are you by any chance using IEEE with URL in Obsidian? If so, the regular IEEE format in Zotero won’t work; you’ll need to actually add ‘IEEE (with URL)’ as a style.

Hope this solves your problem!

Thanks for your help, tidebo, I checked and I do have the same style in the quick copy item format in Zotero and in obsidian, and after double checking and trying the import again I still get the same error message. I’m not using IEEE with url as far as I know - what is it?

Is there anything else I could have not set up properly?

Really like this setup - however - if I copy your exact template - all my annotation callout boxes have the same background color. Do you know how I can fix this?

Thanks for posting! I have a problem and am interested in help on figuring out. When I read articles my red highlight means never read this again. Saves me from reviewing impertenant portions of articles in the future. But I don’t want these brought over to my Obsidian vault.

Is there any way to import annotations without importing the red color highlights?

Annotation Generator

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Initiate your Scribe Pro subscription and download the application. When you're ready to craft a guide, simply click "Start Capture."

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Upon completing your tasks, click the "Stop Capture" button at the top of your screen.

Scribe will seamlessly generate a comprehensive how-to guide, complete with descriptive text and annotated screenshots!

Step 3: Annotate, Redact & Add Branding

With Scribe Pro, you can beef up your Scribes to:

• Incorporate your logo and brand colors.
• Integrate any updated steps.
• Redact sensitive information or add supplementary annotations.
• Include helpful tips, alerts, headers, and even GIFs.

And with Scribe Pages, you can consolidate multiple processes by seamlessly integrating video, images and more.

Step 4: Share With Your Team or Clients!

Sharing your Scribe guides with your team and clients is effortless. You can:

• Share a quick link.
• Export a Scribe to various formats, including PDF, HTML, or Markdown.
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Formatting Examples

Use the formatting checklist to check that all of your content is formatted according to Graduate College requirements. Also, schedule a format check  with a CCE thesis/dissertation consultant to get feedback on your formatting.

 Title Page

Including a Title Page is required . Some of the most common thesis/dissertation mistakes are made on the title page. Follow the bullets below, paying close attention to capitalization, spacing, line breaks, actual date of graduation, and copyright statement. These bullets will guide you through the title page.

• No page number is displayed on the title page.  It is always assumed page 'i'
• Title is at top of page, formatted with Title style
• Title is single spaced
• Title does not contain a period
• The first word in the title and the first word following a colon are capitalized
• Proper nouns and acronyms in the title are capitalized
• The word "by" is lowercase
• BOLD  your name and the title
• Student name should match name in AccessPlus
• If student name does not match name in AccessPlus, include AccessPlus name in parenthes is under the name you are using
• The word “Thesis” or “Dissertation” is used in the “fulfillment of requirements” statement
• The phrase “MASTER OF...” or “DOCTOR OF...” is used
• Only the Major(s) and (if applicable) the specialization(s) are listed (minors are  not listed)
• Do not include Dr., Esq., Ph.D., AIA, or other titles or affiliations before or after your name or faculty names
• “Major Professor” is listed after the respective faculty’s name
• For Co-major Professors, list both as “Co-major Professor”; do not use “Major Professor”
• Committee member names are single spaced
• Either the word “Thesis” or “Dissertation” is used in the “responsibility of content” statement
• Iowa State University is listed
• Ames, Iowa is listed
• Graduation year is listed
• Copyright statement is written as: Copyright © [Name as Shown on AccessPlus], [Graduation Year]. All rights reserved.

Annotated Examples

Sample Title Page

Master's Title Page

Master's Title Page_Co-Majors

Master's Title Page_Specialization

Master's Title Page _2 Specializations

Master's Title Page_2 Majors and 3 Specializations

Mater's Title Page_Double Degree

PhD Title Page

PhD Title Page_Co-Majors

PhD Title Page_Specialization

PhD Title Page_2 Specializations

PhD Title Page_2 Majors and 3 Specializations

Sample Title Page with Alternative Student Name  

  Table of Contents

Including a Table of Contents is required . The Table of Contents shows the reader the organization of the document as well as displays the correct page numbers. The bulleted items explain various heading styles for you to follow. They also demonstrate various preliminary pages' formats.

• DEDICATION, if used, precedes the table of contents. Its heading is formatted with  Heading 0 (NOT IN TOC) style, and the page number is 'ii'
• Page is numbered using lower case Roman numerals, top center
• The heading TABLE OF CONTENTS, is formatted with  Heading 0 (NOT IN TOC) style
• Do not list 'DEDICATION' or 'TABLE OF CONTENTS' in the Table of Contents
• The order for the preliminary pages that follow the table of contents are LIST OF TABLES (optional), LIST OF FIGURES (optional), NOMENCLATURE (optional), ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS (optional), ABSTRACT (required)
• Preliminary page numbers are lower case Roman numerals in the same font as the document's text, top center
• Single-space chapter headings and subheadings. Double-space before a new chapter
• Chapter titles are uppercase letters, same size and font
• Chapter 1 begins with Arabic numeral '1' in the same font as the text
• Indent first and second level headings below the major headings. No underlining, boldface, or italics
• Ensure page numbers in the Table of Content agree with the text
• All headings must match the corresponding headings in text

Traditional Format Table of Contents

Journal Format Table of Contents

Single Journal Format Table of Contents

MFA Format Table of Contents

  List of Tables or Figures

Including a List of Tables and/or a List of Figures is optional . If you have one list, you must have the other list. Each list starts on a new page regardless of how many entries are on the page.

• The headings LIST OF FIGURES or LIST OF TABLES are formatted in Heading 0 (Included in TOC)  style
• If you have one of these lists, then you have the other as well
• Page number columns are right justified
• "Page" is written above the page numbers column (only on the first page of the list) and is right justified
• The word “Table” or “Figure” comes before the title or figure number (e.g., “Table 1. Title”)
• Titles have all the same capitalization, size, and same font
• Single-space list entries
• Double-space between list entries
• Entries should not be bolded or italicized
• Traditional format: Continue numbers throughout the document (e.g., Figure 1, Figure 2, Figure 3)
• Option 1:  Restart Figure/Table caption number for each chapter (e.g. Figure 1, Table 1),  write "Chapter 1", "Chapter 2", Chapter X, etc. to separate each chapter section in the List of Figures and/or List of Tables. 
• Option 2: Use Figure/Table caption number with each chapter number, (e.g. Figure 2.1, Figure 2.2, etc. or Table 2.1, Table 2.2, etc.), write Figure/Table + Chapter number followed by figure/table number for the respective chapter.

List of Tables Traditional Format

List of Figures Traditional Format

List of Tables Journal Article Format (Option 1: Restart numbering)

List of Figures Journal Article Format (Option 1: Restart numbering)

List of Tables Journal Article Format (Option 2: Use chapter number)

List of Figures Journal Article Format (Option 2: Use chapter number)

An abstract is required . The abstract is a concise summary of the dissertation or thesis’s purpose, highlights the main points, states the method used, provides findings, and states conclusions. Oftentimes, readers only read the abstract to determine if they should read the document.

• ABSTRACT in Heading 0 (Included in TOC)
• Double-spaced 
• Indent paragraphs like other paragraphs in your dissertation/thesis
• There is no word limit for the ABSTRACT

Abstract Page

 Traditional Body Format

There are two format styles—traditional and journal. The traditional format is basically one document; whereas, journal is a compilation of several manuscripts for journal publication. See the Journal Article Format  section for instructions for papers including journal publications.

• Begin first page of Chapter 1 with ‘1’. Numbers are the same font as the document’s text
• All chapter titles are written in Heading 1   style, which is centered, bold, and uppercase
• All non-chapter, high-level section (Preliminary Pages, Reference/Bibliography, and Appendix) titles are formatted in Heading 0 (Included in TOC) , which is centered, bold, and uppercase
• Indent all paragraphs
• No blank pages
• Recommended: no excessive white space in text. Pages should be ¾ filled, unless it’s the last page of the chapter
• Recommended: Chapter section headings are bold and centered with title case. Use Heading 2  style
• Recommended: Chapter subsection headings are bold, left flush, sentence case. Use Heading 3  style
• Format headings consistently throughout the manuscript
• Differentiation exists between heading levels
• At least two lines of text should be included on a page before a paragraph is continued to the next page
• Headings or subheadings must include at least two lines of text at the bottom of a page
• Include the first page of the Institutional Review Board (IRB) approval in the appendix. Refer to it in the text

 Journal Article Format

This manuscript format refers to the use of articles and/or book chapters to replace the standard thesis/dissertation chapters. Publication of the manuscript(s) is not a requirement of this format. The graduate student is the major contributor and writer of the manuscript(s). In the case of multiple authorship, the contribution of each author is detailed in the Introduction or footnotes.

• Begin CHAPTER 1. GENERAL INTRODUCTION with page ‘1’. Numbers are the same font as the document’s text
• Chapter 1 must be titled “GENERAL INTRODUCTION” and the final chapter must be titled “GENERAL CONCLUSION”
• All chapter titles are written in Heading 1  style, which is centered, bold, and uppercase
• Author affiliations
• References or Bibliography
• Figures and Tables 
• Continue the text of the paper on the same page as the title and abstract. Chapter titles should not stand alone on a page
• The References section should appear continuously after the manuscript text; it does not start on a new page
• Format headings consistently throughout each chapter
• At least two lines of text should be included on a page. This includes paragraphs that carry over to the next page
• Appendices must be included within the respective chapters, NOT as sections at the end of the thesis/dissertation. See the Appendix section  for more details on specific formatting requirements

Author Affiliation

 Bibliography or References

Including a bibliography or reference section is required . Every thesis/dissertation that uses other sources, either by direct quotation or reference, must have a bibliography or listing of these sources at the end before the Appendices. The organization of references or bibliography according to specific disciplines can be accepted if approved by the committee.

• For Journal Article format, use Heading 2 at the end of each chapter before any appendix(ces). The references continue after the body of the text (not start on a new page)
• For Traditional format, use Heading 0 (Included in TOC) after the final chapter, before any appendix(ces). Start on a new page

Citation Style Guides

Traditional Format References

Journal Format References

Discipline-specific Organization

Use one or more appendices for materials that do not pertain directly, but are relevant, to the main text. Examples of appendix material include survey instruments, Institutional Review Board approval, permission forms, additional data, or raw data. The material within the appendices may be in a different font or use different spacing from the main text of the dissertation/thesis.

• Appendix. Title
• Appendix A. Title
• Appendix B. Title
• Lettering schema restarts in every chapter
• APPENDIX. TITLE
• APPENDIX A. TITLE
• APPENDIX B. TITLE
• Number all pages with the same font and location as body of thesis/dissertation pages
• Fonts may be different

 Tables, Figures & Schemas

• Include tables, figures, and schema in the text below their first reference in the text or they can be grouped at the end of each chapter. Use a consistent style throughout
• Table, figure, and schema margins should be the same as the manuscript’s pages
• Position table and figure captions relative to the table/figure consistently throughout the manuscript (Traditional) or chapter (Journal Article).
• Position schema captions at the top or bottom consistently
• There must be 2 lines of the caption on the same page as the figure or table
• Table/figure/schema too large to fit on one page: use “Table X continued' at the top of the table on each subsequent page. “Figure X continued” above or below the figure on each subsequent page
• Turn landscape tables, figures, and schema so the top of the table/figure is located to the left
• Page numbers on landscape pages should not turn with the table/figure. Locate on the 8.5' end of the page in the same position and orientation as the other page numbers

Table Example

Table Continued Example

Figure Example

Figure Continued Example (Long Caption)

Figure Continued Example (Long Figure)

Figure in Portrait and Landscape Orientation

Page Numbers of Landscape Pages

How To Annotate An Article Effectively [Tips + Tools]

Annotating an article goes over and above just simply writing down notes. It is a worthwhile activity, which when done correctly can help you to actively read and understand the text you're reading.

If you wanted to read something, you used to have to go to a library or bookstore. But now you can get access to thousands of free books and articles online. And thanks to the rise of the digital era , you don’t even need to leave home anymore.

However, how often have you found yourself reading an article or blog post only to realize that you don’t remember anything from it? This is because you weren't actively taking in anything you were reading.

This can easily be rectified if you annotate an article while reading it.

In order to get the most out of reading, you should always make comments or highlight important parts of the text. This way, your brain stays active and you can easily refer back to them later.

You can annotate articles by hand on a piece of paper, however, if you want to do it online, there are plenty of tools available to help you out.

• First Of All, What Is Annotation?🤷‍♀️
• Why Should You Take The Time Out To Annotate When Reading?🧐

7 Steps For How To Annotate An Article Effectively🔥

How to optimize your annotation process🌟.

• How To Use The Various Online Annotation Tools: Markup Vs. Kami📝
• Conclusion🙌

Important disclosure: we're proud affiliates of some tools mentioned in this guide. If you click an affiliate link and subsequently make a purchase, we will earn a small commission at no additional cost to you (you pay nothing extra). For more information, read our affiliate disclosure .

First Of All, What Is Annotation? 🤷‍♀️

Annotation is simply making personal notes and adding explanations or comments on top of an image or document.

Annotating is about drawing attention to specific words, phrases, or themes in the article.

There are three main methods of annotation:

Highlighting

• Adding comments.

Each method has its advantages and disadvantages.

When highlighting, you add color to specific word s or phrases.

Advantages of highlighting text are that it's easy to do and actually doesn't require any special software.

A disadvantage of highlighting text is that it may not show up well when printed out and depending on the color used, the contrast can make it hard to read the words.

Tagging allows you to assign keywords to different sections of the text.

Advantages of tagging include easily being able to search for specific tags and locate associated text.

The disadvantages of tagging are that it requires more work than highlighting since you must first create a list of keywords before assigning each one of them to the text.

Comments are generally more personal than either of these two methods. They are usually written by the reader and reflect the readers' thoughts and feelings towards what they are reading.

The advantages of leaving your comments when annotating are article are that writing is an active learning strategy and you're more likely to remember what you've written. The disadvantages of commenting are that it takes time to write a comment.

The best way to annotate an article is by using all three methods at once.

Why Should You Take The Time Out To Annotate When Reading? 🧐

The main advantage of annotating articles is that it helps you retain information better.

It is one of the best active reading strategies.

When you annotate, you're forced to pay attention to the text and therefore you'll learn faster. It also makes you think harder so you'll understand things better. This is particularly helpful with complex reading material.

Another advantage of effective annotation is being more aware of what you're reading. You will naturally begin to notice the important points in the text or relevant pieces of information. This will help you focus on those areas.

You can even use annotations as a study tool.

If you annotate articles, digital textbooks, or academic texts, you'll find yourself referring back to it often. This is because you'll be easily reminded of the key points.

You can then go back and reread the highlighted passages without having to worry about remembering where you left off. This is particularly useful if you are a student who is studying for an exam or trying to learn a new concept.

The disadvantages of annotating are that you might feel like you're wasting time. However trust me, you aren't ! One way to eliminate this feeling is to annotate the articles you are reading online rather than print them out and annotate them by hand.

Annotating online allows you to quickly make corrections to your annotations, something that may not be so easy by hand.

Plus when annotating online you have easy access to your annotations wherever you may be. You can just save the page with your annotations and continue reading later. No need to carry around stacks of printed-out articles with you.

Oh and you're also helping to save the environment too by reducing your paper usage & printing!

That's why I say, online annotation all the way!

Alright, so you know all about what annotation is and why it is important, which is great. But how do you actually go about annotating an article?

Below are seven steps you can follow when annotating an article:

• Scan For Important Details
• Skim For More Information
• Underline Or Highlight Key Points
• Read The Entire Article Thoroughly
• Make Your Notes
• Quickly Summarize The Key Ideas
• Create An Outline

1. Scan For Important Details

The first step when annotating an article is to scan the article for details that are relevant to what you want to learn from the article.

Usually, when you are scanning you read the title of the articles, the headings, the abstract, and the conclusion of the article so you can grasp some idea of the direction of the article.

2. Skim For More Information

You then need to skim-read the article to get a general and clearer idea of what it's about.

It doesn't matter if you don't fully understand everything but you want to get a sense of the topic and its central theme . This means you are looking for keywords, key concepts, terms, phrases, abbreviations, etc.

A good tactic when skimming through an article is to read the first sentence or two of the first paragraphs.

3. Underline Or Highlight Key Points

Your next step is to then underline or highlight the most important points in the article that you have picked up on through your initial readings.

These could be the main ideas in texts, facts, statistics, quotes, examples, etc. that you found interesting and relevant.

4. Read The Entire Article Thoroughly

Once you've underlined the key points, you should read the entire article again. Slowly and carefully.

Reading the article in its entirety helps to reinforce the key points you've already identified.

In addition, it gives you a chance to look at the different parts of the article and see how they relate to each other.

It is good practice at this point to circle any unfamiliar words and to look them up. Noting down the meanings of the words both mentally and on the article itself.

5. Make Your Notes

Now that you've read the entire article, you can start making your personal notes. You can make these notes in the margin, at the end of the article, or on a new page entirely.

Write down any questions you still have about the article, any points you want to remember, or anything else you'd like to add.

Keep in mind that the notes you take don't have to be words, they can also be visuals.

6. Quickly Summarize The Key Ideas

After you've finished writing down your thoughts, you can summarize the main ideas of the article into one sentence.

For example, if you were annotating the article " Why Do We Have A Short Attention Span? ", you would write down something like:

"Short attention spans are caused by our fast-paced world."

It is important in your summary that you make connections between the key ideas in the article.

7. Create An Outline

Finally, once you've summarized the major ideas of the piece, create an outline . This will help you organize your notes as well as give you a deeper understanding of the article overall.

An outline is simply a list of the key ideas of the document. It's not meant to be exhaustive, nor does it have to include every single detail.

An outline is usually made up of three sections:

• Title - What is this document about?
• Body - What did we learn from this article?
• Conclusions - How does this article affect us today?

You are now ready to get started annotating articles. This extremely useful skill is a vital one to learn, however, you can take it a step further and optimize your annotation processes.

Some people are annotation naturals, but with others, it requires a bit more practice. Below are some tips and tricks to help you annotate articles online more efficiently and effectively:

An Annotation Tool Is Your Best Friend 💕

Use a legend 🔑, make use of your colors wisely 🎨.

• Different Margin Different Task ☝️

Note Down Descriptions & Reactions ✍️

Did someone say snapchat 👻, be critical 🧠, use abbreviations or symbols *️⃣.

Annotation tools are useful because they allow you to easily mark up text and highlight important parts of an article. They also let you take notes and record your thoughts.

There are many online annotation tools available, including Markup by Kdan Mobile, Cronycle & Kami.

Markup is an all-in-one annotation tool - meaning you can use it to personally annotate articles online and websites ( & PDFs too if you’re using the iOS app ).

The tool combines note-taking with artificial intelligence, ensuring that you are actively reading with great efficiency.

The more you use Markup, the more helpful it becomes as it remembers the types of articles you have read and the content within them, and then it suggests articles of a similar nature.

With Markup you can save all your annotations in one place, for easy access and you can quickly share them amongst your peers.

You can get started with Markup for free. However, if you are looking to upgrade your functions and features then the paid pricing plans start at $39.99 per user per month billed annually.

From the outset, Croncyle may not look like an annotation tool. It in fact advertises itself as a marketing intelligence platform.

However, it does have a very nifty annotation feature for PDFs, saved web pages, and online articles. All you have to do is save the article to one of your boards and then you can get started highlighting, adding comments, and tagging.

After you have annotated the article you can review all of the comments you made, extract highlighted text, and then share it with whoever you wish.

Unfortunately, there is no free plan for Croncyle, and their paid plans start at $49 per user per month, paid annually.

Kami may market itself as a digital classroom tool , however, it can be used by anybody, in any industry.

With Kami, you can take a PDF document, a Word document, images, and conventional articles and transform them into a beautifully annotated end result. And then you can save and share those documents as you please.

One particularly useful feature of Kami that sets itself apart from the other two tools we have mentioned is that you can annotate in written words, visuals, videos, or voice recordings.

Kami offers its’ users a completely free version , or they can upgrade to the Teacher Plan which is $99 per year. It just depends on the extent of your needs.

Using annotation tools can save you valuable time. However, there are some things to keep in mind before using them.

First, you'll need to find a tool that works with your device. Some apps work only on certain devices (iPhones, iPads), while others may require a web browser.

Second, you need to think about your annotation needs and which tool best suits those.

For example , if you're looking for a simple way to quickly note down key points, then you might choose to use a basic highlighting app. If you're looking for more advanced features such as adding images, formatting text, or recording audio clips, then you may want to consider a more complex tool.

Third, make sure you know how to use the tool properly. You should always start off by reading through the documentation first. Then, practice using the tool until you feel comfortable doing so.

Lastly, make sure the tool fits into your budget . There are free options out there, but you may want to invest in a paid option if you plan on making heavy use of it.

Always make use of a key or legend when annotating articles online. A legend is a quick reference guide that explains what each symbol means.

A legend can be used at any point during the process, whether you're writing annotations directly on the page or creating a summary.

It's very helpful to add a legend to a document because it helps other readers ( or you at a later stage ) understand what you mean. It will also help you organize your thoughts and remember what you've written.

When creating a legend, try to stick to 3-5 symbols per section.

When annotating you need to be careful of your color choices. Avoid using too many colors. Instead, pick just two or three main colors.

The reason why you need to limit yourself to these colors is that most people have limited vision. When you use too many colors, it becomes difficult for people to read what you wrote.

If you do decide to use multiple colors, make sure to use contrasting ones instead of monochromatic ones. If you don't it may be hard to distinguish one color from the next. For instance, if you use red and pink together, then you will struggle to tell where one ends and the next begins.

Avoid using bright colors like yellow or orange. These colors tend to distract from the content. Also, avoid using colors that are too dark as they will make it hard to read the text.

You should also use a different color for each type of reaction , e.g. green for questions, red for confusion, and purple for agreement.

Different Margin Different Task☝️

Try to make your annotations as logical as possible. Use one margin for tagging and another margin for making comments. Or one margin for reactions and the other for questions.

This makes it easier to follow along with the article themes.

When annotating an article it is important to note down descriptions of what is written as well as your reactions to the key concepts. Noting down reactions allows you to go back to this section and understand how it initially made you feel and your thought process at the time.

If you're not sure about something, then write it down, and question it. This will give you time to think about it before you continue.

Noting your thoughts helps you better understand the article when you review it again at a later stage.

This one is for students. Did you know you can annotate articles on Snapchat? Yes, it’s true!

All you need to do is take a screenshot of the article you want to annotate.

Then, open up the image editor and paste the article. Once you've done that, you can begin adding your own notes and reactions by tapping on the screen.

Another way to do this is to subscribe to one of the news accounts on Snapchat, open up an article of interest, screenshot it and get annotating.

You can also easily share your annotations with friends.

It is important when annotating an article to be critical of what is written. Don't just accept everything at face value.

Really think about what the article is saying and the implications of such.

Think about what you would say in response to the author's arguments. Would you agree or disagree? Why?

To make your life easier, you can always abbreviate certain words or you can use symbols to represent certain things. This is particularly useful for repeated concepts or themes as it saves you time in writing it out.

For example , instead of writing ‘theory’ all over the place, you could simply put ‘T’. Also saving you space for more elaborate descriptions. Or try using a '?' mark if something in the article requires more research on your behalf.

Just make sure you include these abbreviations and symbols in your legend so that you know exactly what they mean!

The last thing you want is to forget their meaning and have to annotate the article from scratch.

How To Use The Various Online Annotation Tools: Markup Vs. Kami 📝

Maybe using online annotation tools sounds daunting to you but we are here to show you otherwise. Using these tools couldn't be any easier.

Markup is a unique annotation tool as it allows you to highlight and annotate any article online. No need to download the article or have it on your google drive.

In fact, you don’t even have to download anything - not even the tool itself, as all you have to do, is add it as an extension to your browser.

Go to the Markup website . Click on the relevant button to take you to your Chrome or Edge extension web store.

Add the Markup extension to your browser. No account is needed! You may want to pin it to your extensions bar for easy access.

Go to the article you want to annotate. Click on the Markup extension button and a drop-down annotation menu will appear ( as seen above ).

As you can see with Markup you can highlight text, add tags, add annotations, automatically summarize the article (a very useful feature) and then share your annotations with other people.

Plus they offer you pro tips for using the tool!

Select the text you want , and as long as the ‘Text Highlighter’ toggle is set to on, a Markups button will appear next to your text.

Click this button and it will give you the option to highlight your text - in multiple different colors!

If you want to annotate your text all you need to do is select your text, click the annotation button that pops up next to your text, and type in your note. You can even change the note color.

It really is that easy.

Click ‘Annotations ’ on the side panel to view all the notes and highlighted text you’ve added.

This quickly shows you everything you deemed important in the article and allows you to easily navigate to any section.

Click ‘Share’, and then click ‘Include highlights and notes’ to share your annotated article with anyone via a link or across your Facebook, Twitter, and Weibo social networks.

Kami is an annotation tool that is aimed at the education industry. Because of this, it functions mainly to annotate articles that are either saved onto a drive or downloaded onto the computer.

Unlike with Markup, you cannot annotate straight onto an article on a website. However, it still fulfills its purpose perfectly.

Go to their website , create an account, and log in. Then open your file from Google Docs or Drive, My Computer, or OneDrive. Or create one using the various templates.

Once your article is uploaded you’ll get access to a number of annotation tools , all present in the bar on the left-hand side of your screen.

There are also a number of functional options in the top right-hand corner - open file, save, share, download, etc.

Click on the highlighter icon and highlight your text in multiple colors. You can also underline important text or strike it through if it isn’t relevant.

Click on the comments icon to add notes in multiple forms - written, audio, video, or visual. Plus you can tag your notes in different colors so you know which are related and which aren't.

You can even add text boxes, shapes, and drawings to the actual article itself.

Click on the download icon to export your document - with or without the annotations.

Which tool is best?

That depends on your needs as a person. If you have a whole lot of downloaded articles, go with Kami, but if you want to save time and annotate directly online, then Markup is the tool for you.

Or you can always explore the other annotation tools we mentioned in this article…

Conclusion 🙌

Without annotation, it becomes easy to read through an article and not remember anything afterward. This isn’t ideal - especially if you are a student.

Annotating an article online is an important skill if you want to not only read the text but actually actively take in what it is saying. Many people view annotation as tedious, however, there are a number of tools available to help you.

And using them couldn’t be any easier.

After reading this article you should have everything you need to effectively and efficiently annotate your articles. What are you waiting for?

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