Anatomy of a research paper:

Annotated Bibliography

Summary: Consider how you will use your potential sources to address your research question.

Goals:

• Review questions to consider when evaluating research materials.
• Learn how to write an annotated bibliography.
• Carefully examine each of your potential sources.

Due: 5 p.m. Wednesday, November 5

Assignment

Annotate each of your potential sources by writing one or two short paragraphs addressing some or all of the following issues:

1. Who is the author? What is their affiliation, background, area of specialization?
2. Where or by whom is the source published? What is their mission?
3. When was the source published (or last updated)? Is currency important for your research question?
4. What is the point of view of the source? Is it a report on new research? A summary of others' work? An analysis? A critique?
5. How does the source relate to your research question?  How do you plan to use it in your research (or will you use it at all)? 
6. Summarize the source. What does it say? 

If you have not done so already, you should plan to carefully evaluate your sources. Note that you do not need to thoroughly read a potential source to write an annotation evaluating it. In fact, the point of evaluating the source is to decide whether it is worth reading thoroughly.

The first three questions (who, where, and when) can be answered by focusing on the citation for the source: the author, title, journal or publisher, and publication date. You may need to use the Web or other resources to help you learn more about the author and the journal or publisher.

Addressing the next two questions (what and how) will require you to study the source itself. For journal articles, you can often address these questions by reading just the abstract. Sometimes it helps to read the introduction and conclusion as well.  (In fact, many academics do just this to help them decide whether it is worth the time to read the entire article). For books, you should plan to browse the table of contents, use the index to look up keywords related to your topic, and read the preface or introduction to learn the author's point of view. 

To summarize what the authors say, you will need to read at least the section or chapter that seems most related to your research question, and possibly the entire source. Consider using some of the "verbs for introducing summaries and quotations" from page 37 of They Say / I Say, such as "argue," "observe," "corroborate," "question," and "demand," to enliven your summaries and signal what moves the authors are making.

Important note: If you learn something about a potential source that makes you decide you will definitely not use it (e.g., the author is not reputable), you need not address any other issues.

Important note: If you identified promising potential sources that are not held by the Grinnell College Libraries, place an interlibrary loan (ILL) request right away. You will usually get the material you requested in about a week. If not, do your best to write an annotation anyway. You should at least be able to answer the first three questions based on the citation. If the source is a journal article, the abstract you found in the library database is very likely to help you answer questions 4 and 5 as well.

What to turn in

Prepare a bibliography with APA-style citations for each of your potential sources. (You are welcome to use a tool such as RefWorks.) The annotation for each source should appear as one or two indented paragraphs immediately below the source's citation.

Be sure to put your name and a title on the assignment and to acknowledge any help you received.

Please use at least 1" margins, 1.5- or double-spacing, and a 10-12 point font. I encourage you to save paper by printing on both sides. 

Print your document and bring it to my office by 5 p.m. on Wednesday, November 9.

Evaluation

I will evaluate your assignment on the clarity and thoroughness of your annotations.

Janet Davis (davisjan@cs.grinnell.edu)