Fletcher Library at the West Campus
Guidelines for Annotations
Keep these questions in mind when examining any source for a research paper or project, and get in the habit of questioning your sources. The goal is to become a knowledgeable consumer of information. You will not be able to answer all of these questions when examining and annotating a source. A few require knowledge of the field being researched (questions 7 through 9 especially); however, the categories shown here and discussed by Engeldinger serve as a framework for anyone writing annotations.
| Author | Who is the author? What is the author's occupation, position, titles, education, experience, etc.? Is the author qualified (or not) to write on the subject? |
| Purpose | What is the purpose for writing the article or doing the research? An additional point is what type of source is it (e.g. reference book, scholarly study, research findings, popular treatment, etc.) |
| Audience | To what audience is the author writing? Is it intended for the general public, scholars, policy makers, teachers, professionals, practitioners, etc.? Is this reflected in the author's style of writing or presentation? How so? |
| Bias | Does the author have a bias or make assumptions upon which the rationale of the publication or the research rests? |
| Research Method | What method of obtaining data or conducting research was employed by the author? Is the article (or book) based on personal opinion or experience, interviews, library research, questionnaires, laboratory experiments, case studies, standardized personality tests, etc.? |
| Conclusions | What conclusions does the author draw from the data? |
| Justification | Does the author satisfactorily justify the conclusions from the research or experience? Why or why not? |
| Comparison with Similar Studies | How does this study compare with similar studies? Is it in tune with or in opposition to conventional wisdom, established scholarship, professional practice, government policy, etc.? Are there specific studies, writings, schools of thought, philosophies, etc., with which this one agrees or disagrees and of which one should be aware? |
| Attachments | Are there significant attachments or appendixes such as charts, maps, bibliographies, photos, documents, tests, or questionnaires? If not, should there be? |
| Usefulness | One last additional point: is it useful for your research? |
