Interior Architecture Research Methods: Special Topics & Literature Review

Directly Quoted from the Purdue Online Writing Lab (OWL)

Annotated Bibliography Samples

Overview

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 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 discusses the project’s strengths and evaluates its methods and presentation. This annotation does not reflect on the source’s potential importance or usefulness for this person’s research.

*For information on formatting APA citations, see the OWL's APA Formatting and Style Guide.

The first step to creating your APA annotations is knowing what you want to tell your instructor about the source. You can provide a summary, evaluation, or reflection of each source. Although your instructor may provide guidelines, expect to evaluate the following aspects of each source:

• Authority of the source

• Overview of information in the source

• Value to your research

The length of your bibliographic entry depends on your instructor’s guidelines but typically is about 100-300 words.

Writing Annotations

A strong annotation will have three main parts:

• Summary
• Assessment
• Reflection

Length requirements can vary from a few sentences to a single paragraph or a full page. Be sure to verify length requirements with your professor and/or through the assignment instructions.

When writing the summary, ask yourself:

• What topics are covered in the resource?
• What are the main arguments?
• What are the main conclusions drawn from the resource?

When writing the assessment, ask yourself:

• Is the source useful?
• How does it compare to your other resources?
• Is there bias present?
• Is the source reliable?

When writing the reflection, ask yourself:

• How does the source fit into your research?
• How might the source support your argument?
• Did the source change your mind about the topic?

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