CMST 339: Intercultural Communication in Global Contexts

APA Citations & Annotations

What is an 'annotation'?

Annotations are summaries of what the source is about and an analysis of why it is important to your understanding of your research topic. They come directly after the citation. Annotations are not quotes, but should be written in your own words and can help other readers understand how the information on your research question came together. Scholars will often use annotations to help themselves keep track of research sources or explain to readers why they chose certain sources to cite in their work.

When writing annotations, the summary and analysis of why the source matters doesn't have to be extremely long, but it must give enough detail so the reader can understand what makes each source important and different from the others.

Important:

Always follow your instructor's assignment guidelines for the length and content of the annotations you create-- depending on your assignment needs, your annotations may include more or fewer of the suggested elements below.

 

How to write an annotation

Here are some common ways to draft your summary and analysis from the Holman Library citations guide:

Summary: 

Include answers to some of these questions:

  • what type of source is this? (book, article…etc.)
  • what is this source about? – a brief summary
  • what topic(s) does it cover?  how extensive is its coverage?
  • what are its main arguments or themes?

 

Analysis: 

Include answers to some of these questions:

  • why did you choose this source?
  • in what ways is it an authoritative and credible source for your purposes?
  • how is it helpful for your project or how does it shape your argument?
  • how does it fit in with the rest of your research?

 

And, here is an example of good annotation, also from the Holman Library citations guide. Notice that the first paragraph is generally summary, while the second paragraph is analysis.

 

APA citation and annotation example:

Taylor, L. (2005). Dress. In M. C. Horowitz (Ed.), New Dictionary of the History of Ideas (Vol. 2, pp. 596-605). Charles Scribner's Sons.

"Dress," by Lou Taylor, provides an historic, theoretical, and cultural overview of the academic study of dress. Though this is academic reference book article and not an in-depth study, "Dress" offers a clear and insightful explanation of how clothing provides a window into history: namely that the clothing one wears reflects one's individual and group identity. In other words, the study of dress offers insight into what's sacred in a society; generational differences; occupation, economic and vocational status in a society; ethnicity, community, nationality and racial identification; gender and sexuality; and individual values.

While Taylor's focus is outside of the US, his discussion is highly relevant to the study of dress in any context. I will use the analysis to support my analysis of 1970s counter-culture fashion.

Want to see more APA Annotated bibliography examples?

Infographic Tutorials

Infographic how-to videos

These example videos are from LinkedIn Learning, one of Green River's library databases. You can find even more by searching "Infographics" on LinkedIn Learning.

The first time you log in to LinkedIn Learning as a Green River student, you will need to set up your individual learner log in-- see the directions at the bottom of this box.

...and even more is available on our Infographic tab of our Media Making library guide:

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Download your free copy of Office 365 (now Microsoft 365)

Step 1: Log into your Green River student email account from the GRC website

Step 2: Once you are logged into your email account, click on the image of the squares in the upper left-hand corner:

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Step 3: From here, click on the words “Microsoft 365” that appears at the top of the pop-out menu:

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Step 4: Now you will see the option to “Install apps” (see below) over to the right-hand side of the screen. Click and choose the Microsoft 365 apps option The link to download MS Office will be available to you during each quarter that you are actively enrolled at GRC

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