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How to Make an Annotated Citation

When writing an essay or working on a research project, sources tend to pile up. Annotations are helpful notes that can guide you back to your first thoughts when you were just beginning to research and thus help keep your thoughts clearly organized for when you begin to work your research into a written document. By using a style guide such as MLA, Chicago, or APA, you can cite the document you intend to annotate, thus organizing the information and making it readily accessible when you begin your essay or research project.

Things You'll Need

  • Style guide such as MLA, Chicago, or APA
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Instructions

  1. Writing the Citation in MLA and Chicago

    • 1

      Write the author's name in "First name, Last name" order, and place a period after it.

    • 2

      Write the title of the book in italics after the author's name, and place a period at the end.

    • 3

      Write the location of the publisher after the title, and place a colon at the end.

    • 4

      Write the name of the publisher after the location, and place a colon at the end.

    • 5

      Write the year of publication after the name of the publisher, and place a period at the end.

    • 6

      Write the medium of the book, in the case Print, after the year of publication, and close the citation with a period. Skip this step if you are doing Chicago style citations.

    Writing the Citation in APA

    • 7

      Write the author's name in "First name, Last name" order and place a period after it.

    • 8

      Write the year of publication in parentheses after the author's name, and place a period at the end.

    • 9

      Write the title of the book in italics after the year of publication, and place a period at the end.

    • 10

      Write the location of the publisher after the book title, and place a colon at the end.

    • 11

      Write the publisher name after the location, and place a period at the end to close the citation.

    Annotating the Citation

    • 12

      Summarize the work and explain the main theme or topic in brief in a new paragraph directly under the citation.

    • 13

      Explain who the work is intended for, that is, who the intended audience is. For example, a text book will be geared towards students in the particular field whereas a "how to" guide will be geared towards someone who is likely starting from scratch.

    • 14

      Discuss why the work is valid. Talk about what makes the work a reliable source. Essentially, you want to back the citation and defend its credibility.

    • 15

      Discuss how you plan on using the work in your research. Give specifics on how you plan on using it to defend your argument or to back your research.

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