MLA Citation Style

MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers, 7th edition

Follow these color codes:
Author(s) Title of Book or Website Title of Article Title of Periodical Volume
Place of Publication Publisher or Database Date Other Information Pages

Journal Article
[Hardcopy]
Devine, Patricia G., and Steven J. Sherman. "Intuitive Versus Rational

Judgment and the Role of Stereotyping in the Human Condition:

Kirk or Spock?" Psychological Inquiry 3.2 (1992): 153-59. Print.

[From a Website]
Hodges, F. M. "The Promised Planet: Alliances and Struggles of the

Gerontocracy in American Television Science Fiction of the 1960s."

Aging Male 6.3 (2003): 175-82. Web. 18 Feb. 2010.

[From a Database]
Roberts, Robin. "Performing Science Fiction: Television, Theater, and

Gender in Star Trek: The Experience." Extrapolation 42.4 (2001):

340-56. Literature Resource Center. Web. 25 Feb. 2010.

Newspaper Article
[See examples under "Journal Article" to add the information for the website and database versions of a printed article]
Di Rado, Alicia. "Trekking through College: Classes Explore Modern

Society Using the World of Star Trek." Los Angeles Times 15 Mar.
 1995: A3+. Print.

[Specialized article: Movie review - the review information can be replaced with Editorial, Letter, etc.]
Dargis, Manohla. "Kids in Space." Rev. of Star Trek, dir. J. J. Abrams.

New York Times 8 May 2009, sec. C: 1+. Print.

[Material available only on the website and not in the print version]
Lyall, Sarah. "To Boldly Go Where Shakespeare Calls." New York

Times. New York Times, 27 Jan. 2008. Web. 25 Feb. 2010.

Magazine Article
[See examples under "Journal Article" to add the information for the website and database versions of a printed article]
[See examples under "Newspaper Article" for specialized articles and web-only material]
Mershon, Donald H. "Star Trek on the Brain: Alien Minds, Human

Minds." American Scientist Nov.-Dec. 1998: 585. Print.

Book
[Hardcopy]
Okuda, Michael, and Denise Okuda. Star Trek Chronology: The History

of the Future. New York: Pocket, 1993. Print.

[No author or editor]
Vulcan Reflections: Essays on Spock and His World. Baltimore: T-K

Graphics, 1975. Print.

[From a Database or Website]
Anijar, Karen. Teaching Toward the 24th Century : Star Trek as Social

Curriculum. New York: Falmer-Taylor, 2000. Ebrary. Web. 1 Mar.

2010.
Book Article or Chapter
James, Nancy E. "Two Sides of Paradise: The Eden Myth According to

Kirk and Spock." Spectrum of the Fantastic. Ed. Donald Palumbo.

Westport: Greenwood, 1988. 219-23. Print.

Encyclopedia Article
[Widely used general reference books - Hardcopy]
Sturgeon, Theodore. "Science Fiction." The Encyclopedia Americana.

International ed. 1995. Print.

[Specialized reference books - from a Database]
Barr, Marleen S. "Science Fiction." New Dictionary of the History of

Ideas. Ed. Maryanne Cline Horowitz. Vol. 5. Detroit: Scribner's, 2005.

Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 1 Mar. 2010.

Gale Reference Book (and Literature Criticism Online database)

[For books featuring reprinted articles. This shows a magazine article. Use the journal, newspaper, or book article styles as needed.]
Shayon, Robert Lewis. "The Interplanetary Spock." Saturday Review

17 June 1967: 46. Rpt. in Contemporary Literary Criticism. Ed.

Sharon R. Gunton. Vol. 17. Detroit: Gale, 1981. 403. Literature

Criticism Online. Web. 1 Mar. 2010.

Websites
Epsicokhan, Jamahl. "Confessions of a Closet Trekkie." Jammer's
 Reviews. N.p., 20 Feb. 2004. Web. 15 Mar. 2010.
[Page with a corporate author]
United States. Natl. Aeronautics and Space Administration. Jet

Propulsion Laboratory. "Mission Could Seek out Spock's Home

Planet." PlanetQuest: Exoplanet Exploration. NASA, 10 May 2007.

Web. 15 Mar. 2010.

[Page with no author]
"The Roddenberry Legacy of Human Potential: If Only, If Only." Star

Trek Official Site. CBS Studios, 24 Oct. 2007. Web. 15 Mar. 2010.

Blog
Zompist. "Star Wars: Hope Not So New Anymore." Zompist's E-Z Rant

Page. WordPress.com, 30 Sept. 2009. Web. 16 Mar. 2010.

[Comment posted on a blog or web page]
Rachael. "Re: Confessions of a Closet Trekkie." Reply to Jamahl

Epsicokhan. Jammer's Reviews. N.p., 5 Aug. 2009. Web. 25 Mar.

2010.

Wiki
"Cultural Influence of Star Trek." Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia.

Wikimedia Foundation, n.d. Web. 15 Mar. 2010.

Internet Video
Crusade2267. "For The Uniform: One Fan's Obsession with Star Trek,
 Part 1." The Warped Mind of a Crazy Trekkie: Crusade2267's

Channel. YouTube, 2 Nov. 2006. Web. 16 Mar. 2010.

Schnell, Jason, dir. "Twilight Fan: Harry Potter vs. Twilight." Reckless

Tortuga's Channel. YouTube, 8 June 2009. Web. 16 Mar. 2010.

[Clip from a movie]
"Star Trek 2009 Deleted Scene with Nero and Klingons." Dir. J. J.

Abrams. Paramount, 2009. On Screen: Finalfrontier1701's Channel.

YouTube. Web. 24 Mar. 2010.

PowerPoint Presentation (and other digital files such as Word documents, PDF, etc.)
Oard, Douglas W. "Bringing Star Trek to Life: Computers That Speak

and Listen." U of Maryland. Coll. of Information Studies, 3 Apr. 2001.

TerpConnect. U of Maryland. Office of Information Technology.

Microsoft PowerPoint file. 21 Mar. 2010.

ERIC Document
Fuss-Reineck, Marilyn. Sibling Communication in Star Trek: The Next

Generation: Conflicts between Brothers. Miami: Speech

Communication Assn., 1993. ERIC. Web. 15 Mar. 2010.

Parenthetical References
The sources that you use should be cited in the text of your paper, either in a parentheses or as part of the text itself:
During the turbulent 1960s, science fiction programs on television reflected the public's attitudes toward the older
generation (Hodges 179).
Hodges discussed how, during the turbulent 1960s, science fiction programs on television reflected the public's attitudes
toward the older generation (179).
Put the parentheses before a period, semicolon, or comma in order to avoid disrupting the flow of the sentence. If you are referring to the entire source in a general way,
you may leave out the page numbers.
(Devine and Sherman 156-57)
(Kirk, Spock, and McCoy 1701)
(Vulcan Reflections 63-66) [Book with no author]
Longer titles should be shortened to the first word or two.
("Roddenberry Legacy") [Article or web page with no author and with no page numbers]
(US, NASA, Jet Propulsion Laboratory) [Document with a corporate author and no page numbers]
Use standard abbreviations for words in long names if they exist. Place commas between units instead of periods. MLA prefers that you incorporate lengthy
names into the text (without abbreviations) and place only the page numbers (if any) in parentheses.

Notes
 Set the margins for the text at one inch on all sides. Page numbers go in the top right and one-half inch down. Use 12 point Times New Roman font.
Double-space all lines. Don't justify the text. The first line of each paragraph of text is indented one-half of an inch. The second and following lines of each
reference is indented one-half of an inch (a hanging indenture). Blocks of quoted text are indented one inch.
 Alphabetize the reference list letter-by-letter (ignoring the blank spaces in names like "Di Rado").

 Authors:

 Include the author's complete name if it is provided.

 Include up to three authors. If there are more, you have a choice: you can list all of the authors, or you can list the first name followed by "et al."
(Kirk, James, et al.). Whichever you choose, do the same thing in the parenthetical references (Kirk et al. 1701).

 Corporate authors: a company, association, or government agency can also be an author (see the example beginning "United States" in the
"Websites" section). Use abbreviations for common words shown in section 7.4 of the handbook. In parenthetical references, well-known
acronyms and abbreviations for geographic locations from section 7.3 may also be used. The sections of a government agency's name are
separated by periods in the reference list and by commas in the parenthetical references.

 Authors of web pages may use screen names instead of their real names.

 If there is no author, then start with the title.

 Titles:
  Capitalize the first letter of each significant word in the title.

 Complete works, such as books, periodicals, databases, entire websites, television series, and movies, should be placed in italics.

 Segments of larger works, such as chapters, articles, single web pages, and single episodes of series, should be placed within "quotation
marks."

 Titles within titles:

 If a title of a complete work appears within the title of a segment, then italicize the title of the complete work (see examples for "Roberts" and "Di
Rado"). If it appears within the title of a complete work, then do notitalicize it, but do continue to italicize the rest of the words (reverse italicization;
see examples for "Okuda" and "Anijar").

 If a title of a segment appears within the title of a segment, then place that title within 'single quotation marks.' If it appears within the title of a
complete work, then place it within regular "quotation marks."

 Periodicals:

 Journal, magazine, and newspaper articles may be accessed in hardcopy (include the word, Print at the end); from a website (include the
word Web, and the date that you looked at it); or from a database (include the Database Name, the word Web, and the date that you looked at
it).

 Do not include an initial article at the beginning of a periodical title.

 Include the volume and issue numbers for all journals but not for magazines and newspapers.

 Encyclopedias and reference books:

 If an encyclopedia does not arrange its articles alphabetically, then include the page numbers in the reference list as shown under "Book Article
or Chapter."

 Place of publication:

 List only the first city mentioned.

 Do not include the state or country.

 If no place is given, put N.p.

 Publisher:

 Do not include articles, first names of people, or common words like Inc., Books, Press, and Publishing. Use abbreviations like: Acad., Assn., Inst.,
and Soc. Abbreviate "University Press" as "UP". See sections 7.5 and 7.4 of the handbook.

 If the acronym for a company, organization, or agency is well-known, it should be used.

  If no publisher is given, put n.p.

 Dates:

 The parts of the date are listed as day, month, year.

 All months should be abbreviated except for May, June, and July (Jan., Feb., Mar., Apr., Aug., Sept., Oct., Nov., Dec.).

 If no date is given, put n.d. See example under "Wiki."

 For a website or other online source, also include the date that you looked at it.

 Page numbers:

 Cite the page numbers for the entire article in the reference list. Cite specific page numbers in parentheses in the text.

 If possible, include only the final two digits of the concluding page number (ex. 393-94, 393-405, 1393-94, 1393-1405).

 If the paging of a magazine or newspaper article is continued elsewhere in the issue, include only the first page followed by a plus sign (ex. 25+).

 If no page numbers are given, put N. pag.

 Websites: include the author; the "title of the web page"; the name of the entire web site; the publisher or organization that posted it; date the
page was created or last updated; the word Web.; and the date you looked at it.

 Authors of web pages may use screen names instead of their real names. There might be a corporate author (a company, association, or
government agency; see the example beginning "United States"). If there is no author, then start with the title.

 Titles of single web pages within a website should be placed within "quotation marks."

 Titles of entire websites should be placed in italics.

 The name of the publisher may be the same as the name of the website, so it would be listed twice (see example for "Lyall" under "Newspaper
Article"). If no publisher is given, put N.p. (see example for "Epsicokhan").

 If no date is given, put n.d. See example under "Wiki."

 If any of the other information is not available, it can be left out.

 You do not have to include page numbers or paragraph numbers unless the web page specifically provides them.

 Do not include the URL unless your teacher specifically requires you to. The reader is expected to use a search engine to find your source. If you
are required to include it, place it after the final date and period. Place it inside angle brackets, followed by a period. Line breaks should be placed
only after a slash.

 Newspaper and Magazine websites may include articles that originally appeared in the printed versions; these are cited as articles. A website
 may also include pages that were specifically created only for the website; these are cited as web pages. See the example for "Lyall" under
"Newspaper Article."

 Videos that were created for the internet are cited as web pages. In these examples, YouTube is treated as the publisher, and the individual user
channels are treated as individual websites because doing so provides more information about the video's origin. But it would be just as correct to
treat YouTube as the website and to leave out the individual channel information. In this case, Google could be then be listed as the publisher
because they own YouTube. Movies and television programs that are later posted on a website are treated differently. (Note that the example uses
quotation marks instead of italics because this is a clip from a movie and not the entire movie.) The director's name may be listed before or after
the title, depending on the emphasis that you want. Writers and performers may also be included. See sections 5.6.2.d and 5.7.3 of the handbook
for details.

 Parenthetical References:

 Include the first initial only if two authors have identical last names (F. Hodges 179).

 Include up to three authors. If there are more, you have a choice: you can list all of the authors, or you can list the first name followed by "et al."
(Kirk et al. 1701). Whichever you choose, do the same thing in the reference list (Kirk, James, et al.).

 Corporate authors: shorten names by using abbreviations for common words shown in section 7.4, geographic locations in section 7.3, and well-
known acronyms. The sections of a government agency's name are separated commas in the parenthetical references and by periods in the
reference list. MLA prefers that long names be incorporated into the text rather than being placed in the parentheses.

 For sources with no author, use the first word or two of the title. Follow the rules for quotation marks and italics just as in the reference list.

 Indirect sources are when you quote someone who is quoting someone else. Place "qtd. in" in the parentheses. In this example, a quote by Zachary
Smith was found in the article written by Hodges: Zachary Smithsaid that "We all belong to the same race, the human race" (qtd. in Hodges 180).

 For documents and situations not listed here, see the printed version of the handbook. But don't panic if you can't find a specific rule. The handbook says
that "MLA style is flexible, and sometimes you must improvise to record features not anticipated by this handbook" (182-183). Elswhere it says:

While it is tempting to think that every source has only one complete and correct format for its entry in a list of works cited, in truth there are often
several options for recording key features of a work. For this reason, software programs that generate entries are not likely to be useful. You may
need to improvise when the type of scholarly project or publication medium of a source is not anticipated by this handbook. (129)

APA Citation Style

Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 6th edition (first printing), 2010

Follow these color codes:

Author(s) Date Title of Book Title of Article Title of Periodical

Volume Pages Place of Publication Publisher Other Information

Journal Article: paginated by issue, online and hardcopy [See the discussion of DOI in the notes below]

Devine, P. G., & Sherman, S. J. (1992). Intuitive versus rational

judgment and the role of stereotyping in the human condition: Kirk

or Spock? Psychological Inquiry, 3(2), 153-159. doi:10.1207

/s15327965pli0302_13

Journal Article: paginated by volume, from a database or website without a DOI [See the discussion of DOI in the notes below]

Hodges, F. M. (2003). The promised planet: Alliances and struggles of

the gerontocracy in American television science fiction of the 1960s.

The Aging Male, 6, 175-182. Retrieved from http://www.informaworld

.com/TheAgingMale

Magazine Article

Mershon, D. H. (1998, November/December). Star trek on the brain:

 Alien minds, human minds. American Scientist, 86(6), 585.

Newspaper Article

Di Rado, A. (1995, March 15). Trekking through college: Classes

explore modern society using the world of Star trek. Los Angeles

Times, pp. A3, A20-A22.

[Newspaper website that does not include page numbers. The square brackets show that this is a review.]
Ebert, R. (2009, May 6). [Review of the motion picture Star trek,

produced by Paramount, 2009]. Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved from

http://rogerebert.suntimes.com

Books

Okuda, M., & Okuda, D. (1993). Star trek chronology: The history

of the future. New York, NY: Pocket Books.

[Book with no author; see notes]

Star trek: Four generations of stars, stories, and strange new worlds.

(1995). Radnor, PA: News America Publications.

Book Article or Chapter

James, N. E. (1988). Two sides of paradise: The Eden myth according

 to Kirk and Spock. In D. Palumbo (Ed.), Spectrum of the fantastic

(pp. 219-223). Westport, CT: Greenwood.

Encyclopedia Article

Sturgeon, T. (1995). Science fiction. In L. T. Lorimer et al. (Eds.), The

encyclopedia Americana (Vol. 24, pp. 390-392). Danbury, CT: Grolier.

ERIC Document

Fuss-Reineck, M. (1993). Sibling communication in Star trek: The next

generation: Conflicts between brothers. Retrieved from ERIC

database. (ED364932)

Websites: [see notes below]

Epsicokhan, J. (2004, February 20). Confessions of a closet trekkie.

Retrieved October 12, 2009, from Jammer's Reviews website:

http://www.jammersreviews.com/articles/confessions.php

[Page with a corporate author and the name of the website is the same as the name of the author.]
National Aeronautics and Space Administration. (2009, May 28). NASA

astronaut watches new Star trek movie in space. Retrieved from

http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/behindscenes/star_trek
 .html

[Page with a corporate author and the name of the website is different from the name of the author.]
National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Jet Propulsion

Laboratory. (2007, May 10). Mission could seek out Spock's home

planet. Retrieved from PlanetQuest: Exoplanet Exploration website:

http://planetquest.jpl.nasa.gov/news/planetVulcan.cfm

[Page with a no author.]

The Roddenberry legacy of human potential: If only, if only. (2007,

October 24). Retrieved January 7, 2009, from Star Trek Official Site

website: http://www.startrek.com/startrek/view/news/editorials

/article/2310913.html

Wiki

Star trek planet classifications. (n.d.). In Wikipedia. Retrieved January 7,

2009, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Trek_planet

_classifications

Blog

Zompist. (2009, September 30). Star wars: Hope not so new anymore

[Web log message]. Retrieved from http://zompist.wordpress.com

 /2009/09/30/star-wars-hope-not-so-new-anymore/

Internet Video

Crusade2267. (2006, November 02). For the uniform: One fan's

obsession with Star trek, part 1 [Video file]. Retrieved from http://

www.youtube.com/watch?v=ul5q4PTME-M

PowerPoint Presentation

Oard, D. W. (2001). Bringing Star trek to life: Computers that speak and

listen [PowerPoint slides]. Retrieved from University of Maryland

TerpConnect website: http://terpconnect.umd.edu/~oard/papers

/cpsp118t.ppt

Parenthetical References
The sources that you use should be cited in the text of your paper, either in a parentheses or as part of the text itself:

During the turbulent 1960s, science fiction programs on television reflected the public's attitudes toward the older generation
(Hodges, 2000).
 Hodges (2000) discussed how, during the turbulent 1960s, science fiction programs on television reflected the public's attitudes
toward the older generation.

In a 2000 article, Hodges discussed how, during the turbulent 1960s, science fiction programs on television reflected the public's
attitudes toward the older generation.

The references above refer to the entire source in a general way. If you are referring to a specific part of the source - or quoting exactly - include the specific page
number(s) of that part:

(Hodges, 2000, p. 179)

(Devine & Sherman, 1992, pp. 156-157)

(National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, 2007, para. 3) [document has a corporate author]

("The Roddenberry Legacy," 2007, paras. 5-6) [document has no author; see notes]

(Star Trek: Four Generations, 1995, pp. 63-66) [document has no author; see notes]

("Star Trek Planet Classifications," n.d., Other Classes section, para. 2) [document has no author; see notes]

Sources with three through five authors:

(Kirk, Spock, McCoy, & Scott, 1966, p. 1701) [for the first time you cite it]

(Kirk et al., 1966, p. 1701) [for all other times you cite it]

Sources with six authors or more:

(Picard et al., 1987, p. 1701d) [for every time you cite it, but include up to seven authors in the full reference. If there are more, include the first six,
followed by an ellipse (...) followed by the last of the names.]

Notes
 Doublespace all lines. Indent the second and following lines 5 to 7 spaces or one half inch. Use one inch margins and Times New Roman 12-point font. Do
not justify.
 Arrange the items on your reference list alphabetically by the author's last name, letter by letter, interfiling books, articles, etc. Items with no author are
interfiled in this list by the first significant word of the title.

 Use only the initials of the authors' first (and middle) names.

 If no author is given, start with the title and then the date. Note that some authors on the internet use a screen name instead of their real name and that
an organization can also be an author (a "corporate author"). See examples under books, websites, and blogs.

 Article titles, book titles, and webpage titles: capitalize only the first word of the title and subtitle. (Capitalize all significant words of periodical
titles andwebsite titles.)

 If the journal (or magazine) begins each issue with page one (paginated by issue), include the issue number (not italicized) if one is provided. If the
journal continues the page numbering from issue to issue throughout the volume (paginated by volume), do not include it.

 DOI: Digital Object Identifier is a string of numbers (and/or letters) assigned to individual journal articles as well as to some other publications.

 Include the DOI for articles that you retrieve both online and in hardcopy.

 The database may provide the DOI as part of the citation, or you may have to look at the top or bottom of the first page of the article to find it.

 If a document has a DOI, then you do not need to include a website address (URL) or other retrieval information. Your readers can go
to http://www.doi.org and use the DOI to locate the article.

 If you retrieve an article online or from a database, and it does not have a DOI, include the URL of the journal's homepage at the publisher's
website (not the direct link to the article). You may have to use a search engine to find this website. If the URL to the journal's homepage is too
long and complicated, use the URL of the publisher's homepage. This is a judgment call that you will have to make. Do not include the
database's name or URL instead (unless you are accessing a dissertation, an ERIC document, or an older article from JSTOR).

 Older hardcopy journals will not have a DOI, and it can be left out.

 If you retrieve an online magazine, newspaper, book, or encyclopedia from one of our databases, include the DOI or URL as discussed above and as
shown under the examples for journals.

 Websites:

 If no author is given, start with the title and then the date. Note that some authors on the internet use a screen name instead of their real name
and that an organization can also be an author (a "corporate author").

 If possible, include the month and day that the page was created.

 If a webpage is likely to change over time, such as a wiki or personal website, include the date that you looked at the page. Webpages that
 provide journal articles, books, or reports from publishing companies, professional associations, and government agencies are less likely to
change and do not require retrieval dates. This is also a judgment call that you will have to make. The format for including a retrieval date comes
from the APA Style Guide to Electronic References, 2007.

 If the date the page was created is not given, use (n.d.). See example under wiki.

 If the name of the website is the same as the name of the author, you do not need to include it a second time. This is especially likely to happen
with the websites for government agencies and professional associations (see the examples for National Aeronautics and Space Administration). If
the name of thewebsite is obvious from the URL, you do not need to include it (another judgment call).

 If the URL does not fit on one line, divide it before any punctuation marks (except for the "http://").

 If you are citing the web version of a hardcopy source, format it the same way that you would the hardcopy source and include the relevant
retrieval information.

 The example for citing a PowerPoint presentation is adapted from the APA Style Guide to Electronic References, 2007.

 Parenthetical References:

 If there is no author, use the first few words of the title. Unlike citations in the reference list, capitalize all significant words. Article, chapter, and
webpage titles are placed in quotation marks. Book, periodical, report, and brochure titles are placed in italics. Note that an organization
can also be an author (a "corporate author"). (Also note that a webpage title may be italicized in the reference list at the end even though it is in
quotation marks here.)

 If two authors have the same last name, include the first initial(s).

 Use only the year, even if the full citation in the reference list includes the month and day. If you cite the same source a second time in
the same paragraph, you do not need to mention the year a second time.

 If there are no page numbers, you can count the paragraph numbers or list the name of a section or leave this information out if neither of these
is practical.

 The rules concerning a title within a title are not displayed above in order to avoid confusing people. In these examples, Star trek would be italicized if it
appears in the non-italicized title of an article and not italicized if it appears in the italicized title of a book (reverse italicization). See the example for Ebert
under newspaper.

 A little bit of additional information is available on the official website, APA Style.org.

 For documents and situations not listed here, see the printed version of the manual. If you are still unsure, Timothy McAdoo, on the official APA Style
website, discusses The Flexibility of APA Style:

"Sometimes it's okay to color outside the lines. Although the stylistic guidelines in the Publication Manual are meant to ensure consistency within scientific
writing, we also recognize the importance of a writer's good judgment. The trick is knowing when it's okay to do your own thing. It's even trickier when you
know someone may be reading your paper with a red pen in hand!... If you've mastered the fine points of APA Style throughout a manuscript, your choices
will be recognized as careful decisions, not oversights. So be sure to display your in-depth knowledge of APA Style in all other areas of your paper."
Creating Annotations

What is an annotation?

An annotation is a short description of an item. Annotations describe (summarize important content) and evaluate (critically analyze) the resource based on
standard criteria. An annotation differs from an abstract or summary, as abstracts and summaries usually only describe or summarize the content and do not
critically evaluate. Annotations may be written to describe books, Web sites, articles, government documents, videos, or other items.

What is the function of an annotation?

The function of an annotation is to inform the reader about the item of interest and to provide a critical analysis or evaluation of its content.

How do I write an annotation?

The content of an annotation depends on the intended audience. An annotation should include the following:

 complete bibliographic citation information using an appropriate citation style (MLA, APA, Turabian, etc.)
 a brief summary of the item's content and the main purpose of the work

 an annotation should also include evaluative comments such as:

o the qualifications of the author

o any biases that are detected

o the intended audience/reading level

o the item's relationship to other similar works or areas of study

o special features about the item (e.g. bibliography, graphics, appendices, etc.)

o other evaluative comments about the item (what was useful, what was missing, how it compares to similar items on the same topic, etc.)

An annotation should be written in the third person and should stand alone, accurately describing the contents of the source without reference to any other
source. In addition, if annotations are being written for an annotated bibliography, do not begin each annotation in the same way. The reader may find the
document boring if similar wording is used throughout. An annotation is usually a minimum of three to four sentences long and is usually indented below the
citation.

Examples of annotations:

Note: The bibliographic citation information for the annotations below use the MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers, 6th ed. Other style guides may
be used including APA or Turabian. Please see the Citing Print and Electronic Sources Guide for additional information.

Book
Barber, Benjamin R. Jihad vs. McWorld: How Globalism and Tribalism are Reshaping the
World. New York: Ballentine Books, 1996.

In this book, Benjamin Barber discusses globalism, tribalism, democracy, and capitalism. Part I discusses McWorld and its invasion throughout the entire
world. Barber writes that this global overtaking has been accomplished through music, various service industries, and the media. Part II focuses on Jihad, in
opposition to McWorld, as people and countries struggle for their own individual and cultural identities. Part III describes the clash of McWorld and Jihad and
the resulting disorder. Capitalism and democracy are debated as working against each other. Two appendices are included at the end of the book, The first
appendix describes energy use and population by country in 1990 and the second lists the twenty-two countries' top grossing films in 1991. The book also
includes an extensive notes section. The book was well-organized and the material covered presents globalization in a new way.
Scholarly Journal Article
Speckmann, Bettina and Jack Snoeyink. "Easy Triangle Strips for TIN Terrain Models."
International Journal of Geographical Information Science 15 (2001): 379-386.

This technical communication discusses the triangulated irregular network (TIN) model to represent feature terrain. A major problem with this model is the
amount of data required in transmission. To reduce the amount of data transmitted, many systems use triangle strips or tristrips. A tristrip is created be
starting with a triangle and then adding a new vertex and dropping the oldest vertex from the original triangle. The goal of the tristrip concept is to find the
minimum number of vertices to accurately represent the terrain. Two methods to create this tristrip representation are described. The first involves the use of
a spanning tree following the tree using depth first and creating a zigzag pattern to create new tristrips. The second method uses the spanning tree method
and an algorithm to construct the tristrips. The authors determined several different ways to reduce the number of tristrips. The first is to allow swaps by
changing the vertex when creating new triangles. The second method is to combine two tristrips. The third way combines strips using non-tree edges. The
most significant reduction in data was through the use of swaps. The paper contains a variety of figures and table to assist the reader in understanding the
concept of tristrips and ends with a short list of references. The authors, Speckmann and Snoeyink, work in the departments of computer science at the
University of British Columbia and UNC Chapel Hill, respectively.
Popular Magazine Article in an Article Database (with only the starting page number provided)
Thompson, Stephanie. "Targeting Teens Means Building Buzz." Advertising Age 27 March 2000: 26- .Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Weber
State U, Stewart Lib., Ogden, UT. 29 Sept. 2005 <http://www.epnet.com>.

This brief article talks about marketing to teens without their knowing that they are directly being targeted. Different strategies used to market products are
described including those used for Cornnuts and Nabisco's Bubble Yum gum. The article describes this marketing as "anti-advertising" and portrays how teens
react to various tactics. Although short, this article provides a current overview of how companies market to teens.
Web Site
McKinley Health Center. Caffeine. 2002. 23 Aug. 2005 <http://www.mckinley.uiuc.edu/health-info/
drug-alc/caffeine.html>.

Web site which discusses the ingredient caffeine. On the site many questions are answered about caffeine including its effects and safety, reducing caffeine
consumption, and whether or not it helps with studying. The amount of caffeine in common foods is listed in a table at the bottom of the page including
various types of coffee and teas, chocolate, cocoa, and soft drinks. Medications that contain caffeine are also listed. The page is well-organized, contains
useful information, and includes appropriate documentation.

Help in preparing this handout came from the Web site: "How to write annotated bibliographies" Retrieved May 17, 2002
from http://www.mun.ca/library/research_help/qeii/annotated_bibl.html