An annotated reference list is a short assignment where you pick three peer-reviewed articles, cite each in APA format, and write a 100-to-150-word summary of each one in your own words. Each summary answers four questions: what the article argued, what it concluded, how it supports your topic, and what new questions it raised. The whole thing runs 300 to 450 words and is designed to make you engage with sources before you write a longer paper.
Difficulty: Beginner
Prerequisites: basic familiarity with APA citation format and access to a university library database for finding peer-reviewed journal articles.
This assignment sits early in an English Composition course, typically in Topic 2, right after you have brainstormed a research topic and done some initial database searching. The annotated reference list bridges casual browsing and real research writing: it forces you to read peer-reviewed sources carefully enough to summarise them, and it locks in the three articles you will lean on for your longer research paper. If you skipped Topic 1's brainstorming worksheet, go back and finish it first, because you need a settled topic and at least three candidate articles before you start here. You should already know how to search a library database and recognise what "peer-reviewed" means.
Annotated reference list
A list of sources cited in APA format, each followed by a short summary (the "annotation") written in your own words. Think of it as a reference page where every entry comes with a paragraph explaining why that source matters to your paper.
Peer-reviewed article
A journal article that was evaluated by other experts in the field before publication. In simple terms, this means other researchers checked the work for accuracy and rigour before the journal agreed to print it. Your university library databases let you filter results to show only peer-reviewed sources.
APA reference
The formatted citation for a source, following the style rules of the American Psychological Association. A standard journal article reference includes: Author(s) last name, initials. (Year). Title of article. Title of Journal, volume(issue), page range. DOI or URL.
Summary (annotation)
A 100-to-150-word paragraph that answers the four required questions about a single article: main argument, conclusions, relevance to your topic, and new questions or ideas it raised. Think of it as proof you read and understood the article, not a copy of the abstract.
Brainstorming Worksheet (Topic 1)
The earlier assignment where you chose a research topic and identified potential peer-reviewed sources. Your annotated reference list draws directly from this worksheet, so if it is incomplete, your reference list will be too.
Step 1: Choose your three articles
Return to your Topic 1 Brainstorming Worksheet and review the peer-reviewed articles you found.
Pick the three that are most relevant to your chosen topic. If none of them fit well any longer, search for new ones.
Every article must be peer-reviewed. Conference proceedings, magazine features, and textbook chapters do not count.
Step 2: Write the APA reference for each article
Format each citation in APA style before you write the summary. Getting the reference right first means you will not have to go back and hunt for missing details.
A standard APA journal article reference follows this pattern: Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. (Year). Title of article. Title of Periodical, volume(issue), pages. https://doi.org/xxxx
Step 3: Write each 100-to-150-word summary
Each summary must address four questions, in your own words:
Main point or argument. What is the article trying to show or prove? One or two sentences.
Author's conclusions. What did the researchers find or decide? State results, not methods.
Support for your topic. How does this article connect to the topic you chose in Topic 1? Be specific: name the claim it supports.
New questions or ideas. What did the article make you wonder about? This shows you are thinking beyond the surface.
Keep each summary between 100 and 150 words. The total across all three should land between 300 and 450 words.
Step 4: Review and check word counts
Read each summary aloud to catch sentences that are too close to the original wording.
Use a word-count tool to confirm you are within range.
Make sure each summary answers all four questions, not just one or two of them.
How peer-reviewed articles are structured
Most follow a standard pattern: Abstract, Introduction, Methods, Results, Discussion, Conclusion. For this assignment you do not need to understand every statistical test. Focus on the Introduction (what question the authors asked) and the Discussion/Conclusion (what they found and what it means).
Reading strategies (textbook pages 70 to 73)
Read the abstract first to decide whether the article is relevant.
Skim headings and the first sentence of each section to get the shape of the argument.
Read the introduction and conclusion carefully. These two sections hold the main argument and the findings.
Take notes in your own words as you go, not after. Waiting until the end often leads to copying the author's phrasing by accident.
Putting it in your own words
Close the article and write from your notes. If you cannot explain a finding without looking at the original sentence, you do not understand it well enough yet.
Changing a few words in the author's sentence ("patchwriting") still counts as too close to the source. Restate the idea in a completely different sentence structure.
When in doubt, read the passage, look away, and say it aloud to yourself before writing it down.
"I can use any source as long as it is online." The assignment requires peer-reviewed journal articles specifically. A newspaper op-ed, a government report, or a popular-science blog post will not satisfy the requirement, even if the information is accurate.
"The annotation is just the abstract rewritten." Copying or lightly rephrasing the abstract misses the point. Your summary must answer four specific questions, two of which (support for your topic, new questions) are about your own thinking, not the article's content alone.
"Each summary can be any length." There is a strict 100-to-150-word window per article. Going under suggests you did not engage with the source. Going over suggests you are not summarising tightly enough.
"I only need to skim the articles." Skimming is a first pass, not the whole strategy. You need to read the introduction and conclusion closely enough to restate the argument and findings in your own words.
⚠️ The four summary questions (main argument, conclusions, topic support, new questions) are not optional prompts. They are the grading criteria. A summary that answers only two of them will lose marks even if it is well written.
⚠️ APA formatting errors are easy points lost. Double-check that each reference includes the DOI or URL, the correct use of italics for the journal title and volume number, and a hanging indent.
⚠️ "In your own words" is emphasised and underlined in the assignment directions. Patchwriting or close paraphrase is likely to be flagged. If your sentence follows the same structure as the original with a few swapped synonyms, rewrite it from scratch.
⚠️ The total word count (300 to 450) matters. If one summary is 200 words and another is 50, you are outside the per-article range even if the total adds up.
True or false: A summary for this assignment should be a reworded version of the article's abstract. (False: it must answer four specific questions, two of which require your own analysis.)
Fill in the blank: Each article summary should be between ____ and ____ words. (100 and 150)
True or false: You may use a magazine article if it is well researched. (False: only peer-reviewed journal articles are accepted.)
Fill in the blank: The total word count for all three summaries combined should be between ____ and ____ words. (300 and 450)
True or false: Changing a few words in the author's original sentence is an acceptable paraphrase. (False: this is patchwriting and is too close to the source.)
Q: What four questions must each article summary answer?
A: (1) What was the main point or argument? (2) What did the author(s) conclude? (3) How did the article support your topic? (4) What questions or new ideas did it leave you with?
Q: Why does the assignment specify "in your own words"?
A: Because the purpose is to demonstrate that you understood the source, not that you can copy or lightly rephrase it. Writing in your own words also helps you avoid unintentional plagiarism.
Q: A classmate used a well-known news article from a major outlet. Does this meet the source requirement?
A: No. The assignment requires peer-reviewed journal articles. News articles, even from reputable outlets, are not peer-reviewed.
Q: You have written a 90-word summary that answers all four questions. Is it acceptable?
A: No. Each summary must be between 100 and 150 words. At 90 words you are below the minimum, which suggests the analysis is too thin.
Q: Where in a peer-reviewed article should you look first to understand its main argument and conclusions?
A: The introduction (for the research question and argument) and the discussion or conclusion section (for findings and their implications). The abstract gives a quick overview, but the assignment asks for more depth than the abstract alone provides.
This assignment connects directly to the Topic 1 Brainstorming Worksheet, which is where your research topic and initial source list originated. The skills you practise here, reading peer-reviewed articles, paraphrasing, and citing in APA, carry straight into the longer research paper you will write later in the course. The "new questions" prompt in each summary also prepares you for developing a thesis, since a strong thesis often grows out of a gap or tension you noticed while reading your sources.
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