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The first step in writing a useful annotation is reading.
Use an appropriate dictionary to define technical or difficult words or phrases.
Restate the main points aloud —putting them into your own words. This will make writing them easier.
Utilize the section headings to summarize the article section by section.
Psychology articles usually have section headings that can be a guide:
Abstract: The abstract very briefly summarizes the whole article.
Introduction: This section introduces the topic of the article and discusses what the article contributes to existing knowledge on the topic.
Literature review: A review of the research and theory on the topic. It can be included in the introduction or comes after the introduction under its own subtitle.
Methods: Explains how the authors conducted the research. Details the methodology used and information about participants, materials and procedure.
Results: Typically follows the methods section. The Results section shows the findings of the research. Explains what the researchers discovered during their research, often using numbers, statistics, tables, graphs, or charts.
Discussion and Conclusion: Articles typically end by discussing what the results mean and how the study contributes to existing knowledge.
References or Works Cited: Found at the very end of the article. Lists complete citation information for the sources referenced in the article.
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