Writing Abstracts, Annotations, and Literature Reviews
Nelson Poynter Memorial Library

Welcome to the Writing Abstracts, Annotations, & Literature Reviews learning module. This module provides information about and recommendations for:

1. Learning the distinctive qualities of abstracts and introductions
2. Exploring the purpose, and various types of formats and structures for annotated bibliographies
3. Examining different purposes and corresponding organizational frameworks for literature reviews

This module is designed to be completed in 15 minutes.

Abstracts and Introductions

Abstracts are a concise summary of the purpose, methods, main findings, and conclusions of your paper. Abstracts are important as they provide a complete overview of the paper, letting readers know whether the paper's topic and/or content is relevant to their information needs. How are essay abstracts and introductions similar, and how are they different?

• Abstracts and introductions are both found at the beginning of a research essay
• Abstracts and introductions are intended to prepare the reader for what he or she can anticipate from the essay; however, abstracts do this by stating the purpose of the paper, whereas introductions fulfill this purpose by engaging the reader's interest
• Abstracts tend to have a strict word limit, anywhere between 50 -250 words; although introductions should be concise , they have no strict word limit

Guidelines for Writing Abstracts

• Do not repeat or rephrase the title
• Summarize all the main sections of your paper; the proportion each section receives in the abstract should equal the proportion received within the paper
• Do not refer to information that is not in your paper
• Include key concepts and subject terms
• Avoid acronyms, abbreviations, or symbols

Guidelines for Writing an Introduction

• Start with on a broad basis that situates your reader within the overall context
• Quickly narrow down your focus to your particular topic
• Introduce the organizational structure of your paper
• Explain why your topic is of interest to justify your work
• Conclude your introduction with your thesis statement that demonstrates what you intent to present or argue within your paper

Practice

Here is some information about a recent research study.  Take these notes and practice writing an abstract summarizing this research.  Be concise and use no more than 150 words

 Show/hide comprehension question...

Source: Walters, S. R., Schluter, P. J., Oldham, A. R. H., Thomson, R. W., & Payne, D. (March 01, 2012). The sideline behaviour of coaches at children's team sports games. Psychology of Sport & Exercise, 13, 2, 208-215.

Annotated Bibliography

An annotated bibliography is an alphabetically list of works consulted on a specific subject or by a particular author. Each annotation should include the item's reference information, in appropriate citation style, and provide descriptive and/or evaluative information on each source that you have consulted.

Purpose of an Annotated Bibliography

• Encourage the researcher to think critically about the content of the works being used, their place within a field of study, and their relation to the research and ideas on the same topic
• Prove that the researcher has read and understands the sources
• Establish the validity of the sources and, thus, the competency of the researcher
• Situate the topic as well as the research in a continuing professional conversation
• Provide a way for others to decide whether a source will be helpful to their research by providing background information and an idea of the kind of work going on in a field.

Selecting your Sources

The quality of your bibliography will depend upon your collection of sources. Consider these questions to refine your selection:

• Have you focused your research to a concise topic whereby you can find publications that are similar enough in scope that you get an overview of the issue yet are able to see how the publications interact, build upon, affirm, or contradict each other?
• Are you including the appropriate material for your topic and your assignment requirements? If you are examining a research topic, then you should include scholarly and research books and articles, rather than popular magazine or consumer websites. If you topic is historical in nature, are you including primary sources? Inversely, if you topic is cutting edge, have you found the most recent information
• Are you including the most significant authors, researchers, and publications on your topic? Look in the bibliographies to identify the authors or the studies that are repeatedly cited. Consult an encyclopedia on your topic to get an overview of the pivotal issues and people.

Different Types of Annotated Bibliographies

There are different kinds of annotations, depending on the requirements of your assignment and on what is most important for your reader to learn about a source.   

Descriptive Annotations

• Sum up the content of the source, as a book report might
• Give an overview of the arguments and proofs/evidence addressed in the work and note the resulting conclusion
• Do not judge the work
• Describe the author's methodology or approach to material

Critical/evaluative Annotations

• Evaluate the source or author critically (biases, lack of evidence, objective, etc.)
• Show how the work may or may not be useful for a particular field of study or audience
• Explain how researching this material assisted the overall project

Combination Annotations

• Most annotations fall into this category and include a summary, description, and evaluation.

Format

Decide which kind of citation format is appropriate to the paper and its sources (for example MLA or APA Citation Styles).

Practice

Literature Reviews

A literature review describes an issue's main concepts, methodology, or chronological development. While it provides a thorough overview of the issue, a literature review integrates the various documents by theme to provide an in-depth understanding and progression of the topic.

Purpose of a Literature Review Assignment

The purpose of a literature review is to provide an overview of the significant literature published on a topic by summarizing current knowledge, debates, and trends, while also identifying information gaps and prospective areas of development. Literature reviews are common university assignments because they help students gain a comprehensive understanding of their subject and the review process encourages students to critically engage the materials. Being able to identify and understand what is known, unknown, and disputed about an issue is an essential component to most research papers. Personal opinion, such as whether you liked the source, is generally not an acceptable level of critique for a literature review.

Selecting your Sources

The following types of scholarly resources are generally thought to be appropriate for a literature review, however, depending upon your topic and your instructors assignment guidelines, other resources may also be considered acceptable.

• Primary Sources - Use these as evidence to support your thesis or argument. Examples of primary sources are data, photographs, interviews, letters, diaries, literary works, etc.
• Secondary Sources - Use these sources to learn how other experts and researchers are interpreting the primary sources and the scope of the field. You should look for the most current interpretations of your subject and how the various sources agree and disagree on the key components of your topic. Examples of secondary sources are scholarly books and research articles
• Tertiary Sources - Use these sources to gain an introduction and overview of your topic, key terms, and important concepts, theories, and methodologies. Examples of tertiary sources include encyclopedias, subject dictionaries, and textbooks.

Different Types of Literature Reviews

Topical

Topical literature reviews explore all the relevant scholarship on an issue.   They tend to be structured around a series of sub-topics that highlight various aspects of their research issue.   Topical literature reviews are particularly useful at helping researchers clarify the current state of knowledge and identify the information gaps that require future study.

Methodological

Methodological literature reviews are organized to focus on the methodology on how something was measured, studied, and analyzed.   They can be structured to focus on how an issue has been studied through various types of research methodologies, for example quantitative or qualitative methods, or else trace how a particular method has been applied in previous research studies.   These types of literature reviews are particularly useful when a student is preparing to conduct original research.   They require the student to gain a pragmatic understanding of how their issue was studied, how methods and instrumentation may have changed, and what can or cannot be measured or encompassed by that type of research.

Historical/ Chronological

Chronological literature reviews are organized to trace an issue through a period of time.   They are usually structured to begin when the issue first emerged and illustrate how it evolved within the discipline.   Chronological literature reviews are particularly effective at placing an issue within a historical context, to highlight periods of inertia, catalysts for change, and shifts in perspectives.

For various examples of literature review, visit www.annualreviews.org. If you are off of the USFSP campus, be sure to log into myUSF to authenticate that you are a USF student to gain access to this electronic resource