BIO 499 - Elias

It is a good idea to outline the structure of your paper before you actually start writing. First, write down the main points you will be making in your paper and then determine how you will organize the paper.

• Take notes as you read. Highlight or write down important points as you read your resources.
• Keep track of your sources. When you include information in your notes, write down where you got it.
• Plan before you write. Create an outline to organize your ideas before you actually starting writing.

An annotated bibliography is a list of sources (books, articles, websites, etc.) with short paragraph about each source. An annotated bibliography is sometimes a useful step before drafting a research paper, or it can stand alone as an overview of the research available on a topic. 

Each source in the annotated bibliography has a full citation  as would appear at the end of paper in a standard format (APA, MLA, etc.) followed by the annotation.

Annotations are about 4 to 6 sentences long (roughly 150 words), and address:

• Main focus or purpose of the work
• Usefulness or relevance to your reseach topic 
• Special features of the work that were unique or helpful
• Background and credibility of the author
• Conclusions or observations reached by the author
• Conclusions or observations reached by you