How to read and annotate academic articles
Introduction (literature review)
Academic articles and texts are geared towards specialized
audiences, but the work they do is often practical. Looking at academic
articles as active conversations will help you to understand what the text is
doing. Academic writers begin texts with an introduction to the area of study,
and with a mix of citations, paraphrases, and quotes, writers set up a context
for a conversation. You will notice in the beginning of the text, many writers
are being sited, and distinctions, connections, and perhaps correlations are
being drawn. Writers will often divide the introduction into separate sections,
which are designed to help the reader understand specific angles of the
conversation. When one first starts reading into an academic conversation,
there is often a sense of confusion.
“Who is Penderose,
and what is that weird theory he is expounding?”
Locating a gap or
niche
This is perfectly okay. When you first start reading about a
conversation, how are you expected to “just get” what an academic text does? These
are complex conversations that have been going on for a while. Take notes on
some of the highlights of the introduction, and pay close attention as you
reach the end of the introduction. At some point (often towards the end of the
introduction), the writer will show that there is something missing from the
conversation. This doesn’t have to be
something that is earth shattering; it just has to be logically and soundly
articulated as a legitimate missing component or missing element to the
conversation. Writers may articulate something to the following effect: “while
scholars have shown (x) to be true in contexts related to gender role
identification and self-esteem, what is often less explored and less understood
is how long term acceptance of one’s gender role affects self-esteem over
time.” The writer may go on and deliver some open ended questions that will
guide the research.
Methodology
Many scholarly articles present a methodology section next.
What is a methodology section? This section explains how the primary research
is completed. Primary research can involve an experiment, interviews, focus
groups, questionnaires, textual analysis, and a host of other approaches. Each
approach has advantages and disadvantages, but regardless of which method a
researcher employs, he or she will articulate the approach with clear, concise
details regarding how the study was conducted and why it was done in a
particular way. The idea here involves creating a repeatable and reliable study
that allows the writer to help to further the conversation.
Results/Discussion
After the methodology section comes a combination section
typically referred to as the results and discussion sections. These sections
are sometimes separate but can also be delivered as one section. These last
sections report on the findings from the study and explain what was learned.
Results will often synthesize findings from the current study with perspectives
emerging from the other scholars who are part of the conversation. The results
section is designed to further the scholarship of others, can complicate the
conversation by bringing in a new but related perspective, or perhaps refute
and shed doubt on previous scholarship. The evidence from the study will shape
how the results and discussion sections unfold.
How to create annotations for academic articles
Introduce the authors and recognize their credentials while
introducing the study. Then, show what happened Here’s an example:
Johnson and Smith (2014) from UCLA’s psychology department
interviewed two-hundred police officers in the greater Los Angeles area to
examine how unconscious bias shapes white officers’ attitudes about black
males. The interviews, conducted through three individual sessions revealed
some common unconscious bias among white officers, but not all white officers
exhibited unconscious bias. Johnson and Smith (2014) argue that despite some
exceptions, many officers need new training to help mitigate fears many white
officers have of unknown black males. More research is needed to understand how
unconscious bias shapes officers’ actions and use of force (Johnson and Smith,
242). Johnson and Smith’s study appears in Psychology Now, an academic, peer
reviewed journal, and their research helps to show possible reasons for police
violations of 4th Amendment rights.
