The prompt
Score 10 of 10, Excellent
Use it when You need a summary, an evaluation and a note on relevance for each source, in the citation style your course or publisher asks for.
- {{citation_style}}
- {{research_question}}
- {{annotation_length}}
- {{reader}}
- {{sources}}
Full prompt and why it works
Prompt
Citation style: {{citation_style}} My research question or assignment: {{research_question}} Length per annotation: {{annotation_length}} Who will read it: {{reader}} The sources, each with its details (authors, year, title, journal or publisher, volume, pages, DOI or link) and its abstract or my notes: """ {{sources}} """ Task: Write an annotated bibliography entry for each source above, for {{reader}}. Each entry should help a reader decide whether the source is worth reading for my question. Format for each entry: 1. The citation in {{citation_style}}, built only from the details I gave. 2. The annotation, in {{annotation_length}}, in three parts: what the source argues or found; how it did it (method, sample, kind of evidence) and how strong that looks; and how it relates to my question, including whether it supports, complicates or contradicts other sources in the list. 3. Entries in alphabetical order by first author's surname, unless the style requires another order. Requirements: - Do not add or correct citation details from memory. If a detail the style requires is missing, such as a page range or DOI, put [missing: page range] in its place so I can look it up. - Base each annotation on the abstract or notes I gave. If my notes are too thin to judge the method, write "Method not described in my notes" rather than guessing. - Plain academic prose in the third person, with no filler openings. - Keep summary and evaluation apart: report the authors' claims as theirs ("The authors argue..."), and make clear which sentences are my assessment. Example of one entry's form only, with an invented source: Ortiz, M. (2020). Shift length and nurse fatigue. Journal of Nursing Practice, 14(2), 33-41. [missing: DOI] Ortiz surveyed 280 hospital nurses and found that... The sample came from one region, so... For my question, this study... A good bibliography lets my reader see in a minute which sources carry the most weight and why. If a source seems unrelated to my question, still write its entry and say so in the relevance part.
Variables
- {{citation_style}}
- For example APA 7th edition, MLA 9th edition or Chicago author-date.
- {{research_question}}
- Your question, or the assignment as set.
- {{annotation_length}}
- For example "100 to 150 words".
- {{reader}}
- For example "my course instructor" or "my thesis supervisor".
- {{sources}}
- Each source's full details and its abstract or your reading notes.
Why it works
- If unsure. Missing citation details become [missing: ...] placeholders instead of details recalled from memory, which is where invented references usually come from.
- Format. Each annotation has the same three parts, finding, method and relevance, so a reader can compare sources quickly.
- What to avoid. The authors' claims and your evaluation are kept apart, so nobody mistakes your assessment for the source's conclusion.