The Discipline of the Annotated Source List
Launch library · evergreen read
A bare list of sources tells a reader or an editor almost nothing about how each one was actually used, whereas an annotated list, noting what each source specifically contributed and how reliable it was judged to be, turns a simple bibliography into a working record of judgement.
Building this habit during research, rather than reconstructing it after a draft is finished, captures reasoning that would otherwise be lost, the small doubts, the corroborating detail, the reason one source was ultimately trusted more than another covering that exact same specific event in question.
This annotated record becomes especially valuable when a piece is later questioned, since it lets a writer explain not just what was found but why each source was weighted the way it ultimately was weighed in the finished piece. This kind of record also helps a writer notice their own patterns over time, such as consistently favouring institutional sources over personal ones, which is worth knowing about oneself.