You’ve just gotten an assignment to write an annotated bibliography as part of your
research.
What is an annotated bibliography and how do you write one?
First, what is an annotation?
An annotation is more than just a brief summary of an article, book, Web site or other type
of publication.
An annotation should give enough information to make a reader decide whether to read the
complete work.
In other words, if the reader were exploring the same topic as you, is this material useful
and if so, why?
How is an annotation different from an abstract?
While an abstract summarizes an article, book, Web site or other type of publication, it
is purely descriptive.
Although annotations can be descriptive, they also include distinctive features about an
item.
Annotations can be evaluative and critical as we will see when we look at the two major
types of annotations.
What is an annotated bibliography?
An annotated bibliography is an organized list of sources (like a reference list).
It differs from a straightforward bibliography in that each reference is followed by a paragraph
length annotation, usually 100–200 words in length.
Depending on the assignment, an annotated bibliography might have different purposes:
Provide a literature review on a particular subject
Help to formulate a thesis on a subject
Demonstrate the research you have performed on a particular subject
Provide examples of major sources of information available on a topic
Describe items that other researchers may find of interest on a topic
Types of annotated bibliographies
There are two major types of annotated bibliographies:
Descriptive or informative
Analytical or critical Descriptive or informative
A descriptive or informative annotated bibliography describes or summarizes a source as does an
abstract, it describes why the source is useful for researching a particular topic or question,
its distinctive features.
In addition, it describes the author's main arguments and conclusions without evaluating
what the author says or concludes.
What is the format supposed to look like?
You will want to use the standard format type for the resource you are using.
For example, an article in APA should have in this order:
Author
Year
Title
Journal with volume and issue number
Pages
Other citation styles use similar elements, and possibly additional ones such as the URL,
in different orders.
Please check our Citing and Writing guides for details about the citation style you are
using.
https://libguides.umgc.edu/gethelp/writing-citing.
This slide shows an example of a descriptive or informative annotation with the article
citation.
The last sentence of the annotation : The article’s focus on practical advice for
nurses seeking to start their own business does not detract from the advice about universal
struggles of entrepreneurship and makes this an article of interest to a wide-ranging audience.
...It points out distinctive features about the item it, but it does not analyze the author's
conclusions.
Analytical or critical
An analytical or critical annotation not only summarizes the material, it analyzes what
is being said.
It examines the strengths and weaknesses of what is presented as well as describing the
applicability of the author's conclusions to the research being conducted.
For most of your annotated bibliographies, you will be writing analytical or critical
annotations.
This slide shows an example of an analytical or critical annotation with the article citation.
The last two sentences of the annotation The article is a good resource for those wanting
to start their own legal nurse consulting business, a good first advice article even.
However, entrepreneurs should also use more business research studies focused on starting
a new business, with strategies against known or expected pitfalls and issues new businesses
face, and for help on topics the author did not touch in this abbreviated list of lessons
learned.
...criticizes the authors research.
Please note that in these samples, the citations follow the APA format.
Your instructor may require you to use another citation format, such as MLA, so check first.
If you need more information on how to format a citation please see our Writing and Citing
Guides, https://libguides.umgc.edu/gethelp/writing-citing.
To
get started
Now you are ready to begin writing your own annotated bibliography.
Choose your sources Before writing your annotated bibliography, you must choose your sources.
This involves doing research much like for any other project.
Locate records to materials that may apply to your topic.
Review the items Then review the actual items and choose those that provide a wide variety
of perspectives on your topic.
Article abstracts are helpful in this process.
Write the citation and annotation
When writing your annotation, the complete citation should always come first, then the
annotation with a space between them.
Depending on the type of annotated bibliography you are writing, you will want to include:
The purpose of the work
A summary of its content
For what type of audience the work is written
Its relevance to the topic
Any special or unique features about the material
The strengths, weaknesses or biases in the material
Annotated bibliographies must be properly formatted for your citation style, though
they may be arranged alphabetically or chronologically.
UMGC has prepared these guides to help you correctly format citations according to APA,
MLA or Chicago Style.
Check with your instructor to see what he or she prefers.
Remember to check UMGC Writing and Citing page or contact the UMGC Library for help
with writing annotated bibliographies.
Thank you for watching this presentation, please be sure to visit us for all your information
needs.