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• What Is an Annotated Bibliography? | Examples & Format

What Is an Annotated Bibliography? | Examples & Format

Published on March 9, 2021 by Jack Caulfield . Revised on August 23, 2022.

An annotated bibliography is a list of source references that includes a short descriptive text (an annotation) for each source. It may be assigned as part of the research process for a paper , or as an individual assignment to gather and read relevant sources on a topic.

Scribbr’s free Citation Generator allows you to easily create and manage your annotated bibliography in APA or MLA style. To generate a perfectly formatted annotated bibliography, select the source type, fill out the relevant fields, and add your annotation.

An example of an annotated source is shown below:

Table of contents

Annotated bibliography format: apa, mla, chicago, how to write an annotated bibliography, descriptive annotation example, evaluative annotation example, reflective annotation example, finding sources for your annotated bibliography, frequently asked questions about annotated bibliographies.

Make sure your annotated bibliography is formatted according to the guidelines of the style guide you’re working with. Three common styles are covered below:

In APA Style , both the reference entry and the annotation should be double-spaced and left-aligned.

The reference entry itself should have a hanging indent . The annotation follows on the next line, and the whole annotation should be indented to match the hanging indent. The first line of any additional paragraphs should be indented an additional time.

In an MLA style annotated bibliography , the Works Cited entry and the annotation are both double-spaced and left-aligned.

The Works Cited entry has a hanging indent. The annotation itself is indented 1 inch (twice as far as the hanging indent). If there are two or more paragraphs in the annotation, the first line of each paragraph is indented an additional half-inch, but not if there is only one paragraph.

Chicago style

In a  Chicago style annotated bibliography , the bibliography entry itself should be single-spaced and feature a hanging indent.

The annotation should be indented, double-spaced, and left-aligned. The first line of any additional paragraphs should be indented an additional time.

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For each source, start by writing (or generating ) a full reference entry that gives the author, title, date, and other information. The annotated bibliography format varies based on the citation style you’re using.

The annotations themselves are usually between 50 and 200 words in length, typically formatted as a single paragraph. This can vary depending on the word count of the assignment, the relative length and importance of different sources, and the number of sources you include.

Consider the instructions you’ve been given or consult your instructor to determine what kind of annotations they’re looking for:

• Descriptive annotations : When the assignment is just about gathering and summarizing information, focus on the key arguments and methods of each source.
• Evaluative annotations : When the assignment is about evaluating the sources , you should also assess the validity and effectiveness of these arguments and methods.
• Reflective annotations : When the assignment is part of a larger research process, you need to consider the relevance and usefulness of the sources to your own research.

These specific terms won’t necessarily be used. The important thing is to understand the purpose of your assignment and pick the approach that matches it best. Interactive examples of the different styles of annotation are shown below.

A descriptive annotation summarizes the approach and arguments of a source in an objective way, without attempting to assess their validity.

In this way, it resembles an abstract , but you should never just copy text from a source’s abstract, as this would be considered plagiarism . You’ll naturally cover similar ground, but you should also consider whether the abstract omits any important points from the full text.

The interactive example shown below describes an article about the relationship between business regulations and CO 2 emissions.

Rieger, A. (2019). Doing business and increasing emissions? An exploratory analysis of the impact of business regulation on CO 2 emissions. Human Ecology Review , 25 (1), 69–86. https://www.jstor.org/stable/26964340

An evaluative annotation also describes the content of a source, but it goes on to evaluate elements like the validity of the source’s arguments and the appropriateness of its methods .

For example, the following annotation describes, and evaluates the effectiveness of, a book about the history of Western philosophy.

Kenny, A. (2010). A new history of Western philosophy: In four parts . Oxford University Press.

A reflective annotation is similar to an evaluative one, but it focuses on the source’s usefulness or relevance to your own research.

Reflective annotations are often required when the point is to gather sources for a future research project, or to assess how they were used in a project you already completed.

The annotation below assesses the usefulness of a particular article for the author’s own research in the field of media studies.

Manovich, Lev. (2009). The practice of everyday (media) life: From mass consumption to mass cultural production? Critical Inquiry , 35 (2), 319–331. https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1086/596645

Manovich’s article assesses the shift from a consumption-based media culture (in which media content is produced by a small number of professionals and consumed by a mass audience) to a production-based media culture (in which this mass audience is just as active in producing content as in consuming it). He is skeptical of some of the claims made about this cultural shift; specifically, he argues that the shift towards user-made content must be regarded as more reliant upon commercial media production than it is typically acknowledged to be. However, he regards web 2.0 as an exciting ongoing development for art and media production, citing its innovation and unpredictability.

The article is outdated in certain ways (it dates from 2009, before the launch of Instagram, to give just one example). Nevertheless, its critical engagement with the possibilities opened up for media production by the growth of social media is valuable in a general sense, and its conceptualization of these changes frequently applies just as well to more current social media platforms as it does to Myspace. Conceptually, I intend to draw on this article in my own analysis of the social dynamics of Twitter and Instagram.

Before you can write your annotations, you’ll need to find sources . If the annotated bibliography is part of the research process for a paper, your sources will be those you consult and cite as you prepare the paper. Otherwise, your assignment and your choice of topic will guide you in what kind of sources to look for.

Make sure that you’ve clearly defined your topic , and then consider what keywords are relevant to it, including variants of the terms. Use these keywords to search databases (e.g., Google Scholar ), using Boolean operators to refine your search.

Sources can include journal articles, books, and other source types , depending on the scope of the assignment. Read the abstracts or blurbs of the sources you find to see whether they’re relevant, and try exploring their bibliographies to discover more. If a particular source keeps showing up, it’s probably important.

Once you’ve selected an appropriate range of sources, read through them, taking notes that you can use to build up your annotations. You may even prefer to write your annotations as you go, while each source is fresh in your mind.

An annotated bibliography is an assignment where you collect sources on a specific topic and write an annotation for each source. An annotation is a short text that describes and sometimes evaluates the source.

Any credible sources on your topic can be included in an annotated bibliography . The exact sources you cover will vary depending on the assignment, but you should usually focus on collecting journal articles and scholarly books . When in doubt, utilize the CRAAP test !

Each annotation in an annotated bibliography is usually between 50 and 200 words long. Longer annotations may be divided into paragraphs .

The content of the annotation varies according to your assignment. An annotation can be descriptive, meaning it just describes the source objectively; evaluative, meaning it assesses its usefulness; or reflective, meaning it explains how the source will be used in your own research .

A source annotation in an annotated bibliography fulfills a similar purpose to an abstract : they’re both intended to summarize the approach and key points of a source.

However, an annotation may also evaluate the source , discussing the validity and effectiveness of its arguments. Even if your annotation is purely descriptive , you may have a different perspective on the source from the author and highlight different key points.

You should never just copy text from the abstract for your annotation, as doing so constitutes plagiarism .

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How to Write a Research Paper: Annotated Bibliography

• Anatomy of a Research Paper
• Developing a Research Focus
• Background Research Tips
• Searching Tips
• Scholarly Journals vs. Popular Journals
• Thesis Statement
• Annotated Bibliography
• Citing Sources
• Evaluating Sources
• Literature Review
• Academic Integrity
• Scholarship as Conversation
• Understanding Fake News
• Data, Information, Knowledge

What is an Annotated Bibliography?

UMary Writing Center

Check out the resources available from the  Writing Center . 

Write an Annotated Bibliography

What is an annotated bibliography?

It is a list of citations for various books, articles, and other sources on a topic. 

An annotation is a short summary and/or critical evaluation of a source.

Annotated bibliographies answer the question: "What would be the most relevant, most useful, or most up-to-date sources for this topic?"

 Annotated bibliographies can be part of a larger research project, or can be a stand-alone report in itself. 

Annotation versus abstracts 

An abstract is a paragraph at the beginning of the paper that discusses the main point of the original work. They typically do not include evaluation comments. 

Annotations can either be descriptive or evaluative. The annotated bibliography looks like a works cited page but includes an annotation after each source cited. 

Types of Annotations: 

Descriptive Annotations: Focuses on description. Describes the source by answering the following questions. 

Who wrote the document?

What does the document discuss?

When and where was the document written? 

Why was the document produced?

How was it provided to the public?

Evaluative Annotations: Focuses on description and evaluation. Includes a summary and critically assess the work for accuracy, relevance, and quality. 

Evaluative annotations help you learn about your topic, develop a thesis statement, decide if a specific source will be useful for your assignment, and determine if there is enough valid information available to complete your project.

What does the annotation include?

Depending on your assignment and style guide, annotations may include some or all of the following information. 

• Should be no more than 150 words or 4 to 6 sentences long. 
• What is the main focus or purpose of the work?
• Who is the intended audience?
• ​How useful or relevant was the article to your topic?
• Was there any unique features that useful to you?
• What is the background and credibility of the author?
• What are any conclusions or observations that your reached about the article?

Which citation style to use?

There are many styles manuals with specific instructions on how to format your annotated bibliography. This largely depends on what your instructor prefers or your subject discipline. Check out our citation guides for more information. 

Additional Information

Why doesn't APA have an official APA-approved format for annotated bibliographies?

Always consult your instructor about the format of an annotated bibliography for your class assignments. These guides provide you with examples of various styles for annotated bibliographies and they may not be in the format required by your instructor. 

Citation Examples and Annotations

Book Citation with Descriptive Annotation

Liroff, R. A., & G. G. Davis. (1981). Protecting open space: Land use control in the Adirondack Park. Cambridge, MA: Ballinger.

This book describes the implementation of regional planning and land use regulation in the Adirondack Park in upstate New York. The authors provide program evaluations of the Adirondack Park Agency’s regulatory and local planning assistance programs.

Journal Article Citation with Evaluative Annotation

Gottlieb, P. D. (1995). The “golden egg” as a natural resource: Toward a normative theory of growth management. Society and Natural Resources, 8, (5): 49-56.

This article explains the dilemma faced by North American suburbs, which demand both preservation of local amenities (to protect quality of life) and physical development (to expand the tax base). Growth management has been proposed as a policy solution to this dilemma. An analogy is made between this approach and resource economics. The author concludes that the growth management debate raises legitimate issues of sustainability and efficiency.

Examples were taken from http://lib.calpoly.edu/support/how-to/write-an-annotated-bibliography/#samples

Book Citation

Lee, Seok-hoon, Yong-pil Kim, Nigel Hemmington, and Deok-kyun Yun. “Competitive Service Quality Improvement (CSQI): A Case Study in the Fast-Food Industry.” Food Service Technology 4 (2004): 75-84.

In this highly technical paper, three industrial engineering professors in Korea and one services management professor in the UK discuss the mathematical limitations of the popular SERVQUAL scales. Significantly, they also aim to measure service quality in the fast-food industry, a neglected area of study. Unfortunately, the paper’s sophisticated analytical methods make it inaccessible to all but the most expert of researchers.

Battle, Ken. “Child Poverty: The Evolution and Impact of Child Benefits.”  A Question of Commitment: Children's Rights in Canada . Ed. Katherine Covell and R.Brian Howe. Waterloo, ON: Wilfrid Laurier University Press. 2007. 21-44.

             Ken Battle draws on a close study of government documents, as well as his own research as an extensively-published policy analyst, to explain Canadian child benefit programs.  He outlines some fundamental assumptions supporting the belief that all society members should contribute to the upbringing of children.  His comparison of child poverty rates in a number of countries is a useful wake-up to anyone assuming Canadian society is doing a good job of protecting children.  Battle pays particular attention to the National Child Benefit (NCB), arguing that it did not deserve to be criticized by politicians and journalists.  He outlines the NCB’s development, costs, and benefits, and laments that the Conservative government scaled it back in favour of the inferior Universal Child Care Benefit (UCCB).  However, he relies too heavily on his own work; he is the sole or primary author of almost half the sources in his bibliography.  He could make this work stronger by drawing from others' perspectives and analyses.  However, Battle does offer a valuable source for this essay, because the chapter provides a concise overview of government-funded assistance currently available to parents.  This offers context for analyzing the scope and financial reality of child poverty in Canada.

Journal Article Example

  Kerr, Don and Roderic Beaujot. “Child Poverty and Family Structure in Canada, 1981-1997.”  Journal of Comparative Family Studies  34.3 (2003): 321-335.

             Sociology professors Kerr and Beaujot analyze the demographics of impoverished families.  Drawing on data from Canada’s annual Survey of Consumer Finances, the authors consider whether each family had one or two parents, the age of single parents, and the number of children in each household.  They analyze child poverty rates in light of both these demographic factors and larger economic issues.  Kerr and Beaujot use this data to argue that. 

Examples were taken from  http://libguides.enc.edu/writing_basics/ annotatedbib/mla

Check out these resources for more information about Annotated Bibliographies. 

• Purdue Owl- Annotated Bibliographies
• University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill- Annotated Bibliographies
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• Next: Citing Sources >>
• Last Updated: Sep 21, 2023 2:59 PM
• URL: https://libguide.umary.edu/researchpaper

Annotated Bibliographies

What this handout is about.

This handout will explain why annotated bibliographies are useful for researchers, provide an explanation of what constitutes an annotation, describe various types of annotations and styles for writing them, and offer multiple examples of annotated bibliographies in the MLA, APA, and CBE/CSE styles of citation.

Introduction

Welcome to the wonderful world of annotated bibliographies! You’re probably already familiar with the need to provide bibliographies, reference pages, and works cited lists to credit your sources when you do a research paper. An annotated bibliography includes descriptions and explanations of your listed sources beyond the basic citation information you usually provide.

Why do an annotated bibliography?

One of the reasons behind citing sources and compiling a general bibliography is so that you can prove you have done some valid research to back up your argument and claims. Readers can refer to a citation in your bibliography and then go look up the material themselves. When inspired by your text or your argument, interested researchers can access your resources. They may wish to double check a claim or interpretation you’ve made, or they may simply wish to continue researching according to their interests. But think about it: even though a bibliography provides a list of research sources of all types that includes publishing information, how much does that really tell a researcher or reader about the sources themselves?

An annotated bibliography provides specific information about each source you have used. As a researcher, you have become an expert on your topic: you have the ability to explain the content of your sources, assess their usefulness, and share this information with others who may be less familiar with them. Think of your paper as part of a conversation with people interested in the same things you are; the annotated bibliography allows you to tell readers what to check out, what might be worth checking out in some situations, and what might not be worth spending the time on. It’s kind of like providing a list of good movies for your classmates to watch and then going over the list with them, telling them why this movie is better than that one or why one student in your class might like a particular movie better than another student would. You want to give your audience enough information to understand basically what the movies are about and to make an informed decision about where to spend their money based on their interests.

What does an annotated bibliography do?

A good annotated bibliography:

• encourages you to think critically about the content of the works you are using, their place within a field of study, and their relation to your own research and ideas.
• proves you have read and understand your sources.
• establishes your work as a valid source and you as a competent researcher.
• situates your study and topic in a continuing professional conversation.
• provides a way for others to decide whether a source will be helpful to their research if they read it.
• could help interested researchers determine whether they are interested in a topic by providing background information and an idea of the kind of work going on in a field.

What elements might an annotation include?

• Bibliography according to the appropriate citation style (MLA, APA, CBE/CSE, etc.).
• Explanation of main points and/or purpose of the work—basically, its thesis—which shows among other things that you have read and thoroughly understand the source.
• Verification or critique of the authority or qualifications of the author.
• Comments on the worth, effectiveness, and usefulness of the work in terms of both the topic being researched and/or your own research project.
• The point of view or perspective from which the work was written. For instance, you may note whether the author seemed to have particular biases or was trying to reach a particular audience.
• Relevant links to other work done in the area, like related sources, possibly including a comparison with some of those already on your list. You may want to establish connections to other aspects of the same argument or opposing views.

The first four elements above are usually a necessary part of the annotated bibliography. Points 5 and 6 may involve a little more analysis of the source, but you may include them in other kinds of annotations besides evaluative ones. Depending on the type of annotation you use, which this handout will address in the next section, there may be additional kinds of information that you will need to include.

For more extensive research papers (probably ten pages or more), you often see resource materials grouped into sub-headed sections based on content, but this probably will not be necessary for the kinds of assignments you’ll be working on. For longer papers, ask your instructor about her preferences concerning annotated bibliographies.

Did you know that annotations have categories and styles?

Decisions, decisions.

As you go through this handout, you’ll see that, before you start, you’ll need to make several decisions about your annotations: citation format, type of annotation, and writing style for the annotation.

First of all, you’ll need to decide which kind of citation format is appropriate to the paper and its sources, for instance, MLA or APA. This may influence the format of the annotations and bibliography. Typically, bibliographies should be double-spaced and use normal margins (you may want to check with your instructor, since he may have a different style he wants you to follow).

MLA (Modern Language Association)

See the UNC Libraries citation tutorial for basic MLA bibliography formatting and rules.

• MLA documentation is generally used for disciplines in the humanities, such as English, languages, film, and cultural studies or other theoretical studies. These annotations are often summary or analytical annotations.
• Title your annotated bibliography “Annotated Bibliography” or “Annotated List of Works Cited.”
• Following MLA format, use a hanging indent for your bibliographic information. This means the first line is not indented and all the other lines are indented four spaces (you may ask your instructor if it’s okay to tab over instead of using four spaces).
• Begin your annotation immediately after the bibliographic information of the source ends; don’t skip a line down unless you have been told to do so by your instructor.

APA (American Psychological Association)

See the UNC Libraries citation tutorial for basic APA bibliography formatting and rules.

• Natural and social sciences, such as psychology, nursing, sociology, and social work, use APA documentation. It is also used in economics, business, and criminology. These annotations are often succinct summaries.
• Annotated bibliographies for APA format do not require a special title. Use the usual “References” designation.
• Like MLA, APA uses a hanging indent: the first line is set flush with the left margin, and all other lines are indented four spaces (you may ask your instructor if it’s okay to tab over instead of using four spaces).
• After the bibliographic citation, drop down to the next line to begin the annotation, but don’t skip an extra line.
• The entire annotation is indented an additional two spaces, so that means each of its lines will be six spaces from the margin (if your instructor has said that it’s okay to tab over instead of using the four spaces rule, indent the annotation two more spaces in from that point).

CBE (Council of Biology Editors)/CSE (Council of Science Editors)

See the UNC Libraries citation tutorial for basic CBE/CSE bibliography formatting and rules.

• CBE/CSE documentation is used by the plant sciences, zoology, microbiology, and many of the medical sciences.
• Annotated bibliographies for CBE/CSE format do not require a special title. Use the usual “References,” “Cited References,” or “Literature Cited,” and set it flush with the left margin.
• Bibliographies for CSE in general are in a slightly smaller font than the rest of the paper.
• When using the name-year system, as in MLA and APA, the first line of each entry is set flush with the left margin, and all subsequent lines, including the annotation, are indented three or four spaces.
• When using the citation-sequence method, each entry begins two spaces after the number, and every line, including the annotation, will be indented to match the beginning of the entry, or may be slightly further indented, as in the case of journals.
• After the bibliographic citation, drop down to the next line to begin the annotation, but don’t skip an extra line. The entire annotation follows the indentation of the bibliographic entry, whether it’s N-Y or C-S format.
• Annotations in CBE/CSE are generally a smaller font size than the rest of the bibliographic information.

After choosing a documentation format, you’ll choose from a variety of annotation categories presented in the following section. Each type of annotation highlights a particular approach to presenting a source to a reader. For instance, an annotation could provide a summary of the source only, or it could also provide some additional evaluation of that material.

In addition to making choices related to the content of the annotation, you’ll also need to choose a style of writing—for instance, telescopic versus paragraph form. Your writing style isn’t dictated by the content of your annotation. Writing style simply refers to the way you’ve chosen to convey written information. A discussion of writing style follows the section on annotation types.

Types of annotations

As you now know, one annotation does not fit all purposes! There are different kinds of annotations, depending on what might be most important for your reader to learn about a source. Your assignments will usually make it clear which citation format you need to use, but they may not always specify which type of annotation to employ. In that case, you’ll either need to pick your instructor’s brain a little to see what she wants or use clue words from the assignment itself to make a decision. For instance, the assignment may tell you that your annotative bibliography should give evidence proving an analytical understanding of the sources you’ve used. The word analytical clues you in to the idea that you must evaluate the sources you’re working with and provide some kind of critique.

Summary annotations

There are two kinds of summarizing annotations, informative and indicative.

Summarizing annotations in general have a couple of defining features:

• They sum up the content of the source, as a book report might.
• They give an overview of the arguments and proofs/evidence addressed in the work and note the resulting conclusion.
• They do not judge the work they are discussing. Leave that to the critical/evaluative annotations.
• When appropriate, they describe the author’s methodology or approach to material. For instance, you might mention if the source is an ethnography or if the author employs a particular kind of theory.

Informative annotation

Informative annotations sometimes read like straight summaries of the source material, but they often spend a little more time summarizing relevant information about the author or the work itself.

Indicative annotation

Indicative annotation is the second type of summary annotation, but it does not attempt to include actual information from the argument itself. Instead, it gives general information about what kinds of questions or issues are addressed by the work. This sometimes includes the use of chapter titles.

Critical/evaluative

Evaluative annotations don’t just summarize. In addition to tackling the points addressed in summary annotations, evaluative annotations:

• evaluate the source or author critically (biases, lack of evidence, objective, etc.).
• show how the work may or may not be useful for a particular field of study or audience.
• explain how researching this material assisted your own project.

Combination

An annotated bibliography may combine elements of all the types. In fact, most of them fall into this category: a little summarizing and describing, a little evaluation.

Writing style

Ok, next! So what does it mean to use different writing styles as opposed to different kinds of content? Content is what belongs in the annotation, and style is the way you write it up. First, choose which content type you need to compose, and then choose the style you’re going to use to write it

This kind of annotated bibliography is a study in succinctness. It uses a minimalist treatment of both information and sentence structure, without sacrificing clarity. Warning: this kind of writing can be harder than you might think.

Don’t skimp on this kind of annotated bibliography. If your instructor has asked for paragraph form, it likely means that you’ll need to include several elements in the annotation, or that she expects a more in-depth description or evaluation, for instance. Make sure to provide a full paragraph of discussion for each work.

As you can see now, bibliographies and annotations are really a series of organized steps. They require meticulous attention, but in the end, you’ve got an entire testimony to all the research and work you’ve done. At the end of this handout you’ll find examples of informative, indicative, evaluative, combination, telescopic, and paragraph annotated bibliography entries in MLA, APA, and CBE formats. Use these examples as your guide to creating an annotated bibliography that makes you look like the expert you are!

MLA Example

APA Example

CBE Example

Works consulted

We consulted these works while writing this handout. This is not a comprehensive list of resources on the handout’s topic, and we encourage you to do your own research to find additional publications. Please do not use this list as a model for the format of your own reference list, as it may not match the citation style you are using. For guidance on formatting citations, please see the UNC Libraries citation tutorial . We revise these tips periodically and welcome feedback.

American Psychological Association. 2010. Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association . 6th ed. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.

Bell, I. F., and J. Gallup. 1971. A Reference Guide to English, American, and Canadian Literature . Vancouver: University of British Columbia Press.

Bizzell, Patricia, and Bruce Herzburg. 1991. Bedford Bibliography for Teachers of Writing , 3rd ed. Boston: Bedford Books.

Center for Information on Language Teaching, and The English Teaching Information Center of the British Council. 1968. Language-Teaching Bibliography . Cambridge: Cambridge University.

Engle, Michael, Amy Blumenthal, and Tony Cosgrave. 2012. “How to Prepare an Annotated Bibliography.” Olin & Uris Libraries. Cornell University. Last updated September 25, 2012. https://olinuris.library.cornell.edu/content/how-prepare-annotated-bibliography.

Gibaldi, Joseph. 2009. MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers , 7th ed. New York: The Modern Language Association of America.

Grasso, Michael. 2004. “Speech Recognition Annotated Bibliography” (Website). University of Maryland-Baltimore County. Department of Computer Science. https://www.csee.umbc.edu/~mgrass2/dissert/annbib.html .

Huth, Edward. 1994. Scientific Style and Format: The CBE Manual for Authors, Editors, and Publishers . New York: University of Cambridge.

Kilborn, Judith. 2004. “MLA Documentation.” LEO: Literacy Education Online. Last updated March 16, 2004. https://leo.stcloudstate.edu/research/mla.html.

Spatt, Brenda. 1991. Writing from Sources , 3rd ed. New York: St. Martin’s.

Memorial University. n.d. “How to Write Annotated Bibliographies.” Memorial University Libraries. Accessed June 14, 2019. https://www.library.mun.ca/researchtools/guides/writing/annotated_bibl/ .

University of Kansas. 2018. “Bibliographies.” KU Writing Center. Last updated April 2018. http://writing.ku.edu/bibliographies .

University of Wisconsin-Madison. 2019. “Annotated Bibliography.” The Writing Center. Accessed June 14, 2019. https://writing.wisc.edu/handbook/assignments/annotatedbibliography/ .

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How to Write an Annotated Bibliography - APA Style (7th Edition)

What is an annotation, how is an annotation different from an abstract, what is an annotated bibliography, types of annotated bibliographies, descriptive or informative, analytical or critical, to get started.

An annotation is more than just a brief summary of an article, book, website, 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?

While an abstract also summarizes an article, book, website, 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.

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

There are two major types of annotated bibliographies:

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 and its distinctive features. In addition, it describes the author's main arguments and conclusions without evaluating what the author says or concludes.

For example:

McKinnon, A. (2019). Lessons learned in year one of business.  Journal of Legal Nurse Consulting ,  30 (4), 26–28. This article describes some of the difficulties many nurses experience when transitioning from nursing to a legal nurse consulting business. Pointing out issues of work-life balance, as well as the differences of working for someone else versus working for yourself, the author offers their personal experience as a learning tool. The process of becoming an entrepreneur is not often discussed in relation to nursing, and rarely delves into only the first year of starting a new business. Time management, maintaining an existing job, decision-making, and knowing yourself in order to market yourself are discussed with some detail. The author goes on to describe how important both the nursing professional community will be to a new business, and the importance of mentorship as both the mentee and mentor in individual success that can be found through professional connections. 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 makes this an article of interest to a wide-ranging audience.

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.

Analytical or critical annotations will most likely be required when writing for a college-level course.

McKinnon, A. (2019). Lessons learned in year one of business.  Journal of Legal Nurse Consulting ,  30 (4), 26–28. This article describes some of the difficulty many nurses experience when transitioning from nursing to a nurse consulting business. While the article focuses on issues of work-life balance, the differences of working for someone else versus working for yourself, marketing, and other business issues the author’s offer of only their personal experience is brief with few or no alternative solutions provided. There is no mention throughout the article of making use of other research about starting a new business and being successful. While relying on the anecdotal advice for their list of issues, the author does reference other business resources such as the Small Business Administration to help with business planning and professional organizations that can help with mentorships. 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.

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.
• The purpose of the work
• A summary of its content
• Information about the author(s)
• For what type of audience the work is written
• Its relevance to the topic
• Any special or unique features about the material
• Research methodology
• The strengths, weaknesses or biases in the material

Annotated bibliographies may be arranged alphabetically or chronologically, check with your instructor to see what he or she prefers.

Please see the  APA Examples page  for more information on citing in APA style.

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Research Strategies

• Reference Resources
• News Articles
• Scholarly Sources
• Search Strategy
• OneSearch Tips
• Evaluating Information
• Revising & Polishing
• Presentations & Media
• MLA 9th Citation Style
• APA 7th Citation Style
• Other Citation Styles
• Citation Managers
• Annotated Bibliography
• Literature Review How to

What is An Annotated Bibliography?

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 citation - the information a reader needs to find the original source, in a consistent format to make that easier. These consistent formats are called citation styles.  The most common citation styles are MLA (Modern Language Association) for humanities, and APA (American Psychological Association) for social sciences.

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 research 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

Annotations versus Abstracts

Many scholarly articles start with an abstract, which is the author's summary of the article to help you decide whether you should read the entire article.  This abstract is not the same thing as an annotation.  The annotation needs to be in your own words, to explain the relevance of the source to your particular assignment or research question.

Annotated Bibliography video

MLA 9th Annotated Bibliography Examples

Ontiveros, Randy J.  In the Spirit of a New People: The Cultural Politics of the Chicano Movement . New York UP, 2014.

This book analyzes the journalism, visual arts, theater, and novels of the Chicano movement from 1960 to the present as articulations of personal and collective values. Chapter 3 grounds the theater of El Teatro Campesino in the labor and immigrant organizing of the period, while Chapter 4 situates Sandra Cisneros’s novel  Caramelo  in the struggles of Chicana feminists to be heard in the traditional and nationalist elements of the Chicano movement. Ontiveros provides a powerful and illuminating historical context for the literary and political texts of the movement.

Journal article

Alvarez, Nadia, and Jack Mearns. “The Benefits of Writing and Performing in the Spoken Word Poetry Community.”  The Arts in Psychotherapy , vol. 41, no. 3, July 2014, pp. 263-268.  ScienceDirect ,  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aip.2014.03.004 .

Spoken word poetry is distinctive because it is written to be performed out loud, in person, by the poet. The ten poets interviewed by these authors describe “a reciprocal relationship between the audience and the poet” created by that practice of performance. To build community, spoken word poets keep metaphor and diction relatively simple and accessible. Richness is instead built through fragmented stories that coalesce into emotional narratives about personal and community concerns.  This understanding of poets’ intentions illuminates their recorded performances.

*Note, citations have a .5 hanging indent and the annotations have a 1 inch indent. 

• MLA 9th Sample Annotated Bibliography

MLA 8th Annotated Bibliography Examples

Ontiveros, Randy J. In the Spirit of a New People: The Cultural Politics of the Chicano Movement . New York UP, 2014. This book analyzes the journalism, visual arts, theater, and novels of the Chicano movement from 1960 to the present as articulations of personal and collective values. Chapter 3 grounds the theater of El Teatro Campesino in the labor and immigrant organizing of the period, while Chapter 4 situates Sandra Cisneros’s novel Caramelo in the struggles of Chicana feminists to be heard in the traditional and nationalist elements of the Chicano movement. Ontiveros provides a powerful and illuminating historical context for the literary and political texts of the movement.

Alvarez, Nadia, and Jack Mearns. “The Benefits of Writing and Performing in the Spoken Word Poetry Community.” The Arts in Psychotherapy , vol. 41, no. 3, July 2014, pp. 263-268. ScienceDirect , doi:10.1016/j.aip.2014.03.004 . Spoken word poetry is distinctive because it is written to be performed out loud, in person, by the poet. The ten poets interviewed by these authors describe “a reciprocal relationship between the audience and the poet” created by that practice of performance. To build community, spoken word poets keep metaphor and diction relatively simple and accessible. Richness is instead built through fragmented stories that coalesce into emotional narratives about personal and community concerns.  This understanding of poets’ intentions illuminates their recorded performances.

• MLA 8th Sample Annotated Bibliography

APA 7th Annotated Bibliography Examples

Alvarez, N. & Mearns, J. (2014). The benefits of writing and performing in the spoken word poetry community.  The Arts in Psychotherapy, 41 (3), 263-268.  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aip.2014.03.004 Prior research has shown narrative writing to help with making meaning out of trauma. This article uses grounded theory to analyze semi-structured interviews with ten spoken word poets.  Because spoken word poetry is performed live, it creates personal and community connections that enhance the emotional development and resolution offered by the practice of writing. The findings are limited by the small, nonrandom sample (all the participants were from the same community).

• APA 7th Sample Annotated Bibliography
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How to Prepare an Annotated Bibliography: The Annotated Bibliography

• The Annotated Bibliography
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Explanation, Process, Directions, and Examples

What is an annotated bibliography.

An annotated bibliography is a list of citations to books, articles, and documents. Each citation is followed by a brief (usually about 150 words) descriptive and evaluative paragraph, the annotation. The purpose of the annotation is to inform the reader of the relevance, accuracy, and quality of the sources cited.

Annotations vs. Abstracts

Abstracts are the purely descriptive summaries often found at the beginning of scholarly journal articles or in periodical indexes. Annotations are descriptive and critical; they may describe the author's point of view, authority, or clarity and appropriateness of expression.

The Process

Creating an annotated bibliography calls for the application of a variety of intellectual skills: concise exposition, succinct analysis, and informed library research.

First, locate and record citations to books, periodicals, and documents that may contain useful information and ideas on your topic. Briefly examine and review the actual items. Then choose those works that provide a variety of perspectives on your topic.

Cite the book, article, or document using the appropriate style.

Write a concise annotation that summarizes the central theme and scope of the book or article. Include one or more sentences that (a) evaluate the authority or background of the author, (b) comment on the intended audience, (c) compare or contrast this work with another you have cited, or (d) explain how this work illuminates your bibliography topic.

Critically Appraising the Book, Article, or Document

For guidance in critically appraising and analyzing the sources for your bibliography, see How to Critically Analyze Information Sources . For information on the author's background and views, ask at the reference desk for help finding appropriate biographical reference materials and book review sources.

Choosing the Correct Citation Style

Check with your instructor to find out which style is preferred for your class. Online citation guides for both the Modern Language Association (MLA) and the American Psychological Association (APA) styles are linked from the Library's Citation Management page .

Sample Annotated Bibliography Entries

The following example uses APA style ( Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association , 7th edition, 2019) for the journal citation:

Waite, L., Goldschneider, F., & Witsberger, C. (1986). Nonfamily living and the erosion of traditional family orientations among young adults. American Sociological Review, 51 (4), 541-554. The authors, researchers at the Rand Corporation and Brown University, use data from the National Longitudinal Surveys of Young Women and Young Men to test their hypothesis that nonfamily living by young adults alters their attitudes, values, plans, and expectations, moving them away from their belief in traditional sex roles. They find their hypothesis strongly supported in young females, while the effects were fewer in studies of young males. Increasing the time away from parents before marrying increased individualism, self-sufficiency, and changes in attitudes about families. In contrast, an earlier study by Williams cited below shows no significant gender differences in sex role attitudes as a result of nonfamily living.

This example uses MLA style ( MLA Handbook , 9th edition, 2021) for the journal citation. For additional annotation guidance from MLA, see 5.132: Annotated Bibliographies .

Waite, Linda J., et al. "Nonfamily Living and the Erosion of Traditional Family Orientations Among Young Adults." American Sociological Review, vol. 51, no. 4, 1986, pp. 541-554. The authors, researchers at the Rand Corporation and Brown University, use data from the National Longitudinal Surveys of Young Women and Young Men to test their hypothesis that nonfamily living by young adults alters their attitudes, values, plans, and expectations, moving them away from their belief in traditional sex roles. They find their hypothesis strongly supported in young females, while the effects were fewer in studies of young males. Increasing the time away from parents before marrying increased individualism, self-sufficiency, and changes in attitudes about families. In contrast, an earlier study by Williams cited below shows no significant gender differences in sex role attitudes as a result of nonfamily living.

Versión española

Tambíen disponible en español: Cómo Preparar una Bibliografía Anotada

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Research Process :: Step by Step

• Introduction
• Select Topic
• Identify Keywords
• Background Information
• Develop Research Questions
• Refine Topic
• Search Strategy
• Popular Databases
• Evaluate Sources
• Types of Periodicals
• Reading Scholarly Articles
• Primary & Secondary Sources
• Organize / Take Notes
• Writing & Grammar Resources
• Annotated Bibliography
• Literature Review
• Citation Styles
• Paraphrasing
• Privacy / Confidentiality
• Research Process
• Selecting Your Topic
• Identifying Keywords
• Gathering Background Info
• Evaluating Sources

The quality and usefulness of your bibliography will depend on your selection of sources. Define the scope of your research carefully to make sound judgments about what you include and exclude.

What is an annotated bibliography?

An annotated bibliography is a list of citations to books, articles, and documents that follows the appropriate style format for the discipline (MLA, APA, Chicago, etc). Each citation is followed by a brief (usually about 150 word) descriptive and evaluative paragraph -- the annotation. Unlike abstracts, which are purely descriptive summaries often found at the beginning of scholarly journal articles or in periodical indexes, annotations are descriptive and critical. 

The purpose of the annotation is to  inform the reader of the relevance, accuracy, and quality of the sources cited .  The annotation exposes the author's point of view, clarity and appropriateness of expression, and authority.

How do I create an annotated bibliography?

• Locate and record citations to books, periodicals, and documents that contain useful information and ideas on your topic.
• Review the items. Choose those sources that provide a  variety of perspectives on your topic.
• Cite the book, article, or document using the appropriate style. 
• Write a concise annotation that  summarizes the central theme and scope o f the item.

Include  one or more sentences  that:

o    evaluate the authority or background of the author, 

o    comment on the intended audience, 

o    compare or contrast this work with another you have cited, or 

o    explain how this work illuminates your bibliography topic.

The annotation should include most, if not all, of the following elements:

• Explanation of the main purpose and scope of t he cited work;
• Brief description of the work's format and content;
• Theoretical basis and currency of the author's argument; 
• Author's intellectual / academic credentials; 
• Work's intended audience;
• Value and significance of the work as a contribution to the subject under consideration;
• Possible shortcomings or bias in the work;
• Any significant special features of the work (e.g., glossary, appendices, particularly good index);
• Your own brief impression of the work.

An annotated bibliography is an  original work created by you  for a wider audience, usually faculty and colleagues. Copying any of the above elements from the source and including it in your annotated bibliography is plagiarism and intellectual dishonesty.

SAMPLE ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY ENTRY FOR A JOURNAL ARTICLE

The following example uses APA style ( Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association , 6th edition, 2010)  for the journal citation.

Waite, L. J., Goldschneider, F. K., & Witsberger, C. (1986). Nonfamily living and the erosion of traditional family orientations among young adults.  American Sociological Review,   51 , 541-554.

This example uses MLA style ( MLA Handbook , 8th edition, 2016)  for the journal citation.

Waite, Linda J., et al. "Nonfamily Living and the Erosion of Traditional Family Orientations Among Young Adults."  American Sociological Review,  vol. 51, no. 4, 1986, pp. 541-554.

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Annotated Bibliographies

What Is An Annotated Bibliography?

What is an annotated bibliography.

An annotated bibliography is a list of citations (references) to books, articles, and documents followed by a brief summary, analysis or evaluation, usually between 100-300 words, of the sources that are cited in the paper.  This summary provides a description of the contents of the source and may also include evaluative comments, such as the relevance, accuracy and quality of the source.  These summaries are known as annotations. 

• Annotated bibliographies are completed before a paper is written
• They can be stand-along assignments
• They can be used as a reference tool as a person works on their paper

Annotations vs. Abstracts

Abstracts are the descriptive summaries of article contents found at the beginning of scholarly journal articles that are written by the article author(s) or editor. Their purpose is to inform a reader about the topic, methodology, results and conclusion of the research of the article's author(s).  The summaries are provided so that a researcher can determine whether or not the article may have information of interest to them.  Abstracts do not serve an evaluative purpose.

Annotations found in bibliographies are evaluations of sources cited in a paper.  They describe a work, but also critique the source by examining the author’s point of view, the strengths and weakness of the research or article hypothesis or how well the author presented their research or findings.

How to write an annotated bibliography

The creation of an annotated bibliography is a three-step process. It starts with finding and evaluating sources for your paper. Next is choosing the type or category of annotation, then writing the annotation for each different source. The final step is to choose a citation style for the bibliography.

Types of Annotated Bibliographies

Types of Annotations

Annotations come in different types, the one to use depends on the instructor’s assignment.  Annotations can be descriptive, a summary, or an  evaluation or a combination of descriptive and evaluation.

Descriptive/Summarizing Annotations

There are two kinds of descriptive or summarizing annotations, informative or indicative, depending on what is most important for a reader to learn about a source.  Descriptive/summarizing annotations provide a brief overview or summary of the source. This can include a description of the contents and a statement of the main argument or position of the article as well as a summary of the main points.  It may also describe why the source would be useful for the paper’s topic or question. 

Indicative annotations provide a quick overview of the source, the kinds of questions/topics/issues or main points that are addressed by the source, but do not include information from the argument or position itself.

Informative annotations, like indicative annotations, provide a brief summary of the source.   In addition, an informative annotation identifies the hypothesis, results, and conclusions presented by the source.  When appropriate, they describe the author’s methodology or approach to the topic under discussion.  However, they do not provide information about the sources usefulness to the paper or contains analytical or critical information about the source’s quality. 

Evaluative Annotations (also known as critical or analytical)

Evaluative annotations go beyond just summarizing the source and listing out it’s key points, but also analyzes the content. It looks at the strengths and weaknesses of the article’s argument, the reliability of the presented information as well as any biases of the author. It talks about how the source may be useful to a particular field of study or the person’s research project.

Combination Annotations

Combination annotations “combine” aspects from indicative/informative and evaluative annotations and are the most common category of annotated bibliography.  Combination annotations include one to two sentences summarizing or describing content, in addition to one or more sentences providing an critical evaluation.

Writing Style for Annotations

Annotations typically follow three specific formats depending on how long they are.

• Phrases – Short phrases providing the information in a quick, concise manner.
• Sentences – Complete sentences with proper punctuation and grammar, but are short and concise.
• Paragraphs – Longer annotations break the information out into different paragraphs. This format is very effective for combination annotations.

To sum it up:

An annotation may include the following information:

• A brief summary or overview of the source content
• The source’s strengths and weaknesses in presenting the argument or position
• Its conclusions
• Why the source is relevant in to field of study of the paper
• Its relationships to other studies in the field
• An evaluation of the research methodology (if applicable)
• Information about the author’s background and potential biases
• Conclusions about the usefulness of the source for the paper

Critically Analyzing Articles

In order to write an annotation for a paper source, you need to first read and then critically analyze it:

• Try to identify the topic of the source -- what is it about and is it clearly stated.
• See if you can identify the purpose of the author(s) in doing the research or writing about the topic. Is it to survey and summarize research on a topic?  Is the author(s) presenting an argument based on previous research, or refuting previously published research?
• Identify the research methods used and try to identify whether they appear to be suitable or not for the stated purpose of the research.  
• Was the research reported in a consistent or clear manner?  Or, was the author's argument/position presented in a consistent or convincing manner? Did the author(s) fail to acknowledge and explain any limitations?
• Was the logic of the research/argument claims properly supported with convincing evidence/analysis/data? Did you spot any fallacies?
• Check whether the author(s) refers to other research and if similar studies have been done. 
• If illustrations or charts are used, are they effective in presenting information?
• Analyze the sources that were used by the author(s). Did the author(s) miss any important studies they should have considered?
• Your opinion of the source -- do you agree with or are convinced of the findings?  
• Your estimation of the source’s contribution to knowledge and its implications or applications to the field of study.

Worksheet for Taking Notes for Critical Analysis of Sources/Articles

Additional Resources:

Hofmann, B., Magelssen, M. In pursuit of goodness in bioethics: analysis of an exemplary article. BMC Med Ethics 19, 60 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12910-018-0299-9

Jansen, M., & Ellerton, P. (2018). How to read an ethics paper. Journal of Medical Ethics, 44(12), 810-813.  http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/medethics-2018-104997

Research & Learning Services, Olin Library, Cornell University Library  Critically Analyzing Information Sources: Critical Appraisal and Analysis

Formatting An Annotated Bibliography

How do I format my annotated bibliography?

An annotated bibliography entry consists of two components: the Citation and the Annotation.

The citation should be formatted in the bibliographic style that your instructor has requested for the paper. Some common citation styles include APA, MLA, and Chicago. For more information on citation styles, see Writing Guides, Style Manuals and the Publication Process in the Biological & Health Sciences .

Many databases (e.g., PubMed, Academic Search Premier, Library Search on library homepage, and Google Scholar) offer the option of creating your references in various citation styles. 

Look for the "cite" link -- see examples for the following resources:

University of Minnesota Library Search

Google Scholar

Sample Annotated Bibliography Entries

An example of an Evaluative Annotation , APA style (7th ed). (sample from University Libraries, University of Nevada ).

APA does not have specific formatting rules for annotations, just for the citation and bibliography.

Maak, T. (2007). Responsible leadership, stakeholder engagement, and the emergence of social capital. Journal of Business Ethics, 74, 329-343.  https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-007-9510-5

This article focuses on the role of social capital in responsible leadership. It looks at both the social networks that a leader builds within an organization, and the links that a leader creates with external stakeholders. Maak’s main aim with this article seems to be to persuade people of the importance of continued research into the abilities that a leader requires and how they can be acquired. The focus on the world of multinational business means that for readers outside this world many of the conclusions seem rather obvious (be part of the solution not part of the problem). In spite of this, the article provides useful background information on the topic of responsible leadership and definitions of social capital which are relevant to an analysis of a public servant.

An example of an Evaluative Annotation , MLA Style (10th ed), (sample from Columbia College, Vancouver, Canada )

MLA style requires double-spacing (not shown here) and paragraph indentations.

London, Herbert. “Five Myths of the Television Age.” Television Quarterly, vol. 10, no. 1, Mar. 1982, pp. 81-69.

     Herbert London, the Dean of Journalism at New York University and author of several books and articles, explains how television contradicts five commonly believed ideas. He uses specific examples of events seen on television, such as the assassination of John Kennedy, to illustrate his points. His examples have been selected to contradict such truisms as: “seeing is believing”; “a picture is worth a thousand words”; and “satisfaction is its own reward.” London uses logical arguments to support his ideas which are his personal opinion. He does not refer to any previous works on the topic. London’s style and vocabulary would make the article of interest to any reader. The article clearly illustrates London’s points, but does not explore their implications leaving the reader with many unanswered questions.

Additional Resources

University Libraries Tutorial --  Tutorial: What are citations?  Completing this tutorial you will:

• Understand what citations are
• Recognize why they are important
• Create and use citations in your papers and other scholarly work

University of Minnesota Resources

Beatty, L., & Cochran, C. (2020). Writing the annotated bibliography : A guide for students & researchers . New York, NY: Routledge. [ebook] 

Efron, S., Ravid, R., & ProQuest. (2019). Writing the literature review : A practical guide . New York: The Guilford Press. [ebook -- see Chapter 6 on Evaluating Research Articles] 

Center for Writing: Student Writing Support

• Critical reading strategies
• Common Writing Projects (includes resources for literature reviews & analyzing research articles)

Resources from Other Libraries

Annotated Bibliographies (The Writing Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill)

Writing An Annotated Bibliography (University of Toronto)

Annotated Bibliographies (Purdue Writing Lab, Purdue University)

Annotated Bibliography (UNSW Sydney)

What is an annotated bibliography? (Santiago Canyon College Library): Oct 17, 2017. 3:47 min.

Writing an annotated bibliography (EasyBib.com) Oct 22, 2020. 4:53 min.

Creating an annotated bibliography (Laurier University Library, Waterloo, Ontario)/ Apr 3, 2019, 3:32 min.

How to create an annotated bibliography: MLA (JamesTheDLC) Oct 23, 2019. 3:03 min.

Citing Sources

Introduction

Citations are brief notations in the body of a research paper that point to a source in the bibliography or references cited section.

If your paper quotes, paraphrases, summarizes the work of someone else, you need to use citations.

Citation style guides such as APA, Chicago and MLA provide detailed instructions on how citations and bibliographies should be formatted.

Health Sciences Research Toolkit

Resources, tips, and guidelines to help you through the research process., finding information.

Library Research Checklist Helpful hints for starting a library research project.

Search Strategy Checklist and Tips Helpful tips on how to develop a literature search strategy.

Boolean Operators: A Cheat Sheet Boolean logic (named after mathematician George Boole) is a system of logic to designed to yield optimal search results. The Boolean operators, AND, OR, and NOT, help you construct a logical search. Boolean operators act on sets -- groups of records containing a particular word or concept.

Literature Searching Overview and tips on how to conduct a literature search.

Health Statistics and Data Sources Health related statistics and data sources are increasingly available on the Internet. They can be found already neatly packaged, or as raw data sets. The most reliable data comes from governmental sources or health-care professional organizations.

Evaluating Information

Primary, Secondary and Tertiary Sources in the Health Sciences Understand what are considered primary, secondary and tertiary sources.

Scholarly vs Popular Journals/Magazines How to determine what are scholarly journals vs trade or popular magazines.

Identifying Peer-Reviewed Journals A “peer-reviewed” or “refereed” journal is one in which the articles it contains have been examined by people with credentials in the article’s field of study before it is published.

Evaluating Web  Resources When searching for information on the Internet, it is important to be aware of the quality of the information being presented to you. Keep in mind that anyone can host a web site. To be sure that the information you are looking at is credible and of value.

Conducting Research Through An Anti-Racism Lens This guide is for students, staff, and faculty who are incorporating an anti-racist lens at all stages of the research life cycle.

Understanding Research Study Designs Covers case studies, randomized control trials, systematic reviews and meta-analysis.

Qualitative Studies Overview of what is a qualitative study and how to recognize, find and critically appraise.

Writing and Publishing

Citing Sources Citations are brief notations in the body of a research paper that point to a source in the bibliography or references cited section.

Structure of a Research Paper Reports of research studies usually follow the IMRAD format. IMRAD (Introduction, Methods, Results, [and] Discussion) is a mnemonic for the major components of a scientific paper. These elements are included in the overall structure of a research paper.

Top Reasons for Non-Acceptance of Scientific Articles Avoid these mistakes when preparing an article for publication.

Annotated Bibliographies Guide on how to create an annotated bibliography.

Writing guides, Style Manuals and the Publication Process in the Biological and Health Sciences Style manuals, citation guides as well as information on public access policies, copyright and plagiarism.

Citation Guides and Style Manuals

• General Citation Guides
• Data Citation
• Citing Generative AI
• Student Papers
• Professional Papers
• Annotated Bibliographies
• Cite Articles
• Cite Websites
• Parts of a Citation

What is an annotated bibliography?

• An Annotated Bibliography is somewhat like a "research paper without the paper." It is a targeted list of relevant, high-quality, accurate sources on a topic, with a brief description (annotation) following each source. Annotations briefly describe the source and often evaluate it and add your reactions/reflections.
• An Annotated Bibliography looks   like  an APA References List plus   annotations (brief paragraph follows each reference describing/evaluating it   in your own words )   Source: Publication Manual, 9.51, p.  307. Each reference should give complete information so that readers can find the sources .
• Don't copy annotations from article, abstract, Amazon, etc. Use your own words and ideas. 
• Sample Annotated Bibliography in   Publication Manual Figure 9.3, p. 308. 
• Your Course instructor sets format for APA 7th bibliography, including type/number of references, length/structure of annotations.  Look at assignment rubric and ask instructor to post examples on Blackboard. 
• An Annotated Bibliography, unlike "regular" APA research papers, has no in-text citations.  Include an in-text citation only if you're mentioning another item on the list.

Steps in Preparing an Annotated Bibliography

• Find sources related to topic . Course instructor can help with topic selection.
• Critically read and evaluate sources, and choose best to include.
• Create  APA 7th citation for each source . Each source double-spaced and has a 0.5" hanging indent.
• Open a Word document and list sources alphabetically . Suggested title: Annotated Bibliography: Subject of Paper (bolded and centered)
• Type an annotation for each source . Each annotation is a double-spaced paragraph under the source, indented 0.5" to line up with the hanging indent of the source they follow.
• Proofread . Do you have enough sources of each type, and are APA citations correct? Did you put annotations in your own words, and not copy and paste?

Where do I find sources for my annotated bibliography?

• Types of Scholarly Sources
• Finding Scholarly Journal Articles
• Finding Scholarly Books
• Finding Reputable Websites

There are no set  APA rules about number of references or length of annotations. Follow your assignment rubric. Usually you will need scholarly resources, including:

(1) Scholarly/peer-reviewed journals

(2) Scholarly books

(3) Reputable websites

( 1) Peer-reviewed (scholarly) articles: find in One-Search, Databases, or Library Research Guides Databases tab . Read the entire article, not just the abstract (summary). Usually a hyperlink will open the full article in another window.

One-Search  (WKU Libraries' catalog and more) gets you started finding peer-reviewed articles. Here is a guide  to using One-Search.

Look for this symbol 

Under "Tweak your Results," click [peer reviewed] and [apply filters] to find just peer-reviewed:

Databases  are your second go-to for scholarly journal articles. WKU Libraries' YouTube channel has brief database videos . Most databases let you limit to peer-reviewed:

Library Research Guides

Library Research Guides  are a third place to find  scholarly articles. Select subject, then [Articles and Databases].  Example below is from Public Health, and lists good databases to search.

• Find books at  WKU Libraries  or other source. Here's how to search   our online catalog, called One-Search. Get the entire book -- an Amazon listing is not enough.

Example: book on Tigers from WKU Libraries. Location highlighted. [Citation] helps format citation (check against Publication Manual ):

Example Two: Ebook at WKU Libraries. Click and sign in with WKU NetID/password to view online:

Reputable websites , especially those of governments, universities, professional organizations, or nonprofit groups (.org, .gov., .edu) . You can use a Web browser such as Google. Evaluate carefully:

• Currency: Do links work? When was last update? Does website link to latest information?
• Coverage: Focused on my research topic? Good scope and depth? Accessible without payment or special software?
• Authority: Who wrote the content and what are their qualifications? Can I contact them?
• Accuracy: Is content truthful and without obvious bias?
• Purpose: Why was this content created? Is there an "About Us" tab? What is the domain? Are they selling/promoting something?

How to Find Websites:

(1) Use a Web browser such as Google.

(2)  Library Research Guides also help find websites. Look for the [ Websites ] tab:

(3) Your course textbook . often lists good subject websites.

Putting Citations in APA 7th Format

• Putting sources in APA 7th format
• Library Database Cite buttons
• Other Citation Help

Create an APA 7th citation for each source in your Annotated Bibliography and list them alphabetically.   

How do i put my sources in apa 7th format.

Publication Manual , Chapter 10, p. 315-352, is authoritative source for APA. Full guide is print-only.

APA Style   APA online source with reference examples.

WKU Libraries has APA 7th citation examples for articles , books and Internet sources .

Several other sources can help put citations in APA 7th format. Click on tabs above to see more resources.  Always double-check for accuracy. 

• One-Search, Library Databases, and Google Scholar have a [cite] button
• Internet help sites
• Citation formatters
• Reference manager such as Zotero or Endnote. Integrates with Word.

Example One: One-Search Cite button

Click [...] at upper right:

Then click the Cite " button:

Select [APA] and copy and paste your APA citation. Note that One-Search still uses 6th edition. Proofread carefully: capital letters, elements of citation correct, hanging indent, and DOI (if any):

Example Two: EBSCOhost cite button

Click title hyperlink to display full record:

Click [Cite] on right of full EBSCOhost record:

Then scroll to see APA citation:

Now use your critical thinking skills ... does this APA citation include the author, date, title, and source, formatted exactly like the examples from the Publication Manual and APA Style ?  Could your reader follow the URL or DOI (if any) to find this source?

Always check the APA template to make sure citation is correct . Our database has incorrectly added "libsrv.wku.edu" to the DOI. This is incorrect because someone not at WKU couldn't follow this link. Test by copying/pasting into a Web browser.

Here is corrected citation :

Tarnopolsky, A., Fletcher, N., Hollenberg, L., Lange, B., Smith, J., & Wolfe, J. (2005). Acoustics: The vocal tract and the sound of a didgeridoo.  Nature ,  436 (7047), 39. https://doi.org/10.1038/43639a

• Zotero Free reference manager. Collects and stores your research resources. Integrates with Word to insert properly-formatted citations into your paper. You can download references from library databases or insert them manually. There is a learning curve, but Zotero can save you time if you do a lot of scholarly writing.
• Endnote Basic Free reference manager, integrates with Web of Science. Somewhat greater learning curve than Zotero. The fee-based version, Endnote Desktop, is widely used in the sciences.
• Purdue Owl Introduction to APA Style Purdue Owl is a widely-used site with examples of citations/papers and formatting help.. Accepts advertising.
• Scribbr: APA 7th Edition: Most Notable Changes Based in Amsterdam, Scribbr is a helpful site compiled by an international team of youthful editors committed to "helping students graduate."
• EasyBib EasyBib is one of many free, standalone citation generators/citation formatters. If you use these, always double- check :)

Annotated Bibliographies -- Further Information/Examples

• Purdue Owl: Annotated Bibliiographies Includes example of APA annotated. Site has advertising.
• Simon Fraser University Library. How to Write an Annotated Bibliography
• English 300. Annotated Bibliography
• Social Work 620 Annotated Bibliography

Zotero Annotated Bibliography Style

If you'd like to use Zotero to create an annotated bibliography in APA or Chicago style, you can use a custom citation style designed specifically to output annotations.

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• Research Guides
• CECH Library

How to Write an Annotated Bibliography

Writing annotations.

• Introduction
• New RefWorks
• Formatting Citations
• Sample Annotated Bibliographies

An annotation is a brief note following each citation listed on an annotated bibliography.  The goal is to briefly summarize the source and/or explain why it is important for a topic.  They are typically a single concise paragraph, but might be longer if you are summarizing and evaluating.

Annotations can be written in a variety of different ways and it’s important to consider the style you are going to use.  Are you simply summarizing the sources, or evaluating them?  How does the source influence your understanding of the topic?  You can follow any style you want if you are writing for your own personal research process, but consult with your professor if this is an assignment for a class.

Annotation Styles

• Combined Informative/Evaluative Style - This style is recommended by the library as it combines all the styles to provide a more complete view of a source.  The annotation should explain the value of the source for the overall research topic by providing a summary combined with an analysis of the source.  

Aluedse, O. (2006). Bullying in schools: A form of child abuse in schools.  Educational Research Quarterly ,  30 (1), 37.

The author classifies bullying in schools as a “form of child abuse,” and goes well beyond the notion that schoolyard bullying is “just child’s play.” The article provides an in-depth definition of bullying, and explores the likelihood that school-aged bullies may also experience difficult lives as adults. The author discusses the modern prevalence of bullying in school systems, the effects of bullying, intervention strategies, and provides an extensive list of resources and references.

Statistics included provide an alarming realization that bullying is prevalent not only in the United States, but also worldwide. According to the author, “American schools harbor approximately 2.1 million bullies and 2.7 million victims.” The author references the National Association of School Psychologists and quotes, “Thus, one in seven children is a bully or a target of bullying.” A major point of emphasis centers around what has always been considered a “normal part of growing up” versus the levels of actual abuse reached in today’s society.

The author concludes with a section that addresses intervention strategies for school administrators, teachers, counselors, and school staff. The concept of school staff helping build students’ “social competence” is showcased as a prevalent means of preventing and reducing this growing social menace. Overall, the article is worthwhile for anyone interested in the subject matter, and provides a wealth of resources for researching this topic of growing concern.

(Renfrow & Teuton, 2008)

• Informative Style -  Similar to an abstract, this style focuses on the summarizing the source.  The annotation should identify the hypothesis, results, and conclusions presented by the source.

Plester, B., Wood, C, & Bell, V. (2008). Txt msg n school literacy: Does texting and knowledge of text abbreviations adversely affect children's literacy attainment? Literacy , 42(3), 137-144.

Reports on two studies that investigated the relationship between children's texting behavior, their knowledge of text abbreviations, and their school attainment in written language skills. In Study One, 11 to 12 year-old children reported their texting behavior and translated a standard English sentence into a text message and vice versa. In Study Two, children's performance on writing measures were examined more specifically, spelling proficiency was also assessed, and KS2 Writing scores were obtained. Positive correlations between spelling ability and performance on the translation exercise were found, and group-based comparisons based on the children's writing scores also showed that good writing attainment was associated with greater use of texting abbreviations (textisms), although the direction of this association is not clear. Overall, these findings suggest that children's knowledge of textisms is not associated with poor written language outcomes for children in this age range. 

(Beach et al., 2009)

• Evaluative Style - This style analyzes and critically evaluates the source.  The annotation should comment on the source's the strengths, weaknesses, and how it relates to the overall research topic.

Amott, T. (1993). Caught in the Crisis: Women in the U.S. Economy Today . New York: Monthly Review Press.

A very readable (140 pp) economic analysis and information book which I am currently considering as a required collateral assignment in Economics 201. Among its many strengths is a lucid connection of "The Crisis at Home" with the broader, macroeconomic crisis of the U.S. working class (which various other authors have described as the shrinking middle class or the crisis of de-industrialization).

(Papadantonakis, 1996)

• Indicative Style - This style of annotation identifies the main theme and lists the significant topics included in the source.  Usually no specific details are given beyond the topic list . 

Example: 

Gambell, T.J., & Hunter, D. M. (1999). Rethinking gender differences in literacy. Canadian Journal of Education , 24(1) 1-16.

Five explanations are offered for recently assessed gender differences in the literacy achievement of male and female students in Canada and other countries. The explanations revolve around evaluative bias, home socialization, role and societal expectations, male psychology, and equity policy.

(Kerka & Imel, 2004)

Beach, R., Bigelow, M., Dillon, D., Dockter, J., Galda, L., Helman, L., . . . Janssen, T. (2009). Annotated Bibliography of Research in the Teaching of English.  Research in the Teaching of English,   44 (2), 210-241. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/27784357

Kerka, S., & Imel, S. (2004). Annotated bibliography: Women and literacy.  Women's Studies Quarterly,  32 (1), 258-271. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/233645656?accountid=2909

Papadantonakis, K. (1996). Selected Annotated Bibliography for Economists and Other Social Scientists.  Women's Studies Quarterly,   24 (3/4), 233-238. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/40004384

Renfrow, T.G., & Teuton, L.M. (2008). Schoolyard bullying: Peer victimization an annotated bibliography. Community & Junior College Libraries, 14(4), 251-­275. doi:10.1080/02763910802336407

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• MJC Library & Learning Center
• Research Guides

Format Your Paper & Cite Your Sources

• Annotated Bibliographies
• Citing Sources
• MLA Style (8th/9th ed.)
• APA Style, 7th Edition

Chicago Style

• Harvard Style
• Other Styles

What is an Annotated Bibliography & Why Write One

Mla annotated bibliography example, apa annotated bibliography example, chicago style annotated bibliography example.

• How to Create an Attribution

What is an Annotated Bibliography

A bibliograph y is a list of sources (books, journals, Web sites, periodicals, etc.) you used for researching your topic. Bibliographies are called "Works Cited" (in MLA Style) and "References" (in APA Style)  Your bibliography will include the bibliographic information (i.e., the author, title, publisher, etc.) that your reader would need to identify and locate the original source you're citing.

An annotation is a summary and/or evaluation of a source.

Therefore, an annotated bibliography includes your citation followed by a summary and/or evaluation of each of your sources. Depending on your project or the assignment, your annotations may do one or more of the following.

• Summarize: Some annotations merely summarize the source. What are the main arguments? What is the point of this book or article? What topics are covered? If someone asked what this article/book is about, what would you say?
• Assess: After summarizing a source, it may be helpful to evaluate it. Is it a useful source? How does it compare with other sources in your bibliography? Is the information reliable? Is this source biased or objective? What is the goal of this source?
• Reflect: Once you've summarized and assessed a source, you need to ask how it fits into your research. Was this source helpful to you? How does it help you shape your argument? How can you use this source in your research project? Has it changed how you think about your topic?

Your annotated bibliography may include some of these, all of these, or even others.

Be sure to always follow the specific instructions your instructor gives you.

Why Write an Annotated Bibliography

Every good research paper is an argument. The purpose of research is to state and support a thesis. So, a very important part of research is developing a thesis that is debatable, interesting, and current. Writing an annotated bibliography can help you gain a good perspective on what is being said about your topic. By reading and responding to a variety of sources on a topic, you'll start to see what the issues are, what people are arguing about, and you'll then be able to develop your own point of view.

Writing an annotated bibliography is excellent preparation for a research project. Just collecting sources for a bibliography is useful, but when you have to write annotations for each source, you're forced to read each source more carefully. You begin to read more critically instead of just collecting information.

MLA tells us that, you should cite a source in an annotated bibliography just as you would in a list of works cited and then append an annotation to the end of the entry. Annotations describe and/or evaluate sources. Further, annotations should not rehash minor details, cite evidence, quote the author, or recount steps in an argument. Writing an effective annotation requires reading the work, understanding its aims, and clearly summarizing them.

To learn more about annotated bibliographies click on the link below from Purdue OWL

Sample annotated bibliography using mla.

• MLA 9 Annotated Bibliography Sample

Annotated Bibliography Template

You may also want to use the template below. Just type over the words in the template with your own information, citations, and annotations.

• MLA, 9th ed. Annotated Bibliography Template

Formatting Rules

• Order your references in alphabetical order as you would in your References.
• Each annotation should be a new paragraph below its reference entry. Indent the entire annotation 0.5 in. from the left margin.
• Do not indent the first line of the annotation.
• If the annotation spans multiple paragraphs, indent the first line of the second and any subsequent paragraphs an additional 0.5 in.

Because your teachers generally set all the other requirements for your annotated bibliography, ask your teacher for specific instructions. For example, ask if your annotated bibliography should include a title page.  

Sample Annotated Bibliography Using APA Style

• Sample APA Annotated Bibliography
• Order your references in alphabetical order as you would in your Bibliography.

Because your teachers generally set all the other requirements for your annotated bibliography, ask your teacher for specific instructions. For example, ask if your annotated bibliography should include a title page.

Sample Annotated Bibliography Using Chicago Style

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Except where otherwise noted, this work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommerical International 4.0 License .

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Annotated Bibliography Samples

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This handout provides information about annotated bibliographies in MLA, APA, and CMS.

Below you will find sample annotations from annotated bibliographies, each with a different research project. Remember that the annotations you include in your own bibliography should reflect your research project and/or the guidelines of your assignment.

As mentioned elsewhere in this resource, depending on the purpose of your bibliography, some annotations may summarize, some may assess or evaluate a source, and some may reflect on the source’s possible uses for the project at hand. Some annotations may address all three of these steps. Consider the purpose of your annotated bibliography and/or your instructor’s directions when deciding how much information to include in your annotations.

Please keep in mind that all your text, including the write-up beneath the citation, must be indented so that the author's last name is the only text that is flush left.

Sample MLA Annotation

Lamott, Anne. Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life . Anchor Books, 1995.

Lamott's book offers honest advice on the nature of a writing life, complete with its insecurities and failures. Taking a humorous approach to the realities of being a writer, the chapters in Lamott's book are wry and anecdotal and offer advice on everything from plot development to jealousy, from perfectionism to struggling with one's own internal critic.

In the process, Lamott includes writing exercises designed to be both productive and fun. Lamott offers sane advice for those struggling with the anxieties of writing, but her main project seems to be offering the reader a reality check regarding writing, publishing, and struggling with one's own imperfect humanity in the process. Rather than a practical handbook to producing and/or publishing, this text is indispensable because of its honest perspective, its down-to-earth humor, and its encouraging approach.

Chapters in this text could easily be included in the curriculum for a writing class. Several of the chapters in Part 1 address the writing process and would serve to generate discussion on students' own drafting and revising processes. Some of the writing exercises would also be appropriate for generating classroom writing exercises. Students should find Lamott's style both engaging and enjoyable.

In the sample annotation above, the writer includes three paragraphs: a summary, an evaluation of the text, and a reflection on its applicability to his/her own research, respectively.

For information on formatting MLA citations, see our MLA 9th Edition (2021) Formatting and Style Guide .

Sample APA Annotation

Ehrenreich, B. (2001). Nickel and dimed: On (not) getting by in America . Henry Holt and Company.

In this book of nonfiction based on the journalist's experiential research, Ehrenreich attempts to ascertain whether it is currently possible for an individual to live on a minimum-wage in America. Taking jobs as a waitress, a maid in a cleaning service, and a Walmart sales employee, the author summarizes and reflects on her work, her relationships with fellow workers, and her financial struggles in each situation.

An experienced journalist, Ehrenreich is aware of the limitations of her experiment and the ethical implications of her experiential research tactics and reflects on these issues in the text. The author is forthcoming about her methods and supplements her experiences with scholarly research on her places of employment, the economy, and the rising cost of living in America. Ehrenreich’s project is timely, descriptive, and well-researched.

The annotation above both summarizes and assesses the book in the citation. The first paragraph provides a brief summary of the author's project in the book, covering the main points of the work. The second paragraph points out the project’s strengths and evaluates its methods and presentation. This particular annotation does not reflect on the source’s potential importance or usefulness for this person’s own research.

For information on formatting APA citations, see our APA Formatting and Style Guide .

Sample Chicago Manual of Style Annotation

Davidson, Hilda Ellis. Roles of the Northern Goddess . London: Routledge, 1998.

Davidson's book provides a thorough examination of the major roles filled by the numerous pagan goddesses of Northern Europe in everyday life, including their roles in hunting, agriculture, domestic arts like weaving, the household, and death. The author discusses relevant archaeological evidence, patterns of symbol and ritual, and previous research. The book includes a number of black and white photographs of relevant artifacts.

This annotation includes only one paragraph, a summary of the book. It provides a concise description of the project and the book's project and its major features.

For information on formatting Chicago Style citations, see our Chicago Manual of Style resources.

• 14.1 Compiling Sources for an Annotated Bibliography
• 1 Unit Introduction
• Introduction
• 1.1 "Reading" to Understand and Respond
• 1.2 Social Media Trailblazer: Selena Gomez
• 1.3 Glance at Critical Response: Rhetoric and Critical Thinking
• 1.4 Annotated Student Sample: Social Media Post and Responses on Voter Suppression
• 1.5 Writing Process: Thinking Critically About a “Text”
• 1.6 Evaluation: Intention vs. Execution
• 1.7 Spotlight on … Academia
• 1.8 Portfolio: Tracing Writing Development
• Further Reading
• Works Cited
• 2.1 Seeds of Self
• 2.2 Identity Trailblazer: Cathy Park Hong
• 2.3 Glance at the Issues: Oppression and Reclamation
• 2.4 Annotated Sample Reading from The Souls of Black Folk by W. E. B. Du Bois
• 2.5 Writing Process: Thinking Critically about How Identity Is Constructed Through Writing
• 2.6 Evaluation: Antiracism and Inclusivity
• 2.7 Spotlight on … Variations of English
• 2.8 Portfolio: Decolonizing Self
• 3.1 Identity and Expression
• 3.2 Literacy Narrative Trailblazer: Tara Westover
• 3.3 Glance at Genre: The Literacy Narrative
• 3.4 Annotated Sample Reading: from Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass by Frederick Douglass
• 3.5 Writing Process: Tracing the Beginnings of Literacy
• 3.6 Editing Focus: Sentence Structure
• 3.7 Evaluation: Self-Evaluating
• 3.8 Spotlight on … The Digital Archive of Literacy Narratives (DALN)
• 3.9 Portfolio: A Literacy Artifact
• Works Consulted
• 2 Unit Introduction
• 4.1 Exploring the Past to Understand the Present
• 4.2 Memoir Trailblazer: Ta-Nehisi Coates
• 4.3 Glance at Genre: Conflict, Detail, and Revelation
• 4.4 Annotated Sample Reading: from Life on the Mississippi by Mark Twain
• 4.5 Writing Process: Making the Personal Public
• 4.6 Editing Focus: More on Characterization and Point of View
• 4.7 Evaluation: Structure and Organization
• 4.8 Spotlight on … Multilingual Writers
• 4.9 Portfolio: Filtered Memories
• 5.1 Profiles as Inspiration
• 5.2 Profile Trailblazer: Veronica Chambers
• 5.3 Glance at Genre: Subject, Angle, Background, and Description
• 5.4 Annotated Sample Reading: “Remembering John Lewis” by Carla D. Hayden
• 5.5 Writing Process: Focusing on the Angle of Your Subject
• 5.6 Editing Focus: Verb Tense Consistency
• 5.7 Evaluation: Text as Personal Introduction
• 5.8 Spotlight on … Profiling a Cultural Artifact
• 5.9 Portfolio: Subject as a Reflection of Self
• 6.1 Proposing Change: Thinking Critically About Problems and Solutions
• 6.2 Proposal Trailblazer: Atul Gawande
• 6.3 Glance at Genre: Features of Proposals
• 6.4 Annotated Student Sample: “Slowing Climate Change” by Shawn Krukowski
• 6.5 Writing Process: Creating a Proposal
• 6.6 Editing Focus: Subject-Verb Agreement
• 6.7 Evaluation: Conventions, Clarity, and Coherence
• 6.8 Spotlight on … Technical Writing as a Career
• 6.9 Portfolio: Reflecting on Problems and Solutions
• 7.1 Thumbs Up or Down?
• 7.2 Review Trailblazer: Michiko Kakutani
• 7.3 Glance at Genre: Criteria, Evidence, Evaluation
• 7.4 Annotated Student Sample: "Black Representation in Film" by Caelia Marshall
• 7.5 Writing Process: Thinking Critically About Entertainment
• 7.6 Editing Focus: Quotations
• 7.7 Evaluation: Effect on Audience
• 7.8 Spotlight on … Language and Culture
• 7.9 Portfolio: What the Arts Say About You
• 8.1 Information and Critical Thinking
• 8.2 Analytical Report Trailblazer: Barbara Ehrenreich
• 8.3 Glance at Genre: Informal and Formal Analytical Reports
• 8.4 Annotated Student Sample: "U.S. Response to COVID-19" by Trevor Garcia
• 8.5 Writing Process: Creating an Analytical Report
• 8.6 Editing Focus: Commas with Nonessential and Essential Information
• 8.7 Evaluation: Reviewing the Final Draft
• 8.8 Spotlight on … Discipline-Specific and Technical Language
• 8.9 Portfolio: Evidence and Objectivity
• 9.1 Breaking the Whole into Its Parts
• 9.2 Rhetorical Analysis Trailblazer: Jamil Smith
• 9.3 Glance at Genre: Rhetorical Strategies
• 9.4 Annotated Student Sample: “Rhetorical Analysis: Evicted by Matthew Desmond” by Eliana Evans
• 9.5 Writing Process: Thinking Critically about Rhetoric
• 9.6 Editing Focus: Mixed Sentence Constructions
• 9.7 Evaluation: Rhetorical Analysis
• 9.8 Spotlight on … Business and Law
• 9.9 Portfolio: How Thinking Critically about Rhetoric Affects Intellectual Growth
• 10.1 Making a Case: Defining a Position Argument
• 10.2 Position Argument Trailblazer: Charles Blow
• 10.3 Glance at Genre: Thesis, Reasoning, and Evidence
• 10.4 Annotated Sample Reading: "Remarks at the University of Michigan" by Lyndon B. Johnson
• 10.5 Writing Process: Creating a Position Argument
• 10.6 Editing Focus: Paragraphs and Transitions
• 10.7 Evaluation: Varied Appeals
• 10.8 Spotlight on … Citation
• 10.9 Portfolio: Growth in the Development of Argument
• 11.1 Developing Your Sense of Logic
• 11.2 Reasoning Trailblazer: Paul D. N. Hebert
• 11.3 Glance at Genre: Reasoning Strategies and Signal Words
• 11.4 Annotated Sample Reading: from Book VII of The Republic by Plato
• 11.5 Writing Process: Reasoning Supported by Evidence
• 12.1 Introducing Research and Research Evidence
• 12.2 Argumentative Research Trailblazer: Samin Nosrat
• 12.3 Glance at Genre: Introducing Research as Evidence
• 12.4 Annotated Student Sample: "Healthy Diets from Sustainable Sources Can Save the Earth" by Lily Tran
• 12.5 Writing Process: Integrating Research
• 12.6 Editing Focus: Integrating Sources and Quotations
• 12.7 Evaluation: Effectiveness of Research Paper
• 12.8 Spotlight on … Bias in Language and Research
• 12.9 Portfolio: Why Facts Matter in Research Argumentation
• 13.1 The Research Process: Where to Look for Existing Sources
• 13.2 The Research Process: How to Create Sources
• 13.3 Glance at the Research Process: Key Skills
• 13.4 Annotated Student Sample: Research Log
• 13.5 Research Process: Making Notes, Synthesizing Information, and Keeping a Research Log
• 13.6 Spotlight on … Ethical Research
• 14.2 Glance at Form: Citation Style, Purpose, and Formatting
• 14.3 Annotated Student Sample: “Healthy Diets from Sustainable Sources Can Save the Earth” by Lily Tran
• 14.4 Writing Process: Informing and Analyzing
• 15.1 Tracing a Broad Issue in the Individual
• 15.2 Case Study Trailblazer: Vilayanur S. Ramachandran
• 15.3 Glance at Genre: Observation, Description, and Analysis
• 15.4 Annotated Sample Reading: Case Study on Louis Victor "Tan" Leborgne
• 15.5 Writing Process: Thinking Critically About How People and Language Interact
• 15.6 Editing Focus: Words Often Confused
• 15.7 Evaluation: Presentation and Analysis of Case Study
• 15.8 Spotlight on … Applied Linguistics
• 15.9 Portfolio: Your Own Uses of Language
• 3 Unit Introduction
• 16.1 An Author’s Choices: What Text Says and How It Says It
• 16.2 Textual Analysis Trailblazer: bell hooks
• 16.3 Glance at Genre: Print or Textual Analysis
• 16.4 Annotated Student Sample: "Artists at Work" by Gwyn Garrison
• 16.5 Writing Process: Thinking Critically About Text
• 16.6 Editing Focus: Literary Works Live in the Present
• 16.7 Evaluation: Self-Directed Assessment
• 16.8 Spotlight on … Humanities
• 16.9 Portfolio: The Academic and the Personal
• 17.1 “Reading” Images
• 17.2 Image Trailblazer: Sara Ludy
• 17.3 Glance at Genre: Relationship Between Image and Rhetoric
• 17.4 Annotated Student Sample: “Hints of the Homoerotic” by Leo Davis
• 17.5 Writing Process: Thinking Critically and Writing Persuasively About Images
• 17.6 Editing Focus: Descriptive Diction
• 17.7 Evaluation: Relationship Between Analysis and Image
• 17.8 Spotlight on … Video and Film
• 17.9 Portfolio: Interplay Between Text and Image
• 18.1 Mixing Genres and Modes
• 18.2 Multimodal Trailblazer: Torika Bolatagici
• 18.3 Glance at Genre: Genre, Audience, Purpose, Organization
• 18.4 Annotated Sample Reading: “Celebrating a Win-Win” by Alexandra Dapolito Dunn
• 18.5 Writing Process: Create a Multimodal Advocacy Project
• 18.6 Evaluation: Transitions
• 18.7 Spotlight on . . . Technology
• 18.8 Portfolio: Multimodalism
• 19.1 Writing, Speaking, and Activism
• 19.2 Podcast Trailblazer: Alice Wong
• 19.3 Glance at Genre: Language Performance and Visuals
• 19.4 Annotated Student Sample: “Are New DOT Regulations Discriminatory?” by Zain A. Kumar
• 19.5 Writing Process: Writing to Speak
• 19.6 Evaluation: Bridging Writing and Speaking
• 19.7 Spotlight on … Delivery/Public Speaking
• 19.8 Portfolio: Everyday Rhetoric, Rhetoric Every Day
• 20.1 Thinking Critically about Your Semester
• 20.2 Reflection Trailblazer: Sandra Cisneros
• 20.3 Glance at Genre: Purpose and Structure
• 20.4 Annotated Sample Reading: “Don’t Expect Congrats” by Dale Trumbore
• 20.5 Writing Process: Looking Back, Looking Forward
• 20.6 Editing Focus: Pronouns
• 20.7 Evaluation: Evaluating Self-Reflection
• 20.8 Spotlight on … Pronouns in Context

Learning Outcomes

By the end of this section, you will be able to:

• Integrate your ideas with ideas from related sources.
• Locate, compile, and evaluate primary, secondary, and tertiary research materials related to your topic.

A bibliography is a list of the sources you use when doing research for a project or composition. Named for the Greek terms biblion , meaning “book,” and graphos , meaning “something written,” bibliographies today compile more than just books. Often they include academic journal articles, periodicals, websites, and multimedia texts such as videos. A bibliography alone, at the end of a research work, also may be labeled “References” or “Works Cited,” depending on the citation style you are using. The bibliography lists information about each source, including author, title, publisher, and publication date. Each set of source information, or each individual entry, listed in the bibliography or noted within the body of the composition is called a citation .

Bibliographies include formal documentation entries that serve several purposes:

• They help you organize your own research on a topic and narrow your topic, thesis, or argument.
• They help you build knowledge.
• They strengthen your arguments by offering proof that your research comes from trustworthy sources.
• They enable readers to do more research on the topic.
• They create a community of researchers, thus adding to the ongoing conversation on the research topic.
• They give credit to authors and sources from which you draw and support your ideas.

Annotated bibliography expand on typical bibliographies by including information beyond the basic citation information and commentary on the source. Although they present each formal documentation entry as it would appear in a source list such as a works cited page, an annotated bibliography includes two types of additional information. First, following the documentation entry is a short description of the work, including information about its authors and how it was or can be used in a research project. Second is an evaluation of the work’s validity, reliability, and/or bias. The purpose of the annotation is to summarize, assess, and reflect on the source. Annotations can be both explanatory and analytical, helping readers understand the research you used to formulate your argument. An annotated bibliography can also help you demonstrate that you have read the sources you will potentially cite in your work. It is a tool to assist in the gathering of these sources and serves as a repository. You won’t necessarily use all the sources cited in your annotated bibliography in your final work, but gathering, evaluating, and documenting these sources is an integral part of the research process.

Compiling Sources

Research projects and compositions, particularly argumentative or position texts, require you to collect sources, devise a thesis, and then support that thesis through analysis of the evidence, including sources, you have compiled. With access to the Internet and an academic library, you will rarely encounter a shortage of sources for any given topic or argument. The real challenge may be sorting through all the available sources and determining which will be useful.

The first step in completing an annotated bibliography is to locate and compile sources to use in your research project. At the beginning, you do not need to be highly selective in this process, as you may not ultimately use every source. Therefore, gather any materials—including books, websites, professional journals, periodicals, and documents—that you think may contain valuable ideas about your topic. But where do you find sources that relate to your argument? And how do you choose which sources to use? This section will help you answer those questions and choose sources that will both enhance and challenge your claim, allowing you to confront contradictory evidence and synthesize ideas, or combine ideas from various sources, to produce a well-constructed original argument. See Research Process: Accessing and Recording Information for more information about sources and synthesizing information.

Primary, Secondary, and Tertiary Sources

In your research, you likely will use three types of sources: primary, secondary, and tertiary. During any research project, your use of these sources will depend on your topic, your thesis, and, ultimately, how you intend to use them. In all likelihood, you will need to seek out all three.

Primary Sources

Primary sources allow you to create your own analysis with the appropriate rhetorical approach. In the humanities disciplines, primary sources include original documents, data, images, and other compositions that provide a firsthand account of an event or a time in history. Typically, primary sources are created close in time to the event or period they represent and may include journal or diary entries, newspaper articles, government records, photographs, artworks, maps, speeches, films, and interviews. In scientific disciplines, primary sources provide information such as scientific discoveries, raw data, experimental and research results, and clinical trial findings. They may include published studies, scientific journal articles, and proceedings of meeting or conferences.

Primary sources also can include student-conducted interviews and surveys. Other primary sources may be found on websites such as the Library of Congress , the Historical Text Archive , government websites, and article databases. In all academic areas, primary sources are fact based, not interpretive. That is, they may be commenting on or interpreting something else, but they themselves are the source. For example, an article written during the 1840s condemning the practice of enslavement may interpret events occurring then, but it is a primary source document of its time.

Secondary Sources

Secondary sources , unlike primary sources, are interpretive. They often provide a secondhand account of an event or research results, analyze or clarify primary sources and scientific discoveries, or interpret a creative work. These sources are important for supporting or challenging your argument, addressing counterarguments, and synthesizing ideas. Secondary sources in the humanities disciplines include biographies, literary criticism, and reviews of the fine arts, among other sources. In the scientific disciplines, secondary sources encompass analyses of scientific studies or clinical trials, reviews of experimental results, and publications about the significance of studies or experiments. In some instances, the same item can serve as both a primary and a secondary source, depending on how it is used. For example, a journal article in which the author analyzes the impact of a clinical trial would serve as a secondary source. But if you instead count the number of journal articles that feature reports on a particular clinical trial, you might use them as primary sources because they would then serve as data points.

Table 14.1 provides examples of how primary and secondary sources often relate to one another.

Tertiary Sources

In addition to primary and secondary sources, you can use a tertiary source to summarize or digest information from primary and/or secondary sources. Because tertiary sources often condense information, they usually do not provide enough information on their own to support claims. However, they often contain a variety of citations that can help you identify and locate valuable primary and secondary sources. Researchers often use tertiary sources to find general, historical, or background information as well as a broad overview of a topic. Tertiary sources frequently placed in the secondary-source category include reference materials such as encyclopedias, textbooks, manuals, digests, and bibliographies. For more discussion on sources, see The Research Process: Where to Look for Existing Sources .

Authoritative Sources

Not all sources are created equally. You likely know already that you must vet sources—especially those you find on the Internet—for legitimacy, validity, and the presence of bias. For example, you probably know that the website Wikipedia is not considered a trustworthy source because it is open to user editing. This accessibility means the site’s authority cannot be established and, therefore, the source cannot effectively support or refute a claim you are attempting to make, though you can use it at times to point you to reliable sources. While so-called bad sources may be easy to spot, researchers may have more difficulty discriminating between sources that are authoritative and those that pose concerns. In fact, you may encounter a general hierarchy of sources in your compilation. Understanding this hierarchy can help you identify which sources to use and how to use them in your research.

Peer-Reviewed Academic Publications

This first tier of sources—the gold standard of research—includes academic literature, which consists of textbooks, essays, journals, articles, reports, and scholarly books. As scholarly works, these sources usually provide strong evidence for an author’s claims by reflecting rigorous research and scrutiny by experts in the field. These types of sources are most often published, sponsored, or supported by academic institutions, often a university or an academic association such as the Modern Language Association (MLA) . Such associations exist to encourage research and collaboration within their discipline, mostly through publications and conferences. To be published, academic works must pass through a rigorous process called peer review , in which scholars in the field evaluate it anonymously. You can find peer-reviewed academic sources in library catalogs, in article databases, and through Google Scholar online. Sometimes these sources require a subscription to access, but students often receive access through their school.

Academic articles, particularly in the social and other sciences, generally have most or all of the following sections, a structure you might recognize if you have written lab reports in science classes:

• Abstract . This short summary covers the purpose, methods, and findings of the paper. It may discuss briefly the implications or significance of the research.
• Introduction . The main part of the paper begins with an introduction that presents the issue or main idea addressed by the research, establishes its importance, and poses the author’s thesis.
• Review . Next comes an overview of previous academic research related to the topic, including a synthesis that makes a case for why the research is important and necessary.
• Data and Methods . The main part of the original research begins with a description of the data and methods used, including what data or information the author collected and how the author used it.
• Results . Data and methods are followed by results, detailing the significant findings from the experiment or research.
• Conclusion . In the conclusion, the author discusses the results in the context of the bigger picture, explaining the author’s position on how these results relate to the earlier review of literature and their significance in the broad scope of the topic. The author also may propose future research needs or point out unanswered questions.
• Works Cited or References . The paper ends with a list of all sources the author used in the research, including the review of literature. This often-overlooked portion of the composition is critical in evaluating the credibility of any paper that involves research.

Credible Nonacademic Sources

These sources, including articles, books, and reports, are second in authority only to peer-reviewed academic publications. Credible nonacademic sources are often about current events or discoveries not yet reviewed in academic circles and often provide a wider-ranging outlook on your topic. Peer-reviewed texts tend to be narrow and specific, whereas nonacademic texts from well-researched sources are often more accessible and can offer a broader perspective. These three major categories generally provide quality sources:

• Information, white papers, and reports from government and international agencies such as the United Nations , the World Health Organization , and the United States government
• Longer articles and reports from major newspapers, broadcast media, and magazines that are well regarded in academic circles, including the New York Times , the Wall Street Journal , the BBC, and the Economist
• Nonacademic books written by authors with expertise and credentials, who support their ideas with well-sourced information

To find nonacademic sources, search for .gov or .org sites related to your topic. A word of caution, however: know that sources ending in .org are often advocacy sites and, consequently, inherently biased toward whatever cause they are advocating. You also can look at academic article databases and search articles from major newspapers and magazines, both of which can be found online.

Short Informational Texts from Credible Websites and Periodicals

The next most authoritative sources are shorter newspaper articles or other pieces on credible websites. These articles tend to be limited in scope, as their authors report on a single issue or event. Although they do not often provide in-depth analysis, they can be a source of credible facts to support your argument. Alternatively, they can point you in the direction of more detailed or rigorous sources that will enhance your research by tracing the original texts or sources on which the articles are based. Usually, you can find these sources through Internet searches, but sometimes you may have difficulty determining their credibility.

Judging Credibility

To judge credibility, begin by looking for the author or organization publishing the information. Most periodical compositions contain a short “About the Author” blurb at the beginning or end of the article and often include a link to the author’s credentials or to more information about them. Using this information, you can begin to determine their expertise and, potentially, any agenda the author or organization may have. For example, expect a piece discussing side effects of medical marijuana written by a doctor to present more expertise than the same piece written by a political lobbyist. You also can determine whether bias is present; for example, the organization may promote a particular way of thinking or have an agenda that will influence the content and language of the composition. In general, look for articles written with neutral expertise.

The CRAAP Test

You may find the CRAAP test a helpful and easy-to-remember tool for testing credibility. This checklist provides you with a method for evaluating any source for both reliability and credibility. CRAAP stands for Currency, Relevance, Authority, Accuracy, and Purpose. The CRAAP test, as shown in Table 14.2 , includes questions that can be asked of any source.

Sources with Clear Bias or Unclear Authority

The final type of source encompasses nearly everything else. Although they cannot be considered credible or valid to support your argument or claims, these sources are not necessarily useless. Especially when you are compiling sources at the beginning of a project, those with clear bias or unclear authority can be useful as you explore all facets of a topic, including positions within an argument. These sources also can help you identify topics on which to base your search terms and can even point you toward more credible sources.

Locating Sources

Academic article databases are the best starting places for finding sources. There are too many databases to cover them all in this chapter, but you would be wise to familiarize yourself with those to which you have access through your school or program. For further information on databases, see The Research Process: Where to Look for Existing Sources . In the long run, this knowledge will save you a good deal of time and a possible headache.

You will want to start with your college library website, which includes access to sources paid for by your institution. As a student, you should be able to access these quickly and easily. Another popular and wide-ranging database is Google Scholar . Google Scholar is helpful for finding sources across a wide range of topics. One drawback, however, is that it catalogues nearly all disciplines, so the results can be vast and unfocused. Therefore, when using Google Scholar, be as specific as possible, and add your academic discipline as a keyword. For example, when searching for information on climate change, add the keyword “environment” or “politics” depending on your research angle; otherwise, the results will include all disciplines and potentially bury the articles you seek. Google Scholar also has a feature labeled “Cited by,” which shows you other papers that cite the article in their review of literature relate to the topic. Writing Process: Informing and Analyzing contains more information about focusing your searches. Like clues to a mystery, one search can lead you to a wealth of related articles.

When you are able to identify potential sources by reading their abstracts or using Google Scholar, you may at times land on a publisher’s website that requires you to pay to read the full article. When you find yourself in a situation such as this, record information about the article—author(s), article title, journal title, publication date. It is likely that you will be able to use your school’s database to access the article. For information about other databases, consult The Research Process: Where to Look for Existing Sources .

Just as writing is recursive , requiring you to go back and forth between different stages of the process, you will likely return to your annotated bibliography at different points. You may begin by looking for sources related to your topic, or you may choose or narrow your topic after an initial database search for sources. If your project has a variety of possible topics, you may even start with a current issue of a leading journal in the field, find an article that interests you, and use that article to shape your topic selection. As a bonus, you will have your first reputable source. Later, as you refine your thesis, reasoning, and evidence, you may find yourself returning to your search for sources. Consider this hypothetical situation: You are developing an argument that examines the risk factors of childhood trauma that surface in later life. As you analyze the data from your sources, it occurs to you to find out whether any documented correlation exists between early trauma and resilience. So you return to Google Scholar and your university’s academic database to find more research based on this idea in order to revise your analysis by adding the new viewpoint.

One difficulty may be homing in on the keywords that will lead you to the sources you need. At this point, sources from the last two categories discussed may come into play: short pieces from credible websites and newspapers and other texts with clear bias or unclear authority. Less credible sources may lead you to better ones, particularly if you can identify the keywords used in them and then apply those keywords within academic databases. For more on developing useful keywords, consult The Research Process: Where to Look for Existing Sources .

Boolean Operators

Keyword searches can become frustrating, either yielding so much information that it seems impossible to sort through or narrowing the search so much that you miss important potential sources. One way to remedy this situation is to become familiar with Boolean operators , the basis of mathematical sets and database logic. Rather than searching with natural language only, you can use these operators to focus your search. The three basic Boolean operators are AND , OR , and NOT . Using these operators helps you search by linking necessary information, excluding irrelevant information, and focusing information. For example, if you have some pieces of information from tertiary sources, you may be able to use Boolean operators to find additional useful sources. A search string such as artificial intelligence (title) AND Buiten (author) AND 2019 (year) can yield the exact journal source you need. Here is a brief review of how to use the three operators:

• Use AND to narrow search results and tell the database to include all search terms in finding sources. If you want to find sources that include all of the search terms entered, use the AND operator. In Figure 14.11 , the darkest blue triangular section in the center of the Venn diagram represents the result set for this search, including all three terms. In many databases, including Google, AND is implied between each word. To exclude AND, use quotation marks. For example, Google would translate the search term ethics artificial intelligence as ethics AND artificial AND intelligence . To make your phrases more specific, use the AND operator combined with quotation marks: “ethics” AND “artificial intelligence” .

• Use OR to connect two or more similar concepts and broaden your results, telling the search engine that any of your search terms can appear in the results it gives you. The Boolean operator OR is represented by Figure 14.12 . Using the OR operator gives you a very large set of results.

• Use NOT to exclude results from a search. This operator can help you narrow your search, telling the search engine to ignore names or words you do not want included in your results. For example, if you know you don’t want self-driving cars in your search results, you might search for “artificial intelligence” NOT “self-driving cars” .

Choosing Sources

Choosing sources to include in your annotated bibliography may seem overwhelming. However, if you can find a few good academic articles as a starting point, use them to guide your research. Academic articles are efficient, scrutinized by experts in their fields, and organized in ways that aid readers in identifying key findings that relate to their argument. The following tips will help you choose solid sources to guide your research:

• Look for relevant scholarly articles. Even the briefest Google search can yield an overwhelming amount of content. Sift through it by looking first through academic databases to find high-quality sources relevant to your research.
• Read abstracts. As you sift through scholarly articles, you can get a good idea of what each one is about by reading the abstract. It includes the findings and will show you in about 100 words whether the paper holds relevance to your research.
• Skim. Once you have determined that an article may be useful, skim each section to glean the information you need. Closer and more extensive reading can come later as you develop and support your argument.
• Avoid getting bogged down in technical information or industry-specific jargon. The benefit of reading peer-reviewed research is that you know the reviewers have determined it to be solidly constructed. Therefore, even if you don’t understand some portions completely, you can still feel confident about using relevant information from the article.
• Work smarter by using the research provided. Once you have identified an article that is helpful to your research, use it to find more like it. Search for other publications by the authors; researchers often spend much of their careers researching one overarching topic or theme. Use the review of literature to identify related articles that may add to your research. You can also use the article’s bibliography to find additional sources. Or reverse engineer the process: use article databases to find other articles that cite the article in their literature reviews.

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Writing an Annotated Bibliography for a Paper

Providing an Overview of Research Published on a Given Topic

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An annotated bibliography  is an expanded version of a regular  bibliography —those lists of sources you find at the end of a research paper or book. The difference is that an annotated bibliography contains an added feature: a paragraph or annotation under each bibliographical entry.

The purpose of the annotated bibliography is to provide the reader with a complete overview of the articles and books that have been written about a certain subject. Learning some background about annotated bibliographies—as well as a few key steps to writing one—will help you to quickly create an effective annotated bibliography for your assignment or research paper.

Annotated Bibliography Features

The annotated bibliography gives your readers a glimpse of the work a professional researcher would do. Every published article provides statements about prior research on the topic at hand.

A teacher may require that you write an annotated bibliography as the first step of a big research assignment. You would most likely write an annotated bibliography first and then follow with a research paper using the sources you've found.

But you may find that your annotated bibliography is an assignment on its own: It can also stand alone as a research project, and some annotated bibliographies are published. A stand-alone annotated bibliography (one that is not followed by a research paper assignment) would most likely be longer than a first-step version.

How It Should Look

Write the annotated bibliography just like a normal bibliography, but add between one and five concise sentences under each bibliographical entry. Your sentences should summarize the source content and explain how or why the source is important. Things you might mention include whether the:

• Thesis  of the source is one you support or don't support
• Author has a unique experience or point of view related to your topic
• Source provides a sound basis for a paper you intend to write, leaves some questions unanswered, or has a political bias

How to Write an Annotated Bibliography

Find a few good sources for your research, and then expand by consulting the bibliographies of those sources. They will lead you to additional sources. The number of sources will depend on the depth of your research.

Determine how deeply you need to read each of these sources. Sometime you'll be expected to read each source carefully before putting it into your annotated bibliography; in other cases, skimming the source will be sufficient.

When you are doing an initial investigation of all of the sources available, your teacher may not expect you to read each source thoroughly. Instead, you likely will be expected to read parts of the sources to learn the essence of the content. Before beginning, check with your teacher to determine whether you have to read every word of every source that you plan to include.

Alphabetize your entries, just as you would in a normal bibliography.

• Abstract Writing for Sociology
• Bibliography: Definition and Examples
• How to Develop a Research Paper Timeline
• Finding Trustworthy Sources
• What Is a Bibliography?
• How to Write a Research Paper That Earns an A
• What Is a Research Paper?
• How to Write a Solid Thesis Statement
• What Is an Annotated Bibliography?
• Writing a Paper about an Environmental Issue
• Research Note Cards
• How to Write a Bibliography For a Science Fair Project
• How to Find Trustworthy Sources
• How to Write an Abstract for a Scientific Paper
• Finding Sources for Death Penalty Research
• How to Write a News Article That's Effective

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MLA Citation Guide (MLA 9th Edition): Writing an Annotated Bibliography

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Annotations

What is an annotation.

An annotation is a short (100-300 words) summary or critical evaluation of a source. Annotations can help you learn about your topic, develop a thesis statement, decide if a source will be useful for your assignment, and determine if there is enough valid information available to complete your project.

What is an annotated bibliography?

An annotated bibliography is a list of citations for various books, articles, and other sources. The annotated bibliography looks like a Works Cited page but it also includes an annotation after each source cited. Annotated bibliographies are a great research tool. 

What Goes Into an Annotation?

Most annotations both summarize and evaluate. Be sure to check with your professors to know what they want in annotations. 

A summary describes the source by answering who wrote the document and their overall argument. You don't need to include every part of the argument; just the parts that are most relevant to your topic.

An evaluation  critically assesses the work for accuracy, relevance, and quality. Check for any biases, holes, or particular strengths. Try out this Quick-How-To about  Evaluating Sources  for detailed guidance on assessing a source.

Tip:  Annotations are original descriptions that you create after reading the document. You may find a short summary, often titled "abstract," at the beginning of journal articles. Do not copy the abstract as that would be plagiarism.

Writing an Annotation

Cite the source using MLA style.

Describe the main ideas, arguments, themes, theses, or methodology, and identify the intended audience.

Explain the author’s expertise, point of view, and any bias he/she may have.

Compare to other sources on the same topic that you have also cited to show similarities and differences.

Explain why each source is useful for your research topic and how it relates to your topic.

Evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of each source.

Identify the observations or conclusions of the author. 

Tips on Writing and Formatting

Each annotation should be one or two paragraphs and between three to six sentences long (about 100- 300 words total).

All lines should be double-spaced (unless your professor has noted a different format).

Do not add an extra line between the citations.

Try to be objective, and give explanations if you state any opinions.

Use the third person (e.g., he, she, the author) instead of the first person (e.g., I, my, me), unless discussing your own research.

Sample Annotation

London, Herbert. “Five Myths of the Television Age.” Television Quarterly , vol. 10, no. 1, Mar. 1982, pp. 81-89.

Herbert London, the Dean of Journalism at New York University and author of several books and articles, explains how television contradicts five commonly believed ideas. He uses specific examples of events seen on television, such as the assassination of John Kennedy, to illustrate his points. His examples have been selected to contradict such truisms as: “seeing is believing”; “a picture is worth a thousand words”; and “satisfaction is its own reward.” London uses logical arguments to support his ideas which are his personal opinion. He does not refer to any previous works on the topic. London’s style and vocabulary would make the article of interest to any reader. The article clearly illustrates London’s points, but does not explore their implications leaving the reader with many unanswered questions.

Adapted from: "How to Write Annotated Bibliographies."  Memorial University Libraries ,  www.library.mun.ca/researchtools/guides/writing/annotated_bibl/ .

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Social Work: Annotated Bibliographies

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Formatting your Annotated Bibliography for APA Style

Annotated Bibliographies An annotated bibliography is a type of student paper in which reference list entries are followed by short descriptions of the work called annotations . Annotated bibliographies can also constitute one element of a research paper in fields that require bibliographies rather than reference lists. Most APA Style guidelines apply to annotated bibliographies.

Your annotated bibliography should start with a title page , just as for an APA style paper.  The second page of your bibliography is where you will begin listing your references and annotations (see sample below).

Figure 9.3 Sample Annotated Bibliography

In general, it is not necessary to cite the work being annotated in the annotation, because the origin of the information is clear through context. However, do include in-text citations if you refer to multiple works within an annotation to clarify the source. Instructors generally set all other requirements for annotated bibliographies (e.g., number of references to include, length and focus of each annotation). In the absence of other guidance, format an annotated bibliography as follows:  

• Format and order references in an annotated bibliography in alphabetical order, as you would order entries in a reference list
• Each annotation should be a new paragraph below its reference entry. Indent the annotation 0.5 in. from the left margin, as you would a block quotation
• Do not indent the first line of the annotation
• If the annotation spans multiple paragraphs, indent the first line of the second and any subsequent paragraphs an additional 0.5 in., as you would a block quotation with multiple paragraphs
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Using and Incorporating Sources

The purpose of an annotated bibliography, why should i write an annotated bibliography.

To learn about your topic:

• Writing an annotated bibliography is excellent preparation for a research project.
• Just collecting sources for a bibliography is useful, but when you have to write annotations for each source, you’re forced to read each source more carefully. You begin to read more critically instead of just collecting information.
• At the professional level, annotated bibliographies allow you to see what has been done or explored by other scholars and where your own research or scholarship can fit into the field.
• Writing an annotated bibliography can help you gain a good perspective on what is being said about your topic. By reading and responding to a variety of sources on a topic, you’ll start to see what the issues are, what people are arguing about, and where/how you can develop your own point of view.
• Formulating a thesis helps you to base your research paper is an argument. The purpose of research is to state and support a thesis. So a very important part of research is developing a thesis that is debatable, interesting, and current.

To help other researchers:

• Extensive and scholarly annotated bibliographies are sometimes published.
• Annotated bibliographies provide a comprehensive overview of everything important that has been and is being said about that topic.
• Annotating Sources. Authored by : Claire Mischker and Rachel Johnson. Provided by : University of Mississippi. Project : WRIT 250 Committee OER Project. License : CC BY-SA: Attribution-ShareAlike

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How do I write an annotated bibliography?

The purpose of an annotated bibliography is to provide an overview of the current state of research on a selected topic. It should:

• Identify important scholarship already done on the topic.
• Place each selected resource in the context of what it means for the specific issue you're researching.
• Describe the relationship of each source to the others that you have selected.
• Help highlight gaps in our current knowledge and understanding of the topic.
• Point the way forward for further research .

An annotated bibliography makes the process of research easier by collecting and explaining existing research on your topic. It may also help you put pieces of literature into conversation with each other - a process we call "synthesis," or making connections between your sources. Identifying the similarities, differences, relationships, and patterns of your sources will help you decide what questions still exist in your research area.

Choosing Sources for an Annotated Bibliography

There are multiple ways you can select a good set of sources for an annotated bibliography - choose a strategy that works for your topic and that you feel helps make the topic easier to understand. If you're struggling with your choices, consider what resources you would need to fully explain your topic to a friend. Where would you start? What are important things they need to know that scholars discovered or argued? Here are a couple structures you can try:

• Chronological: How has your topic developed over time? Try not to just list your sources in chronological order - explain why or how our understanding changed. Why did research in this field move in this direction? Where is research going from here?
• Thematic: Focus your review on specific themes, especially if you will be developing this bibliography into a paper. For example, if you are writing about political action on climate change, you could divide your sources by national and international organizations.

For more information about writing an annotated bibliography, check out the Purdue Online Writing Lab's guide or ask your librarian !

Make sure your research is thorough when writing an annotated bibliography and choose reliable sources.

In assessing each source, consider:

• What is the author's expertise in this particular field of study (credentials)?
• Are the author's arguments supported by evidence (e.g. quantitative/qualitative studies)?
• Is the author's perspective too biased in one direction or are opposing studies and viewpoints also considered?
• Does the selected source contribute to a more complete understanding of the subject?

Adapted from the Concordia University Library Library Research Skills Tutorial . Shared under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial ShareAlike 4.0 International license .

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Annotated Bibliography

Annotated Bibliography Topics

200+ Annotated Bibliography Topics for Different Categories

21 min read

Published on: Sep 11, 2018

Last updated on: Nov 13, 2023

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Searching for a good topic to write your essay or research paper and create your annotated bibliography? 

Creating and writing an annotated bibliography is different from writing a list of references or an abstract. The list of references includes an alphabetical list of the works used in the paper while the abstract is a short and brief summary of the paper. 

However, writing it becomes more difficult when you don’t know which topic you should write about.

But don’t worry! Read the blog to know how to find a good paper topic that could also be used for writing an extensive and detailed annotated bibliography.

Let's begin!

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What is an Annotated Bibliography?

An annotated bibliography is a detailed and extensive list of references. It includes the analysis and explanation of the given citations and references. The format includes the citation, its explanation, analysis, and personal opinion.

By giving a personal opinion, the student explains the reasons why he has chosen the given references and how they influence the research. It is different from writing a simple list of references and it is definitely different from writing an abstract.

Check out the video below to get a better understanding of annotated bibliography:

Finding good annotated bibliography ideas could be hard, but we are here to help you out. Continue reading to find a list of annotated bibliography topics. 

Sports Annotated Bibliography Topics

Sports have always been a hot topic for both high school and college students. Since circumstances related to games and sports keep on changing, the student must choose a trending topic. Here are some examples of annotated bibliography topics for sports:.

• What are the different types and elements of coaching?
• What are the effects of gender inequality in sports?
• How do politics affect the quality of sports?
• What kinds of issues sports management can have as a result of undue interference?
• Explain sports fixing. How does it affect the overall sports scenario?
• What are athletes doping? How can it be controlled and managed?
• Why is banning athletes using steroids necessary?
• What are the benefits of promoting sports in developing countries?
• Should sports be compulsory in schools, high schools, and colleges? Explain.
• Businesses dealing in sports should be under the state’s law. Explain its pros and cons.

Good Annotated Bibliography Topics For Social Work

Annotated bibliography topics for sociology are incredibly varied, but here are a few to get you started: 

• The Impact of Social Work on Mental Health: A Systematic Review
• How Poverty Impacts Education Outcomes Among Young Children
• The Role of Community Parks in Promoting Health 
• An Exploration of Homelessness Prevention in Urban Environments 
• The Impact of Social Work on Health Disparities
• Exploring Resilience and Coping Strategies of Refugees 
• The Role of Social Media in Influencing Political Attitudes and Behaviors 
• An Analysis of Bullying Prevention Programs in Schools
• Understanding the Challenges Faced by Adolescents with Disabilities 
• Exploring the Impact of Social Work on Health

Annotated Bibliography Topics In Healthcare

Healthcare is one of the main subjects for students who are studying to become a doctor or enter the medical field in any other role.  Here are some topic ideas:

• Explain human cloning and its pros and cons.
• What is the paleo diet lifestyle? Explain the health benefits of the paleo diet.
• Humans are frugivores as well as omnivores. Explain the claim with evidence.
• Explain the beginnings and origins of biology as a separate subject. How did it get its present structure?
• Explain biophysics. How is this newly found study discipline changing the face of health technology?
• What is food intolerance? What are the main causes of it and how to prevent it?
• What are the causes of allergic reactions like an anaphylactic shock? Explain the reasons and the ways to prevent it.
• How does telemedicine impact the accessibility and quality of healthcare services?
• What are the psychological effects of long-term hospitalization on pediatric patients?
• How can healthcare disparities in underserved communities be effectively addressed and reduced?

Annotated Bibliography Topics for Mental Health

Mental health is a critical theme which offers opportunities for in-depth research.  Here are some topics:

• The Impact of Social Media on Mental Health: A Comprehensive Review
• The Relationship Between Childhood Trauma and Adult Mental Health Outcomes
• Evaluating the Effectiveness of Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy for Anxiety Disorders
• The Role of Nutrition and Diet in Promoting Positive Mental Health
• Exploring the Stigma Surrounding Mental Health and Its Impact on Help-Seeking Behaviors
• The Intersection of Mental Health and Substance Abuse: A Literature Review
• Mental Health in the Workplace: Strategies for Employee Well-being
• The Influence of Family Dynamics on Adolescent Mental Health
• Comparative Analysis of Mental Health Policies and Services Across Countries
• The Connection Between Exercise and Positive Mental Health Outcomes: An Annotated Review

Annotated Bibliography Topics for Psychology

Psychology explores various aspects of human behavior and mental health. It is very common for students of psychology to write detailed annotated bibliographies during their research.

Here are some of the topics related to psychology that can help you out:

• Analyze the efficacy of group therapy vs. individual therapy for autistic children.
• How does having a child with autism affect a parents’ lifestyle?
• How to increase knowledge among teenagers about drug and substance abuse?
• Explain the negative effects of depression on young adults and adults. How is depression an unanswered issue in our society?
• Explain the biological reasons for condemning stereotypes and depression related to it.
• How to identify people with suicidal tendencies and help them with it?
• How do veterans go through PTSD and what can we do to prevent it?
• The influence of parenting styles on child behavior and mental health
• Psychological effects of social isolation during the COVID-19 pandemic
• The role of emotional intelligence in leadership and workplace success

Communication Annotated Bibliography

Great communication is essential for a great and successful business and personal relationships. Here are a few topics to help you get the conversation started:

• Explain how advertising works as a mode of communication.
• How does advertising influence the consumption of a product in the marketplace?
• How does cross-cultural advertising work and what impact does it have on overall advertising efforts?
• How does technology influence advertising and communications?
• Explain the concept of location-based advertising in communications.
• How to use mobile phones in uplifting the promotional efforts of the businesses?
• How to measure the level of involvement of the audience in the advertising efforts?
• The role of social media in modern communication strategies
• Crisis communication: Strategies and outcomes
• Interpersonal communication in workplace relationships

Feminism Annotated Bibliography Topics

Feminism is a broad topic and preparing an annotated bibliography about it could be time-consuming. Here some good annotated bibliography topics below:

• Explain how women are making their place in the business world. What challenges do they have to face and how do they manage them?
• How is the role of a woman revolutionized in our society? How are women filling into more non-mainstream roles?
• How does sports management discriminate against women? Besides, also discuss how women are not given leading reporting roles in sports reporting.
• What is the role of governments in perpetuating patriarchal structures towards women?
• What are the pros and cons of the defunding of Planned Parenthood in America? How has the bill affected women’s lives in the country?
• Should women be allowed to compete against men in some sports? Explain the pros and cons.
• Women are still kept away from core sports. Why is the decision unfair?
• How do feminist movements address economic disparities among women?
• What is the role of the media in perpetuating or challenging traditional gender roles in society?
• Are there gender biases in the healthcare industry, and how do they affect women's well-being?

Animal Testing Annotated Bibliography Topics

Animal testing is a common and well-known phenomenon in the research world. Medical fields use animals for various testing purposes. However, whether animal testing is legal and ethical or not is still a point of debate for many.

Some of the interesting topics related to animal testing are given below:

• How can stem cell research end the need for animal testing?
• How do animal testing and trials affect the reputation of beauty brands?
• Explain the pros and cons of medicine trials on rats and rabbits.
• How do the acquired results compare to the human findings?
• Explain some significant benefits and disadvantages of animal testing.
• Analyze human testing against animal testing.
• What are the origins of animal testing?
• Is there a viable alternative to animal testing in pharmaceutical research?
• What ethical considerations surround the use of primates in biomedical research?
• How do regulatory frameworks differ in various countries regarding animal testing for cosmetics?

Annotated Bibliography Topics For Education

Education is important for kids but like any other field, the educational field also needs advancement.

Below are some easy annotated bibliography topics on education:

• What are the effects of the teacher’s teaching methods on the student’s performance?
• Benefits of instilling ethics in kids from an early age.
• How does racial discrimination affect the educational system in the US?
• Common curriculum vs. individual curriculum: Which is more effective and why?
• Racial diversity in schools: what are the pros and cons?
• What kind of educational practices are more effective for preschool children?
• How does education counseling help in better life decisions?
• Schooling Vs. Homeschooling: Which is better?
• What is the role of mothers in kids’ education?
• Prestigious educational institutes help in shaping students’ character. Discuss.

Engineering Topics for Annotated Bibliography

Engineering, a dynamic and ever-evolving field at the forefront of innovation and technology, is ripe for exploration through annotated bibliographies.

Here are diverse engineering topics for your annotated bibliography:

• Sustainable Infrastructure Development: Innovations in Green Engineering
• The Impact of Artificial Intelligence on Robotics and Automation
• Emerging Trends in Renewable Energy Technologies
• Engineering Solutions for Urban Mobility and Traffic Management
• The Role of Biomechanics in Prosthetics and Orthopedic Devices
• Advancements in Materials Engineering for Aerospace Applications
• Environmental Engineering: Strategies for Clean Water and Air Quality
• The Intersection of Engineering and Medicine: Breakthroughs in Biomedical Devices
• Cybersecurity in Critical Infrastructure: Challenges and Solutions
• Engineering Ethics and Its Role in Technological Decision-Making

World History Annotated Bibliography Topics

World history explores past events and societies from around the globe. The subject is as vast and deep as the past, where many aspects can be explored and discussed.

Here are a few annotated bibliography topics to help you out:

• The History of the American Revolution: An examination of the events, individuals, and organizations that shaped the struggle for independence.
• Native American History: A look at how indigenous peoples have been affected by colonization and modern development in North America.
• The African Diaspora: Exploring the history and culture of people of African descent who have settled in other parts of the world.
• The Cold War: An exploration into the ideological and geopolitical tensions between the United States and the Soviet Union during the 20th century.
• Women's Suffrage Movement: Examining how women around the world fought for their right to vote and the impact it had on society.
• The History of Immigration: Understanding how different waves of immigrants have contributed to the culture and economy in their new homeland.
• Slavery in America: Exploring the history, economics, and effects of this dark period in American history.
• The Civil Rights Movement: Examining the individuals and organizations that fought for civil rights in America during the 1950s and 1960s.
• The Industrial Revolution: Investigating how technological advances changed society around the world during this era.

Annotated Bibliography Topics for Criminal Justice

• Criminal justice, a dynamic field that explores law enforcement, legal systems, and corrections, offers a rich landscape for research. 

Here are some criminal justice annotated bibliography topics:

• Police Use of Force: A Comprehensive Analysis of Policies and Outcomes
• The Impact of Body-Worn Cameras on Police Accountability and Community Relations
• Juvenile Justice Reforms: Evaluating the Effectiveness of Alternative Sentencing Programs
• Mental Health and the Criminal Justice System: Diversion Programs and Their Outcomes
• Mass Incarceration and Its Socioeconomic Implications: A Critical Review
• The Role of Forensic Science in Solving Cold Cases
• Reforming the Bail System: Implications for Pretrial Detention and Equity
• Community Policing Strategies and Their Influence on Crime Reduction
• Intersectionality in the Criminal Justice System: Examining Disparities
• Recidivism Reduction: Assessing Rehabilitation Programs and Their Impact on Offenders

Annotated Bibliography Topics Business

Business is the practice of creating and exchanging goods and services to meet individual or organizational needs. Creating an annotated bibliography for business research can be a challenging task, but here are some topics to get you started:

• The History of Entrepreneurship: Tracing the development of entrepreneurship from its early days to modern times.
• The Rise of E-Commerce: Examining how digital technologies have changed the way business is conducted today.
• Globalization and Trade: Understanding how global economic forces have created opportunities for international businesses.
• Innovation in Business: Investigating how business leaders have generated creative solutions to challenges in the marketplace.
• The History of Business Management: Analyzing the evolution of management theory and practice over time.
• The Impact of Technology on Business: Exploring how digital tools and platforms are transforming the way businesses operate today.
• Business Ethics: Examining ethical considerations in various aspects of business operations.
• Organizational Culture: Investigating how corporate culture shapes the behavior of employees and their attitudes towards work.
• The History of Accounting: Examining how accounting has developed over time and its role in informing business decisions.
• Marketing Strategies: Exploring different marketing techniques used to reach customers and build brand loyalty.

Religion Topics for Annotated Bibliography

Religion is a complex and often contentious topic. Here are some religion-related topics you might use for an annotated bibliography:

• Theology: Investigating the ways in which different religions approach matters of faith, belief, and morality.
• Sacred Texts: Examining how sacred texts have been used to shape religious and social norms.
• Religious Cults: Analyzing the rise of religious cults in modern societies and their potential effects.
• Evangelism: Investigating different strategies used by evangelists to spread their message.
• Prayer: Examining how prayer has been used to heal, comfort, and console people throughout history.
• Atheism: Exploring the arguments for and against atheism.
• Religious Art: Understanding how religious art has been used to express faith through visual imagery.
• Interfaith Dialogue: Examining the ways in which different religions can engage in meaningful dialogue.
• Religious Conversion: Investigating the reasons why people choose to convert to a different religion.
• Religious Education: Analyzing the impact of religious education on children and young adults.

Annotated Bibliography for Ethics and Morals

Studying ethics and morals involves examining and understanding the principles and beliefs that shape our choices and behavior. Here are some topics for ethics and morals:

• What are the ethical implications of artificial intelligence and machine learning?
• How does morality influence environmental conservation and sustainability efforts?
• What are the key elements of ethical frameworks in healthcare decision-making?
• What ethical considerations surround genetic engineering and human enhancement?
• What are the moral dilemmas involved in end-of-life care?
• How can ethics balance the principles of free speech and responsibility in journalism?
• What are the intersections and conflicts between religion and morality?
• How does business ethics factor into the era of corporate social responsibility?
• How does moral philosophy impact political ideals and decision-making?
• What role does ethics play in emerging technologies, from biotechnology to AI ethics?

Annotated Bibliography Topics for Nursing

Nursing is a profession that focuses on caring for individuals, families, and communities to promote health and well-being. Here are some topics related to nursing that you can use when creating an annotated bibliography:

• The History of Nursing: Tracing the development and evolution of nursing as a profession over time.
• Nursing Education: Examining how education and training have changed to meet the needs of modern healthcare.
• Evidence-Based Practice in Nursing: Understanding how to use research to inform clinical decision making and improve patient outcomes.
• Informatics in Nursing: Exploring how technology is being used to improve nursing practice and healthcare delivery.
• The Legal and Ethical Implications of Nursing: Examining the implications of laws, regulations, and ethical considerations for nurses.
• Nursing Leadership: Investigating how nurse leaders can create a supportive environment for staff and promote quality patient care.
• Health Promotion and Disease Prevention: Examining how nurses can use health education and prevention strategies to improve public health.
• Mental Health Nursing: An exploration of the psychological, social, and spiritual needs of patients in a mental health setting.
• Cultural Competence in Nursing: Understanding the importance of cultural awareness when caring for patients from different backgrounds.
• Pain Management in Nursing: Investigating the use of pharmacological and non-pharmacological strategies to manage pain.

Annotated Bibliography Topics for Technology

Technology has become essential to the functioning of the modern world. Technology means the application of scientific knowledge to develop tools, machines, and systems to meet human needs.

Check out some topics related to technology you can use for creating an annotated bibliography:

• Artificial Intelligence: Investigating how AI is being used in different industries, from finance to healthcare.
• Data Science: Exploring the use of data for predictive analytics, machine learning, and other applications.
• Cloud Computing: Understanding the impact of cloud computing on businesses, from scalability to security.
• Internet of Things: Examining how physical objects are connected to the internet and how this affects everyday life.
• Virtual Reality: Investigating the potential applications and implications of virtual reality technology.
• Cyber Security: Analyzing strategies for preventing cyber attacks and protecting data.
• Robotics and Automation: Examining the use of robots and automation in manufacturing, logistics, and other industries.
• 3D Printing: Exploring the uses of 3D printing in science, engineering, healthcare, and beyond.
• Blockchain Technology: Investigating how blockchain technology is used to secure digital transactions.
• Augmented Reality: Examining the potential applications of augmented reality in gaming, entertainment, and more.
• Quantum Computing: Understanding how this emerging technology is changing computing power and speed. 

Annotated Bibliography Topics For English

English literature is diverse and includes works from many different eras and cultures. Here are some topics related to English literature that you can use when creating an annotated bibliography

Here are some topics related to English literature:

• Romanticism in Literature: Exploring how writers used themes of love, nature, and emotion to create their works.
• The Gothic Novel: Analyzing how authors used fear and the supernatural to create an atmosphere of suspense.
• Realism in Literature: Examining how writers used everyday life and its difficulties as a source of inspiration.
• Modernist Literature: Understanding how different authors employed innovative techniques to break free from traditional conventions.
• Postmodern Literature: Examining how writers use playfulness and irony to explore themes of identity, culture, and technology.
• Poetry: Investigating different forms of poetry, from sonnets to free verse.
• Drama: Exploring the works of playwrights such as Ibsen, Chekhov, and Miller.
• Fantasy Literature: Examining how authors use the genre to explore themes of power, identity, and morality.
• Science Fiction: Investigating how this genre has explored technology, alienation, and other topics.
• Children’s Literature: Understanding how stories provide children with knowledge and understanding of the world. 

Critical Annotated Bibliography Topics

A critical annotated bibliography combines the usual elements of an annotation with a critical analysis. Here are some topics you can use when creating a critical annotated bibliography

• Gender Equality in Literature: Examining how female writers have been overlooked and underrepresented throughout history.
• Race and Representation in Literature: Investigating how different
• Feminist Theory: Examining how different feminist theories have shaped our understanding of gender and power.
• Marxism: Investigating Karl Marx’s theories of class struggle and the importance of labor in a capitalist society.
• Poststructuralism: Understanding how this theory challenges the idea that language is transparent, fixed, and stable.
• Structuralism: Exploring how this theory attempts to explain the relationship between human behavior and the underlying structures of society.
• Postcolonial Theory: Analyzing the impact of colonialism on non-Western countries and cultures.
• Psychoanalytic Theory: Examining Sigmund Freud’s theories about the unconscious mind and its influence on behavior.
• Philosophy of Language: Understanding the ways in which language is used to express thoughts, emotions, and ideas.
• Cultural Studies: Investigating the ways in which culture, identity, and power interact to shape society.
• Environmentalism: Examining how environmental factors affect our lives and how we can work towards sustainability.

Fun Annotated Bibliography Topics

• Comic Books: Examining how different authors have used superheroes and other characters to explore cultural issues.
• Video Games: Analyzing the storylines, mechanics, and visuals of popular video games.
• Anime: Exploring the symbolism, themes, and characters in this popular form of Japanese animation.
• Mythology: Investigating the ways in which stories from different cultures have been used to explain natural phenomena. 
• Urban Legends: Analyzing how these stories have been used to explore themes of fear and societal taboos.
• Horror Films: Understanding how different filmmakers have used visual elements, sound, and suspense to create fear.
• Musicals: Examining how song and dance can be used to explore themes of love, joy, and tragedy.
• Fashion: Investigating the changing trends in clothing styles over time and their representation of identity.
• Art: Understanding the ways in which different forms of art have been used to explore social issues.
• Food Culture: Exploring how food has been used as a form of expression and communication throughout history.

Persuasive Annotated Bibliography Topics

• Gun Control: Examining the arguments for and against stricter gun control measures.
• Climate Change: Analyzing the need for immediate action to address global warming.
• Free Speech: Debating whether or not governments should limit freedom of speech in certain contexts.
• Income Inequality: Investigating how income inequality has changed over time and what can be done to reduce the gap.
• Death Penalty: Examining the arguments for and against capital punishment.
• Affirmative Action: Analyzing how affirmative action policies have impacted education, employment, and other sectors of society.
• Animal Rights: Investigating whether or not animals should be granted certain rights.
• Immigration: Debating whether or not immigration policies should be reformed.
• Vaccination: Analyzing the evidence for and against mandatory vaccination programs.
• Technology Addiction: Examining how technology has impacted our lives and what can be done to reduce its negative effects.

Annotated Bibliography Essay Topics for Music

Music is a diverse theme to explore. Here are some music related topic for annotated bibliography that explore different types of music, historical times, and cultural influences:

• Jazz's Impact on Social Change
• EDM Evolution: Comprehensive Bibliographic Review
• Women in Music: Gender Representation 
• Classical Music Influence on Modern Compositions
• Hip-Hop: Lyrics and Activism 
• Music and Technology Intersection
• Folk Music Across Cultures
• Music in Film: Comprehensive Soundtracks Analysis
• Rock and Roll Revolution: Origins, Pioneers, and Impact
• Globalization of World Music: Cross-Cultural Influences 

What Makes a Good Annotated Bibliography Topic?

When choosing a topic for an annotated bibliography, it's important to consider the scope of the assignment.

A good topic should be narrow enough that you can provide a focused analysis but broad enough that there is ample material available to draw from. It should also be interesting and relevant to your course or field of study. 

Additionally, it should be a topic that you are passionate about so that your research is engaging and enjoyable. 

Finally, it should be manageable in size. If the task feels too daunting or overwhelming, break it down into smaller components to make it more manageable.

Ultimately, the best topics are ones that will spark your curiosity and motivate you to explore the subject in-depth.

How to Choose the Right Topic for an Annotated Bibliography?

Are you wondering how to choose a good topic to write an annotated bibliography on? When choosing a topic for an annotated bibliography, there are several factors to consider.

• Think about the scope of your assignment and what type of information or evidence you want to include in your research. This will help you narrow down your topic and make it more manageable.
• Next, evaluate the quality and amount of information available on the topic. You want to make sure that you have access to reliable sources and ample material to draw from.
• Finally, consider your interests and passions . A topic that resonates with you will be more likely to result in high-quality research and a successful project.

By considering all these factors, you can find the perfect topic for your annotated bibliography.

How to Write an Annotated Bibliography?

Writing an annotated bibliography can be a challenging and time-consuming task. However, it is also an incredibly valuable tool for expanding your knowledge on a topic. Follow these steps to get started:

1. Select Your Topic: Choose a specific topic that is interesting and relevant to your course or field of study.

2. Research Sources: Gather materials from reliable sources such as books, journal articles, websites, and more.

3. Read & Summarize: Carefully read each source and summarize the key points it makes in your own words.

4. Evaluate Sources: Assess the credibility of each source by evaluating its accuracy, objectivity, and authority.

5. Cite Sources: Properly cite each source using the appropriate citation style guidelines.

6. Compile Annotations: Combine all your summaries and evaluations into a comprehensive annotated bibliography.

7. Proofread & Revise: Take time to proofread your work and make sure everything is accurate and consistent.

By following these steps, you can create an annotated bibliography that is both accurate and informative. 

Read some annotated bibliography examples to see how it is done in practice.

To conclude,

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Discrete notes     About     Archive

About an annotated bibliography.

Today an updated version of my bibliography of papers about distributed approximation is out (see here on the arxiv).

The idea is to have a list of papers, with a few items for each, telling what is the setting, the main result, and how it compares with the other papers. The origin of this one is a project for which it was important to understand previous work, and the literature was very confusing. So I did the first version of this bibliography for my colleagues and myself, and then when we finally abandoned the project I thought it would be nice to make it readable and public.

Note that it is not a survey: I am not an expert of the area, I don’t explain any proof technique, do not highlight any open problem. It is just an annotated list of papers.

Why it’s useful

I think that such documents are useful, and that we should spend more time writing them, even if they are not counted as publications.

First, it provides a good tool when starting a project in an area that one does not know well. It provides an exhaustive list of the papers of the area, which allows to understand (1) the history of a problem, (2) the state of the art (at the date of the latest update), and possibly (3) which papers are to be credited for a given technique. In this sense, it makes the area easier to reach, and avoids having only a small set of authors being able to understand what’s going on.

Second, such bibliographic documents allow for a more healthy citation culture in research papers. Without a bibliography to cite, one is often in a problematic situation for citing papers:

Either you cite all the papers of the area that you know, and then you do it in a way that is useless for readers (long lists of citations, without any comments, and without the promise that it is meant to be exhaustive).

Or you cite specific papers, and then maybe some people will be pissed of, but more importantly you might not cite the most relevant ones, but only the ones you see cited often. (I can see this clearly in my citation counts, I have some papers that are always cited as “there is also this other stuff done in area”, while others would actually be much more relevant. I guess that, when in a hurry, one just copies the citations from previous papers.)

Or you cite basically nothing (which is more graph theory style) but then you do not give any help to the reader to understand the area, except for your result (and this 1964 paper of Erdös, in which you found the conjecture).

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ASSIGNMENT INSTRUCTIONS Before you start this assignment, be sure...

ASSIGNMENT INSTRUCTIONS

• Before you start this assignment, be sure you have followed a strategy based on the research methods you have learned. You should already have summaries of all your research materials from previous activities. For this assignment, select the three most valuable resources you found during your research.
• Write an annotated bibliography with at least three entries.
• For each entry, you must include the following: a. APA Citation b. First paragraph includes the purpose of the work, the intended audience, and a summary of its content. NOTE: You should be able to use the summaries you wrote during your research activities for thi paragraph. c. Second paragraph includes relevance of the topic, special or unique features, strengths, weaknesses, or biases of the material d. Third paragraph describes the resource's usefulness and how you plan to apply it in your research paper.
• Include an APA formatted cover page and use this template:  Annotated Bibliography Template
• Spell-check and review your assignment before handing it in.
• Submit by the deadline to your instructor in this  submission folder. 

SAMPLE ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY ENTRY

Answer & Explanation

Check the answer below.

Annotated Bibliography

Lamott, A. (1995).   Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life . Anchor Books.

Lamott's "Bird by Bird" is intended for a broad audience of aspiring writers and those interested in the writing life. The book provides pragmatic advice intertwined with personal anecdotes, aiming to demystify the writing process. It covers a range of topics, from handling writer's block to dealing with the emotional turmoil of writing, making it a comprehensive guide to the psychological and practical aspects of being a writer.

The relevance of Lamott's book lies in its unfiltered take on the realities of writing, which is both its strength and a potential bias. While the anecdotes provide relatable insights, they also reflect a subjective view of the writing process that might not be universally applicable. Nonetheless, the book's strengths lie in its engaging narrative and the inclusion of practical writing exercises that stimulate creativity.

In my research paper, I will draw upon Lamott's book to support the thesis that the challenges of writing are as much personal and emotional as they are technical. The book's firsthand experiences will illustrate the common struggles writers face, making a case for a more empathetic understanding of the writing process. The writing exercises will be referenced as potential solutions to common writing challenges.

Goldberg, N. (2006).   Writing Down the Bones: Freeing the Writer Within . Shambhala.

Natalie Goldberg's "Writing Down the Bones" serves to inspire and guide both new and experienced writers through the craft of writing. Targeted towards individuals seeking to enhance their writing ability and creative expression, the book combines practical advice with Zen wisdom. Goldberg encourages a free-flowing, non-judgmental writing process to liberate the writer's voice.

The book stands out for its Zen approach to writing, a unique feature that provides a fresh perspective on creativity. Its strength is connecting writing to spiritual practice, offering a pathway to deeper self-exploration and authenticity in writing. A potential area for improvement could be its less structured approach, which may not resonate with those seeking more conventional writing guidance.

Goldberg's principles will be used in my research paper to emphasize the importance of mindful writing practice. The concepts from "Writing Down the Bones" will be applied to argue for the benefits of a less restrictive and more reflective approach to writing, suggesting that this can lead to more genuine and compelling written work.

King, S. (2000).   On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft . Scribner.

Stephen King's "On Writing" is part memoir, part masterclass, aimed at aspiring writers seeking insight from one of the most successful authors of our time. The book blends autobiographical elements with practical advice, offering a candid look at King's experiences and his approach to the craft of writing.

King's book is relevant for its direct and conversational tone, which makes complex concepts accessible. The memoir parts provide a compelling narrative of King's journey, while the writing advice is both practical and motivational. However, the focus on King's methods may not be universally applicable, and his genre-specific insights might have limited relevance for non-fiction writers.

For my research paper, King's work will provide a professional perspective on the discipline of writing. His anecdotes will serve as examples of overcoming adversity in the writing process, and his advice will be used to discuss the development of writing skills. King's emphasis on reading as a writer will also be highlighted as a crucial component of the paper's exploration of effective writing practices.

This format provides a structured approach to creating an annotated bibliography, ensuring each entry is informative and directly relevant to your research paper. Remember to tailor each section to the specific resources you are using and their role in your research.

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