Annotated Bibliography

An "annotated bibliography" is a compilation of sources related to a given subject which includes critical or explanatory information.

Annotated bibliographies (AB) have many uses:

1. First, they provide a compilation of sources with intelligent commentary; meaning, that not only do you have a summary of the content of an article, but you also have some comment as to why the article is (or is not) of use.
2. Second, ABs provide a quick reference for useful definitions and key ideas (if you've done your job).
3. Finally, ABs help to provide you an overview of the field so that you are not repeating work that's already been done, but can make a genuine contribution (or at least get a better grade on your current project).

Format

• An APA style reference.
• A short paragraph of 3 or 4 sentences indicating:
  1. The question or problem addressed by the article (the "topic" and research question);
  2. The article's method of analysis (experimental? theoretical?);
  3. The article's thesis, conclusions, and/or recommendations.
• Your assessment of the article's usefulness (global and specific) to your research goals
  1. For example, maybe you need only the bibliography or a specific discussion of a particular theory
  2. Any useful definitions or key ideas, in quotes, with page number specified!

These ABs are not summaries! You only need to include enough summary to remind you what was done and why. These ABs are meant to allow you to think about and write down why something is helpful to you and shape how you are thinking about your research or topic.

1. Don't confuse abstracts or summaries with annotations.
2. Abstracts are the purely descriptive summaries often found at the beginning of scholarly journal articles or in periodical indexes.
3. Annotations are descriptive and critical; they expose the author's point of view, clarity and appropriateness of expression, and authority - see below

A good annotated bibliography:

1. Encourages you to think critically about the content of the research that you’re reading
2. Proves you have read and understand your sources
3. Establishes your work as a valid source and you as a competent researcher
4. Situates your study and topic in a continuing professional conversation. You don’t want to come out of left field (even if your work is dramatically separating from previous findings/understanding). You have to ground your work in the past (especially when it departs from past work)
5. Provides a way for others to decide whether a source will be helpful to their research if they read it

See this document for how to summarize a research article and these two documents (1, 2) for examples of annotated bibliographies.

Further Reading and References

Skidmore College. Writing an annotated bibliography. Retrieved from http://lib.skidmore.edu/library/index.php/li371-annotated-bib

UMUC Writing and Annotated Bibliography (watch out for autoplay movie) Retrieved from http://www.umuc.edu/library/libhow/bibliography_tutorial.cfm

UNC Writing and Annotated Bibliography Retrieved from http://writingcenter.unc.edu/handouts/annotated-bibliographies/

The Annotated Bibliography (with examples) Retrieved from https://web.njit.edu/~dm279/annotatedibliography.pdf

AB Assignment (.doc download)