Writing annotated Bibliography- a Complete Guide

An annotated bibliography provides a brief account of the available research on a given topic. It is a list of research sources that includes concise descriptions and evaluations of each source.

The annotation usually contains a brief summary of the content and a short analysis or evaluation. Depending on your assignment, you may be asked to reflect, summarize, critique, evaluate or analyze the source.

One of the main questions students have is what the purpose of an annotation is. Surprise, it's not just for your teacher. Annotations help you, too. Many times, you create your reference list as you begin researching your topic. Since you summarize the source in an annotated bibliography, you start to delve into the topic more critically to collect the information for your annotations. This helps you better understand the subject and sources to help you write my essay .

An annotated bibliography may be a component of a larger project or it may be a stand-alone assignment. While an annotation can be as brief as one sentence, the standard annotated bibliography consists of a citation followed by a short paragraph.

An annotated bibliography may be a component of a larger project or it may be a stand-alone assignment. While an annotation can be as brief as one sentence, the standard annotated bibliography consists of a citation followed by a short paragraph. An example is provided below.

Please note: the advice in this guide is general. We strongly recommend that you also follow your assignment instructions and seek clarification from any essay writing service .

Purpose of an annotated bibliography

An annotated bibliography allows an essay writer  to get acquainted with the material available on a particular topic.

Depending on your specific assignment, an annotated bibliography might:

• review of the literature of a particular subject;
• demonstrate the quality and depth of reading that you have done;
• exemplify the scope of sources available — such as journals, books, websites, and magazine articles;
• highlight sources that may be of interest to other readers and researchers;
• Explore and organize sources for further research.

Contents of an annotated bibliography

An annotation may contain all or part of the following elements depending on the word limit and the content of the sources you are examining.

• Provide the full bibliographic citation.
• Indicate the background of the author (s).
• Indicate the content or scope of the text.
• Outline the main argument.
• Indicate the intended audience.
• Identify the research methods if applicable.
• Identify any conclusions made by the author / s.
• Discuss the reliability of the text.
• Highlight any special features of the text that were unique or helpful eg charts, graphs, etc.
• Discuss the relevance or usefulness of the text for your research.
• Point out in what way the text relates to themes or concepts in your course.
• State the strengths and limitations of the text.
• Present your view or reaction to the text.

The creation of an annotated bibliography is a three-step process. It starts with evaluating sources to find the ones that will genuinely make your paper shine. You'll then begin writing your annotation for each different source. The final step is to choose your citation style. Now that you know the three-step process, let's check out each step in turn.

Step 1: Analysis of Sources

When it comes to an annotated bibliography, you have to critically look at your topic's sources and research. Therefore, you need to look at the author's qualifications and credentials, along with the date of the study itself. Since new thoughts and literary movements are happening all the time, you want to make sure the analysis and opinions you use are relevant to your topic and current times.

In addition to the author, make sure the publisher or journal where you found the research is distinguished and reviewed by professionals in the field. Research by an unknown or unrepeatable journal will not make a good source for your arguments or analysis. Other areas you'll want to be aware of include:

• The intended audience
• Errors
• Omissions of facts
• Bias
• Opinions presented as truths

Step 2: Create Your Annotations

Now that you've used your critical academic eye to dive deep into your sources, it's time to create annotations for them. Annotations aren't one size fits all. Therefore, there are different ways you can create them, depending on your intent. You might choose to use descriptive, summary, or evaluation in your annotations or a combination of all three. Just remember to always include what your instructor asks for.

Indicative / Descriptive Annotations

Descriptive or indicative annotations do just what they say. They describe the source. Indicative annotations give you a quick summary of the source and argument and describe the main points and even chapters within the source. See how this indicative annotation example by expert  dissertation writers in MLA works.

Informative / Summary Annotations

Summary annotations simply provide a summary of your different sources. Within them, you describe the main arguments or points along with the various topics covered. This is where you show why this source was essential and made it to your list. See an example of informative annotations at play.

Evaluation Annotations

Your annotations might stop at summarizing, or you could take it a step further by evaluating the source. To do this, you want to compare and contrast it. Why did this one make the cut? Explain the overarching goal of the source and why it fits into your paper so well. Additionally, you want to look at the reliability of the information and any bias it might have. Dig deep into your source like in this example.

Combination Annotations

Annotations don't have to just follow one specific format. You can combine all three types of annotations into your annotated bibliography. For example, you might spend a few lines describing and summarizing the work and end with an evaluation.

MLA style format (8th ed.)

Hanging Indents are required for citations in the bibliography, as shown below. That is, the first line of the citation starts at the left margin, and subsequent lines are indented 4 spaces. The bibliography is double-spaced, both within the citation and between them. The annotation appends the entry unless complete sentences are used, then a line space is added and the annotation begins with a paragraph indent, as shown in the example below.

APA style format (7th ed.)

An APA annotated bibliography is used for science and technical papers. It includes an APA citation and APA formatting for headers and titles. You can see samples on the APA guide on sites like write my paper .

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