USMA Library Homepage: Annotated Bibliographies and Literature Reviews: Annotated Bibliography

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 descriptive and evaluative paragraph called an annotation. Annotated bibliographies serve several purposes.

Help the researcher gain a perspective of others have said about their topic
Helps the researcher decide which sources are the most useful for their research
Helps the researcher organize their sources
Requires researchers to critically think about the sources they have found

An annotated bibliography is formatted alphabetically and each entry in an annotated bibliography has two parts:

The citation - the citation will be formatted in APA, MLA, Chicago, or other citation style
The annotation - a paragraph or paragraphs directly underneath the citation

Watch this three-minute video to learn some annotated bibliography basics

Creative Commons Attribution license (reuse allowed) from Suny Farmingdale State College

Creating an annotated bibliography involves several steps

Search for sources that seem relevant to the research topic or question.
Critically examine and review each source.
Write a concise annotation (usually a single paragraph of 100-200 words) about each source.
Properly format the entries as well as the paper as a whole according to the required citation style or instructor expectations.

Annotated bibliography styles

The exact expectations of format and content will be a combination of the instructions for the assignment and the citation style required for the annotated bibliography. APA, MLA, and Chicago citation styles all have instructions on how to format annotated bibliographies. It may be one paragraph or several paragraphs. The OWL at Purdue has samples of different annotated bibliographies.

While there are many formats, many annotated bibliographies require at least one of the following:

Summary/Description: Summarizing a source for an annotated bibliography provides a brief overview of the purpose and findings of the source. It is objective and does not provide a critical look at the source.
Evaluation: Evaluating a source involves determining whether the source is credible. The answers to some of the following questions can help you prepare your evaluation:
Reflection: Reflecting in an annotation involves explaining how the source informs (or doesn't inform) the research you are doing

A note about annotations:

Annotations are BRIEF. Practice being concise and only provide the most relevant information. Writing concisely is a skill, and you may need some practice and assistance.

Official example from the APA Website

Example from the Chicago Manual of Style

Example of MLA format from Excelsior University

This annotated bibliography has been formatted for a publication. It does not follow one three main citation styles, but it contains all of the pertinent information.