How To: Annotated Bibliography

Annotated Bibliography Instructions

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 the annotation. 
• The purpose of the annotation is to inform the reader of the relevance, accuracy, and quality of the sources cited.

     An annotated bibliography should be organized in paragraph form (one or two paragraphs per entry, roughly 100 to 200 words, depending). Pretend your audience is an academic one that is interested in the same topic as you and might want to know more about your sources. You are providing a succinct summary and evaluation for them. 

The Annotation Should Answer These Questions:

1) Who is the author? What are her qualifications?

2) What is the text about? Summarize it.

3) How does the text impact your research? How might you use it to make your own argument (prove thesis)? Is it better used for background information than for helping you make your argument?

See Owl Purdue for more information.