how to do an annotated bibliography

Annotated bibliographies are typically composed around a theme, general subject area or thesis. Otherwise, it would simply be a list of random sources. The purpose of an annotated bibliography is to provide a focused list of sources while also providing a paragraph description of the source.

Each annotated bibliography entry has two parts: the citation and the annotation. The citation is the publication information that you would typically include in a Works Cited, Notes or list of References. The annotation is your summary and evaluation of the source. Some annotated bibliographies are more summative and others more evaluative. They annotations also vary in length depending on the audience for the document.

Why do professionals write annotated bibliographies?
  • To create a resource for researchers in their discipline or for others interested in the same subject
  • To produce a record of trends or patterns in documents on the same subject


Why do teachers ask students to write annotated bibliographies?
  • To give you a method for thinking about how your sources relate to each other.
  • To give you experience reading and summarizing your sources before using them in your own paper
  • To provide a way for your to demonstrate the range and amount of research you completed


Here are some ideas for items to include in the annotation:
  • a brief summary of the work
  • a statement on the sources general purpose, ie. to persuade people to recycle
  • a statement on the qualities unique to that source, or some type of evaluative statement
  • a statement on how the source is relevant to your thesis.


If the source is a book or internet site, you might also include:
  • a statement on how the source is arranged.


If the source is a journal or magazine article or internet site, you might also include
  • a statement on the context of the article or on-line information, ie. in a fairly conservative magazine or from a Duke graduate student’s homepage.


Example Entry

If your preliminary thesis is “student writers and professional writers treat revision differently from each other,” the following would be an appropriate annotation of a journal article. (This entry is in MLA style.)

Sommers, Nancy. “Revision Strategies of Student Writers and Experienced Adult Writers.”
      College Composition and Communication 31 (1980): 378-88. This article is
      written from the premise that research on writing should concentrate more
      heavily on revision. A study of twenty freshman composition students and
      twenty professional adult writers and their revision processes reveals that
       student writers are primarily concerned with vocabulary and the idea of
      “clean[ing] up” writing. Revising for students equals coming into compliance
      with rules. The experienced writers showed more concern for shaping their
      arguments and clarifying meaning. The purpose of this article is to inform
      the reader about the differences between the revision strategies of professional
      and student writers. As published in CCC, this article is aimed at professionals
      in the field of composition studies. Sommers’ article is unique in that it
      presents qualitative research results in the area of revision. This article
      supports my assumption that professional and student writers think of and use
      revision differently.



written by Robin Gallaher		     what would you like help in?
+ prewriting
+ thesis
+ paragraphing
+ organization
+ grammar & mechanics
+ argument
+ citation & sources
+ sample essays

 

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