Annotated Bibliography

A bibliography is a list of sources (books, journals, websites, periodicals, etc.) one has used for researching a topic. Bibliographies are sometimes called "References" or "Works Cited" depending on the style format you are using. A bibliography usually just includes the bibliographic information (i.e., the author, title, publisher, etc.).

An annotation is a summary and/or evaluation. Therefore, an annotated bibliography includes a summary and/or evaluation of each of the sources. Depending on your project or the assignment, your annotations may do one or more of the following.

• Summarize: Some annotations merely summarize the source. What are the main arguments? What is the point of this book or article? What topics are covered? If someone asked what this article/book is about, what would you say? The length of your annotations will determine how detailed your summary is.

For more help, see this handout on paraphrasing sources.

• Assess: After summarizing a source, it may be helpful to evaluate it. Is it a useful source? How does it compare with other sources in your bibliography? Is the information reliable? Is this source biased or objective? What is the goal of this source?

For more help, go to the previous page of this guide on Evaluating Sources and see this handout about evaluating sources.

• Reflect: Once you've summarized and assessed a source, you need to ask how it fits into your research. Was this source helpful to you? How does it help you shape your argument? How can you use this source in your research project? Has it changed how you think about your topic?

Your annotated bibliography may include some of these, all of them, or even others. If you're doing this for a class, you should get specific guidelines from your instructor.

Annotated Bibliography Versus Literature Review

An annotated bibliography and a literature review are not synonymous. While both types of writing involve examining sources, the literature review seeks to synthesize the information and draw connections between sources. For more information on the Literature Review, go to the next page.

Annotated Bibliography Examples:

Here you will find sample annotations from annotated bibliographies, each corresponding to a different research project.

Reference: Purdue University Online Writing Lab (OWL). (n.d.). Annotated bibliographies. Purdue OWL. https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/general_writing/common_writing_assignments/annotated_bibliographies/index.html