Annotated Bibliography

An annotated bibliography provides information about the variety of research available for a particular topic. It will usually contain a list of sources (in APA style) with short summaries of each source below. The purpose of an annotated bibliography is to help you as the writer, gain an understanding of the literature available for a particular topic.

Content
Annotated bibliographies generally contain the full referencing details, followed by a summary paragraph of what the reference was about. Check the marking criteria for other information you may need to include.
Generally, you are not required to give all the details of the source, only the most significant details.

Structure
Annotated bibliographies begin with the full reference for the source, followed by a paragraph (or more depending on your instructions) that describes and/or evaluates the source. You could be asked to write about a variety of things about the source.


Some examples might be:
 Summary of the resource and what it was about
 How this source fits into the larger body of research in this area
 Identifying research methods/key theories/concepts/arguments
 Evaluating the quality of the source.
The bibliography should be structured in alphabetical order.

Style
Annotated bibliographies are written in a formal academic style, and are usually in 3rd person. Annotated bibliographies also:
 use full sentences (avoid dot points)
 use transition words between ideas
 don’t repeat the title in your summary, as it is already given in the citation
 Follow our guide to writing academically