EN-121 - Resources for Analytical Thinking, Writing, and Research: Annotated Bibliography

A bibliography is a list of all of your sources. (This is different than a Reference List, which includes only the sources you cited in your paper !)

An annotated bibliography includes a summary (or an annotation) for each of your sources.

What is an annotated bibliography?

An annotated bibliography has some similarities to a References page.

The Reference page is a list of properly formatted citations (or references). However, it is for all the sources (books, articles, documents, etc.) that you reviewed in preparation for writing the bibliography.

At the end of each citation, add a short paragraph describing each article, book, or other source listed on your References page.

What is included in the summary part (or annotation) of an annotated bibliography?

Your annotation/summary should tell the reader:
(1) a summary: what is the article about? 

(2) Who wrote the article? Is it from a highly qualified source? (Is the author an expert on the topic? Do they work for a government agency (FBI, CDC, etc.), are they a professional journalist, or is it just a personal blog?)

(3) End the annotation by explaining how and/or where you will use this source in your paper.

Keep in mind that annotations are supposed to be a brief description of your source. You’re just summarizing the article and then briefly saying how it relates to your paper - if people reading your bibliography want to know more, they can find the work and read it directly.