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 (usually about 250-500 words) descriptive and evaluative paragraphs, the annotation. The purpose of the annotation is to inform the reader of the relevance, accuracy, and quality of the sources cited.

ANNOTATIONS VS. ABSTRACTS

Abstracts are the purely descriptive summaries often found at the beginning of scholarly journal articles or in periodical indexes. Annotations are descriptive and critical; they may describe the author's point of view, authority, or clarity and appropriateness of expression.

THE PROCESS

· Creating an annotated bibliography calls for the application of a variety of intellectual skills: concise exposition, succinct analysis, and informed library research.

· First, locate and record citations to articles that may contain useful information and ideas on your topic. Briefly examine and review the actual items. Then choose those works that provide a variety of perspectives on your topic.

· Cite the book, article, or document using the appropriate style.

· Write a concise annotation that summarizes the central theme and scope of the book or article. Include one or more sentences that (a) evaluate the authority or background of the author, (b) comment on the intended audience, (c) compare or contrast this work with another you have cited, or (d) explain how this work illuminates your bibliography topic.

YOUR ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY

Your annotated bibliography must include at least 10 articles. Keep in mind that the annotated bibliography will help you with your entire project and serves as the foundation of your literature review.

SAMPLE ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY ENTRY FOR A JOURNAL ARTICLE

The following example uses APA style (Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 6th edition, 2010) for the journal citation:

Waite, L. J., Goldschneider, F. K., & Witsberger, C. (1986). Nonfamily living and the erosion of traditional family orientations among young adults. American Sociological Review, 51, 541-554. The authors, researchers at the Rand Corporation and Brown University, use data from the National Longitudinal Surveys of Young Women and Young Men to test their hypothesis that nonfamily living by young adults alters their attitudes, values, plans, and expectations, moving them away from their belief in traditional sex roles. They find their hypothesis strongly supported in young females, while the effects were fewer in studies of young males. Increasing the time away from parents before marrying increased individualism, self-sufficiency, and changes in attitudes about families. In contrast, an earlier study by Williams cited below shows no significant gender differences in sex role attitudes as a result of nonfamily living.

Modified from Research & Learning Services, Olin Library, Cornell University Library

1. Search your keywords.

2. Read the abstract.

3. Skim articles for relevance.

4. Save relevant articles.

5. Begin to summarize your articles.

6. Remember to start building your reference section.

How to summarize an article:

1. Start by defining the research question. …

2. Discuss the methodology used by the authors. …

3. Describe the results. …

4. Connect the main ideas presented in the article. …

5. Don't draw your own conclusions. …

6. Refrain from using direct quotations of text from the journal article. …

7. Use present tense.

Tips on APA.

1. In text citation

a. (Author Last Name, Year of Publication), e.g. Gray-Nicolas (2017) or (Gray-Nicolas, 2017)

b. For 1-2 authors always put all of their names, e.g. Gray-Nicolas and Kennedy (2017) or (Gray-Nicolas & Kennedy, 2017)

c. For 3-5 authors only list all authors the first time citation is mentioned, e.g. Gray-Nicolas, Kennedy, Lapore, Chapmen, and Connors (2017) or (Gray-Nicolas, Kennedy, Lapore, Chapmen, & Connors, 2017). All other times list first author’s name followed by et al., e.g. Gray-Nicolas et al. (2017) or (Gray-Nicolas et al., 2017)

d. For 6 or more first author’s name followed by et al., e.g. Gray-Nicolas et al. (2017) or (Gray-Nicolas et al., 2017)

2. Reference list (modified form https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/05/)

a. All lines after the first line of each entry in your reference list should be indented

b. Authors' names are inverted (last name first); give the last name and initials for all authors.

c. Reference list entries should be alphabetized by the last name of the first author of each work.

d. For multiple articles by the same author, or authors listed in the same order, list the entries in chronological order, from earliest to most recent.

e. Present the journal title in full.

f. Maintain the punctuation and capitalization that is used by the journal in its title.

g. Capitalize only the first letter of the first word of a title and subtitle, the first word after a colon or a dash in the title, and proper nouns.

h. Capitalize all major words in journal titles.

i. Italicize titles of longer works such as books and journals.

Do not italicize, underline, or put quotes around the titles of shorter works such as journal articles or essays in edited col