4 Annotated bibliography

General

• An annotated bibliography is a list of sources (usually on a narrow topic) in which each citation is followed by a brief paragraph that summarizes, describes, and/or critically evaluates the source.
• Depending on length and purpose, an annotated bibliography may be just one long list of alphabetized entries (as in a normal bibliography), or it may be categorized by subject, material type, time period, etc.
• Annotated bibliographies may be produced using any citation style. Ask your professor if he/she requires that you use a certain style. At Lucerne University of Applied Sciences &Arts the citation style usually used is APA. For guidelines on how to use this citation standard correctly in the bibliography go to

What information should be included in the annotations?

In your annotations, you are generally expected to do more than merely summarize each source; some critical analysis is usually required. Although there are no hard and fast rules about what to include in annotated bibliography entries, most usually include some of the following elements:

• Brief description/summary of the work cited
• Comments about the work’s usefulness or quality, usually including attention to one or more of the following features:

a.) the scope or relevance of the work,

b.) the intended audience,

c.) the author’s credibility or expertise, or

d.) the work’s relationship to other works in the area of study

e.) Comments about any special features of the work (graphs, charts, appendices, etc.)

The length and style of each annotation varies according to the purpose and audience for the annotated bibliography, but most annotations are written in complete sentences and fall between 50-150 words.

For an example of annotated bibliography go to annotated bibliography

How to create an annotated bibliography

Descriptive annotations are brief summaries of the source, no more than two or three sentences.

1) Provide a complete source citation, following the guidelines of your university’s system.

2) Format each citation so that it stands out from its annotation (colour or bold font)

3) In the annotation identify the information and ideas most relevant to your project, such a significant arguments or findings.

4) Include relevant information about the background and qualifications of the author or key authorities mentioned in the source.

5) Note the type of source (e.g. book, journal article, or Web site) and its length.

To carry out a source evaluation, respond to the following prompts:

1) Provide a complete citation of source (APA).

2) In what way are the information, ideas and arguments in the source relevant to your research writing project?

3) What  have you learned about the author and publisher that would lead you to accept, question, or reject the line of argument presented in the source?

4) In what ways does the publication date of the source affect your judgement of its usefulness for our project?

5) How are you likely to use this source in your project?