What is an annotated bibliography and how do I write one? (2024)

What is an Annotated Bibliography?

An Annotated Bibliography is an APA Reference list of sources followed by notes and commentary about a source. The annotations summarize, assess, evaluate, and reflect on the information source.

If we look at the word “annotate,” we are talking about “critical or explanatory notes” about the information source(s). “Bibliography” means “a list of information sources”. For an academic audience, annotations must be both critical and descriptive.

Annotated Bibliography structure?

So, if we could develop an anatomy of Annotated Bibliography we could break it into 3 parts: Thesummary,assess and evaluate, andreflection.

For annotated bibliographies, use standard APA format for the citations, then add a brief entry, including:

2 to 4 sentences tosummarizethe main idea(s) of the source.
- What are the main arguments?
- What is the point of the information source?
- What topics are discussed?
1 or 2 sentences toassessandevaluatethe source.
- How does it compare with other sources in your bibliography?
- Is this information reliable? current?
- Is the author credible?
- Is the source objective or biased?
1 or 2 sentences toreflecton the source.
- Was this source helpful to you?
- How can you use this source for your research?
- Has it changed how you think about your research topic?

(Rasmussen College, 2020)

Example Annotated Bibliography

Skloot, Rebecca (2010). The immortal life of Henrietta Lacks. Crown Publishers.

This work discusses the history of a black woman’s cancerous cells better known to the science world as HeLa. Her cancerous cells were unknowingly taken from her in 1951. They have since been used in thousands of scientific studies without compensation or recognition to her or her family. This work discusses the ethical issues of taking someone's cells without their knowledge and using it experimentally. Even though this book was written for the general public to have a better understanding of this medical and ethical issue, I feel that the author brings up relevant information that I can dive deeper into that would be beneficial to my research on medical ethics.

More Information

The library has books and eBooks in our collection which can help answer your questions aboutpreparing an annotated bibliography. To find books and eBooks on preparing an annotated bibliography, please search theMulti-Searchor theOnline Library Catalog.

Further Help

This information is intended to be a guideline, not expert advice. Please be sure to speak to your professor about the appropriate way to write an annotated bibliography in your class assignments and projects.

Campus Students

To access academic support, visit your Brightspace course and select “Tutoring and Mentoring” from the Academic Support pulldown menu.

Online Students

To access help with citation and more, visit Academic Support via modules in Brightspace:

References

Publication manual of the American Psychological Association (7th ed.). (2020).Sample AnnotatedBibliographyhttps://doi.org/10.1037/0000165-000(p. 308)

Rasmussen College(2020)Annotated Bibliography - APA Guide.https://guides.rasmussen.edu/apa/annotatedbib