Literature Reviews & Annotated Bibliographies

Writing an Annotated Bibliography

Definition: An annotated bibliography is an organized list of sources, followed by a brief not, or annotation, that includes a summary and evaluation of each of the sources. Annotations describe the source’s content, assess the source for its usefulness to your research, and evaluate its validity and reliability.

Purpose: Annotations are written for a variety of reasons; they allow the writer as well as the reader to see what has been done in the literature, and where your own research fits in. They help the writer gain a better perspective on what has been discussed and said about their topic. They force the writer to think more critically about why they’re using a particular source in an essay. A good annotated bibliography can also help other researchers who are doing their own research on the same or a similar topic by summarizing possible sources to consider.

Annotation Length: While the length of annotations can vary depending on the purposes, an annotation is generally about a paragraph, and should be brief in length.

Annotations contain a summary and an evaluation of the source.

• Summaries describe the scope of the source and the significant topics discussed within the source. To write a summary, ask yourself what the main argument is of the source? What is the topic? What is the author trying to explain or convince the audience of? What are the counter arguments, if any? Sometimes it helps to look at the abstract, if your source contains one.

• Evaluations describe the strengths and weaknesses of the source. To evaluate a source, ask yourself how useful it is to you and your research? Is it biased? Is the information reliable or valid? Are the research methods accurate? What is this source trying to accomplish? Did it succeed? Depending on the project or assignment parameters, it is good to check in with your professor what the expectations are.

Citation Format: In addition to the summary and evaluation, an annotated bibliography includes the citation for each source. The citation format for annotated bibliographies can vary, from MLA, APA, ASA, Chicago style, etc., so it is important to check in with your professor and/or look at the assignment for specific guidelines.

Here are some suggestions on how to structure your writing in the annotations:

Identifying the purpose and argument of the piece

Consider writing … 

• X writes to explain ______________________________. 
• X calls for changes to _______________________________________. 
• X writes to describe ___________________________________. 
• X article explores [the challenges, misconceptions, opportunities, etc.] associated with ___________________. 
• X challenges the notion that ________________________________. 

Make clear when you are summarizing or paraphrasing vs. analyzing or responding to 

If summarizing or paraphrasing consider writing …

• Scholar X argues, “________________.” In other words, __________.
• Essentially, X argues __________________.
• X’s point, succinctly put, is that _________________.
• X writes, “__________.” Plainly put, ____________________________________.
• Politicians, X argues, should _______________________.
• X makes three key arguments in her article. These are: 1) ______________; 2) __________________; and 3) ________________________. 

Rule of thumb = after quoting your source, follow it up with at least one sentence of summary / explanation

If analyzing or responding consider writing ... 

• On the one hand, I agree with X that _________. But on the other hand, I still insist that ______________________.
• X overlooks what I consider an important point about _____________. 
• My own view is that what X insists is a _________________ is in fact a ___________. 
• I wholeheartedly endorse what X calls __________________. 
• These conclusions, which X discusses, add weight to the argument that _____________________________. 
• X is right that ______________________________. 
• Adding to X’s argument, I would point out that _______________. 

Opportunity to ask questions

Don’t forget that you can ask and write questions in your ann. bib. entries! This can be a great drafting/revising space for your own research question.

• This article makes me wonder ____________________________________. 
• X’s point raises the question of whether _________________________________. 
• Given what X argued, I want to know more about __________________________. 

Note: These sentence templates are based on those offered in They Say, I Say (5th ed.) by Graff, Birkenstein, & Durst