How to write an annotated bibliography

General guidelines

  • Carefully read the course assignment instructions.
  • If you are still unclear, check with your professor on the type of annotated bibliography that is required for the assignment.
  • Main Types of Annotated Bibliographies:
    • Summary/descriptive – provides a concise overview of the main arguments, evidence presented, and conclusions
    • Critical/evaluative – in addition to providing an overview, analyzes the content; comments on the strengths and weaknesses of the arguments, evidence, and conclusions; explains the usefulness of the source for your research topic.
    • Combination - most annotated bibliography assignments require that you include both an overview and evaluative comments.
  • Most annotated bibliographies organize sources alphabetically by the first author's last name.
  • Consistently follow the rules of the style guide (APA, MLA, Chicago, Other Guides) that is indicated in your course assignment instructions; the style guide will detail what information to include for each type of source and how it should be formatted.
  • For more detailed guidelines on writing an annotated bibliography, please refer to the following:
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