Annotated Bibliography

What it Is:

• A list of sources with a short paragraph explaining the information 
• Each source listed includes:
  • The citation of the source, which follows the citation style you are required to use
  • The length of the annotation depends on the citation style you are using, and, usually, addresses the following points:
    • The main focus of the source
    • How this source is useful to your research
    • What unique information does the source contain
    • The credibility of the author-s
    • The conclusions proposed by the author
    • The conclusions that you reached

The purpose is to:

• Inform the reader of the accuracy, relevance, and quality of the information you used in a paper.
• Demonstrate your familiarity with the topic. 
• Help you develop a theoretical framework and methodology for your research.
• Demonstrate how your research addresses a gap or contributes to a topic.

It  is not:

• A list of everything that has been written on that topic.
• The list of sources is selective and usually follows a criterion of inclusion/exclusion which you explain in the paper. 

• All follow a specific citation style (MLA, APA, etc..) which determines what information is included and in what format it should be written.
• All are defined by a research question.

The Bibliography

• It is a list of citations (the information  you used in your research) on a specific topic
• Use the bibliography to gather information about your topic

The Annotated Bibliography

• Adds a paragraph to a citation to describes, summarizes, and evaluates each work. 
• The annotation is not a summary but provides both descriptive and critical analysis of the source. 
• There are four types of Annotated Bibliographies
• Use the annotated bibliography to find information to use in your research.

The Literature Review

• Combines the information you wrote in the annotated bibliography
• The annotations are not merely listed, but they are organized, compared and contrasted to demonstrate what knowledge already exists, or not, about a topic