Skip to Main Content

What's an Annotated Bibliography?

An annotated bibliography is a written assignment consisting of a series of entries on a single theme, organized either alphabetically (most common), by date, or by topic. Each entry consists of two parts:

  1. A reference to a book, journal article, or other work in a particular citation style (APA, MLA, Chicago, etc.)
  2. A brief summary and/or commentary (annotation) of the source in paragraph form

 

What's the Purpose of an Annotated Bibliography?

Each annotation enables readers to see the relationship of a number of works to each other and in the context of the topic you are studying. Many annotations are both descriptive (summarizing what the source is about) and critical (evaluating its usefulness or importance).

An annotated bibliography can:

  • Present readers with a review of the scholarly works on a specific topic or in a specialized field
  • Provide the writer with a more in-depth understanding of a specific topic or specialized field in preparation for conducting further research

What's Included in an Annotation?

The information and analysis provided in annotations may vary, but some examples include:

  • Academic credentials, qualifications, and/or expertise of the author(s)
  • Research methods the author(s) used
  • A summary of the argument and/or findings
  • Evaluation of the work, such as the logic of the arguments or value of the evidence
  • How the work supports or relates to your own research

To learn more about Annotated Bibliographies and to see an example of an annotation with its different component parts highlighted, check out this handout from MRU's Student Learning Services!

Additional Resources

License

Much of the content on this Academic Research Skills guide has been adapted from the University of Alberta Library, which shared its guide content under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 license.