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How to Write an Annotated Bibliography: What to Include

What to Include in an Annotated Bibliography

An annotation may contain all or part of the following elements depending on the word limit and the content of the sources you are examining:

  1. [What is] the background of the author(s)?
  2. [What is] the content or scope of the text?
  3. [What is] the main argument?
  4. [Who is] the intended audience?
  5. [What are] the research methods [used] (if applicable)?
  6. [Are there] any conclusions made by the author/s?
  7. [What are your] comments on the reliability of the text?
  8. [Are there] any special features of the text that were unique or helpful (charts, graphs, etc.)?
  9. [What is] the relevance or usefulness of the text for your research?
  10. In what way [does] the text relates to themes or concepts in your course?
  11. [What are] the strengths and limitations of the text?
  12. [What is] your view or reaction to the text?

Source: https://services.unimelb.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0010/706951/Writing-an-annotated-bibliography-100113.pdf

Elements of the Annotation

Information found in an annotation may include:

  1. qualifications of the author(s);

"Based on 20 years of study, William A. Smith, Professor of English at XYZ University...";

  1. purpose/scope:

"...sets out to place John Turner in eighteenth century England and show the development of his philosophy in relation to contemporary social mores";

  1. audience and level of reading difficulty:

"Smith addresses himself to the scholar, albeit the concluding chapters on capital punishment will be clear to any informed layman";

  1. bias or standpoint of author:

"Turner gears his study more to the romantic aspects of the age than the scientific and rational developments";

  1. relationship to other works in the field:

"Here Turner departs drastically from A. F. Johnson (Two will not, New York, Riposte Press, 1964) who not only has developed the rational themes of the eighteenth century but is convinced the romantic elements at best are only a skein through the major prose and poetry";

  1. findings, results, and conclusions (if available); and
  2. format/special features

(e.g., bibliography, glossary, index, survey instruments, testing devices, etc.).

Source:  http://lib.skidmore.edu/library/index.php/li371-annotated-bib