Annotated Bibliography Guide: Home

An annotated bibliography is a descriptive and evaluative list of citations for books, articles, or other documents.

Style Manuals

Annotated Bibliography

Definition

An annotated bibliography is a descriptive and evaluative list of citations for books, articles, or other documents. Each citation is followed by a brief paragraph - the annotation - alerting the reader to the accuracy, quality, and relevance of that source.

Composing an annotated bibliography helps a writer to gather one's thoughts on how to use the information contained in cited sources, and helps the reader to decide whether to pursue the full context of the information you provide. It also helps researchers understand the disciplinary terrain; what has been explored by researchers before, and what might be explored in the future.

 

Format of the Bibliography

All of the citations in an annotated bibliography should be formatted according to one chosen style such as MLA, APA, CSE or Chicago. See the side box for manuals in the library.

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