Annotated Bibliographies
Research & Instruction Department
Albert S. Cook Library
What is an Annotated Bibliography?
An annotated bibliography is a list of citations to books, articles, and
documents. Each citation is followed by a brief (approximately 150-word)
descriptive and evaluative paragraph, the annotation. The purpose of the
annotation is to inform the reader of the relevance, accuracy, and quality of
the sources cited.
The Process:
Creating an annotated bibliography calls for the application of a variety of
intellectual skills: concise writing, succinct analysis, and informed research.
First, locate and record or print citations to books, periodicals, and
documents that may contain useful information and ideas on your topic.
Briefly examine and review the actual items.
Choose those works that provide a variety of perspectives on your topic.
Cite the book, article, or document using the appropriate style.
Write a concise annotation that summarizes the central theme and scope
of the book, book chapter, document, or article. Include one or more
sentences that
o evaluate the authority or background of the author,
o comment on the intended audience,
o comment on the source – new research or a review of research
o compare or contrast this work with another you have cited,
and/or
o comment on any bias you detect
o explain how this work illuminates your topic
o include and comment on the authors’ conclusions
You may also choose to comment on special features – tables, charts,
diagrams, maps and/or other noteworthy features.
Albert S. Cook Library, Towson University
Revised 8/2014 sec
Annotations vs. Abstracts:
Abstracts are the purely descriptive summaries often found at the beginning of
scholarly journal articles or in periodical indexes. Annotations are descriptive
and critical; they expose the author's point of view, clarity and appropriateness
of expression, and authority.
Sample Annotated Bibliography for a Journal Article:
The following example uses the APA format for the journal citation:
Citation without a doi:
Goldschneider, F. K., Waite, L. J., & Witsberger, C. (1986). Nonfamily living
and the erosion of traditional family orientations among young adults.
American Sociological Review, 51, 541-554. Retrieved from
http://www.asanet.org/
The authors, researchers at the Rand Corporation and Brown University, used
data from the National Longitudinal Surveys of Young Women and Young Men
to test their hypothesis that non-family living by young adults alters their
attitudes, values, plans, and expectations, moving them away from their belief
in traditional sex roles. They found their hypothesis strongly supported in young
females, while the effects were fewer in studies of young males. Increasing the
time away from parents before marrying, increased individualism, selfsufficiency, and changes in attitudes about families. The article lends support
to our project by supplying data on independent living women. The data helps
support the need for college living spaces for young women.
Citation with a doi:
Teoh, A. P., & Chin, S. B. (2009). Transcribing speech of children with cochlear
implants: Clinical application of narrow phonetic transcriptions.
American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 18, 388-401. doi:
10.1044/1058-0360(2009/08-0076)
Adapted from previous Cook Library editions
and How to Prepare an Annotated Bibliography.
Olin & Uris Libraries, Cornell University
http://www.library.cornell.edu/olinuris/ref/research/skill28.htm
Albert S. Cook Library, Towson University
Revised 8/2014 sec
Frequently asked questions about the annotated bibliography assignments.
What is an annotated bibliography (AB)?
It is a summary/critique of what you have read on ONE article or reference. This is a way for you to take
notes about any article you read. – without copying and pasting from the article. They have to be in
your own words.
WHY are they needed?
In reality—you should do an AB for every article/source you review for ANY paper you are writing. In
this class, each one has a slightly different list of topics. This is so that you are reading articles for the
different parts of your paper. It helps you to not plagiarize as you write your paper. It also means you
cannot totally procrastinate the research for your paper.
Also, I then get an opportunity to tell you....whether or not you are using appropriate sources, using APA
format correctly or if you are not focused on the paper topics you need to write.
What if I want to turn in the same topic on more than one AB? Will I be penalized on the grade of the
AB?
When I am grading your ABs, I don’t check to see if you followed the topics given to you for each
submission. However, those topics are chosen to help you be prepared to write your paper. If you
choose to not follow the directions, you will only hurt yourself when you begin writing your paper.
How many do I turn in each time?
An AB is ONE article. The article citation (APA format) goes at the top of the page. You then summarize
the article and critique it using the guidelines in the scoring rubric.
What if I read five articles on the topic...can I turn them all in for a grade?
I will read ONE AB each time you submit. If you include five —I will read and grade one. You should
annotate each of them...but only submit one each time.
Does this mean I only need four references/sources for my paper?
You definitely need more than four references to write this paper. I don’t have a specific number of
references for your paper. You definitely need more than four...but I doubt that you would have 20. In
reality I would think you would have at least eight references for your paper. I only collect four so that
you can get feedback your use of APA, your references/material you are finding and your writing skills.
Scoring Rubric for Annotated Bibliography
Criteria
Uses Correct format supplied by TU library
Uses APA format to cite article
Attaches the article or a live link to the article
Summarizes article succinctly and thoroughly
in your own words
Provides critique of at least three
* authority of the author
* intended audience
* source
* compare to other sources
* notes biases
* explain how it helps with your topic
* comment on how it can be used
* special features, tables, etc
Spelling and Grammar
Saving criteria met
Scores
Yes-1
No-not graded
Yes-2
No 0-1
Yes 1
No not graded
Both-6
One-3
Neither-0
Your Score and Comments
12-all three and correct
6-two and correct
3- one and correct
Points lost for errors
(up to 3)
0-errors 3
1-error 2
2-errors 1
>2 errors 0
No-points deducted
2.5
-2.5
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