Scribd
Upload
195 views2 pages

Annotated Bibliography

An annotated bibliography provides brief summaries and evaluations of research sources on a given topic. It consists of citations followed by short paragraphs summarizing the content and analyzing each source. Annotations are usually 100-200 words and include key details like the authors, scope, arguments, audience, methods, conclusions, and relevance to the research topic. An annotated bibliography allows researchers to become acquainted with available materials and organize sources for further study.

Uploaded by

kuviwe
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
195 views2 pages

Annotated Bibliography

An annotated bibliography provides brief summaries and evaluations of research sources on a given topic. It consists of citations followed by short paragraphs summarizing the content and analyzing each source. Annotations are usually 100-200 words and include key details like the authors, scope, arguments, audience, methods, conclusions, and relevance to the research topic. An annotated bibliography allows researchers to become acquainted with available materials and organize sources for further study.

Uploaded by

kuviwe
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 2

Annotated

Bibliography
The Learning Hub – University of Queensland
The advice in this brochure is a general guide only. We strongly recommend that you also follow your
assignment instructions and seek clarification from your lecturer/tutor if needed.

What is an Annotated Bibliography?


An annotated bibliography provides a brief account of the available research on a given topic. It is a list of research
sources that includes concise descriptions and evaluations of each source. The annotation usually contains a brief
summary of content and a short analysis or evaluation. Depending on your assignment you may be asked
to reflect, summarise, critique, evaluate or analyse the source. An annotated bibliography may be a component of a
larger assignment or it may be a stand-alone assignment. While an annotation can be as brief as one sentence, the
standard annotated bibliography consists of a citation followed by a short paragraph. An example is provided on the
next page.

Purpose of an Annotated Bibliography


Depending on your specific assessment, an annotated bibliography may serve to:

o review the literature of a particular subject;

o demonstrate the quality and depth of reading that you have done;

o exemplify the scope of sources available—such as journals, books,


web sites and magazine articles;

o highlight sources that may be of interest to other readers and researchers;

o explore and organise sources for further research.

When set as an assignment, an annotated bibliography allows you to get


acquainted with the material available on a particular topic.

Questions to Consider Which writing style should I use in the


annotations?
You need to consider carefully the texts that you select o Each annotation should be concise. Do not write
for your annotated bibliography. Keep the following too much—remember, you are writing a summary,
questions in mind to help clarify your choices. not an essay. Annotations should not extend
beyond one paragraph unless otherwise
1. What topic/ problem am I investigating? stipulated in your assignment guidelines. As this
is not an extended piece of writing, only mention
2. What question(s) am I exploring? Identify the significant and relevant details.
aim of your literature research.
o Any information apparent in the title of the text or
3. What kind of material am I looking at and journal can be omitted from the annotation.
why? Am I looking for journal articles, reports,
policies or primary historical data? o Background materials and references to previous
work by the same author usually are not included.
4. Am I being judicious in my selection of As you are addressing one text at a time, there is
texts? Does each text relate to my research no need to cross reference or use in-text citations
topic and assignment requirements? to support your annotation.
5. What are the essential or key texts on my o Unless otherwise stipulated, you should write in
topic? Am I finding them? Are the sources full sentences using academic vocabulary.
valuable or often referred to in other texts?
Contents of an Annotated Bibliography

What does an annotated An annotation may contain all or part of the


bibliography look like? following elements depending on the word limit and
the content of the sources you are examining.
An annotated bibliography starts with the
bibliographic details of a source (the o Provide the full bibliographic citation
citation) followed by a brief annotation. o Indicate the background of the author(s)
As with a normal reference list or o Indicate the content or scope of the text
bibliography, an annotated bibliography is
o Outline the main argument
usually arranged alphabetically according to
the author’s last name. An annotated o Indicate the intended audience
bibliography summary should be about 100 -
200 words per citation—check with your o Identify the research methods (if applicable)
lecturer/tutor as this may vary between o Identify any conclusions made by the
faculties and assessments. Please also check
with your lecturer about the elements each author/s
annotation should include. o Discuss the reliability of the text
o Highlight any special features of the text that
Sample Annotation were unique or helpful (charts, graphs etc.)
o Discuss the relevance or usefulness of
The citation goes first and is followed by the the text for your research
annotation. Make sure that you follow your
faculty’s preferred citation style. The summary o Point out in what way the text relates to
needs to be concise (please note the themes or concepts in your course
following example is entirely fictitious).
o State the strengths and limitations of the
In the sample annotation below, each element
text
is numbered (see Key). o Present your view or reaction to the text

1 Key
Trevor, C.O., Lansford, B. and Black, J.W., 2004, ‘Employee turnover and
job performance: monitoring the influences of salary growth and 1. Citation
promotion’, Journal of Armchair Psychology, vol 113, no.1, pp. 56-64.
2. Introduction
2.
In this article Trevor et al. review the influences of pay and job
opportunities in respect to job performance, turnover rates and employee 3. Aims & Research methods
motivation. 3. The authors use data gained through organisational surveys of
.
blue-chip companies in Vancouver, Canada to try to identify the main causes 4. Scope
of employee turnover and whether it is linked to salary growth. 4. Their
5. Usefulness (to your research/
research focuses on assessing a range of pay structures such as pay for
to a particular topic)
performance and organisational reward schemes. 5. The article is useful to my
research topic, as Trevor et al. suggest that there are numerous reasons for 6. Limitations
employee turnover and variances in employee motivation and performance. 6.
The main limitation of the article is that the survey sample was restricted to 7. Conclusions
mid-level management, 7. thus the authors indicate that further, more
extensive, research needs to be undertaken to develop a more in-depth 8. Reflection (explain how this
understanding of employee turnover and job performance. 8. This article will work illuminates your topic or
not form the basis of my research; however it will be useful supplementary how it will fit in with your
information for my research on pay structures. research)

Prepared by David Hughes. The Learning Hub, University of Queensland. Adapted from Shannon Kennedy-
Clark, Tracey-Lee Downey and Pam Mort, The Learning Centre, The University of New South Wales.

You might also like