541/Beverly Creating an Annotated Bibliography

What is an Annotated Bibliography?

An annotated bibliography is one in which you include a short summary of sources that you are thinking of using for your paper. Each source citation is followed by a brief (less than 150 words) descriptive, evaluative paragraph. One purpose is to assist you in the critical selection of sources that will shape and guide your writing. Another purpose is to inform the reader of the relevance, accuracy, and quality of the sources cited. Annotations are different from abstracts. Abstracts are purely descriptive summaries that typically express the author’s point of view.

What are the steps in creating an Annotated Bibliography?

• Research the topic area to locate relevant journal articles. Some position papers or tutorial may be included, but these should be limited.
• Choose 6 to 8 sources that appear to be most relevant, current, and offer the variety of perspectives on the topic that you’ve selected.
• Obtain from the library the sources (ALLOW TIME FOR THIS STEP) and read each one.
• Cite the sources in appropriate APA format.
• Write an annotation that summarizes the main idea. You may include one or more sentences that address the following information:
• Explain how this work illuminates your topic
• Compare or contrast this work with others cited
• Evaluate the strengths or weaknesses of the work
• Comment on the intended audience

What is an example of an Annotated Citation?

Senechal, M. (1997). The differential effect of storybook reading on preschoolers’ acquisition of expressive and receptive vocabulary. Journal of Child Language, 24, 123-138.

Preschoolers’ comprehension of novel vocabulary (e.g., “angling,” “infant”) improved with multiple readings of a storybook. Their retrieval of novel words was only improved when the reader also asked questions resulting in the children’s production of targets. One confound in the questioning condition was that children who did not independently recall the targets were told the novel words by the reader.