An annotated bibliography is basically a list of citations to articles, books, documents or any other information source. Each citation in an annotated bibliography is to be followed by a concise evaluative and descriptive paragraph which is in most cases comprises of about 150 words. The purpose of an annotated bibliography is to inform the reader of the annotated bibliography of the accuracy, quality and relevance of the sources cited. Writing an annotated bibliography requires the application of a myriad of intellectual skills including succinct analysis, concise exposition and a well informed library PhD research. Before writing an annotated bibliography, you should first look for and record citations to articles, periodicals, documents and books that may have useful data on the topics you are writing about. You should then briefly review and examine the actual items in the sources and select those works that give a variety of perspectives on the topic you are interested in, and cite the source using the appropriate citation style. As you write you annotated bibliography, write brief a paragraph for each source that summarizes the source’s main points, argument and scope. You should include more sentences that examine the author’s background or authority and comment on the source’s targeted audience. A good annotated bibliography should compare and contrast one source with another source that has also been cited in the annotated bibliography and explain how each work illuminates the thesis topics of the annotated bibliography. You should also always ensure that you choose the correct format for the sources in your annotated bibliography. The most common citation styles used to cite annotated bibliographies are the MLA and APA citation styles.
Annotated Bibliography