Annotated Bibliography
An annotated bibliography is a list of sources on a particular topic with accompanying annotations
that summarize and evaluate those sources. Each source listed in the annotated bibliography should
have two parts:
1. Complete bibliographic information for the source in the documentation style being
used within a course or discipline (MLA, APA, IEEE)
2. An annotation that summarizes and analyzes the source. Typically do the following within
an annotation (depending on the specified length):

Summarize: Provide an overview and summary of the source.
What is the thesis? What are the important conclusions and main ideas?
What is the author’s purpose?

Assess: Evaluate the source and its authoritativeness.
Authority: Who is the author and what are his/her qualifications?
Accuracy: How accurate and reliable is the source? Is information documented?
Currency: How current is the source? How important is currency to the topic?
Objectivity: Is the source objective or biased?
Coverage: How detailed and in-depth is the coverage?

Reflect: Analyze the source’s relevance and usefulness to your research.
How useful is the source to your research? How can you use the source?
What does the source contribute to your research?
Points to Remember When Writing Annotations:

Length: Annotations vary in length from a few sentences to a few pages, so check with
the assignment and your professor to determine the desired length.

Wording: Summarize the main ideas and conclusions of a source in your own words
and sentence structure. The annotation is your summary of the source, and it shows your
familiarity with that source, so typically do not use direct quotations within an
annotation and be careful not to use the language of the abstract (the author’s summary).

Paragraph Structure: Use good paragraph structure, beginning with a topic sentence
that presents the overall idea of the paragraph and then providing enough detail to
develop the main idea presented in the topic sentence. If you have multiple paragraphs
in the annotation, provide a good topic sentence for each paragraph.

Citation: The citation for the source typically goes first, followed by the annotation. In
the annotation, do not repeat information that is in the citation, including the title,
journal, publication information, and full names of all authors.

Spacing: Typically, double space your annotated bibliography, but check with the
assignment and your professor.
Sample Sources and Annotations
Cashin, Jeffrey R., Cheryl A. Presley, and Philip W. Meilman. “Alcohol Use in the Greek
System: Follow the Leader?” Journal of Studies on Alcohol 59.1 (1998): 63-71.
Academic Search Premier. Web. 16 Sept. 2014. [MLA format]
This authoritative peer-reviewed journal article provides results of an in-depth study of
alcohol use among sorority and fraternity members at over sixty U.S. universities. The
authors studied members’ level of involvement in the Greek system and their drinking habits
and beliefs and concluded that active fraternity and sorority members drink more frequently,
binge drink more heavily, and suffer the negative effects of drinking more than non-Greeks.
While the researchers had hypothesized that the leaders would discourage excessive
drinking and encourage responsible behavior, they found instead that the leaders encouraged
frequent and heavy drinking and that such drinking is a major part of Greek social activities.
Although the study was completed over fifteen years ago, more recent studies indicate the
results remain an accurate representation of alcohol use among Greek system members.
This article will help me to establish that the leaders set the standard for heavy drinking and
utilize their power and authority to set a negative example for their members.
______________________________________________________________________
Thompson, Craig J., Aric Rindfleisch, and Zeynep Arsel. “Emotional Branding and the Strategic
Value of the Doppelganger Brand Image.” Journal of Marketing 70.1 (Jan. 2006): 50-64.
Business Source Premier. Web. 13 Sept. 2014. [MLA format]
In this peer-reviewed journal article, Thompson, Rindfleisch, and Arsel provide an in-depth
analysis of emotional branding, with its risks and potential benefits, and Starbucks’ use of
emotional branding in its marketing. The authors—two business professors and a doctoral
student at the University of Wisconsin, Madison—use the term doppelganger to refer to
consumers’ negative reactions to emotional branding that occur when consumers do not
accept the story that is central to such marketing. The authors assert that companies can use
such negative reactions to identify potential problems with their emotional branding
marketing strategy. The researchers completed a two-year study of Starbucks’ use of
emotional branding and concluded that the company is definitely experiencing the
doppelganger effect and should use the consumers’ negative reactions to identify problems
with its marketing campaign and to develop strategies for addressing such problems. The
authors also recommend that companies experiencing the doppelganger effect should pay
attention to any signs of such negative reactions, identify and monitor any brand avoidance,
and identify and test new emotional-branding stories that seem authentic to consumers.
This article is crucial to my research because it provides the background and detail
necessary for me to better understand emotional branding as a marketing strategy and
possible problems with it. Although the article was published over eight years ago, the
authors’ analysis of emotional branding remains relevant today because companies continue
to use emotional branding to market their products and continue to experience some
negative reactions to such marketing. This article was the first to identify a problem with
emotional branding, and it is important for me to be aware of problems with such a
marketing strategy.