ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY CHECKLIST
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 (usually about 150 words) 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.
Write a concise annotation that summarizes the central theme and scope of the book or article. Include
one or more sentences that (a) evaluate the authority or background of the author or organization, (b)
comment on the intended audience, (c) compare or contrast this work with another you have cited, or
(d) explain how this work contributed to your research.
Annotations may consist of all or part of the following items:
1. Format
(Print, electronic, encyclopedia, website,
web page etc.)
2. Where found
(public library, school library; Internet)
3. How found
(ipac; database; directory; metasearch
engine; search engine)
4. Search string* used
(list of keywords included in a web search to
find the resulting website)
E.g. dog + Chihuahua + health issues –inurl:.com
5. Type of Source
(Primary or Secondary);
(Book, Scholarly journal; newspaper;
magazine article; website)
6. Describe the content (focus) of the item
(what info did it give you?)
Background; data; quotes; facts; etc.)
7. Describe the usefulness of the item
(language level; quality of source; important
information it provided; bias-free; adequate
depth)
8. Discuss any limitations that the item may
have
(grade level, timeliness etc.)
9. Describe what audience the item is
intended for
10. Evaluate the methods (research) used in
the item if it is a study or experiment
11. Evaluate reliability of the item
(accuracy; currency (Up-to-date); working
links)
12. Discuss the author’s background or the
organization’s credibility
(background; reputation; body-of-work; do
a Google search or Wikipedia search on the
person)
13. Discuss the credibility of the
Organization or host;
(Google search; URL analysis; domain
search; evidence of Works cited)
14. Reflect on what the source gave you;
describe your reaction to the item
Annotated Bibliography – APA Style
What is an annotation?
An annotation is a citation of a work used in a project for which you have included a summary of the source
and a critical evaluation of its usefulness for your project. It may also contain an evaluation of the source as
it compares to the other sources in the field. It may also contain a personal opinion on the source. It must
be written in a specific form according to APA Style.
What an annotation should include:
 Complete bibliographic information.
 Some or all of the following:
o A brief summary of the source.
o Information to explain the authority and/or qualifications of the author. For example: Dr.
William Smith, a history professor at XYZ University, based his book on twenty years of
research.
o Scope, depth, and main purpose of the work.
o Any biases that you detect.
o Intended audience and level of reading difficulty.
o The currency of the information.
 Evaluation or why you feel this work is suitable for your topic including:
o the source’s strengths and weaknesses
o how its conclusions help your project
o why the source is relevant in your field of study
o its relationships to other studies in the field
o an evaluation of the research methodology (if applicable)
 Your personal conclusions and opinions about the source and how it helped you and could help others
Annotation Style:
Generally, an annotation is approximately 50-150 words in length (one paragraph). However, your teacher
may have different expectations so it is recommended that you clarify the assignment guidelines. The
comments may vary in length and style. Syntax: either complete sentences or fragmentary notes omitting
introductory words and phrases, articles, and unnecessary modifiers. Be consistent; use one style throughout
the bibliography.
Annotation Format:
1. Hanging indents: these are now required for citations in the bibliography: the first line of the citation starts
at the left margin and subsequent lines are indented. The annotation begins on a new line and is indented
by TWO tab stops.
2. Tab settings: (Check Microsoft Word…Go to Format…Paragraph and make sure you have selected
“Hanging” for indent.) The APA Manual suggests that indentations should be "five to seven spaces or ½
in."
3. Line spacing: APA sample entries use double spacing throughout, with no extra lines between entries.
4. Arrangement of entries: use alphabetical ordering (by author) in each section (If you have defined sections
for your research you can create categories within an annotated bibliography and alphabetize within
them. Some annotated bibliographies have separate sections for primary/secondary material or
books/articles.
TYPES OF ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHIES
What is a Descriptive or Informative Annotation?
An Informative/descriptive annotation describes the content of the work without judging it. It does point out
distinctive features.
Sample Informative/Descriptive Annotation
London, H. (Spring, 1982). Five Myths of the Television Age. Television Quarterly 10(1) 81-89.
Herbert London, the Dean of Journalism at New York University and author of several books
and articles, explains how television contradicts five commonly believed ideas. He uses
specific examples of events seen on television, such as the assassination of John Kennedy, to
illustrate his points. His examples have been selected to contradict such truisms as: "seeing is
believing"; "a picture is worth a thousand words"; and "satisfaction is its own reward."
London uses logical arguments to support his ideas which are his personal opinion. He doesn't
refer to any previous works on the topic. London's style and vocabulary would make the
article of interest to any reader.
What is a Critical Annotation?
In other cases, annotated bibliographies are written to assess the literature on a chosen topic more broadly.
Here, the compiler of the annotated bibliography would normally be more critical and evaluative when
discussing the works, in considering not only how a book, article, website, etc. is relevant to an assignment,
but how well the work stands up against most of the published works in a particular field of study
In addition to the suggestion above, this type of annotation would more specifically include:


How the work relates and compares to other works on the topic
How or whether the work would be useful to others exploring the topic
Sample Critical Annotation
In addition to "What an annotation should include," a critical annotation evaluates the usefulness of the work
for a particular audience or situation. The words that are in bold indicate what has been added to the
descriptive annotation to make it a critical annotation.
London, H. (Spring, 1982). Five Myths of the Television Age. Television Quarterly 10(1) 81-89.
Herbert London, the Dean of Journalism at New York University and author of several books
and articles, explains how television contradicts five commonly believed ideas. He uses
specific examples of events seen on television, such as the assassination of John Kennedy, to
illustrate his points. His examples have been selected to contradict such truisms as: "seeing is
believing"; "a picture is worth a thousand words"; and "satisfaction is its own reward."
London uses logical arguments to support his ideas which are his personal opinion. He doesn't
refer to any previous works on the topic; however, for a different point of view, one should
refer to Joseph Patterson's, "Television is Truth" (The Journal of Television 45 (6)
November/December 1995: 120-135). London's style and vocabulary would make the article
of interest to any reader. The article clearly illustrates London's points, but does not
explore their implications, leaving the reader with many unanswered questions.
Sample Annotated Bibliography in APA style:
Reminder again about spacing in an APA style annotated bibliography, the first line of the citation begins on
the left margin, and the subsequent lines after the first line of the citation are indented as hanging indents.
What’s different with the following APA example is that, for the annotation underneath, the entire annotation
is indented several more spaces to the right so that the annotation is clearly separated from the bibliographic
information in the citation.
Annotated Bibliography
D’Elia, G., Jorgensen, C., Woelfel, J., & Rodger, E. J. (2002). The impact of the Internet on public
library use: An analysis of the current consumer market for library and Internet services. Journal
of the American Society for Information Science and Technology 53(10), 808-820.
doi:10.1002/asi.10102
In this study, the researchers examined if the Internet had affected public library usage in the
United States. This study is distinct because its researchers surveyed library nonusers as well
as users. The major finding was that 75.2% of people who used the Internet also used the
public library. However, the researchers surveyed only 3000 individuals in a population of
millions; therefore, these results may not be statistically significant. However, this study is
relevant because it provides future researchers with a methodology for determining the impact
of the Internet on public library usage.
Fowler, H. R., Aaron, J. E., & McArthur, M. (2001). The little citation handbook. (3rd Can. ed.).
Toronto: Addison Wesley Longman.
Well-organized grammar and composition workbook. Includes many useful exercises and
examples and good sections on APA, MLA, and CSE formats. Inexpensive and widely
available undergraduate text which also makes a useful general reference work.
Mihalopoulos, N., Auinger, P., & Klein, J. (2008). The freshman 15: Is it real? Journal of
American College Health, 56(5), 531-533. Retrieved from
http://www.acha.org/Publications/JACH.cfm.
The study was conducted on unmarried students living on campus in an American
university. The National College Health Assessment questionnaire was provided and
participants recorded their own height and weight. 582 students were randomly chosen
through an email selection but only 121 students were eligible. 50% of the participants
gained weight and 15% lost weight after seven months. Weight varied from losing five
pounds to gaining twenty pounds, and although this study proves the Freshman 15 to be
false, there is the possibility of participants underestimating their weight and height.
To do the Citation part;
Go to KnightCite http://www.calvin.edu/library/knightcite/index.php