Luther Rice Seminary
University
Smith Library
Writing an Annotated Bibliography
Your professor may have different requirements for his annotated bibliography assignment.
Please check with him before following the advice in this document.
What is a bibliography?
A bibliography is a systematically arranged list of resources such as books and journal
articles used for research.
What is an annotation?
An annotation could be an explanation, description, summary, critical evaluation, or a
combination of all of them.
What is an annotated bibliography?
An annotated bibliography is a systematically arranged list of resources such as books
and journals used for research with a brief summary and critical evaluation of each
resource.
A bibliography provides you with the author, title, and publication details of resources
used; an annotated bibliography adds a paragraph of summary and evaluation to each
resource.
What is the purpose of an annotated bibliography?
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It reflects the depth of your research and understanding of the topic.
It reviews the literature published on a topic.
How long should it be?
The length of each entry depends upon the specific guidelines your professor has given
you. An annotation can be as short as one sentence. Generally, each annotation should
be one single paragraph and not exceed 150 to 200 words, or three to five sentences.
How does one choose resources for an annotated bibliography?
Choosing resources for an annotated bibliography involves doing research just like any
other project. Choose peer-reviewed journals and scholarly monographs that provide a
wide variety of perspectives on your topic. The quality of your bibliography will depend
on your selection of sources. Follow the specific guidelines your professor may have
given you.
What goes into an annotated bibliography?
The first part of the annotated bibliography is the bibliography itself. This should be
done in alphabetical order in Turabian format.
The second part depends on what is being asked by your professor. If your professor is
asking for a descriptive annotation (without analyzing the author’s findings or
conclusions), simply summarize the scope and content of the resource.
If the professor is asking for a critical and evaluative annotation, provide a critical
assessment of the resource with the descriptive annotation. A critical or evaluative
annotation examines the strengths, weaknesses, and biases of the resource.
Follow these steps for a critical assessment of a book or an article.
1. Get an idea about the author’s thesis and conclusion by reading the introduction,
table of contents, and conclusion.
2. Evaluate the author’s credentials (educational background, reputation, and
knowledge on the topic). How qualified is the author? Does the author have some
authority in the field?
3. Evaluate sources cited within the work and see whether they appear to be credible
and scholarly without much controversy. Is the author’s work in tune with the
established scholarship?
4. Evaluate the publisher’s credentials. Is the publisher reliable and reputable?
5. Evaluate the relevance of the information. Is the source/information contained
within the source relatively recent?
What does an annotated bibliography in Turabian format look like?
Sample citations and annotations:
SELECTED ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY
Davidheiser, Bolton. Evolution and Christian Faith. Philadelphia: Presbyterian and
Reformed, 1969.
Young-earth creationist critique of evolution. The section on teleology is
especially good. There are many helpful appendices as well. This book is so well-written,
it should be updated with more recent documentation and reprinted.
Geisler, Norman L., and J. Kerby Anderson. Origin Science: A Proposal for the
Creation-Evolution Controversy. Grand Rapids: Baker, 1987.
Important book arguing for a distinction between cosmogony (origin science) and
cosmology (operations science), with the former allowing for supernatural creation while
the latter emphasizes the regularities of natural processes.
Hoyle, Sir Fred, and Chandra Wickramasinghe. Evolution from Space. New York:
Simon and Schuster, 1981.
Two non-Christian scientists correctly argue that life could not have arisen on
earth by itself. Instead of admitting to the creationist alternative, however, they suggest
life was seeded on earth by aliens from outer space (of course that just moves the
problem of origins to another planet). An example of the unbelievable things an
unbeliever will believe in order to remain an unbeliever!
Morris, Henry M. The Biblical Basis for Modern Science. Grand Rapids: Baker, 1984.
One of the best of Morris's many books defending young-earth creationism.
Shows the biblical commitments of pioneer scientists and the biblical foundations of their
disciplines. Should put to rest the objection that the Bible is irrelevant in scientific issues.
Young, Davis A. Creation and the Flood. Grand Rapids: Baker, 1977.
A Christian geologist takes the unusual position that the Genesis flood was global
but "tranquil" (in support of the old earth view). Twenty years later, Young gave this
position up and argued for a "local flood" (in The Biblical Flood: A Case Study of the
Church’s Response to Extrabiblical Evidence. Carlisle: The Paternoster Press, 1995).
Individual professors may give instructions which differ from this sample. Please
check with your instructor to make sure that you are writing the bibliography as he wants
it written.
N.B.
Links:
Sample Annotated Bibliography (PDF format)
Last Modified 2/7/2012