ONLINE Unit 3 Lesson 3

the annotated bibliography

ENL 101 | Unit 3 Lesson 3

Purpose

An annotated bibliography is a structured documentation of research materials related to a specific topic or project. It's a way to keep track of the various sources you're working with and what they're about, and it gives readers a sense of the scope and direction of your project.

Citations

The first part of an annotated bibliography entry is the citation -- in MLA or APA format (Chicago is usually formatted in endnotes).

MLA

APA

Annotations

The annotations provide information about the source you're citing -- the information included varies.

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Example

This is from an annotated bibliography on the literature of journalism.

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Example

This is an example of a published annotated bibliography from a scholarly book.

Example

This is a student annotated bibliography for an ENL 102 equivalent class.

Annotation Criteria

• Summary: What is the source about?
• Assessment: Who wrote the source and where was it published? Is it scholarly?
• Utility: How do/will you use this source in your project?

Your citations don't need to be long -- aim for 3-4 sentences, or a short paragraph.

Formatting notes

• Put your sources in alphabetical order by author's last name.
• Indent your annotation by one line.