Academic Writing: Annotated Bibliography
An annotated bibliography is an organized list of sources, each of
which is followed by a brief note or "annotation." These annotations
do one or more of the following: describe the content and focus of the
book or article; suggest the sources's usefulness to your research; evaluate
its method, conclusions, or reliability; record your reactions to the source.
Purpose: There are several possible reasons for compiling an
annotated bibliography:
(i) to demonstrate the quality of your own research;
(ii) provide additional information or background material for your
reader;
(iii) to explore the topic for further reading or preparation for research;
(iv) to give your research historical perspective or relevance (this
issue has been viewed a number of different ways over the years).
Formatting: Write the bibliographic entries just as you would
write any other bibliography according to the style your instructor requests
(i.e., APA, MLA, Chicago).
Contents of annotations: There are four basic types: (i) Informative
(ii) Evaluative (iii) Indicative (iv) Combination.
(i) Informative (summary--tell us the main findings
or arguments in the source)
Begin by writing the thesis; then develop it with the argument or hypothesis,
list the proofs, and state the conclusion.
Example:
Voeltz, L.M. (1980). Children's attitudes toward handicapped peers.
American Journal of Mental Deficiency, 84, 455-464.
As services for severely handicapped children become increasingly available
within neighborhood public schools, children's attitudes toward handicapped
peers in integrated settings warrant attention. Factor analysis of attitude
survey responses of 2,392 children revealed four factors underlying attitudes
toward handicapped peers: social-contact willingness, deviance consequation,
and two actual contact dimensions. Upper elementary-age children, girls,
and children in schools with most contact with severely handicapped peers
expressed the most accepting attitudes. Results of this study suggest the
modifiability of children's attitudes and the need to develop interventions
to facilitate social acceptance of individual differences in integrated
school settings.
(ii) Indicative (descriptive--tell us what is included
in the source)
This form of annotation defines the scope of the source, lists the
significant topics included, and tells what the source is about. This is
different from the informative entry, which gives actual information about
its source. In the indicative entry, there is no attempt to give actual
data such as hypotheses, proofs, etc. Generally, only topics or chapter
titles are included.
Example:
Griffin, C.W. (Ed.). (1982). Teaching writing in all disciplines.
San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
Ten essays on writing-across-the-curriculum programs, teaching writing
in disciplines other than English, and teaching techniques for using writing
as learning. Essays include Toby Fulwiler, "Writing: An Act of Cognition";
Barbara King, "Using Writing in the Mathematics Class: Theory and
Pratice"; Dean Drenk, "Teaching Finance Through Writing";
Elaine P. Mairnon, "Writing Across the Curriculum: Past, Present,
and Future".
(iii) Evaluative (tell us what you think of the source)
In this form of annotation you need to assess the source's strengths
and weaknesses. You get to say why the source is interesting or helpful
to you, or why it is not. In doing this you should list what kind of and
how much information is given; in short, evaluate the source's usefulness.
Examples:
Gurko, L. (1968). Ernest Hemingway and the pursuit of heroism.
New York: Crowell.
This book is part of a series called "Twentieth Century American
Writers." After fifty pages of straight biography, Gurko discussed
Hemingway's writing, novel by novel. There is a index and a short bibliography,
but no notes. The biographical part is clear and easy to read, but it sounds
too much like a summary.
Hingley, R. (1950). Chekhov: A biographical and critical study.
London: George Allen & Unwin.
A very good biography. A unique feature of this book is the appendix,
which has a chronological listing of all English translations of Chekhov's
short stories.
(iv) Combination
Most annotated bibliographies are of this type. They contain one or
two sentences summarizing or describing content and one or two sentences
providing an evaluation.
Example:
Morris, J.M. (1959). Reading in the primary school: An investigation
into standards of reading and their association with primary school characteristics.
London: Newnes.
Report of a large-scale investigation into English children's reading
standards, and their relation to conditions such as size of classes, types
of organisation and methods of teaching. Based on enquiries in sixty schools
in Kent and covering 8,000 children learning to read English as their mother
tongue. Notable for thoroughness of research techniques.
Writing style for annotations: These entries are brief. Only
directly significant details will be mentioned and any information apparent
in the title can be omitted from the annotation. Background materials and
references to previous work by the same author usually are not included.
Three types are common: telescopic; complete sentences, and paragraph-length.
(i) Telescopic (phrases, non-sentences)
Example:
Vowles, R. B. (1962). Psychology and drama: A selected checklist. Wisconsin
Studies in Contemporary Literature, 3 (1), 35-48.
Divided by individual authors. Reviews the research between 1920 and
1961.
(ii) Complete sentences In this style you
must always use complete sentences. The length of the sentences varies.
Subjects and conjunctions are not eliminated even though the tone may be
terse. Avoid long and complex sentences.
Example:
Kinter, W. R., and R L. Pfaltzgraff. (1972). Assessing the Moscow SALT
agreements. Orbis, 16, 34l-360.
The authors hold the conservative view that SALT can not halt the slipping
nuclear advantage of the United States. They conclude that the United States
needs a national reassessment of defense policy. They further conclude
that the only utility of SALT is in developing a dialogue with the Soviets.
This is a good conservative critique of SALT I.
(iii) Paragraph (a little more formal)
Write a full, coherent paragraph.
Example:
Voeltz, L.M. (1980). Children's attitudes toward handicapped peers.
American Journal of Mental Deficiency, 84, 455-464.
As services for severely handicapped children become increasingly available
within neighborhood public schools, children's attitudes toward handicapped
peers in integrated settings warrant attention. Factor analysis of attitude
survey responses of 2,392 children revealed four factors underlying attitudes
toward handicapped peers: social-contact willingness, deviance consequation,
and two actual contact dimensions. Upper elementary-age children, girls,
and children in schools with most contact with severely handicapped peers
expressed the most accepting attitudes. Results of this study suggest the
modifiability of children's attitudes and the need to develop interventions
to facilitate social acceptance of individual differences in integrated
school settings.