What do I need to include in my annotated bibliography?
An annotated bibliography might be an overview of a topic, or it might be something you write in preparation for a specific research essay. Many annotated bibliographies include:
A citation to the article, chapter, or other work
Qualifications of the author or authors
Mention of the methods the authors used
A summary of the argument and/or findings
Evaluation of the work, for example the logic of the arguments or value of the evidence
How this work supports your own research
The sample below is in APA. The citation changes in Chicago style, but all other parts of the annotation are the same. Note that both APA and Chicago require text to be double-spaced, but your instructor might provide other instructions.
The annotation is colour coded to match the parts identified above.
Sample (See above for the explanation of colour-coding)
Ken Battle draws on a close study of government documents, as well as his own research as an extensively-published policy analyst, to explain Canadian child benefit programs. He outlines some fundamental assumptions supporting the belief that all society members should contribute to the upbringing of children. His comparison of child poverty rates in a number of countries is a useful wake-up to anyone assuming Canadian society is doing a good job of protecting children. Battle pays particular attention to the National Child Benefit (NCB), arguing that it did not deserve to be criticized by politicians and journalists. He outlines the NCB’s development, costs, and benefits, and laments that the Conservative government scaled it back in favour of the inferior Universal Child Care Benefit (UCCB). However, he relies too heavily on his own work; he is the sole or primary author of almost half the sources in his bibliography. He could make this work stronger by drawing from others' perspectives and analyses. However,