An annotated bibliography is a bibliography (a list of citations for books, articles, etc.) with annotations (notes).
The citations in your bibliography will need to follow a particular citation style (e.g. MLA, APA, Turabian, etc.) Ask your professor which style to use.
Your annotations, or notes, could be as short as a few sentences to a few paragraphs long and will need to address the requirements of your assignment. Annotated bibliography assignments might ask you to
- summarize your source
- critically analyze your source
- evaluate your source
- explain why and how you'd use this source in your research
These assignments can help you explore research questions, develop disciplinary search skills, reflect on the direction of your research, and select the most relevant sources which prepare you to complete a research project.
