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Syracuse University Libraries

Citation Styles: Annotated Bibliography

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Annotated Bibliography Examples

Credo Reference Tutorial: Annotated Bibliography

What is an annotated bibliography?

An annotated bibliography is… a list of citations to books, articles, and documents where each citation is followed by a brief descriptive and evaluative paragraph to inform the reader of the relevance, accuracy, and quality of the sources cited.

 

Citation + Annotation

 

An annotation:

Summarizes: What are the main arguments? What is the point of the source? What topics are covered?

Assesses: Is the source useful? Is the information reliable? Is the source biased or objective?

Reflects: How does it help shape your argument? Can you use this source in your research project?

 

Formatting Your Annotated Bibliography

Annotated Bibliography Format Example

Citations should still be listed in alphabetically order like a regular bibliography. The annotation should be written in paragraph form and fully indented under the citation. The above example is for MLA.