Creating an annotated bibliography
What is an annotated bibliography?
An annotated bibliography is more than a list of the sources you are thinking of using for a research paper. It also provides descriptive and/or evaluative comments after each citation. An “annotation” can explain or critique the sources listed in the bibliography so that a reader (including you, at a later date) can determine whether the sources may be useful to research on a particular subject.
How many sources do I have to use?
For this assignment, you are required to use four (4) scholarly, peer-reviewed articles. You may use more than four if you like.
How do I start?
STEP ONE: Identify your research question.
What issue or subject do you want to know more about?
Your research question should pose a problem of some kind that your research will contribute to answering.
STEP TWO: Identify the academic disciplines that will be most useful in your investigation. You must choose a minimum of two disciplines.
STEP THREE: Use the research databases from the City College Library to look for articles. Use Academic Search Complete, JSTOR, Project Muse, or other library databases.
STEP FOUR: Preview your articles. Take note of the publication date, publisher, and author’s credentials to establish her or his credibility as a reliable scholarly source. Look at the subheadings in an article to gather information about the author’s argument and direction. When previewing articles, read the first and last sentence of each paragraph.
STEP SIX: Do a thorough reading of your articles. Annotate your texts carefully as you look for the following:
• Is the author an authoritative and reliable source on the subject?
• What is the author’s argument?
• Who is her/his intended audience?
• What issues and questions is the author addressing in the source?
• What are the source’s strengths? Does the source reveal any biases or weaknesses?
• Is the source relevant and up-to-date?
STEP SEVEN: Write a first draft of your annotated bibliography.
• Use Chicago Style citation to list the source.
Example: Chang, David A. “Enclosures of Land and Sovereignty: The Allotment of American Indian Lands.” Radical History Review, Issue 109 (Winter 2011): 108-119.
• In 100-300 words, using a third person point-of-view (e.g., not “ I think” or “I disagree”), write an annotation in complete sentences that includes the following:
o The author’s background, which reflects his/her authority on the subject
o The strengths of the source, as well as any biases or weaknesses
o Your evaluation of the source and why/how it is relevant to your (intended) research