How to Write an Annotated Bibliography

What should your annotated bibliography contain?

That depends on what types of annotated bibliography you have been asked to write.

Summative annotated bibliographies include:

• Bibliographical citations according to the appropriate citation style (MLA, APA, CBE/CSE, etc.).
• An explanation of main points and/or purpose of the work--an overview of the arguments and proofs/evidence addressed in the work and the resulting conclusion.
• A discussion of the qualifications of the author and the methodology of the study.

Critical/evaluative annotated bibliographies include all the elements of a summative annotated bibliography, but they also offer an analysis of the work cited. The analysis might include:

• Verification or critique of the authority or qualifications of the author.
• Identification of the intended audience of the work
• Examination of the work's objectivity or biases, adequate use of evidence, and methodology.

They may also:

• show how the work may or may not be useful for a particular field of study or audience.
• explain how researching this material assisted your own project.

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.

Schechter, H. (1971). Death and resurrection of the king: Elements of primitive
    mythology and ritual in "Roger Malvin's Burial." English Language Notes, 8, 
    201-05.
      Though Schechter reorganizes the material in an interesting format, basically 
      his study is a reiteration of Cassier's seminal argument in The Sacred and the 
      Profane: Modern Myth Studies. Schechter's major contribution to the debate 
      is his recognition that Reuben sacrifices Cyrus so that the curse of death-in-   
      life can be removed. Schechter's attempt to put Cassier's argument in a 
      Jungian context is intriguing but not quite successful, since he must ignore  
      important elements in the story to do so.