Assignments are hard nut to crack right? But writing annotated bibliographies are a real brain teaser! You have to research a lot, like for other references, but more than that, there is a short summary required for each one. But don’t worry, because we’ve got you covered! EazyResearch brings you an easy guide to produce how to write an annotated bibliography step by step!
What Is Bibliography?
Bibliography is the list of all sources you have used in the process of your research work. It includes both the sources (those you have cited and those you have not cited in your research paper). A bibliography typically includes:
- The authors of the source.
- Title of the source you have cited.
- Name of the journal which contains the research paper.
- Pages number that contains the information.
What Exactly Is A Source In Bibliography? (H3)
A source is any information that helps you carry out your research. It can help you in making your thesis statement, writing literature review, making conceptual framework and analyzing and discussing the results. A source may be:
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How Is Bibliography Different From Reference List?
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Anitha, Jagannathan. “Determinants of employee engagement and their impact on employee performance.” International journal of productivity and performance management (2014). |
Confused whether the above given source is a reference or bibliography example? Well it can be both!
Look at the following illustration for a better understanding of bibliography vs. reference list:
| BIBLIOGRAPHY Includes | REFERENCE LIST Includes |
Information used for research paper and cited  |
Information used for research paper and cited |
| Information used for research paper and not cited |
Information used for research paper and not cited  |
Yes! You read it right! While a reference list only include the sources cited in your paper, a bibliography includes all the information that helped you from selecting your thesis statement to coming up with your results.
How To Write Annotated Bibliography?
Once you understand the underlying concept of bibliography, writing annotated bibliography becomes real handy!
An annotated bibliography includes short summaries (up to 150 words in length) that answers the following questions:
- What is the purpose of the work cited?
- What is the credibility of the source used?
- What are the shortcomings of the work cited?
- Are there any biases in the work cited?
- What do you think about this research information?
What Are Different Types Of Annotated Bibliographies?
An annotated bibliography can be of three different types depending on the purpose they fulfil:
- Descriptive Annotations: A descriptive annotation provides a small summary of the source article. It helps the readers know what the information is about.
- Evaluative Annotations: Evaluative Annotations are also called critical annotations. They provide value judgments about a source and compare it with other source articles included in the list.
- Combination Annotations: These are a combination of Evaluative and descriptive annotations and serve both the purposes.
Examples of Annotated Bibliography:
Worried how you’ll be able to write it? Let us help you with a few annotated bibliography templates:
MLA Annotated Bibliography Example:Ramlall, Sunil. “A review of employee motivation theories and their implications for employee retention within organizations.” Journal of American academy of business 5.1/2 (2004): 52-63.
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Annotated Bibliography APA Example:Anitha, J. (2014). Determinants of employee engagement and their impact on employee performance. International journal of productivity and performance management.
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Turabian Bibliography (Chicago Style Annotated Bibliography) Example:Percy, Larry, and John R. Rossiter. “A model of brand awareness and brand attitude advertising strategies.” Psychology & Marketing 9, no. 4 (1992): 263-274.
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Make Annotations for Bibliographies Yourself! Step By Step Guide:
Wondering how will you be able to write annotations for bibliography? Don’t panic! Just follow the three steps:
Step # 1: Gather Sources:
The first step is to make preliminary bibliography i.e. to gather all the sources that will help you in your research process. This will include articles, research papers, books, journals or any other source from which you can draw the information for your research.
Step # 2: Cite The Information:
Step 2 involves citing the information on a specific reference style. Make a list of all the sources and cite them one by one. This may be MLA, APA, Vancouver or Chicago depending on the requirement by the teacher or the university.
Worried how to do citations for referencing? Check out annotated bibliography for your desired referencing style.
Step # 3: Write Concise Annotations:
Write concise summary (150 words) for each of the source you have cited. The summary will include:
- Evaluation of the background of the author.
- What the article was about?
- How its findings were relevant to your research?
- A small comparison with the other articles you have cited.
Easy right? Now let’s take a look at how annotated bibliography for each reference style looks like:
Chicago Style Annotated Bibliography:
For the Turabian style/Chicago annotated bibliography, referencing is done in the following format:
| Name of the authors, Title of the article, Name of the journal (in italics), year (in brackets), page numbers |
| Elnaga, Amir, and Amen Imran. “The effect of training on employee performance.” European journal of Business and Management 5, no. 4 (2013): 137-147. |
The annotations follows the referencing part and includes a short description of the article (as described above). If you are looking for more sources referencing, then go and check our Chicago style Reference Generator.
MLA Annotated Bibliography:
Annotation (i.e. summary) remains same in all the referencing styles but the citations of sources change for each of it.
For MLA International bibliography, the referencing differs according to the type of source used. Here is a format for research papers. For a detailed knowledge, you can visit our MLA Reference Generator guide:
| Authors Name, Title of the research paper, Name of the Journal (In italics), Year of publication (in brackets), Page numbers |
| Elnaga, Amir, and Amen Imran. “The effect of training on employee performance.” European journal of Business and Management 5.4 (2013): 137-147. |
Making Annotated Bibliography in APA Format:
The bibliography in APA format looks same as in MLA with the only differences:
- Year of publication comes after authors name unlike MLA where the year comes after the name of the journal.
- “And” in MLA is replaced by the hyphen sign “&” in APA. Look at the following illustration:
| Authors Name, Year of publication (in brackets), Title of the research paper, Name of the Journal (In italics), Page numbers |
| Elnaga, A., & Imran, A. (2013). The effect of training on employee performance. European journal of Business and Management, 5(4), 137-147. |
Having trouble in making APA style references? Check out our free APA reference generator guide.
What Is A Working Bibliography? Is it Different from Annotated Bibliography?
A working bibliography is the list of all the sources that you discover after deciding a preliminary topic for your research. It does not have annotations and is more involved with the initial stages of your research. In contrast, the annotated bibliography deals with how each source has contributed in your research process and showcase your understanding of each of it.
| WORKING BIBLIOGRAPHY | ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY |
| Does not have annotations. | Does have annotations. |
| Involved with initial stages of research. | Involved with final stages of research. |
| It is a collection of sources to help in preliminary stages of research. | It enunciates what is the source about and how each source has contributed in your research process. |
What Is Bibliography Page?
Bibliography is one of the last chapters of your research paper, thesis or dissertation. It serves as an important contribution to your academic writing because:
- It Acknowledge the Authors.
- It Increases credibility of your Research.
- It helps your readers to know more about your research topic.
How A Typical Bibliography Page Look Like?
A bibliography page does not have annotations. This somehow looks like:
How can I make a Bibliography Page?
You don’t have to waste your time writing bibliographies by yourself or spend your money on paid software like overleaf bibliography. We have some easy ways to generate bibliographies without spending your hard earned money!
Technique # 1: EazyResearch Reference Generators For Bibliography:
Annotated bibliography consist of two parts:
- Number 1: Annotations
- Number 2: Bibliography
As we have already discussed “how to make annotations” in the previous part, let us help you with making bibliographies.
Step # 1: Identify your Referencing Style:
Identify which of the referencing style is required by your university. You cannot use any random citation style for your thesis. For example:
- MLA is used for humanities thesis and assignments.
- APA is used for education, psychology and political sciences.
- Harvard is used in business thesis, humanities and social sciences.
- CHICAGO/TURABIAN is used for business, fine arts and studies related to history.
- OSCOLA is majorly used by law students for their thesis and homework.
- VANCOUVER is used in medicine research papers and assignments.
However, these are general guidelines, you should still ask your supervisor for the preferred reference style.
Step # 2: Type the desired URL:
Once you know which type of reference style is required by you, go to your desired reference generator from the following list:
- For APA Referencing, go to: https://eazyresearch.com/resources/tools/apa-reference-generator/
- For Chicago Referencing, go to: https://eazyresearch.com/resources/tools/chicago-reference-generator/
- For Harvard Referencing, go to: https://eazyresearch.com/resources/tools/harvard-reference-generator/
Once you go to the desired URL webpage, you will be directed to a free reference
Step # 3: Fill out the details:
Fill out all the details in the reference list to generate your reference. Take the following as an example:
Step # 4: Get your Easy Reference:
After you enter the required details of the references, click on the button Generate Your Reference. This will direct you to another page where the reference is given like:
Step # 5: Copy the reference: Copy the reference you just generated via our free resource and paste it on your word document in the annotated bibliography section.
Step # 6: Generate Your Bibliography List: Generate all the references in the same way. This is how your bibliography page will become ready for annotations. Remember that the more references you have, the more your research will become credible.
Step # 7: Write Annotations: Once you generate the entire list of references, start writing annotation for each one. This will help you save your time. Don’t make your annotations. Keep it short up to 150 words.
If you are not given a briefing about which type of annotation you have to write, then it is better to write a combination annotation.
Technique # 2: Annotated Bibliography with Zotero:
Zotero. Here are a few steps by which you can easily write your citations and bibliography by using zotero.
Step # 1: Download Zotero Software:
Go to Google.com and type “Download zotero” in the search box or directly go to https://www.zotero.org/download/. Open the first link in the Google search list, you will see that there are two icons for download, one is Zotero for windows and the other one is Zotero Connector.
Click Zotero for Windows and install chrome connector. Run the software to make it ready for your PC or laptop.
Step # 3: Add sources in Zotero Library:
Open Google Scholar or the website from which you got your source and click on the folder icon on the right side of the chrome. You will open zotero library in which you can save your preferred article. Just click on the links you want to save in your library. Look at the following illustration:
Step # 4: Open word Document:
Your word document will now have Zotero extension in the main menu. Click on the Zotero tap to open more of its options. Select insert citations. If you are using zotero for the first time, a window will open up itself asking you to select the preferred citation style.
Step # 5: Select your Preferred Citation Style:
If you want to change the referencing style, go to Zotero icon on the desktop and select à Edit
- Preferences à export. Change the default format to your preferred style.
Step # 6: Click Add Citations (While Writing Your Paper):
This step is necessary for generating bibliography in zotero. If you are writing a research paper, you can use this step for adding citations in the chapters.
After quoting the information from the relevant article, click on add citation and type the name of the author in the newly opened tap. The article you want to cite will pop up. Select this link to add citation after your sentence.
Step # 7: Click on Add bibliography:
After writing your research paper and adding all the citations by the above given technique, add click on Add bibliography. All the citations that you add in your research paper will appear on your page in the list form.
If you are not writing a research paper and annotated bibliographies are your assignment, then after doing step 6, you can delete all the citations.
Step # 7: Add Annotations:
Add annotations for each of the reference and your assignment is ready!
Technique # 3: Use Google Scholar For Generating References:
Step # 1: Open Google scholar webpage:
Go to Google and type Google scholar. You will be directed to Google scholar webpage. This technique is more suitable if you don’t have a good collection of sources. Google scholar can give you a database of research articles you can use for your annotations.
Step # 2: Search the source you want reference for:
You can easily find your source on Google Scholar. You will have to write the name of the article or source with the author name.
For example if your article name is “A model of brand awareness and brand attitude advertising strategies” and the author names are Percy, Larry, and John R. Rossiter, type “A model of brand awareness and brand attitude advertising strategies” Percy, Larry, and John R. Rossiter in the search box. You will get the source link in your search item:
Step # 3: Click on the inverted commas:
Most people keep trying to write the accurate referencing not knowing the easy way. Google scholar contains the reference of the source in different style hidden in its small icon. Click the small inverted commas located beneath the article information.
Step # 4: Copy the reference style you are looking for:
After the result page pops up, you will be able to see the different referencing of the sources. Choose the citation style you are looking for and copy it. We are choosing Chicago referencing link for making annotated bibliography Chicago style here:
Step # 5: Paste on your Word Document:
Once you copy the preferred reference of your source article or link, you can paste in on the word document of your bibliography. Do the same for all the source references. Once you have all the references in your bibliography, you can easily start writing annotations for all of them.
Step # 6: Write Annotations for each one:
Once you have complete bibliography at hand, start writing annotations for each one. First decide what type of annotation you want for each one. This will make it easier for highlighting the information.
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