Citation Basics (APA, Chicago, MLA)

WHAT IS AN ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY?

An annotated bibliography is a list of citations to books, articles, and documents. Each citation is followed by a brief  descriptive and evaluative paragraph (usually about 150-200 words). The purpose of the annotation is to inform the reader of the relevance, accuracy, and quality of the sources cited.

ANNOTATIONS VS. ABSTRACTS

Abstracts are the purely descriptive summaries often found at the beginning of scholarly journal articles. Annotations are descriptive and critical; they expose the author's authority, point of view, clarity and appropriateness of expression.

THE PROCESS

Creating an annotated bibliography calls for the application of a variety of intellectual skills: concise exposition, succinct analysis, and informed library research.

First, locate and record citations to books, periodicals, and documents that may contain useful information and ideas on your topic. Briefly examine and review the actual items. Then choose those works that provide a variety of perspectives on your topic.

Cite the book, article, or document using APA style. The library databases contain citation tools that will help get you started.

In 4-6 sentences, include the following in a concise annotation:

• evaluate the authority or credibility of the source,
• summarize the central theme and scope of the work, 
• explain how this work pertains to your research question.

SAMPLE ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY ENTRY FOR A JOURNAL ARTICLE

Basevi, R., Reid, D., & Godbold, R. (2014). Ethical guidelines and the use of social media and text messaging in health care: A

           review of literature. New Zealand Journal of Physiotherapy, 42(2), 66-80. Retrieved from CINAHL Complete.

In this literature review, Basevi, Reid, & Godbold conducted an extensive search of scholarly and medical databases to find all of the articles which discussed social media policies in health care settings. They then carefully analyzed these articles grouping them into five key themes each dealing with a specific ethical issue: privacy/confidentiality breaches, student use and the need for student guidance, the patient therapist relationship and boundary blurring, integrity and reputation of the profession, and a lack of institutional guidelines. Based on their analysis of the available literature the authors concluded that New Zealand should implement the American Medical Association guidelines. This article was written by a 4th year student of physiotherapy, an instructor, and a PhD faculty at AUT University. It was published in a peer-reviewed New Zealand journal. This extensive review summarizes many articles which will be useful for the project's focus on nurses’ use of social media and privacy breaches. The categorization of key ethical themes by these authors has helped to narrow the focus of this project.