What is an annotated bibliography?
An annotated bibliography is a short summary and assessment of a source you are using in an academic project. After first giving a bibliographic citation in APA Style, you are then required to describe appropriate aspects of the work in question– the main purpose of the research, the principal conclusions, the theoretical tradition the work enhances, and any other material in or about the work that is relevant to your topic. Then you should convey how the work you are citing is going to be used in furthering your project. Both of these two parts are important and should be covered thoroughly.
Annotated Bibliography Template
Adapted from the work of Paul and Elders (2005) in
“Critical Thinking Concepts and Tools” and “Analytic Thinking”
I. Write the reference following the recent edition of APA.
There are many online sites that offer assistance with APA format.
II. You are required to provide citations and annotations for 6 scholarly sources.
For each article, answer the following questions in one paragraph.
a.The main purpose of the article is __________.
State as accurately as possible the author’s purpose for conducting the research.
b.The key question the author is addressing is _________.
Determine the key question or concept in the author’s mind when writing the article.
c. The main hypotheses or predictions of the study are _______.
Describe briefly the variable the author was examining and any predictions that were made.
*d. How did the researcher collect the information (methodology)?
Describe the population and measures used. (you must answer this question but “e” is optional)
e.This study used a ________ design and the statistics performed included _________ .
Describe the statistics used if applicable and briefly state the design of the study.
f. The main inferences or conclusions in this study are _______.
Identify the key conclusions the author comes to from the research.
g.The limitations of the study are ________. If the author states the limitations state what they are.
h.Future research should ______. State what the authors suggest should be the focus of future research.
i. Briefly describe how this is relevant to your research study or how it guided the development of your research question.
