Annotated Bibliography Guidelines

A bibliography is a list of your sources (this is typically found at the end of every scholarly article or chapter). An annotated bibliography lists your sources, but also includes a summary and evaluation of each source.

Below each source's bibliographic information (which should be presented in APA style), you should include the following:

A) Summary: Some annotations merely summarize the source. What are the main arguments? What is the point of this book or article? What topics are covered? If someone asked what this article/book is about, what would you say?

B) Evaluation: After summarizing a source, it may be helpful to evaluate it. Is it a useful source? How does it compare with other sources in your bibliography? Is the information reliable? Is this source biased or objective? What is the goal of this source?

C) Reflection: Once you've summarized and assessed a source, you need to ask how it fits into your research. Was this source helpful to you? How does it help you shape your argument? How can you use this source in your research project? Has it changed how you think about your topic?

Here is an example of one source's annotated bibliography:

Cohen, G.L., Steele, C.M., & Ross, L.D. (1990). The mentor's dilemma: Providing critical feedback across the racial divide. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 25, 1302-1318.

This paper looks for differences in how Black and White students respond to critical feedback.  Importantly, the authors examined the effects of positive buffers (e.g., "Overall, nice job" and "You have some good points").  They find that Black students (compared to Whites) were less motivated and responded less positively when receiving un-buffered critical feedback. When the feedback was buffered, there were no differences between groups.  The authors discusses the applications of these findings to real-world mentoring situations, such as the benefits of assuring students they have the potential to improve (that they have self-efficacy).

This paper is a valuable source.  It is empirical research, published in a reputable peer-reviewed journal, and the work was carried out by well-renowned scientists.  The findings are clear and easily interpretable, allowing me to incorporate it into my report.

This paper is helpful, because it ties so well into my real-world problem.  On my team, the feedback from our leader was usually critical and un-buffered, leading to low-morale and low-effort.  Thought this article is talking specifically about race, I believe that I can apply some of the general principles to my situation (especially the recommendations at the end about enhancing self-efficacy).