Skip to Main Content

Other Types of Writing

Annotated Bibliographies

An annotated bibliography has two parts: 

  1. The source's reference - placed at the top using the appropriate style guide format. 
  2. A concise summary of the source - placed below the reference in paragraph format. Pieces to discuss may include
  • author's credibility, 
  • subject, 
  • thesis/purpose, 
  • main arguments/points, 
  • methods used (if it is original research), and/or 
  • limitations/biases Relevance (optional) - provides additional information about whether the source is relevant to your paper and why.  Ask your instructor if this is needed. 
  1. Relevance (optional) - provides additional information about whether the source is relevant to your paper and why.  Ask your instructor if this is needed.  

The length of an annotation can be between 30 to 150 words, but ask your instructor for specifics. 

 

Example

Levendis, J., Block, W., & Morrel, J. (2006). Nuclear power. Journal of Business Ethics 67(1), 37-49. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-006-9003-y 

       This article described the history and the processes of nuclear energy. Nuclear power has affected both government and industry. Statistics outlining the enormous cost that comes with the use of nuclear power are given in this article. The authors also outlined the many regulations that have been added to the use of nuclear energy throughout the years in order to decrease the risks associated with it. The problem of waste is also addressed, along with the impact of nuclear power on industry. 

       This article will be helpful because it provides background information about nuclear energy and nuclear power plants, and about the effect nuclear power has on government and business. An overview of the history of nuclear energy can give readers a better idea of what occurred at Fukushima and help them to understand the analysis of the Fukushima failure. 

 

This example is taken from Johnson-Sheehan, R., Paine, C., Shaw, C., & Stouck, J. (2013). Writing today (Canadian ed.). Pearson Education.