Annotated Bibliography In APA Style

What is an annotated bib? According to Cornell Library, an annotated bibliography is a list of citations to books, articles, and documents. Each citation is followed by a brief (usually about 150 words) descriptive and evaluative paragraph, the annotation. The purpose of the annotation is to inform the reader of the relevance, accuracy, and quality of the sources cited.

Specific Purposes O A review of the literature on a particular subject O Illustrate the quality of research that you have done O Provide examples of the types of sources available O Describe other items on a topic that may be of interest to the reader O Explore the subject for further research O A selective annotated bibliography includes just those items that are best for the topic while an exhaustive annotated bibliography attempts to identify all that is available on a subject.

How Do I Make One? O Use a variety of intellectual skills: concise exposition, succinct analysis, and informed library research. O First, locate and record citations to books, periodicals, and documents that may contain useful information and ideas on your topic.

And then… O Briefly examine and review the actual items. Then choose those works that provide a variety of perspectives on your topic. O Cite the book, article, or document using the appropriate style, in this case, APA.

Next… O Write a concise annotation that summarizes the central theme and scope of the book or article. O Include one or more sentences that (a) evaluate the authority or background of the author, (b) comment on the intended audience, (c) compare or contrast this work with another you have cited, or (d) explain how this work illuminates your bibliography topic.

How Do I Start My Annotation? O Information found in an annotation may include: 1. qualifications of author(s); O "Based on 20 years of study, William A. Smith, Professor of English at XYZ University...";

Anno. cont’d 2. purpose/scope: O "...sets out to place John Turner in eighteenth century England and show the development of his philosophy in relation to contemporary social mores";

Anno.cont’d 3. audience and level of reading difficulty: O "Smith addresses himself to the scholar, albeit the concluding chapters on capital punishment will be clear to any informed layman";

Anno.cont’d 4. bias or standpoint of author : O "Turner gears his study more to the romantic aspects of the age than the scientific and rational developments."

Anno.cont’d 5. relationship to other works in the field: O "Here Turner departs drastically from A. F. Johnson (Two will not, New York, Riposte Press, 1964) who not only has developed the rational themes of the eighteenth century but is convinced the romantic elements at best are only a skein through the major prose and poetry"

Anno. cont’d 6. findings, results, and conclusions (if available); and 7. format/special features O (e.g., bibliography, glossary, index, survey instruments, testing devices, etc.).

Structure O Length: Generally, annotations constitute one paragraph and are approximately words long, with a goal of concise and explicative annotations O Person: The third person is the standard, though first person may be appropriate for certain types of annotated bibliographies. Wiley World uses third person.

Structure O Language and Vocabulary: Use the vocabulary of the author, as much as possible, to convey the ideas and conclusions of the author. O If you use a quotation excerpted from the work set it within quotation marks. Vary your sentence structure and try to avoid repetitive vacuous phrases in your annotations, such as, "The author states," "This article concerns," or "The purpose of this report is," as well as sentences starting with "It was suggested that," "It was found that," and "It was reported that."

Structure O Format - Sentences: Whole sentences are preferable, but they are required for Wiley World. O Format - Paragraphs: Annotations should be one paragraph long. The paragraph should contain a statement of the work's major thesis, from which the rest of the sentences can develop.

What does it look like? APA O SAMPLE ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY ENTRY FOR A JOURNAL ARTICLE O Waite, L. J., Goldschneider, F. K., & Witsberger, C. (1986). Nonfamily living and the erosion of traditional family orientations among young adults. American Sociological Review, 51 (4), O The authors, researchers at the Rand Corporation and Brown University, use data from the National Longitudinal Surveys of Young Women and Young Men to test their hypothesis that nonfamily living by young adults alters their attitudes, values, plans, and expectations, moving them away from their belief in traditional sex roles. They find their hypothesis strongly supported in young females, while the effects were fewer in studies of young males. Increasing the time away from parents before marrying increased individualism, self-sufficiency, and changes in attitudes about families. In contrast, an earlier study by Williams cited below shows no significant gender differences in sex role attitudes as a result of nonfamily living.

MLA O Waite, Linda J., Frances Kobrin Goldscheider, and Christina Witsberger. "Nonfamily Living and the Erosion of Traditional Family Orientations Among Young Adults." American Sociological Review 51.4 (1986): Print. O The authors, researchers at the Rand Corporation and Brown University, use data from the National Longitudinal Surveys of Young Women and Young Men to test their hypothesis that nonfamily living by young adults alters their attitudes, values, plans, and expectations, moving them away from their belief in traditional sex roles. They find their hypothesis strongly supported in young females, while the effects were fewer in studies of young males. Increasing the time away from parents before marrying increased individualism, self-sufficiency, and changes in attitudes about families. In contrast, an earlier study by Williams cited below shows no significant gender differences in sex role attitudes as a result of nonfamily living.

Notes on Examples O Spacing – all citations and annotations are double spaced. Examples are single spaced to fit on one slide. O Hanging indent – both APA and MLA use hanging indentations for second and subsequent lines of citations. O Order – Both APA and MLA organize annotated bibs alphabetically by first word of citation.

APA Physical Structure O Title page - running head, page number, paper title, name, course name, institution O Abstract – brief paragraph on the contents of your paper O Text – same as MLA, but with APA citations and running head O Reference Page – instead of Works Cited page, alpha order, hanging indent

Parts of the Paper O

YouTube O YouTube has several videos about formatting APA title pages. O Choose one and follow the directions. O We are skipping abstract, headings and subheadings for this project. O Reference page has a running head.

Assessment O Rubric is forthcoming, but accuracy is the most important part of this project.