An annotated bibliography is a brief summary and evaluation of sources.

Learn about the topic Focus your paper Organize your thoughts

1. Source / Bibliography 2. Assessment 3. Summary 4. Reflection with Paragraph Placement 5. Potential Quotes

Write the bibliographic entry according to MLA guidelines. Make sure to indent the every line after the first by right clicking, then hitting paragraph, and changing the Special to Hanging under Indentation.

Note: Oftentimes on the subscription databases, you can find the source citation at the bottom or the right side of the document, so it takes the work out of it for you. All you’d need to do it copy and paste it into your document, and then check to make sure it is formatted properly! However, if you need additional help, you can always use resources like NoodleTools.com.

This explains how you know the source is reliable. This is also where you can note bias that may be present. Use the P.A.R.T. handout on my website to evaluate your sources. The assessment should be 3 or more sentences.

Consider the Following for Your Assessment: Is the source current? Are there other outside, creditable sources noted or quoted? Is the author an expert or creditable to speak on your topic? What biases does the author or organization have? Is it on a creditable database? Is it a published book or well-known magazine?

Provide a thorough summary of the entire article or except you used in your own words. This should be done in 6-8 sentences.

Describe in detail how the information in this source is going to be used in your paper. This should be done in 2 or more sentences. Remember: You MUST have a source to support each of your body paragraphs, so don’t get too many for the same information.

How does the book or article fit into your research? What does it add to your paper or ideas? Was the source helpful to you? Does the source relate to your topic? How and where can you use this source in your research project?

Your reflection should be done in 2 or more sentences. Make as many notes as you can so that you can come back to the source much later in the process without having to reread the document in its entirety.

What quotes or information you can paraphrase (put into your own words) and use from this source? List any and all potential quotes/information you might be able to use in your outline and paper. You must have at least three potential quotes that will help support one of your arguments for each source.

When looking for quotes in a source, they do not have to be something already in quotes (“ ”) on the paper. They become quotes because you’ll pull them out of that source and quote them in your paper. So ANY valuable information from a source can be considered a quote. Choose strong sentences that you couldn’t say in your own words or provide you with facts or statistics.

The more detailed you are with these annotations, the easier it will be for you to create your outline and rough draft!

Formatting: You want to make sure, as with every other document you turn in for your research paper, your annotated bibliography is written in Times New Roman, 12 point font.