Glossary - Annotated bibliography

is an organized, formatted list of research sources used in paper writing. It can combine citations to articles, books, documents, and online sources. Each of the in-text citations are properly fitted into a final section that follows specific formatting guidelines for presenting and analyzing sources.

After the citation, there’s always a brief paragraph that’s evaluative and descriptive. This paragraph is called the annotation. Based on the preference of the instructor or the academic institution, students may be asked to follow the MLA style or the APA style when writing. An MLA annotated bibliography will differ greatly from a bibliography written in the APA style, despite the fact that both styles serve the same purpose – to present all sources.

Annotated bibliographies are part of every academic paper. Without a bibliography, an academic paper will show as plagiarism and won’t list the sources used to gather the relevant data. Therefore, it will lose its entire purpose – to share findings and educate or help the academic community. That being said, every student needs to learn how to write and format an annotated bibliography.