The Annotated Bibliography for WR227

In WR227, all students—nursing and traditional—are required to use 8-12 research sources in crafting their
term project. In order to ensure that the appropriate number of sources are not just located but evaluated
for relevance, content, and authority, students submit an annotated bibliography for at least eight of their
key research sources.
What Is an Annotated Bibliography?
An annotated bibliography is a list of citations to books, articles, and documents. Each citation is followed
by a brief (usually 100 to 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.
A quality annotated bibliography demonstrates breadth and depth of research and should capture a curated
collection of relevant sources. Think of yourself as a museum curator, but you instead of artworks, you’re
building a collection of sources. Evaluate your sources—read them with a critical eye.
Annotations versus Abstracts
Abstracts are the purely descriptive summaries often found at the beginning of scholarly journal articles or
in periodical indexes. Annotations are descriptive and critical; they expose the author’s point of view, clarity
and appropriateness of expression, and authority.
The Process
Creating an annotated bibliography calls for the application of four separate intellectual skills: concise
exposition, succinct analysis, informed library research, and current, appropriate documentation of that
research.
1. First, locate and record citations to books, periodicals, and documents that may contain useful
information and ideas on your topic. Briefly examine and review the actual items. Then choose those
works that provide a variety of perspectives on your topic.
2. Review the WR227 Research Requirements, linked in the course’s Important Course Documents
module as well as in this week’s module.
3. Cite the book, article, or document using APA citation style. Our textbook has a section on APA format,
and there are links this week in Canvas to online resources, as well. And, as you probably know from
WR121 and/or WR122, the UCC Library will provide you with correct citations for any source that
comes from their databases!
4. Put your citations in alphabetical order, just like we do with MLA Works Cited. Alphabetize by author’s
last name, and if no author, by the title of the article/web page. Use a hanging indent and doublespacing on your citations, but do not put any extra double-spaces between entries.
5. Right after each citation, write a concise annotation that summarizes the central theme and scope of
the book or article. Include 100-150 words of detailed, specific writing that do at least one of the
following:
• evaluate the authority or background of the author
• comment on the intended audience
• compare or contrast this work with another you have cited
• explain how this work illuminates your bibliography topic
And, that’s it! This document should serve to help you as you continue to write your report or case study—it
can function like an index to your sources.
Be sure to review the comments you receive on your annotated bibliographies. When the instructor grades
your work she’ll include feedback that may help to guide your research needs.