annotated bibliography references format

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Annotated Bibliographies

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This handout provides information about annotated bibliographies in MLA, APA, and CMS.

Definitions

A bibliography is a list of sources (books, journals, Web sites, periodicals, etc.) one has used for researching a topic. Bibliographies are sometimes called "References" or "Works Cited" depending on the style format you are using. A bibliography usually just includes the bibliographic information (i.e., the author, title, publisher, etc.).

An annotation is a summary and/or evaluation. Therefore, an annotated bibliography includes a summary and/or evaluation of each of the sources. Depending on your project or the assignment, your annotations may do one or more of the following.

For more help, see our handout on paraphrasing sources.

For more help, see our handouts on evaluating resources .

• Reflect : Once you've summarized and assessed a source, you need to ask how it fits into your research. Was this source helpful to you? How does it help you shape your argument? How can you use this source in your research project? Has it changed how you think about your topic?

Your annotated bibliography may include some of these, all of these, or even others. If you're doing this for a class, you should get specific guidelines from your instructor.

Why should I write an annotated bibliography?

To learn about your topic : Writing an annotated bibliography is excellent preparation for a research project. Just collecting sources for a bibliography is useful, but when you have to write annotations for each source, you're forced to read each source more carefully. You begin to read more critically instead of just collecting information. At the professional level, annotated bibliographies allow you to see what has been done in the literature and where your own research or scholarship can fit. To help you formulate a thesis: Every good research paper is an argument. The purpose of research is to state and support a thesis. So, a very important part of research is developing a thesis that is debatable, interesting, and current. Writing an annotated bibliography can help you gain a good perspective on what is being said about your topic. By reading and responding to a variety of sources on a topic, you'll start to see what the issues are, what people are arguing about, and you'll then be able to develop your own point of view.

To help other researchers : Extensive and scholarly annotated bibliographies are sometimes published. They provide a comprehensive overview of everything important that has been and is being said about that topic. You may not ever get your annotated bibliography published, but as a researcher, you might want to look for one that has been published about your topic.

The format of an annotated bibliography can vary, so if you're doing one for a class, it's important to ask for specific guidelines.

The bibliographic information : Generally, though, the bibliographic information of the source (the title, author, publisher, date, etc.) is written in either MLA or APA format. For more help with formatting, see our MLA handout . For APA, go here: APA handout .

The annotations: The annotations for each source are written in paragraph form. The lengths of the annotations can vary significantly from a couple of sentences to a couple of pages. The length will depend on the purpose. If you're just writing summaries of your sources, the annotations may not be very long. However, if you are writing an extensive analysis of each source, you'll need more space.

You can focus your annotations for your own needs. A few sentences of general summary followed by several sentences of how you can fit the work into your larger paper or project can serve you well when you go to draft.

Annotated Bibliographies

What this handout is about.

This handout will explain why annotated bibliographies are useful for researchers, provide an explanation of what constitutes an annotation, describe various types of annotations and styles for writing them, and offer multiple examples of annotated bibliographies in the MLA, APA, and CBE/CSE styles of citation.

Introduction

Welcome to the wonderful world of annotated bibliographies! You’re probably already familiar with the need to provide bibliographies, reference pages, and works cited lists to credit your sources when you do a research paper. An annotated bibliography includes descriptions and explanations of your listed sources beyond the basic citation information you usually provide.

Why do an annotated bibliography?

One of the reasons behind citing sources and compiling a general bibliography is so that you can prove you have done some valid research to back up your argument and claims. Readers can refer to a citation in your bibliography and then go look up the material themselves. When inspired by your text or your argument, interested researchers can access your resources. They may wish to double check a claim or interpretation you’ve made, or they may simply wish to continue researching according to their interests. But think about it: even though a bibliography provides a list of research sources of all types that includes publishing information, how much does that really tell a researcher or reader about the sources themselves?

An annotated bibliography provides specific information about each source you have used. As a researcher, you have become an expert on your topic: you have the ability to explain the content of your sources, assess their usefulness, and share this information with others who may be less familiar with them. Think of your paper as part of a conversation with people interested in the same things you are; the annotated bibliography allows you to tell readers what to check out, what might be worth checking out in some situations, and what might not be worth spending the time on. It’s kind of like providing a list of good movies for your classmates to watch and then going over the list with them, telling them why this movie is better than that one or why one student in your class might like a particular movie better than another student would. You want to give your audience enough information to understand basically what the movies are about and to make an informed decision about where to spend their money based on their interests.

What does an annotated bibliography do?

A good annotated bibliography:

• encourages you to think critically about the content of the works you are using, their place within a field of study, and their relation to your own research and ideas.
• proves you have read and understand your sources.
• establishes your work as a valid source and you as a competent researcher.
• situates your study and topic in a continuing professional conversation.
• provides a way for others to decide whether a source will be helpful to their research if they read it.
• could help interested researchers determine whether they are interested in a topic by providing background information and an idea of the kind of work going on in a field.

What elements might an annotation include?

• Bibliography according to the appropriate citation style (MLA, APA, CBE/CSE, etc.).
• Explanation of main points and/or purpose of the work—basically, its thesis—which shows among other things that you have read and thoroughly understand the source.
• Verification or critique of the authority or qualifications of the author.
• Comments on the worth, effectiveness, and usefulness of the work in terms of both the topic being researched and/or your own research project.
• The point of view or perspective from which the work was written. For instance, you may note whether the author seemed to have particular biases or was trying to reach a particular audience.
• Relevant links to other work done in the area, like related sources, possibly including a comparison with some of those already on your list. You may want to establish connections to other aspects of the same argument or opposing views.

The first four elements above are usually a necessary part of the annotated bibliography. Points 5 and 6 may involve a little more analysis of the source, but you may include them in other kinds of annotations besides evaluative ones. Depending on the type of annotation you use, which this handout will address in the next section, there may be additional kinds of information that you will need to include.

For more extensive research papers (probably ten pages or more), you often see resource materials grouped into sub-headed sections based on content, but this probably will not be necessary for the kinds of assignments you’ll be working on. For longer papers, ask your instructor about her preferences concerning annotated bibliographies.

Did you know that annotations have categories and styles?

Decisions, decisions.

As you go through this handout, you’ll see that, before you start, you’ll need to make several decisions about your annotations: citation format, type of annotation, and writing style for the annotation.

First of all, you’ll need to decide which kind of citation format is appropriate to the paper and its sources, for instance, MLA or APA. This may influence the format of the annotations and bibliography. Typically, bibliographies should be double-spaced and use normal margins (you may want to check with your instructor, since he may have a different style he wants you to follow).

MLA (Modern Language Association)

See the UNC Libraries citation tutorial for basic MLA bibliography formatting and rules.

• MLA documentation is generally used for disciplines in the humanities, such as English, languages, film, and cultural studies or other theoretical studies. These annotations are often summary or analytical annotations.
• Title your annotated bibliography “Annotated Bibliography” or “Annotated List of Works Cited.”
• Following MLA format, use a hanging indent for your bibliographic information. This means the first line is not indented and all the other lines are indented four spaces (you may ask your instructor if it’s okay to tab over instead of using four spaces).
• Begin your annotation immediately after the bibliographic information of the source ends; don’t skip a line down unless you have been told to do so by your instructor.

APA (American Psychological Association)

See the UNC Libraries citation tutorial for basic APA bibliography formatting and rules.

• Natural and social sciences, such as psychology, nursing, sociology, and social work, use APA documentation. It is also used in economics, business, and criminology. These annotations are often succinct summaries.
• Annotated bibliographies for APA format do not require a special title. Use the usual “References” designation.
• Like MLA, APA uses a hanging indent: the first line is set flush with the left margin, and all other lines are indented four spaces (you may ask your instructor if it’s okay to tab over instead of using four spaces).
• After the bibliographic citation, drop down to the next line to begin the annotation, but don’t skip an extra line.
• The entire annotation is indented an additional two spaces, so that means each of its lines will be six spaces from the margin (if your instructor has said that it’s okay to tab over instead of using the four spaces rule, indent the annotation two more spaces in from that point).

CBE (Council of Biology Editors)/CSE (Council of Science Editors)

See the UNC Libraries citation tutorial for basic CBE/CSE bibliography formatting and rules.

• CBE/CSE documentation is used by the plant sciences, zoology, microbiology, and many of the medical sciences.
• Annotated bibliographies for CBE/CSE format do not require a special title. Use the usual “References,” “Cited References,” or “Literature Cited,” and set it flush with the left margin.
• Bibliographies for CSE in general are in a slightly smaller font than the rest of the paper.
• When using the name-year system, as in MLA and APA, the first line of each entry is set flush with the left margin, and all subsequent lines, including the annotation, are indented three or four spaces.
• When using the citation-sequence method, each entry begins two spaces after the number, and every line, including the annotation, will be indented to match the beginning of the entry, or may be slightly further indented, as in the case of journals.
• After the bibliographic citation, drop down to the next line to begin the annotation, but don’t skip an extra line. The entire annotation follows the indentation of the bibliographic entry, whether it’s N-Y or C-S format.
• Annotations in CBE/CSE are generally a smaller font size than the rest of the bibliographic information.

After choosing a documentation format, you’ll choose from a variety of annotation categories presented in the following section. Each type of annotation highlights a particular approach to presenting a source to a reader. For instance, an annotation could provide a summary of the source only, or it could also provide some additional evaluation of that material.

In addition to making choices related to the content of the annotation, you’ll also need to choose a style of writing—for instance, telescopic versus paragraph form. Your writing style isn’t dictated by the content of your annotation. Writing style simply refers to the way you’ve chosen to convey written information. A discussion of writing style follows the section on annotation types.

Types of annotations

As you now know, one annotation does not fit all purposes! There are different kinds of annotations, depending on what might be most important for your reader to learn about a source. Your assignments will usually make it clear which citation format you need to use, but they may not always specify which type of annotation to employ. In that case, you’ll either need to pick your instructor’s brain a little to see what she wants or use clue words from the assignment itself to make a decision. For instance, the assignment may tell you that your annotative bibliography should give evidence proving an analytical understanding of the sources you’ve used. The word analytical clues you in to the idea that you must evaluate the sources you’re working with and provide some kind of critique.

Summary annotations

There are two kinds of summarizing annotations, informative and indicative.

Summarizing annotations in general have a couple of defining features:

• They sum up the content of the source, as a book report might.
• They give an overview of the arguments and proofs/evidence addressed in the work and note the resulting conclusion.
• They do not judge the work they are discussing. Leave that to the critical/evaluative annotations.
• When appropriate, they describe the author’s methodology or approach to material. For instance, you might mention if the source is an ethnography or if the author employs a particular kind of theory.

Informative annotation

Informative annotations sometimes read like straight summaries of the source material, but they often spend a little more time summarizing relevant information about the author or the work itself.

Indicative annotation

Indicative annotation is the second type of summary annotation, but it does not attempt to include actual information from the argument itself. Instead, it gives general information about what kinds of questions or issues are addressed by the work. This sometimes includes the use of chapter titles.

Critical/evaluative

Evaluative annotations don’t just summarize. In addition to tackling the points addressed in summary annotations, evaluative annotations:

• evaluate the source or author critically (biases, lack of evidence, objective, etc.).
• show how the work may or may not be useful for a particular field of study or audience.
• explain how researching this material assisted your own project.

Combination

An annotated bibliography may combine elements of all the types. In fact, most of them fall into this category: a little summarizing and describing, a little evaluation.

Writing style

Ok, next! So what does it mean to use different writing styles as opposed to different kinds of content? Content is what belongs in the annotation, and style is the way you write it up. First, choose which content type you need to compose, and then choose the style you’re going to use to write it

This kind of annotated bibliography is a study in succinctness. It uses a minimalist treatment of both information and sentence structure, without sacrificing clarity. Warning: this kind of writing can be harder than you might think.

Don’t skimp on this kind of annotated bibliography. If your instructor has asked for paragraph form, it likely means that you’ll need to include several elements in the annotation, or that she expects a more in-depth description or evaluation, for instance. Make sure to provide a full paragraph of discussion for each work.

As you can see now, bibliographies and annotations are really a series of organized steps. They require meticulous attention, but in the end, you’ve got an entire testimony to all the research and work you’ve done. At the end of this handout you’ll find examples of informative, indicative, evaluative, combination, telescopic, and paragraph annotated bibliography entries in MLA, APA, and CBE formats. Use these examples as your guide to creating an annotated bibliography that makes you look like the expert you are!

MLA Example

APA Example

CBE Example

Works consulted

We consulted these works while writing this handout. This is not a comprehensive list of resources on the handout’s topic, and we encourage you to do your own research to find additional publications. Please do not use this list as a model for the format of your own reference list, as it may not match the citation style you are using. For guidance on formatting citations, please see the UNC Libraries citation tutorial . We revise these tips periodically and welcome feedback.

American Psychological Association. 2010. Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association . 6th ed. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.

Bell, I. F., and J. Gallup. 1971. A Reference Guide to English, American, and Canadian Literature . Vancouver: University of British Columbia Press.

Bizzell, Patricia, and Bruce Herzburg. 1991. Bedford Bibliography for Teachers of Writing , 3rd ed. Boston: Bedford Books.

Center for Information on Language Teaching, and The English Teaching Information Center of the British Council. 1968. Language-Teaching Bibliography . Cambridge: Cambridge University.

Engle, Michael, Amy Blumenthal, and Tony Cosgrave. 2012. “How to Prepare an Annotated Bibliography.” Olin & Uris Libraries. Cornell University. Last updated September 25, 2012. https://olinuris.library.cornell.edu/content/how-prepare-annotated-bibliography.

Gibaldi, Joseph. 2009. MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers , 7th ed. New York: The Modern Language Association of America.

Grasso, Michael. 2004. “Speech Recognition Annotated Bibliography” (Website). University of Maryland-Baltimore County. Department of Computer Science. https://www.csee.umbc.edu/~mgrass2/dissert/annbib.html .

Huth, Edward. 1994. Scientific Style and Format: The CBE Manual for Authors, Editors, and Publishers . New York: University of Cambridge.

Kilborn, Judith. 2004. “MLA Documentation.” LEO: Literacy Education Online. Last updated March 16, 2004. https://leo.stcloudstate.edu/research/mla.html.

Spatt, Brenda. 1991. Writing from Sources , 3rd ed. New York: St. Martin’s.

Memorial University. n.d. “How to Write Annotated Bibliographies.” Memorial University Libraries. Accessed June 14, 2019. https://www.library.mun.ca/researchtools/guides/writing/annotated_bibl/ .

University of Kansas. 2018. “Bibliographies.” KU Writing Center. Last updated April 2018. http://writing.ku.edu/bibliographies .

University of Wisconsin-Madison. 2019. “Annotated Bibliography.” The Writing Center. Accessed June 14, 2019. https://writing.wisc.edu/handbook/assignments/annotatedbibliography/ .

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How to Write an Annotated Bibliography, With Examples

An annotated bibliography is a type of bibliography that includes a comment by the author about the source in addition to the source’s publishing information. The author’s notes, or annotations, can discuss anything relevant to the topic, such as the source’s accuracy, the context in which it was written, or even your personal views on the source.

Annotated bibliographies are sometimes a requirement in assignments, so it’s a good idea to learn their rules. Below, we explain how to write an annotated bibliography in APA, MLA, and Chicago formats. We even include an annotated bibliography example for each.

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What is an annotated bibliography?

Annotated bibliographies are a type of bibliography with notes from the author on each source. These notes are called “annotations” and generally run around 50–150 words . The notes themselves have a very specific format, depending on the style guide used, as explained below.

What do annotated bibliography notes talk about?

Annotations in bibliographies can discuss anything relevant to the paper’s or book’s topic or give context to the reader so they can better understand the source. There are no formal restrictions on what annotations can be about, but in general, they usually fall into these categories:

• a brief overview of the source
• the background of the source’s author
• context about how or why the source was written
• the accuracy of the source
• any biases the source shows
• anything the source doesn’t address
• elements of the source that are particularly useful, like graphs or charts
• your personal views on the source

How to cite sources in an annotated bibliography

Annotated bibliographies cite their sources the same way as any other type of bibliography , including a works cited page or reference list . Simply follow the standard rules for whatever format you’re using when writing the full citation.

If you need help, Grammarly’s auto-citation feature can automatically create a citation if you’re using one of the ten most popular online source websites: Wikipedia, Frontiers, PLOS One, ScienceDirect, SAGE Journals, PubMed, Elsevier, DOAJ, arXiv, or Springer. Otherwise, feel free to use our free citation generator to create a full citation in whatever style you need.

How to write an annotated bibliography in APA, MLA, and Chicago

How to write an annotated bibliography in apa.

Annotated bibliographies in APA follow the same rules for page margins, font, and line spacing as other pages in the APA format , which you can find in the link.

The annotations for an annotated bibliography in APA, however, follow specific formatting rules:

• Annotations appear underneath the source they refer to.
• Use an indentation of 0.5 inches from the left margin (1.5 inches from the edge of the page) for all lines of the annotation, just like a block quote.
• The first line of an annotation does not get indented any further; use the same indentation as the other lines.
• If the annotation spans more than one paragraph, use an extra indentation of 0.5 inches (2 inches from the edge of the page) for the first line of any paragraphs after the first. Again, this follows the same format as block quotes.
• Sources are organized in alphabetical order by the creator’s surname, or last name (which comes first in citation entries).

How to write an annotated bibliography in MLA

The MLA format offers guidelines on both the formatting and content of annotations:

• Annotations should “describe or evaluate sources.” They should not discuss minor details, cite evidence, quote the source, or re-list the points in the source’s argument.
• Annotations can be written in either complete or incomplete sentences.
• Place annotations underneath the citation.
• Indent your annotation an additional 1 inch from the start of the entry (2 inches from the edge of the page). This differentiates it from the citation’s first indent (1 inch from the edge of the page) and its hanging indent (1.5 inches from the edge of the page).
• If the annotation spans more than one paragraph, use an extra indentation of 0.5 inches (2.5 inches from the edge of the page) for the first line of any paragraphs after the first.
• Title the page either “Annotated Bibliography” or “Annotated List of Works Cited.”
• You can choose whether to organize sources by the subject, date of publication, or alphabetically by author or title.

How to write an annotated bibliography in Chicago

Because the Chicago format is designed to be flexible, its rules for annotated bibliographies are more open-ended than the other formats. Here are the guidelines for how to write an annotated bibliography in Chicago style:

• If annotations are short and/or not included for every source, you can place annotations in brackets directly after the full citation, on the same line. If annotations are more detailed, start them on a new line underneath the full citation.
• Each line of an annotation is indented an additional 0.5 inches from the start of the entry (1.5 inches from the edge of the page). It should be equal to the hanging indent of the full citation.
• Annotated bibliographies may contain an author’s note at the top of the page. This should provide context about why the author chose these sources or how the page is organized.

Annotated bibliography examples

Annotated bibliography example for apa.

Diamond, J. (1997). Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies . W. W. Norton & Company. This book, which won the Pulitzer Prize, attempts to answer the question of why some civilizations succeeded while others faded away into history. Author Jared Diamond emphasizes the environmental and geographical influences on a civilization as factors for success, more than a civilization’s culture or race. While this book proves scientifically that race is inconsequential in the success of a civilization, critics accuse Diamond of reducing the whole of human history down to “environmental determinism.”

Annotated bibliography example for MLA

Diamond, Jared. Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies . New York, W. W. Norton & Company, 1997. This book, which won the Pulitzer Prize, attempts to answer the question of why some civilizations succeeded while others faded away into history. Author Jared Diamond emphasizes the environmental and geographical influences on a civilization as factors for success, more than a civilization’s culture or race. While this book proves scientifically that race is inconsequential in the success of a civilization, critics accuse Diamond of reducing the whole of human history down to “environmental determinism.”

Annotated bibliography example for Chicago

Diamond, Jared. 1997. Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies . New York: W. W. Norton & Company. This book, which won the Pulitzer Prize, attempts to answer the question of why some civilizations succeeded while others faded away into history. Author Jared Diamond emphasizes the environmental and geographical influences on a civilization as factors for success, more than a civilization’s culture or race. While this book proves scientifically that race is inconsequential in the success of a civilization, critics accuse Diamond of reducing the whole of human history down to “environmental determinism.”

Annotated bibliography FAQs

An annotated bibliography is a type of bibliography that includes a comment by the author about each source in addition to the source’s publishing information. The author’s notes, or annotations, discuss anything about the source that’s relevant to the topic, such as its accuracy, bias, or the context in which it was written.

How does it differ from a regular bibliography?

Just like other bibliographies, annotated bibliographies list the sources cited in the work, along with their publishing details. The difference is that annotated bibliographies also include notes from the author with extra information, whereas regular bibliographies do not.

How is an annotated bibliography structured?

The structure of annotated bibliographies depends on the formatting style: APA, MLA, or Chicago. Although each style has its own formatting rules, in general, the annotation comes after the full citation and is often indented in the same manner as block quotes.

Home / Guides / Citation Guides / MLA Format / MLA Annotated Bibliography Format

MLA Annotated Bibliography Format

The mla style center provides the following guidance for formatting an mla annotated bibliography:.

• Title your reference page as “Annotated Bibliography” or “Annotated List of Works Cited.”
• Include annotations after the full, listed reference.
• Annotations should typically not exceed a single paragraph.
• If you do exceed one paragraph, indent each new paragraph but do not add extra space between them.
• For more information on writing an annotation, visit the general annotated bibliography guide.

Here’s a run-through of everything this page includes:

Book example

Website example.

• Using-the-EasyBib-annotation-tool

Troubleshooting

Here are general mla bibliography format guidelines that also apply:.

• Organize sources alphabetically by author or title, by the publication date, or by subject. Ask your instructor how they would like this organized if they haven’t provided specific guidance.
• The entire bibliography MLA page or pages should be double-spaced.
• Have 1-inch margins around the page.

If you don’t need to include annotations with your citations, this guide on creating a regular MLA works cited page can help!

Forsyth, Mark. The Elements of Eloquence: Secrets of the Perfect Turn of Phrase . Penguin Books, 2014.

The author, Mark Forsyth, examines the rhetorical devices used in the English language, analyzing the patterns and formats that create memorable quotes. He traces the history of rhetoric to the Ancient Greeks, and provides an abridged timeline, following their use and evolution through to modern day. The author also explores the broader subject of persuasion and maps out the role that the figures of rhetoric play in it. In all, he examines over thirty devices, dissecting notable passages and phrases from pop music, the plays of William Shakespeare, the Bible, and more to explore the figures of rhetoric at work within each of them. Thorough definitions accompany this examination of structure to demonstrate how these formulas have been used to generate famously memorable expressions as well as how to reproduce their effects.

Here is another annotated bibliography example in MLA for an article on the MLA website.

Citation with annotation:

“What Guidance Should I Give My Students for Preparing an Annotated Bibliography?” The MLA Style Center , The Modern Language Association, 4 Nov. 2016, style.mla.org/annotated-bibliographies/.

This article offers brief and clear directions for MLA formatting of a bibliography with annotations. Citing James Harner’s On Compiling an Annotated Bibliography , it provides guidelines for writing annotations that can be applied to either paraphrase or commentary form. It also demonstrates how writing annotations can benefit students who are tasked with researching a subject and offers instruction on the organization of entries and acceptable page titles. While the advice is tailored to respond to a question posed by an instructor, students and researchers may also benefit from the guidance that the MLA provided.

Citation without annotation:

The following is an example MLA format Works Cited citation for an article on the MLA website. This MLA bibliography example shows what the entry will look like without an annotation:

“What Guidance Should I Give My Students for Preparing an Annotated Bibliography?” The MLA Style Center, Modern Language Association, 4 Nov. 2016, style.mla.org/annotated-bibliographies/

Note that this MLA bibliography does not contain an introductory paragraph. If you are including a prefatory section, it should reside between the page title and the initial entry.

The MLA follows the rules set forth in James L. Harner’s On Compiling an Annotated Bibliography , 2nd edition, which they published in 2000. Harner submits that the typical organization for this type of work “…consists of three parts: prefatory matter, entries, and an index” (7). Following this, he adds, however, that “an electronic bibliography rarely includes an index” (7).

The “prefatory matter” functions similarly to an introduction, and “typically consists of an introduction, an explanation of editorial procedures, acknowledgements, and separate lists of abbreviations, major reference sources searched, and the subject author’s works” (7). He expands on this, “You must explain – and, if necessary, offer a rationale for – the taxonomy, the kinds of works included and excluded, and the chronological span (especially terminal date) of scholarship covered” (7).

Using the EasyBib annotation tool

If you create your citations using the EasyBib citation generator, then you can also access the annotation tool!

When you create a new or edit an existing citation, you’ll review a citation form that lists every piece of information for the citation. At the bottom of this form is a section called “More options.” In this section, simply click the “Add annotation” text to open the tool. Copy and paste your annotation here, complete your citation, and both the citation and annotation will be automatically formatted together!

Always consult your instructor

Your instructor or school may have additional or different requirements for how you format and organize this page. If your teacher or professor requires an introduction, they may identify specific points to include or exclude which deviate from Harner’s definition, so it’s essential that you verify your understanding of the assignment before beginning.

If you are required to share your references in a manner other than in MLA bibliography format, there is also a guide on  APA annotated bibliographies .

Solution #1: How do I annotate a source that is an image or video?

To annotate a visual source like an image or video, describe the important elements of your visual source to your reader as you would with a textual source.

If it is a painting, for example, you do not need to describe every color you see or the mood of the painting, but it may be important to include the artistic movement of which it is a part of, the style of painting, the subject, the culture of origin, or any information about the artist.

Keep in mind the style of annotation you are using for your works-cited annotations, whether you are providing more commentary on sources or simply summarizing them. Maintain the style of annotation consistent for all your annotations. Commentary will include more information about why a source is relevant to your paper, whereas a summary will more plainly describe the source.

van Gogh, Vincent. The Starry Night . 1889, Museum of Modern Art, New York City.

MoMA.org ,   https://www.moma.org/learn/moma_learning/vincent-van-gogh

-the-starry-night-1889/

Vincent van Gogh’s The Starry Night is a depiction of the night sky seen above the Saint-Paul mental asylum in Saint-Remy, France, where van Gogh received care as his mental health waned. van Gogh was born in Holland, but spent significant time in France. The influence of contemporaneous artistic styles such as Impressionism, Pointilism, and Neo-Impressionism can be seen in The Starry Night . The Starry Night combines the observable world with the world of van Gogh’s emotion, memory, and imagination.

Solution #2: How do I annotate a source that is an audio recording, song, or interview?

Annotate your works-cited MLA citation for an audio recording the same way you would for a textual source.

Keep the style of your annotations consistent, whether you are commenting on sources or simply summarizing sources.

Important elements of your audio source to consider in your annotation may include the following elements: the speaker(s) in the recording, where and when the recording was taken, the important members of the band or musicians of a song, or, if it is a clip, the context of the complete recording.

Describe your audio source as best you can in about 4-5 sentences for your annotation.

For example:

Tavernise, Sabrina. “Why Do So Many Traffic Stops Go Wrong?” The Daily , The New York Times,

1 Nov. 2021. Spotify app.

David D. Kirkpatrick, a national correspondent for the New York Times , breaks down years’ worth of investigative journalism from the NYT. Their journalism focused on casualties due to routine traffic stops performed by police nationwide. The NYT’s reporting suggested that many cities and municipalities may rely heavily on revenue generated from traffic tickets, and that officers may be encouraged to make more, even unnecessary, traffic stops. Kirkpatrick also suggested that training may encourage police to use unnecessary force and escalate encounters during traffic stops, as misleading data has been used to teach officers that traffic stops are disproportionately deadly for police.

Solution #3: How long should my annotation be?

An annotation for an MLA works-cited citation should be about a paragraph long. It shouldn’t be a few words or just one sentence.

If your annotation definitely needs to be longer than 4-5 sentences, make a new paragraph and indent it, but do not add any additional space or line breaks between the paragraphs of your annotation.

• Works Cited

Harner, James L. On Compiling an Annotated Bibliography. 2nd ed., Modern Language Association of America, 2000.

MLA Handbook. 9th ed., Modern Language Association of America, 2021.

MLA Formatting Guide

MLA Formatting

• Annotated Bibliography
• Bibliography
• Block Quotes
• et al Usage
• In-text Citations
• Paraphrasing
• Page Numbers
• Sample Paper
• MLA 8 Updates
• MLA 9 Updates
• View MLA Guide

Citation Examples

• Book Chapter
• Journal Article
• Magazine Article
• Newspaper Article
• Website (no author)
• View all MLA Examples

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An annotated bibliography is a list containing complete information of sources (such as journals, books, and reports) cited in the text, along with a note or annotation for each source. It provides a brief description of each source in about 100–150 words. Below is an example of an annotated bibliography:

Annotated bibliography example:

Morritt, Robert D. Beringia: Archaic Migrations into North America . Cambridge Scholars Pub, 2011.

The author studies the migration of cultures from Asia to North America. The connection between the North American Athabaskan language family and Siberia is presented, together with comparisons and examinations of the implications of linguistics from anthropological, archaeological, and folklore perspectives. This book explores the origins of the earliest people in the Americas, including Siberian, Dene, and Navajo Creation myths; linguistic comparisons between Siberian Ket Navajo and Western Apache; and comparisons between indigenous groups that appear to share the same origin.

Ehrenreich, Barbara. Bright-Sided: How the Relentless Promotion of Positive Thinking has Undermined America . Metropolitan Books, 2009.

In this book, Barbara Ehrenreich shows how harmful the positive thinking movement is, how it means self-blame, victim-blaming, and national denial, inviting disaster. She shows that it wrecks efforts for education, skills, and reforms. The book analyzes how the school of mindless optimism was born, fed the subprime scandal, and has come to infect mainstream corporate management thinking.

An annotated bibliography, which contains a source and a description or an evaluation of a source, is always double-spaced.

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• Knowledge Base
• APA Style 7th edition
• Setting Up the APA Reference Page | Formatting & References (Examples)

Setting Up the APA Reference Page | Formatting & References (Examples)

Published on November 4, 2020 by Raimo Streefkerk . Revised on August 23, 2022.

On the APA reference page, you list all the sources that you’ve cited in your paper. The list starts on a new page right after the body text.

Follow these instructions to set up your APA reference page:

• Place the section label “References” in bold at the top of the page (centered).
• Order the references alphabetically .
• Double-space all text.
• Apply a hanging indent of 0.5 inches.

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Table of contents, setting up the apa reference page, apa alphabetization guidelines, which sources to include on the reference page, annotated bibliography, creating apa references.

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The AI-powered Citation Checker helps you avoid common mistakes such as:

• Missing commas and periods
• Incorrect usage of “et al.”
• Ampersands (&) in narrative citations
• Missing reference entries

References are ordered alphabetically by the first author’s last name. If the author is unknown, order the reference entry by the first meaningful word of the title (ignoring articles: “the”, “a”, or “an”).

Word processors like Word or Google Docs and citation generators can usually order the reference list automatically. However, ordering becomes challenging when citing multiple works by the same author or works by authors with the same last name.

Our in-depth article on ordering references in APA Style explains what to do in these situations.

Only include references for sources cited in the body text (with an APA in-text citation ). Don’t include references for:

• Sources that you only consulted;
• Personal communications (e.g., emails or phone calls);
• General mentions of websites or periodicals ;
• Common knowledge .

For some student papers, it’s common to describe or evaluate the source in an annotation . These annotations are placed on a new line below the corresponding reference entry. The entire annotation is indented 0.5 inches.

If an annotation consists of multiple paragraphs, the first line of the second and any subsequent paragraphs is indented an additional 0.5 inches.

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The format of an APA reference differs depending on the source type. Play around with the options in the Scribbr Example Generator to get familiar with APA Style.

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APA citation examples

Check out Scribbr’s citation examples to learn more about citing each type of source, ranging from books and journals to podcasts and tweets !

Periodicals

• Journal article
• Newspaper article

Reports and gray literature

• Press release
• Dissertation or thesis
• Conference paper

Books and reference works

• Dictionary entry
• Encyclopedia entry

Audiovisual works

• Movie or documentary
• YouTube video

Online media

• Personal communication
• Tables and figures

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Streefkerk, R. (2022, August 23). Setting Up the APA Reference Page | Formatting & References (Examples). Scribbr. Retrieved August 31, 2023, from https://www.scribbr.com/apa-style/apa-reference-page/

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APA annotated bibliography

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An annotated bibliography is a special type of bibliography that provides additional information about the sources listed in the references list. The additional information about a source is called an annotation. An annotation can be given for all types of sources such as journals, books, or reports. The length of the annotation can extend up to 150 words.

Aim of an annotated bibliography

The aim of an annotated bibliography is to either provide details of the topics discussed in the source or assess the source. The primary goal of adding an annotation is to give the reader the significance, merit, and benefit of using a source. Never try to provide proof, take the author’s text verbatim, or discuss irrelevant points in your annotation.

Classification of annotations

Annotations are classified into two types:

Descriptive

The descriptive type gives crucial details of the source or describes the source. It gives insight into the topic covered in the source. It can also explain the purpose of the source.

An evaluative annotation analyzes a source. It explores a source and shows its relevance by examining its preciseness. An evaluative annotation tries to correlate the source with other recognized sources or studies on the same topic. It may also talk about the merits and demerits of a source.

Parts of an annotated bibliography

An annotated bibliography consists of

• The citation
• The annotation

The citation includes all components of a source. For example, the author, book title, publisher, and publication year are important components to be included in a book citation.

Fairclough, N. (2015). Language and power . Routledge.

The annotation provides the necessary fundamental details of the source. As mentioned, the details can be either descriptive or evaluative.

Descriptive annotation

It gives a brief description of all relevant information of the source. The below example is taken from Fairclough (2015). Complete information of the source is given below the annotation.

The book focuses on how language functions in maintaining and changing power relations in modern society, the ways of analyzing language which can reveal these processes, and how people can become more conscious of them, as well as more able to resist and change them. Norman Fairclough includes a substantial new introduction and brings the discussion up to date. He shows both the importance of the book in the development of critical discourse analysis over the past three decades and how language and power relations have changed due to major socioeconomic changes.

Evaluative annotation

An evaluative annotation mirrors the views of the author, highlights the benefits of the work, and also provides a detailed evaluation of the source.

This book of Fairclough is a preamble to the study of discourse analysis. The book shows its steady importance and contribution to language and power. The book clearly illustrates the relationship between language and power with sufficient evidence. The book is important for students pursuing discourse analysis and other related fields.

Rules for creating annotated bibliographies

• The annotation is added after the reference-list entry of a source.
• The annotation extends up to 150 words.
• Both phrases and full sentences are permitted in the annotation.
• Write the annotation in a single paragraph. However, if you want to include multiple paragraphs, indent the second and subsequent paragraphs. However, the paragraphs should not have any extra line spaces in between.

Writing annotated bibliographies

To write an annotated bibliography in APA, follow the below guidelines:

• The annotation should be short and concise.
• Use various links such as “while,” “but,” and “in addition” to connect sentences. This will enhance the readability of your content.
• Do not use words that serve no purpose in your sentences.
• Avoid very long sentences.
• Put forth your views directly.
• Avoid contractions such as “won’t” and ‘isn’t” in the annotation.

Formatting annotated bibliographies

To format an annotated bibliography in APA, follow the below recommendations:

• Begin your annotated bibliography on a new page after the end of the body text.
• The annotated bibliography appears before the figures, tables, and appendices.
• Set the left, right, top, and bottom margins at 1 inch.
• The lines are double-spaced.
• The title should be “Annotated Bibliography.” Format the heading in bold.
• Center align the title to the page.
• All references are aligned left in the annotated bibliography. For entries running over more than a line, provide 0.5 inches indent to the second and subsequent lines from the left margin.
• Entries are arranged according to the alphabetical arrangement of the author’s surnames.
• Each annotation is added below its corresponding reference entry. Annotations are indented 0.5 inches from the left margin.

Arranging annotated bibliographies

There is no need to look at annotations for arranging them. Arrange the reference entries alphabetically per the author’s surname and place the annotation below the corresponding entry.

For references without authors, arrange the entries by their title.

Example annotated bibliography

The below example shows an annotated bibliography:

• Annotated Bibliography

Lim, L. (2014). Ideology, rationality and reproduction in education: A critical discourse analysis. Discourse: Studies in the Cultural Politics of Education, 35 (1), 61–76. https://doi:10.1080/01596306.2012.739467

Lim focuses on problems of power and perception dominant in academic discourses of logic to study a discourse analysis of the goals of the most important subjects in teaching thinking. He proves that social and group responsibilities are reproduced as thinking that is treasured by all in society. Through his research, Lim asserts that such courses retain our understanding of thinking and reasoning. It must enhance the social reproduction of a specific proportion of the normal group of people.

Key takeaways

• An annotated bibliography is a special type of bibliography that provides additional information about the sources listed in the references list.
• The aim of an annotated bibliography is to either provide details of the topics discussed in the source or assess the source.
• The two types of annotations are descriptive and evaluative.
• The heading should be “Annotated Bibliography.”
• Annotation can be written up to 150 words.

APA Formatting

• Block Quotes
• Headings & Headers
• In-text Citations
• Reference Page
• Paper Format
• View APA Formatting Guide

Citation Examples

• APA Citation Generator

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