Annotated Bibliography
your central task is to critically analyse five sources to present a review of the literature on a specific topic. This is not a typical essay. This is a presentation of sources that you’ve assessed. An example of how an annotation would be structured can be found here.
In terms of structure, this task is really quite straight forward.
Title of the document, name, word count.
An introductory paragraph that establishes what topic you are examining in the annotated bibliography. It would be helpful to provide a definition of the topic so that the reader knows how you’ve scoped the issue. This should be around 200 words.
Provide an annotated bibliography for five sources that you’ve chosen. Each annotation should be around 450 words.
In terms of structuring the annotation:
Start with the reference. Provide the reference details in full. Ensure that you’ve used a recognised academic referencing standard and provided all required details. With respect to your reference, please make sure you choose an academic source that is peer-reviewed scholarship.
Summarise the text.
Identify clearly how that text contributes to the topic and body of literature that you’ve identified.
Highlight the relevance of the reference.
Present any limitations in relation to the source. Is there a bias? Is it limited in its scope? etc.
Repeat this structure for the five sources. This will conclude your annotated bibliography.
Your summary of the reading should include considerations such as:
Theoretical perspectives
Research findings
Methodologies employed
Conclusions
When critiquing the reading, please consider:
Research findings
Relevancy of the reference
Limitations of the research
Is there any bias?
Are the findings relevant to certain populations or groups?
Does it look at an issue from a broad or narrow perspective?
What ideas does it support?
What ideas does it oppose?
Is it useful in practice?
Is it a theoretical contribution?
How does this inform your understanding of the topic? etc…
