Annotated Bibliographies: A short guide

The first step is to locate sources for your annotated bibliography that relate to your research topic or question.

Depending on your assignment, you may need a combination of journal articles, books, policy documents, and professional organisational publications.

A search strategy is a good way to focus your research. This involves producing a list of keywords or phrases relating to your topic. You can find a step-by-step guide to this process by accessing our Effective Search Techniques guide.

To find good quality academic sources, you will need to use a combination of tools including FindIt@Bham, subject-based bibliographic databases and Google Scholar. To find the key academic sources for your subject, see the relevant subject guide.

Read a range of sources which have a variety of viewpoints. Perhaps write a summary and initial evaluations of each one so you can review which ones you want to include in your annotated bibliography.

For guidance on critically appraising the sources you find, see our Evaluating Information guide. This provides a list of prompt questions that will help you to think about the quality of the sources you read.

You may also find this short video on critiquing academic articles useful. It covers aspects such as how to begin your analysis and the kinds of critical questions you might ask about a source.

Citations should be accurate, consistent and in the required style as directed by your School. To ensure that your citations are accurate, see Cite Them Right Online (log in using your University ID via institutional access) and choose the referencing style you need. Alternatively, you can access the University Library's Referencing Guide. There you will find guides to citing a large variety of different sources. 

Finally, you can write the annotations for each of your sources.

You should write using the present tense, third person, and active voice. Use academic vocabulary as you would in an essay. The Manchester Academic Phrasebook offers examples of phrases you can use when writing critically.

You may either write full sentences or in concise phrases but check your project brief to find out what is permissible for your assignment.

Each annotation should be between 100-300 words (depending on your project brief) and include the following points:

• The aim of the source.
• A summary of the findings and key arguments.
• The source’s usefulness to your topic or questions and its limitations.
• A concluding evaluation of how the source fits into your wider research on the topic.

Find more advice on academic and critical writing on the Academic Skills Gateway.

A good annotated bibliography will demonstrate that you know your subject and that you can:

• follow the instructions that have been set.
• read widely.
• identify useful and relevant sources. 
• identify arguments. 
• recognise important authors in the field. 
• see how the sources relate to each other. 
• see how you can use the information in the sources. 
• highlight sources that may be of interest to other readers and researchers 
• use concise and clear language. 
use the correct referencing style accurately and consistently.  

Always check your project brief to find out what you are required to do and ask your tutor if you are unsure. The following tips are generic:

• Annotated bibliographies are usually arranged in alphabetical order of citations.
• Each citation should include all the key bibliographic information you would include in an ordinary bibliography or reference list laid out in a recognised style e.g. Harvard.
• The annotations are usually indented.
• The annotation is a single paragraph of 100-300 words.
• You should write using the present tense and third person and active voice and use academic vocabulary just as you would in an essay e.g. “The author identifies significant trends.”  
• You may either write using full sentences or in concise phrases but check your project brief to find out what is permissible for your assignment.
• Make sure you understand what you are being asked to do. Pay attention to the instructions you have been given.