How To Write an Annotated Bibliography for Dummies

I started going to college when I was thirty-nine years old. I had been out of high school for many years, and because I never finished high school, I never wrote a research paper when I was there. The first paper I wrote in college was graded on content and on bibliography. I made an A+ for content, but a zero for bibliography because I did not know that it was necessary to include one. I had a talk with my professor after I got my grade, and explained my lack of bibilography. She gave me time to create one, and I received a passing grade for Literature 101. I have never forgotten that episode of my life. So, I decided to write about how to write an annotated bibliography for those who, like me, never knew they needed one. 

When you receive an assignment to write a paper with an annotated bibliography, you may at first be a little confused. That is only normal, as it is both practical and theoretical task. There are hundreds of articles on how to write this part of a dissertation or research paper, so I decided to make a really simple one, that will create a clear picture in your head. For this, I consulted professional authors from an annotated bibliography writing service SmartWritingService.com, and here is what they recommend you to do.

Write a Plan of Your Review

If you have a plan, you will not only spend less time collecting material, but you will also be able to arrange this work qualitatively. Your plan should include the following information:

• The number of sources that must be confirmed by your thesis or research paper advisor.
• The nature of the description of the sources (analytical, comparative, with the addition of your own opinions).
• The size of the annotated bibliography, which can be expressed in the number of pages, words,  or characters without spaces.
• The exact wording of the topic, which will narrow the range of your search for the right sources.
• Terms of the annotated bibliography, which include the nuances associated with quoting, using fonts, line spacing and paragraph indentation, which, as a rule, is governed by citation style required (APA, MLA, Harvard, etc). To write a good literature review, it is essential to make a plan of action. The plan is your guide to collecting the necessary information.

General Recommendations on Annotated Bibliography Writing

Annotated bibliography is an integral part of the thesis. The main difficulty for the review is the selection of the necessary literature, which is information that:

• will show the incompleteness of the study of the problem you try to research and offer your solution to.
• will confirm the importance of the issue under discussion for modern science.

The annotated bibliography is often presented in several points: the degree of elaboration in the literature, scientific novelty. By the way, referring to the opinions of the authors mentioned in the bibliography can and should be throughout the research work. For example, as a reinforcement of your point of view, or, on the contrary, for a reliable indication of a discrepancy in the results. When writing a review, it is necessary to compile it initially in the abstract form and show the supervisor to clarify further ways to search and design the necessary information.

The literature presented in the annotated bibliography should not be highly specialized, it should be relevant and if possibly represent the points of view of foreign authors as well, as they represent other “schools”. The main emphasis in the analysis of sources should be done not on the work itself, but on its effectiveness.

Remember that you can not use “whole pieces of the finished text source”, quoting is valid in the amount of 5-10% of the entire text.

Referring to any authoritative point of view, it is necessary to find the very first version of its presentation. Undoubtedly, in order for your review to be of high quality, it is desirable to be personally acquainted with the indicated sources (at least fragmentary).

When you are done with the major part of literature review, you should analyze it and delete all the repetitive sources, and add some more, which relate to your topic from another angle. Often, students include too many similar sources and authors who share the same point of view, and it is destructive for the quality of your bibliography.

Proofread your annotated bibliography and make sure it is 100% original. Use online anti-plagiarism and grammar checkers. To save time use citation generators, but make sure the chosen one supports the latest updates of the required citation style.

These details are extremely important if you want to receive a top grade for your work. Even if your annotated bibliography is based on the in-depth research, but contains mistakes, omissions and technical plagiarism, it will kill your efforts. Be attentive, proofread your paper several times and if possible ask your professor for preliminary general corrections before you submit your paper.