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SCS 224 (Campus) - Social Science Research Methods

This guide serves as a research companion to the ON-CAMPUS course SCS-224 titled "Social Science Research Methods" taught by Professor Christine Clamp.

What is an Annotated Bibliography?

An annotated bibliography is a list of citations of books, articles, documents, and sources. Each citation is followed by a brief (usually about 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. (American University Literature Review Tutorial This link opens in a new window)

Homework #5 Assignment: Write an Annotated Bibliography

Develop an annotated bibliography for your final research paper.  A minimum of 15 scholarly sources is required in your bibliography. (They should be from books and scholarly peer-reviewed journals. Newspaper articles are not scholarly sources for the purpose of this assignment.) Citations should be in APA format, and they should be listed in alphabetical order by author's last name. Annotate each source in your bibliography. Identify the research methods utilized in the studies. The annotation for each citation should include:

  1. Author
  2. Title
  3. Publication information
  4. The problem addressed
  5. Central purpose or focus of the study
  6. Key results that relate to the proposed study
  7. Any technical or methodological flaws in reasoning, force of argument, etc.

At the end of the annotated bibliography, include a matrix that shows key topics to be included in your research paper and which sources address each of those points.

Create your Annotated Bibliography in RefWorks

Once you set up a RefWorks account and upload/drag'n'drop your sources into RefWorks, it will create a bibliography for you, including annotations. To do this, click on your source in the list in your RefWorks account, then type your annotation into the Abstract field in the citation box that appears with your source. Click the RefWorks tab in the left margin of this page to learn more about setting up and using RefWorks.

Northcentral University Library has created step by step instructions with screenshots for how to create an annotated bibliography using RefWorks. Click on the link below: