Annotated Bibliography in APA Style
What is an Annotated Bibliography?
An annotated bibliography is essentially a list of citations to books, articles, and other documents, e-resources--(websites for example), and media (film, music, television.) Following the citation is a brief (usually about 150 words) descriptive and evaluative paragraph of the work. These paragraphs are the annotation. The purpose of the annotation is to help you manage your research and also to inform your professor of the relevance, accuracy, and quality of the sources cited.
Example Annotated Bibliographies
Example of a Book Citation with Annotation
Liroff, R. A., & G. G. Davis. (1981). Protecting open space: Land use control in the Adirondack Park. Cambridge, MA: Ballinger.
This book describes the implementation of regional planning and land use regulation in the Adirondack Park in upstate New York. The authors provide program evaluations of the Adirondack Park Agency's regulatory and local planning assistance programs.
Example of a Journal Article Citation with Annotation
Gottlieb, P. D. (1995). The "golden egg" as a natural resource: Toward a normative theory of growth management. Society and Natural Resources, 8, (5): 49-56.
This article explains the dilemma faced by North American suburbs, which demand both preservation of local amenities (to protect the quality of life) and physical development (to expand the tax base). Growth management has been proposed as a policy solution to this dilemma. An analogy is made between this approach and resource economics. The author concludes that the growth management debate raises legitimate issues of sustainability and efficiency.
More Examples
Examples from the Robert E. Kennedy Library, CalPoly, San Luis Obispo, CA. https://lib.calpoly.edu/help-and-support/write-an-annotated-bibliography/#samples This link opens in a new window
Adapted from Olin & Uris Libraries, Cornell University, Cornell, NY https://guides.library.cornell.edu/annotatedbibliography This link opens in a new window
