The topics and types of sources of annotated bibliographies will vary. Our sample strives to cover common types of sources and provide an example to guide you as you work on your annotated bibliography project. This sample is in APA format. Please reach out to Ask a Librarian with any questions.
NOTE: The format and content of an annotated bibliography can vary; be sure to ask your instructor for specific guidelines. This example shows the standard Annotated Bibliography format for English courses at Spartanburg Community College in APA format.
The image of a Sample Annotated Bibliography (APA) below is labeled with image hotspots in form of purple circles with the letter 'i.' Click on these image hotspots to learn more about different parts of the Annotated Bibliography. A plain-text version follows the image. If you have any questions, please reach out to Ask a Librarian.
This is a plain-text version of the notes and their context for creating an Annotated Bibliography in APA format from the sample annotated bibliography with image hotspots above. If you have any questions, please reach out to Ask a Librarian.
Format: All projects should be double-spaced, have 1-inch margins, and use an easy-to-read, common font size & style (Example: Times New Roman, Calibri, Arial or Aptos, 11 or 12pt).
Header: For the annotated bibliography, you'll want to have page numbers in the Header for the entire document that show in the upper-right corner of each page. To insert page numbers in Word, click on “Insert” tab, then click on “Page Number”. Choose “Top of Page” and then “Plain Number 3”.
A common characteristic of APA style is to include a title page. This will be the first page of your annotated bibliography, and the comments below pertain to the title page. Center-align the title page information, beginning with the title of the annotated bibliography project. Each piece of information on the title page is on its own line. Unless otherwise noted, there are no additional spaces between lines.
Title: In APA, you typically don't put the title on the first line of the Title page. Instead, you will leave 3-4 blank lines before typing your title; however you still want the title in the upper half of the page. Capitalize all major words in the title. Bold the title. For example: Annotated Bibliography
Note: The title also appears centered on the first line of the second page.
Space Before Student/Author's Name: After the title, include 1 blank double-spaced line before typing the student or author's name who wrote the annotated bibliography.
College information: After the student/author's name, for student papers, the next line lists the department and the college, separated by a comma. For example: Humanities & Languages Department, Spartanburg Community College
Course number & title: On the line after the name of the department and college, list the course number and title. Center-align this information. For example: ENG 101: English Composition
Instructor's name: On the line after the course number and title, list the instructor with credentials if known (Dr., PhD, MS, MA, RN, etc.). For example: Ms. Patricia Weeks, MA
Due Date: On the line after the instructor's name, list the due date as month (don't abbreviate) then day, followed by a comma and the year. For example: October 23, 2024.This is the final line of the title page.
After the due date, move to the second page of your paper.
The actual annotated bibliography will begin on the second page after the Title page.
On the first line of the second page, after the Title page, list the project’s title. The title should be center-aligned and in bold font.
Example: Annotated Bibliography
Research begins with a question. Your thesis will be the answer to this question. So begin with a question you want to find the answer to. What are you researching and why? This research question will guide your research and lead you to sources that will help you answer this question in the form of your thesis.
On the next line after your title, use the label "Research Question:" before typing your question. In the example, Research Question is underlined, the first letter of each word is capitalized, and it is followed by a colon.
Example: Research Question: Are Indigenous People suffering human rights abuses in Australia?
As you research, you will begin to develop your thesis. This is the thesis or main point/argument of the essay or project that goes along with the Annotated Bibliography. The goal of the Annotated Bibliographies is to help you gather and analyze your sources that you will choose to use or not use to complete a larger project/essay. Since completing the annotated bibliography is the beginning of the research process, your thesis will not be fully formed. This is why it is referred to as your working thesis. Based on your current research, what do you plan to argue in your research paper?
On the next line after your research question, use the label "Working Thesis:" before typing your thesis. In the example, Working Thesis is underlined, the first letter of each word is capitalized, and it is followed by a colon.
Example: Working Thesis: Australia’s prisons have a history of neglecting prisoners with disabilities and mental health issues which is resulting in preventable deaths especially of Indigenous prisoners.
After the working thesis, on the next line, you will list the APA citation for your first source. Note - as you add more sources, they should be in alphabetical order and appear just as they would on your References page. This listing of your sources is the bibliography part of an ‘annotated bibliography.’ All citations should have a hanging indent just like on a References page.
Example: Allam, L., Wahlquist, C., & Evershed, N. (2018). The 147 dead: Terrible toll of Indigenous deaths in custody spurs calls for reform. The Guardian [London, England].
After each APA citation, on the next line, you’ll have an annotation for that source. This is a paragraph that goes underneath each citation. In the example, the paragraph has no indentation. For SCC, the paragraph should include a short summary of the source, an evaluation of the source's credibility, and how you're going to use the source (or not) in your research paper. Begin your annotation by summarizing the main ideas of the source in a 2-3 of sentences. Summaries do not typically have quotes from the article – just write the major points of the source in your own words.
Example: This newspaper article covers the results of a ten-year investigation by The Guardian into deaths of Indigenous Australians while in police custody. It contains statistics about the issue and details about individual cases. There are recommendations for independent monitoring and implementation of the Royal Commission’s recommendations.
After the summary in the same paragraph, you need to evaluate the source’s credibility in several sentences. This is where you will examine different parts of the source – author, publisher/publication, evidence, date of publication, and bias – to see if this is a credible and appropriate source for your project. You likely won’t find a source that’s 100% perfect on everything, so use your judgement about the overall quality of the source. Also, you don’t need to list everything you find about the author or publisher/publication; focus on listing enough to prove their credentials while still keeping it short. The example below is the full evaluation. Afterward, we'll break down each piece with more information.
Example: There are three authors, who are all experienced journalists for The Guardian and have won awards for their reporting. Calla Wahlquist and Nick Evershed both have degrees in journalism, and Lorena Allam is The Guardian's Indigenous Affairs editor and has been a journalist and broadcaster for 30 years. This article was published in the award-winning The Guardian newspaper. According to Allsides.com, The Guardian is typically considered “left leaning” on the political spectrum but the site doesn’t raise any concerns about its accuracy. This source is from 2018 and some of the information is from more than 30 years ago, but it shows the history of this issue and provides valuable background for an ongoing issue. The authors use credible sources as evidence, including prisoners’ perspectives, and cite authorities and experts to support their statements.
Evaluate the author's qualifications. In this example, there are multiple authors. The student has evaluated each of the author's qualifications but notice how they summarize things the author's have in common like their job and where they work to keep the section short.
Example: There are three authors, who are all experienced journalists for The Guardian and have won awards for their reporting. Calla Wahlquist and Nick Evershed both have degrees in journalism, and Lorena Allam is The Guardian's Indigenous Affairs editor and has been a journalist and broadcaster for 30 years.
When evaluating the author's qualifications, consider the following:
Evaluate the publisher or sponsor. This is the company or organization who put the information out into the world by publishing the book or putting it on their website, etc. Alternatively, you can look at the publication itself. Usually this is done for magazines, journals, and newspapers, where the publication itself has a reputation for quality or bias, etc. In this example, the source is a newspaper article, so the student evaluates the publication (the newspaper), The Guardian. The following section the student will examine the bias of the newspaper.
Example: This article was published in the award-winning The Guardian newspaper.
When evaluating the publisher or sponsor, consider the following:
When evaluating the bias of a source, you should consider the bias of the author, publisher/publication, and the sources or evidence they use. Pretty much every source has a perspective or viewpoint on a topic, but bias becomes problematic when it begins to distort the facts or be too one-sided - it doesn't accurately report on the full picture. See our Bias guide to learn more. In this example, the student evaluates the newspaper, The Guardian, for any bias by visiting the website AllSides.com. This is a website that reports on the bias and accuracy of media like newspapers. It doesn't cover all types of sources, but it's a helpful tool for news and media sources.
Example: According to Allsides.com, The Guardian is typically considered “left leaning” on the political spectrum, but the site doesn’t raise any concerns about its accuracy.
When evaluating bias, consider the following:
When evaluating the publication date of the source, consider both how current it is and how much does currency matter for your topic? Some subjects need to be more current than others because they change very quickly. For example, current events and technology are outdated very quickly. Health information changes every few years, so we recommend looking for within the last five years or so. A historical event doesn't change much once it happens, so information about it would be useful much longer. In this example, the student notes that the article is a bit older but also explains why this is useful.
Example: This source is from 2018 and some of the information is from more than 30 years ago, but it shows the history of this issue and provides valuable background for an ongoing issue.
To evaluate the evidence or sources used by your author, examine what information they are using to support their points. Where is their information coming from? Is it high-quality information from reputable sources? They may list their sources at the end in a Works Cited, References, Footnotes, or Bibliography list, but many times, the author will mention throughout the text of the source where their information is coming from. In the example, the student identifies the specific types of sources referenced in the article and then summarizes what they find.
Example: The authors use credible sources as evidence, including prisoners’ perspectives, and cite authorities and experts to support their statements.
Consider the following:
After you evaluate the source, in the same paragraph, you should explain how and why you plan to use this source in your research paper. This is the final part of the annotation paragraph. Always double-check your paragraphs to make sure they have all three sections – summary, evaluation, and your use.
Example: I am going to use the information about the systemic failures of prisons over the past 10 years, as well as individual cases, to show how Australia’s prisons are neglecting prisoners' mental health issues resulting in unnecessary deaths.
Immediately following the annotation for the first source, you will include the APA citation for the second source, followed by the annotation paragraph that will include a summary, evaluation, and your use for the second source. Continue on for each source you include in your annotated bibliography.
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