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All guides: Artificial intelligence - referencing guidelines: Referencing AI-generated text - updated guidelines

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All guides: Artificial intelligence - referencing guidelines: Referencing AI-generated text - updated guidelines

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JSTOR is a digital library of academic journals, books, and primary sources.

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JSTOR is a digital library of academic journals, books, and primary sources.

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The State Library of New South Wales is a large reference and research library open to the public. It is the oldest library in Australia, being the first library established in New South Wales.

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High achieving Society and Culture students share their top tips for completing an outstanding major project.

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State Library - HSC Society and Culture 

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State Library - HSC Society and Culture 

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HSC: Society and Culture

High achieving Society and Culture students share their top tips for completing an outstanding major project.
Find out how to access award-winning PIPs in their entirety onsite at the State Library, or at your local library, here. Or keep scrolling for PIP extracts, available online.

PIP Extracts

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HSC: Society and Culture High achieving Society and Culture students share their top tips for completing an outstanding major project. Find out how to access award-winning PIPs in their entirety onsite at the State Library, or at your local library, here. Or keep scrolling for PIP extracts, available online.

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What Is an Annotated Bibliography?

An annotated bibliography is a list of citations to books, articles, and documents. 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.

Annotations vs. Abstracts

Abstracts are the purely descriptive summaries often found at the beginning of scholarly journal articles or in periodical indexes. Annotations are descriptive and critical; they may describe the author's point of view, authority, or clarity and appropriateness of expression.

The Process

Creating an annotated bibliography calls for the application of a variety of intellectual skills: concise exposition, succinct analysis, and informed library research.

First, locate and record citations to books, periodicals, and documents that may contain useful information and ideas on your topic. Briefly examine and review the actual items. Then choose those works that provide a variety of perspectives on your topic.

Cite the book, article, or document using the appropriate style.

Write a concise annotation that summarizes the central theme and scope of the book or article. Include one or more sentences that (a) evaluate the authority or background of the author, (b) comment on the intended audience, (c) compare or contrast this work with another you have cited, or (d) explain how this work illuminates your bibliography topic.

Critically Appraising the Book, Article, or Document

For guidance in critically appraising and analyzing the sources for your bibliography, see How to Critically Analyze Information Sources. For information on the author's background and views, ask at the reference desk for help finding appropriate biographical reference materials and book review sources.

Choosing the Correct Citation Style

Check with your instructor to find out which style is preferred for your class. Online citation guides for both the Modern Language Association (MLA) and the American Psychological Association (APA) styles are linked from the Library's Citation Management page.

Sample Annotated Bibliography Entries

The following example uses APA style ( Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 7th edition, 2019) for the journal citation:

Waite, L., Goldschneider, F., & Witsberger, C. (1986). Nonfamily living and the erosion of traditional family orientations among young adults. American Sociological Review, 51(4), 541-554.
The authors, researchers at the Rand Corporation and Brown University, use data from the National Longitudinal Surveys of Young Women and Young Men to test their hypothesis that nonfamily living by young adults alters their attitudes, values, plans, and expectations, moving them away from their belief in traditional sex roles. They find their hypothesis strongly supported in young females, while the effects were fewer in studies of young males. Increasing the time away from parents before marrying increased individualism, self-sufficiency, and changes in attitudes about families. In contrast, an earlier study by Williams cited below shows no significant gender differences in sex role attitudes as a result of nonfamily living.

This example uses MLA style ( MLA Handbook, 9th edition, 2021) for the journal citation. For additional annotation guidance from MLA, see 5.132: Annotated Bibliographies.

Waite, Linda J., et al. "Nonfamily Living and the Erosion of Traditional Family Orientations Among Young Adults." American Sociological Review, vol. 51, no. 4, 1986, pp. 541-554.

The authors, researchers at the Rand Corporation and Brown University, use data from the National Longitudinal Surveys of Young Women and Young Men to test their hypothesis that nonfamily living by young adults alters their attitudes, values, plans, and expectations, moving them away from their belief in traditional sex roles. They find their hypothesis strongly supported in young females, while the effects were fewer in studies of young males. Increasing the time away from parents before marrying increased individualism, self-sufficiency, and changes in attitudes about families. In contrast, an earlier study by Williams cited below shows no significant gender differences in sex role attitudes as a result of nonfamily living.

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LibGuides: How to Prepare an Annotated Bibliography: The Annotated Bibliography

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An annotated bibliography provides a brief account of the available research on a given topic. Find out how to select resources, what to include, and which writing style to use.

What is an annotated bibliography?

An annotated bibliography reviews the research published on your problem of study. Unlike a literature review, articles are reviewed separately with a full citation, brief summary of their content and a statement on how or why they apply to your research. It is a list of citations, each followed by a short paragraph, of 150 - 200 words, reviewing each source. Depending on your assignment, in this paragraph you may reflect on, summarise, critique, evaluate or analyse the source.

An annotated bibliography may be a component of a larger assignment or it may be a standalone document.

Why write an annotated bibliography?

Depending on your specific assessment, you may be asked to create an annotated bibliography for the following reasons:

To familiarise yourself with the material available on a particular topic

To demonstrate the quality and depth of reading that you have done

To identify range of sources available on your topic

To highlight sources that may be of interest to other readers and researchers

To explore and organise sources for further research, e.g. as the first step toward a literature review

What kind of resources should be studied?

Review recent academic materials such as academic books and peer reviewed journals. Textbooks and web pages are generally not appropriate as the content may be either too broad or unreliable.

The sources you choose will depend on your topic. Choose sources which most closely answer a clearly defined question or problem from a balanced range of approaches, not only those which confirm your current beliefs. Also, include any references which are considered central to your topic.

How to create an annotated bibliography

Find appropriate academic sources

Survey the literature

Evaluate and ask questions as you read

Create a bibliography with annotations

Write in the correct style

What's included in an annotated bibliography?

Below is a sample annotation (APA). The superscript numbers at the end of the sentence explain the features or elements covered.
Scoffer, J., Treet, M., Nibbell, A., Tayste, C., & Snacker, A. (2017). Visual priming for chocolate increases chocolate consumption-an attention bias modification study. Journal of Healthy Eating, 38(1), 176-183.¹
The study examines the effect of attention priming on subsequent chocolate consumption within a University context ². 120 female subjects were primed with presentations of pictures either of shoes or chocolate, then participated in a chocolate search ³. Findings indicated that the group primed with visual stimuli of chocolate showed significantly higher persistence in the chocolate searching task, consuming on average greater amounts of chocolate ⁴. The authors contend that attention to food stimuli could increase risk of weight gain for many individuals ⁵. By demonstrating the role of visual attention in subsequent food seeking behaviour and quantity consumed, this study provides evidence that such visual stimuli as web-based or billboard-based advertisements containing images of food may present a health risk to many individuals ⁶. Limitations of the study include the lack of a true control since no non-primed condition was included. Another limitation is the use of a highly prized foodstuff, which limits the application of the findings to more everyday foods less closely related to reward ⁷. However, the positive finding on the role of visual priming in food seeking and consumption provides useful support for the argument in my research that visual advertising contributes to weight problems, particularly in an obesogenic environment 8.
² Aim and scope of the research ³ Brief summary of methods (where appropriate) ⁵ Author's main contention/ argument ⁶ Usefulness for your research ⁷ Limitations for your study ⁸ Reflection on how this work informs your research and how it will be applied.
Final tip

As you research, keep in mind that annotated bibliographies are often preliminary research for a single, cohesive literature review about a situation or problem. Try to choose sources which together will present a comprehensive review of the issue under study.

Get one-on-one advice

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An annotated bibliography provides a brief account of the available research on a given topic. Find out how to select resources, what to include, and which writing style to use.

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How to apply

NSW residents can sign up for a Library card online and access an extensive range of eresources and ebooks, including online access from anywhere - and it's free to join.

You will receive your Library card number via email (next business day). We will then post the card to you at a later date.

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With a Library card you can:

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You can borrow some of the Library's books and other collection material through other libraries. Speak to your public, academic or work library about requesting an inter-library loan.

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You can collect your card from the Governor Marie Bashir Reading Room or the Special Collections area. You will need to show identification that has your current address.

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You can use most of the Library's eresources including ebooks from anywhere, anytime with a SL public library membership.

Need to use other collection material and services? Sign up for additional access.

Contact your public library for more information.
Register your public library card

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Get a library card to request books and other collection material, access eresources or book a study room.

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Need to talk to a Uni Lecturer/Academic? Advice on Consulting Experts from UoS:

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Need to talk to a Uni Lecturer/Academic? Advice on Consulting Experts from UoS:

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Fatphobia versus thin privilege; How societies biases shape eating disorders.

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Men writing women and its impact on the continued oversexualisation in media

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are curfews an effective means of social control, Indigenous rights, false imprisonment, unlearning oppression

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The effects of bullying: what it does to people and how it has changed over time

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The influence of cultural diversity on Artistic expression; different traditional dances of cultures (haka, hawaiian hula) artwork (aboriginal artwork) body modifications (tattoo, cultural piercings)

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How different representations of male and female politicians in the media contribute to gender roles

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How acceptable is it for non-indigenous people to engage with indigenous traditional art forms

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Does the incarceration of Indigenous youth in Alice Springs contribute to creating a safer   community, or does it perpetuate poor life outcomes and social disadvantage

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The evolving relationship between Australia and the British monarchy. Cross-generational study on how idealogies on the British Monarchy have changed and what has influenced this change