How to write an annotated bibliography

An annotated bibliography sits between a reference list and a literature review. A reference list proves you cited things. A literature review synthesises them into an argument. An annotated bibliography does the middle step: each source gets a short paragraph that says what it argues, how good it is, and what you will use it for.

It is usually set as preparation for a larger project, and it is genuinely the most useful piece of coursework you will ever be given — because writing it forces you to read critically rather than to collect.

What each entry contains

The full citation, in your required style, formatted exactly as it would appear in a reference list.

Summary — two or three sentences. What is the argument or the finding? What evidence is it based on? Not a description of the topic: a statement of the claim.

Assessment — how credible and how useful. Who wrote it and what is their standing? Is it peer-reviewed? How old is it, and does that matter in this field? What is the sample, the scope, the limitation? Where is it weak?

Reflection — how it fits your project. Which part of your argument does it support, complicate or contradict? Some briefs ask for this and some do not; if yours does, it is where the marks are.

Typical length: 100–200 words per entry unless the brief says otherwise.

An example

Adeyemi, K. (2019). Teacher retention in urban Nigerian secondary schools. Journal of African Education Policy, 14(2), 55–78.

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Adeyemi surveys 200 secondary teachers across three state capitals and argues that retention is driven less by salary than by administrative workload and lack of professional autonomy. The finding is drawn from self-reported questionnaires with a 68% response rate.

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The study is peer-reviewed and its instrument is clearly reported, which makes it replicable. Its main limitation is the sample: all three cities are state capitals, so it says nothing about rural schools, where conditions and retention pressures differ substantially. At six years old it predates the 2022 salary reform.

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I will use it as the strongest evidence for the workload argument, and as the clearest example of the urban sampling bias I want to identify as a gap in the literature.

Notice the assessment is specific and unflattering in places. A row of entries all saying "this is a useful and well-written source" is worth almost nothing.

Summarising versus assessing

The commonest failure is an annotation that only summarises. Summary tells the reader what the source says; assessment tells them whether to believe it and why it matters here. If none of your sentences contains a judgement, you have written an abstract, not an annotation.

Useful sentence openers for the assessment: The strength of this study is… / Its scope is limited to… / The argument depends on… / Unlike X, this source… / This is the only work I found that…

Ordering and formatting

Alphabetical by author is the default. Some briefs ask for chronological or thematic grouping — thematic is much more useful if you are heading towards a literature review, because the groups become your sections.

Hanging indent on the citation, annotation indented beneath it, no bullet points. Follow the citation style throughout, including for the annotation's own formatting conventions.

Common mistakes

Describing the topic instead of the argument. Praising every source. No word on methodology or limitation. Copying the abstract, or paraphrasing it too closely — this is a real plagiarism risk and markers check. Including a source you have not read past the first page. Ignoring the reflection element when the brief asked for it. Inconsistent citation formatting, which is the easiest mark on the whole task to keep.

Practical tips

• Write the annotation immediately after reading, not weeks later. You will not remember the limitation.
• If you cannot state the argument in one sentence, read it again — you have not got it yet.
• Keep the entries in a spreadsheet with a column for each element; it converts directly into a literature-review matrix.
• Use BRYME's citation formatter for the reference, then check it against your own style sheet.