Annotated Bibliography
A list of citations in which each entry is followed by a brief summary and evaluation of the source.
An annotated bibliography is a list of formatted citations where each entry is followed by a short annotation, usually a paragraph. A good annotation does three things: summarizes the source's argument or findings, evaluates its credibility and methods, and notes its relevance to your project. It differs from a reference list, which records citations only, and from a literature review, which weaves sources into a single argument.
In a thesis workflow, the annotated bibliography is an early-stage tool, often a required proposal deliverable. Writing annotations while sources are fresh preserves your critical reactions, which fade quickly across dozens of papers. Later, those evaluations feed directly into your literature review and help you decide which works deserve extended discussion. Keeping annotations honest about weaknesses also prepares you to answer examiner questions about source quality.
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