Being a writer it’s not your first rodeo so far. At this stage, you're familiar with your teacher's assignments pool and can manage the most recent essays in a professional way. Though, the prompt takes you toward pause. Many questions arise in mind, such as: What is an annotated bibliography? Where did the term originate from? Why do you need to invest your time on it?

The right way to get all of your queries answered is by hiring a qualified writer. If you consider any piece of the task as a challenge, we're here to assist you throughout the entire process of making an annotated bibliography. So, let’s get started.

What Is an Annotated Bibliography?

The term annotated bibliography is based on a list of citations to articles, books, and other documents. All these citations are followed by a short descriptive passage, consisting of atleast150 words. The purpose behind an annotation is to notify the reader of the relevance, accuracy, and superiority of the sources cited.

Being a writer, you need to have a strong grip in APA and MLA styles to compose an annotated bibliography. Sometimes annotations might cause to down your grades. Certain assignments need to summaries while others call for assessment and reflection. Make sure to consult your professor regarding annotations’ particularities if they aren’t mentioned in the prompt.

Why should I write an Annotated Bibliography?

This question frequently comes into your mind when you’re about to start an assignment. But, every time you get the same answer “because your professors asked you to write it”. However, plenty of reasons exist to write an Annotated Bibliography, including:

• You will find these skills helpful after graduating from college. This task prepares your mind to proceeds bulk data and sums it up in the form of sets. Such skills will help you whether you enter in IT, Journalism, or Retail field.
• You are able to set your critical thinking. Many people find research a tedious task, so they usually prefer to rely on the first five results that appeared by Google, Bing, or other search engines. However, an annotated bibliography allows you to take a step back and evaluate the sources and credibility thoroughly. Gone are the days, when people rely on weak resources, now critical thinking is the best way to spruce up the analytical skills.
• You save time in the short span.  If you’re required to add 15+ citations in a research paper, you might fail to keep some of the important references into your mind within a blink. Therefore, short annotations are crucial to notify you which of the books or articles you need to cite without searching them again and again. Ultimately, you end up to save time.
• You save time in the long run. Annotated bibliographies are beneficial for the long run, once you prepare it you can keep it for later use. You can also use these sources again or cite references you’ve created. If you're preparing a Master's or Ph.D. thesis, annotations will help to save your time.

Where Should I Start?

Get your work started with what you have. At the initial level, you'll only available with an assignment prompt. Read it keenly and mark all those keywords that determine the assignment factors. Also, focus on the verbs and numbers that specify the margins of an assignment. For example, your professor fixes the specific word count for bibliography and annotation, asks to describe the formatting or references.

In this situation, try your best to fulfil the professor’s expectations. The following three facets can be available individually or joined inside every section: summary, evaluation, and reflection.

Why Do I Have to Research and Take Notes?

Research is not considered an integral part of the task, unless the professor delivers you with a list of references. In contrast to your other papers, an annotated bibliography will acquire some extra sources. All you need to skim these sources thoroughly and choose the accurate source to meet the requirements.

Notes are significant to define outlining and citing simpler. A well-written note must include the following factors, such as:

• Contains bibliographic information (title, author, publisher, and year)
• Contains major concepts and opinions
• Quotes you may use in the paper with exact page numbers
• Your assessments on the credibility of the source.

These notes will be helpful whether you use them as composing the annotated bibliography or some other type of paper. If you’re using digital tools, make sure to add tags to the notes. And if you’re following manual methods such as paper and pen, save these notes in a notepad or bind it to keep it organized.

How Should I Write Citations?

Start writing the annotated bibliography by composing the “Work Cited” or “References” sections.

Make sure to follow the formatting style assigned by the professor. In case, if you have forgotten MLA, APA, or Chicago styles, head over to the Purdue Writing Lab website. 

Easybib and Citethisforme are the easiest and authentic ways to format the citations. Create your customized citation according to the chosen formatting style and reference type. Both of these tools are cost-free and you can approach them easily. However, you can buy the premium subscription if you’re looking for citations in bulk or some specific citation styles.  Save your time and make citing a pleasure.

How Should I Write Annotations?

As per the requirements, an annotation can contain one or more of the following factors:

Summary

You will see it as a part of many annotations, covering the main concepts and arguments. Consider the possibilities of how you can summarize the reference in sentences by using rephrasing abilities. To make it simpler, focus to rewrite the abstract that can be found at the end of the book or before the article. However, you can seek help from online websites to generate a concise description for your reference.

Evaluation 

The first fragment of the annotation should be objective, the second section is where you convey your views and assess the available source. You evaluate, whether it was useful or not? Is the author biased or objective? Can you rely on the conducted information? Did you find this source better as compared to others?

Try to avoid criticism in this section of annotation. Otherwise, the professor might ask questions regarding your reference selection. If the source doesn’t match your requirements, simply omit it from the paper and find out some better references. However, keep this annotation save and it can be used in future.

Reflection

Now it’s time to conclude that how the resource will fit your research. Define the details, examples, and facts you can use in your paper. Moreover, consider different sources as well and analyze the way they act together to support your arguments. This part of annotation provides great help while preparing the outline and thesis.

If your professor asks for reflection and evaluation, all you need to write an annotated bibliography before the paper, even though you leave citation forend.

Do I Have to Edit and Proofread the Bibliography?

An annotated bibliography contrasts hugely from essays and other papers; it requires similar post-writing treatment. Consider the following factors before presenting the bibliography:

Editing

Before submitting the paper, have a final look and check whether it is covering all the requirements. Read carefully the annotations and make sure they are organized, rational, and briefly composed.

Proofreading

Gone are the days, when you manually proofread your paper. Plenty of online tools are available to check the grammar and spell mistakes. Grammarly is an efficient tool to fix your document containing grammatical mistakes. It offers a premium subscription and you will be amazed at how many additional errors you’ll find in your paper. Plus, commas placements are important and try to place it at required places, in order to obtain high grades.

Formatting

Make sure that your paper covers all the requirements and keep the selected style at the top. No matter if your professor is a huge fan of the APA or MLA formats, your bibliography should cover all the standards.

Try to fix all formatting errors otherwise, you will get low grades. To avoid the mistakes, look up the authentic and well-written annotated bibliography examples.

Are There Good Annotated Bibliography Examples?

If you’re looking for annotated bibliography examples, you’ve got the right stop. Here, you’ll find authentic samples for the APA, MLA, and Chicago styles.

However, some annotations contain evaluation along with work summary and others are restricted to a brief overview. Get your work submitted to the professor as per requirements and follow the instructions carefully. 

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