You will create an Annotated Bibliography of possible source material for the research project.
This needs to consist of a minimum of five sources. You can use the reference list that you created during the research and writing process to complete this.
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.
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.
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.
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.
The following example uses APA style (Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 6th edition, 2010) for the journal citation:
Waite, L. J., Goldschneider, F. K., & Witsberger, C. (1986). Nonfamily living and the erosion of traditional family orientations among young adults. American Sociological Review, 51, 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, 8th edition, 2016) for the journal citation:
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.
We are going to use these criteria to keep track of our sources while also taking notes on our sources.
| Criteria | Source 1 |
|---|---|
| Complete Citation (Create a citation in the appropriate format) | Example: Cordero, E. C., Centeno, D., & Todd, A. M. (2020). The role of climate change education on individual lifetime carbon emissions. PloS One, 15(2), e0206266. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0206266 |
| Year the source was published | 2020 |
| Title of publication (eg. Journal title, book title, newspaper title, etc. | PloS One |
| Keywords and words that require definitions (protip: use these terms in future searches to find more sources. | climate change, emissions, carbon, ecology, education, "carbon footprint" |
| What is this source’s objective? What is it trying to do /say/ prove? | The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the impact of an intensive university climate change course on individual long-term carbon emissions. |
| What are the author’s/ authors’ research questions? (protip: this is often found in the introduction or thesis) | |
| Major Claims/ Findings/ Results (what did the authors learn?) | Developing a college class for freshmen can: a) connect climate science to students' lives, b) provide students with experience creating change in a community of their choice, and c) create a culture devoted to stewardship and action. This can be scaled and have a potentially greater impact at other universities |
| Does this source disagree with your working theses” How so? | |
| Are there any holes in their research? Did they fall to consider something? | Need to investigate more studies that assess the impact that education can have on long-term behavior |
| Notes, insights, and key takeaways | |
| Useful quotes (include a page number) | "The results of this comparison show that education, if designed appropriately, can potentially be as effective as other established climate change mitigation techniques. Based on the scenario we developed, the implementation of climate change education over a 30-year period (2020–2050) could reduce emissions by 18.8 GT of CO2 eq" (p. 16). |
| How will you use this source? Does it add anything to other sources you’ve already found? | I will use this source to strengthen my argument that education is essential for helping reduce personal carbon emissions |
| Permalink (protip: pull the link to the article from the database. Make sure it’s the “permalink” so you can always get back to your source-look for the word ‘login’ in the URL) | https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&AuthType=sso&db=mdc&AN=32017773&site=eds-live&scope=site&custid=s3916018 |
This page was adapted from a guide by:
Olin Library Reference
Research & Learning Services
Cornell University Library
Ithaca, NY, USA
The adaptation of the guide was done with permission from Olin Library Reference Research & Learning Services.