Annotated Bibliography Assignment
Topic Selection
The first step is to select the topic that you will be researching this entire term. This Thinking
assignment is tied directly to your Term Paper.
NOTE: Books and Websites of any kind are not allowed for this class.
schizophrenia spectrum disorder
bipolar I disorder
Bipolar II disorder
major depressive disorder
separation anxiety disorder
specific phobia
panic disorder
hording disorder
reactive attachment disorder
post-traumatic stress disorder
pica in children
pica in adults
anorexia nervosa
bulimia nervosa
erectile disorder
female orgasmic disorder
intermittent explosive disorder
alcohol-related disorders
opioid-related disorders
cluster A personality disorders (you must pick one: paranoid personality, schizoid
personality, schizotypal personality)
Scholarly Journal Article Selection
1. Locate a minimum of 5 Scholarly (Peer Reviewed) Journal Articles in GALILEO
2. Each Article must be resent research (no more than 10 years old)
3. Read the entire article
What is an annotation?
An annotation is more than just a brief summary of an article, book, Web site or other type of
publication. An annotation should give enough information to make a reader decide whether
to read the complete work. In other words, if the reader were exploring the same topic as
you, is this material useful and if so, why?
How is an annotation different from an abstract?
While an abstract also summarizes an article, book, Web site or other type of publication, it is
purely descriptive. Although annotations can be descriptive, they also include distinctive
features about an item. Annotations can be evaluative and critical as we will see when we
look at the two major types of annotations.
Your Assignment
An annotated bibliography is an organized list of sources (like a reference list). It differs from a
straightforward bibliography in that each reference is followed by a paragraph length
annotation, usually 100–200 words in length.
You will prepare an annotated bibliography on a topic of your own choosing — this topic must
be related to your term paper. You will need a minimum of 5 scholarly peer revwied sources
for this assignment (you may use more, but you only need 5 to fulfill the assignment
requirements).
How do you write an annotated bibliography?
The four components of an annotated bibliographic entry are as follows:
An APA style reference citation of Scholarly (peer reviewed) Journal Articles
See the Purdue OWL for formatting issues for the Reference List. In particular
pay attention to the Reference List: Basic Rules and the
Reference List: Author/Authors sections. NOTE: There is no specific
information on Purdue OWL for an Annotated Bibliography Assignment.
In Block style aligned on the left margin provide a short paragraph of 100–200 words (3
or 4 sentences) that describes or summarizes the source:
It describes why the source is useful for researching a particular topic or
question, its distinctive features.
It describes the author’s main arguments and conclusions without evaluating
what the author says or concludes.
It examines the strengths and weaknesses of what is presented as well as
describing the applicability of the author’s conclusions to the research being
conducted.
A short statement about the usefulness of the article:
What was the most important concept or idea that you took away from the
article about your research topic that you will include in your paper.
Your assessment of the article’s usefulness to your research goals.
Finally, press the enter key twice before you start your next citation.
Example
Starr, P.D. & Roberts, A.E. (1982). Attitudes toward new Americans: Perceptions of IndoChinese in nine cities. Research in Race and Ethnic Relations, 3, 165-186.
The authors discuss some of the sociological and historical factors that have influenced
American attitudes and official policy toward Asian immigrants in the past and that continue to
influence current opinion. Contemporary attitudes toward Indo-Chinese (IC) expressed by local
residents in nine cities in California, Alabama, Louisiana, and Florida were examined. Seven
hundred and forty five questionnaires were returned by respondents. The authors describe how
the respondents’ points of view were influenced by different background characteristics and their
experiences with IC people. The results show less overt racism than has been found in previous
studies, but great receptivity to the IC people was not found in the present study. Only a small
proportion of the respondents regarded the IC people as undesirable, but many thought that they
affected the community negatively.
I found it interesting that persons of higher education or with jobs of higher status tended to be
more positive in their views of the IC people, while political conservatives expressed more
negative attitudes.
