An annotated bibliography is similar to the reference list provided at the end of your paper. However, each reference or source is also paired with a short paragraph, known as an annotation. The annotation summarizes what the source is about and discusses how useful or reliable it is for your research paper. 

There are two main parts to an Annotated Bibliography:

1. The Citation (source information)
2. The Annotation

The reference should be provided in MLA style and MLA format.

The annotation should be written as one paragraph but can be written as more than one paragraph if needed. The annotation is written as a summative, an evaluative, or a reflective annotation (or a combination of the three).

Note: An Annotation can do one or all three of the following:

• Summarize: a general overview of what you read, including key points.
• Assess or Evaluate: information on what makes the article credible and any potential biases you noticed.
• Reflect: your opinion on how useful this article is to your research and why.

Formatting an Annotated Bibliography:

the annotations should be organized alphabetically, by the last name of the author or the first piece of information listed in the citation, OR

organized chronologically, OR organized by subject.

The citation piece of the annotation has the same format as a citation in a normal Works Cited entry:

• Double-spaced
• Left-aligned
• with a 0.5 inch hanging indent

The annotation follows on the next line.

• double-spaced
•  left-aligned
• The whole annotation is indented 1 inch from the left margin.
• For an annotation that is only one paragraph long, there is no additional indent for the start of the paragraph.
• For an annotation of two or more paragraphs, the first line of each paragraph is indented by 1.5 inches.

Example of an Annotated Bibliography: