An annotated bibliography is a list of citations to sources, such as books and articles. Each citation is followed by an annotation, a brief descriptive and evaluative paragraph, about 150 words long, that analyzes the source. An annotated bibliography usually looks like any other bibliography with alphabetized citations of sources, except that here each source is followed by an explanatory paragraph. This work can form the basis of a literature review later in the writing process. The purpose of the annotation is to inform on the relevance, accuracy, and quality of the sources cited.
An annotation is not only a summary of the source in question. It should be a short but critical analysis as to why and how the source fits into the larger research question. An abstract functions as a summary, an annotation should be contextual to the specific topic at hand. It should be both descriptive and evaluative.
Most of the major citation styles call for a hanging first line on annotated bibliographies. This means the first line of the citation will align with the left margin of the page, and all subsequent lines of the citation and annotation will indent to the right.
Stoll, Joshua S., Heather M. Leslie, Melissa L. Britsch, and Caitlin M. Cleaver. 2019. “Evaluating Aquaculture as a Diversification Strategy for Maine’s Commercial Fishing Sector in the Face of Change.” Marine Policy 107 (September):103583. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpol.2019.103583.
This article discusses the growth of the aquaculture sector in Maine and analyzes the overlap between commercial fishing licenses and aquaculture leases and licenses to determine the extent to which commercial fishers are diversifying into aquaculture. A small percentage of commercial fishers are licensed to do aquaculture and instead, those getting into aquaculture appear to be a new group of ocean users. This has implications for efforts to diversify commercial fishing-dependent livelihoods as a response to climate change impacts. This is relevant to my research in which I am exploring the potential for aquaculture to be a diversification strategy for commercial fishermen. I will likely use this source as supporting evidence that such a transition does not currently appear to be taking place other than for a minority of commercial fishermen.