An annotated bibliography is a an alphabetical or chronological list of citations with each citation followed by a paragraph that gives information about the resource. The paragraphs, or annotations, can be written in a number of styles that will be covered on the next page, Different Annotation Types.
The format of the citations and annotations is determined by the style guide you've been assigned - MLA, APA, Chicago, etc. The Libraries have both online and print style guides for you on the Citations and Style Guides page.
There are numerous purposes for writing an annotated bibliography:
Annotations are generally 150 -200 words in length. The formatting of the annotation and the spacing between it and the citation are determined by the citation style you select. Many styles call for a hanging indent, meaning the first line is at the margin and the subsequent lines are moved in a designated number of spaces.
To see annotations in APA, MLA, and Chicago styles, see the examples at the Purdue OWL website. APA does not have a definitive style for annotated bibliographies, according to the APA Style blog, so use whichever suggested APA format your instructor likes best.
