An annotated bibliography is a list of the research you have used to inform your study and includes full citations for each source as well as a paragraph after each citation that describes and evaluates each source. The format should look like an APA style References page,  but with a paragraph after each citation. 

The purpose is to document the scholarly conversation that is underlying your research project. It is the perfect stepping stone to writing your literature review. 

• As you read each article, highlight or take notes on the main points.
• Do not repeat any information from the citation. 
• Use the third person (don't use "I").
• Paraphrase instead of quoting; shows understanding on your part and keeps it brief. 

Your annotation should do the following:

• ​Summarize the main points of the article and explain the methodology
• Evaluate the methodology behind the study 
• Reflect on the relationship of the article to other studies in your bibliography or the relevance of the article to your study

An abstract is merely a summary and can often be found at the beginning of the article in the journal where it appeared.

An annotation begins with a summary but concludes with comments evaluating the article's methodology and putting it in conversation with the other works on the bibliography. 

WARNING: Do NOT copy and paste the abstract that was found in the journal into your annotation. You must summarize the article in your own words.