COH 1200 Critical Issues in Community Health: 5. Citing Sources

WHAT IS AN ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY?

An annotated bibliography is a list of citations to books, articles, and documents. Each citation is followed by a brief (usually about 150 words) descriptive and evaluative paragraph, the annotation. The purpose of the annotation is to inform the reader of the relevance, accuracy, and quality of the sources cited.

ANNOTATIONS VS ABSTRACTS

 Abstracts are the purely descriptive summaries often found at the beginning of scholarly journal articles or in periodical indexes. Annotations are descriptive and critical; they expose the author's point of view, clarity and appropriateness of expression, and authority.

GUIDELINES

 The following is a summary of things to know when creating an APA style annotated

bibliography:

•      The annotated Bibliography consists of two elements:

                        Citation in current APA style format

                        Annotation 

•  The annotation will follow the citation on the next line. There is not an extra space—double spacing is used throughout.
•  An annotation is different from an abstract. It should have several sentences summarizing the main points or ideas found in the item. It should then include your own statement evaluating the quality of the item and/or relating the item to your own research topic.

SAMPLE ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY ENTRY FOR A JOURNAL ARTICLE

 The following example uses the APA format for the journal citation.

American Management Association. (1996). The AMA style guide for business writing. New York, NY: Author.

• The American Management Association has created its own guide for business writing. Designed as a supplemental text to more thorough style guides such as APA, this guide covers topics relating specifically to business, such as citing financials, formatting of company reports, and professional approaches to information integrity in the workplace. This is an indispensable work for anyone doing professional business writing.

Olin Library Reference. Research & Learning Services Cornell University Library Ithaca, NY, USA We have received permission to reproduce this page from Cornell University Library

Citing your sources is a very important part of the research process. Why?

• Citations help you avoid plagiarism. As you may know, Kingsborough stands strongly against plagiarism, or using the work of others as your own. (See the CUNY Policy on Academic Integrity here.) Citing direct or indirect quotations can prevent you from inadvertantly claiming another writer's work as your own. 
• Citations help you make your case. In addition to avoiding plagiarism, citing sources will make your work much stronger. Each citation stands as a piece of evidence: a citation adds to your paper by saying to the reader: "What she is arguing is backed up by the scholars in the field."
• Citations show the person who is reading how to get further information. Citations can be a great way of pointing your reader to more interesting sources on your topic. 
• Citations strike up a conversation with your source. In scholarly writing, citations are considered a form of communication between one author and another. By citing an author's work, you not only support your own argument, but you are also announcing that the sources you cited are good works of research or scholarship. It's a conversation, even though they may not know about it. 

Citation formats: There are several different citation styles, and each style has its own particular rules about how exactly a source should be cited. Your professor will often require a particular format (such as MLA or APA), or may tell you to choose one yourself. Below are some common citation styles. 

• MLA Format (from the Modern Language Association) is the most common citation style used in undergraduate papers. You can find more information about MLA style in their handbook (available through the library or Amazon), the Purdue OWL, or on MLA's website.  
• APA Formatting (from the American Psychiatric Association) is quite common in social sciences publications, and occasionally in undergraduate assignments as well. You can find more information about APA style in their manual (available through the library or Amazon), the Purdue OWL, or on APA's website. 
• Chicago Style (from the University of Chicago Press) is another common citation style in scholarly publications. You can find more information about Chicago style in their manual (available through the library or Amazon), the Purdue OWL, or on the Chicago Manual of Style website. 

There are a number of books available at the library to assist with citation as well as proper format, style, and content.

A number of websites are devoted to helping students and other researchers cite their work.