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HI 3316 Topics in Twentieth-Century U.S. History: American Conservatism and the Right: Annotated Bibliographies

What is an Annotated Bibliography?

An annotated bibliography is a bibliography that gives a summary of each of the entries. In addition to bibliographic data, an annotated bibliography provides a concise summary of each source and some assessment of its value or relevance. The purpose of the annotation is to inform the reader of the relevance, accuracy, and quality of the sources cited.

An annotated bibliography should:

  • evaluate the author's authority on the topic or background
  • comment on the intended audience
  • examine the scope or purpose of the work
  • mention any bias
  • summarize the work

Sample Evaluative Annotations

Chicago Style Evaluative Annotation

Haruna, Umar, Abdul-Raheem Mohammed, and Mary Braimah. “Understanding the Burden of Depression, Anxiety and Stress Among First-Year Undergraduate Students.” BMC Psychiatry 25, no. 1 (2025): 1-9. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12888-025-07069-8.

This experimental study assessed the role of academic stress on the development of depression, anxiety, and general stress in first-year undergraduate students. Six hundred and eighty-eight participants were recruited from the University for Development Studies in Ghana, and asked to fill out questionnaires about their mental health. Age, gender, religion, and program of study were also recorded. A positive correlation was found between the students’ perceived academic stress and depression, anxiety, and general stress, with female students more affected than male students. The authors are concerned with the experiences of first-year undergraduate students, who face unique challenges in adjusting to the postsecondary world. While their focus on academic stress allows the reader to appreciate its specific and detrimental effect on students’ mental health, other factors that may impact the mental health of students go under-acknowledged in this article.

(Adapted from Columbia College  https://columbiacollege-ca.libguides.com/chicago) 

MLA Style Evaluative Annotation

Haruna, Umar, et al. “Understanding the Burden of Depression, Anxiety and Stress Among First-Year Undergraduate Students.” BMC Psychiatry, vol. 25, no. 1, July 2025, pp. 1-9. Academic Search Ultimatehttps://doi.org/10.1186/s12888-025-07069-8.

This experimental study assessed the role of academic stress on the development of depression, anxiety, and general stress in first-year undergraduate students. Six hundred and eighty-eight participants were recruited from the University for Development Studies in Ghana, and asked to fill out questionnaires about their mental health. Age, gender, religion, and program of study were also recorded. A positive correlation was found between the students’ perceived academic stress and depression, anxiety, and general stress, with female students more affected than male students. The authors are concerned with the experiences of first-year undergraduate students, who face unique challenges in adjusting to the postsecondary world. While their focus on academic stress allows the reader to appreciate its specific and detrimental effect on students’ mental health, other factors that may impact the mental health of students go under-acknowledged in this article.

Annotated Bibliography Assignment: Professor McIntosh

To prepare for your final paper, you will write an annotated bibliography of 4 sources related to your research topic. One of these sources must be a primary source, one must be a secondary source, and one can be a text from the syllabus. For each entry, write out the citation of the source followed by a paragraph that identifies the main argument of the source, examines the evidence it draws on, and evaluates the sources’ strengths and weaknesses. We will practice writing annotated bibliography entries in class in Week 4.


Paper guidelines:

  • Upload to Canvas as a Word document (not a PDF)
  • Papers should be double spaced in size 12 Times New Roman font with 1-inch margins
  • Use MLA or Chicago Style citations
  • No quotes should be longer than 1 sentence
  • Late papers will lose half a grade each day they are late
  • If you use one or two flex days, please mark it at the top of your paper

Annotated Bibliography Resources

Notes for Zotero Users

Only 2 styles automatically format annotated bibliographies:

APA 7th edition (annotated bibliography with abstract)
Chicago Manual of Style 17th edition (note, annotated bibliography)

Tips:

  • You may need to add these styles to Zotero (choose "get additional styles" under Settings – Preferences – Cite tab)
  • For APA style, put the annotation in the "abstract" field.
  • For Chicago style, put the annotation in “extra” field