Creating Annotated Bibliographies
Based on APA Style
Annotated bibliographies are not specifically addressed in the Publication Manual of the
American Psychological Association (APA) (6th ed.).
We have taken the example given online at the OWL at Purdue as the basis for formatting.
It is a good idea to take careful note of any directions given in your assignment, and to
check with your professor if you have specific questions.
Contents
1. Guidelines
2. Sample Annotated Bibliography
3. Standard Reference List/Bibliography
Guidelines
The following is a summary of things to know when creating an annotated bibliography based
on APA Style:
The annotated bibliography consists of two elements
o Citation in current APA style format
o 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.
For a longer annotated bibliography, it is appropriate to divide into sections or
topics, and to title those sections as seems fitting.
NOTE: These annotations are for illustrative purposes only and have no relationship to the
content of the sources.
Purdue Online Writing Lab (OWL). (n.d.). Annotated bibliography samples. Retrieved from
https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/614/03/