5.6 The Difference Between a Literature Review and an Annotated Bibliography

An annotated bibliography is a third type of academic writing that can confuse students who are attempting to write a literature review. An annotated bibliography provides all of the reference details of a bibliography, but it goes one step further and provides a short (approximately 150 words) description of the reference. An annotated bibliography is not to be confused with a bibliography, which is a list of journal articles, books, and other resources that someone has utilized in writing. The bibliography provides a list of all resources that someone used to write a research paper and, unlike a reference list, includes references that may not appear in the body of the paper. No doubt you have had to create many bibliographies in your academic studies. Here is a resource where you can learn more about annotated bibliographies and also to see a sample of an annotated bibliography.