Annotated Bibliography Maker
Paste a source's reference entry, write its annotation in three guided parts — summary, assessment and reflection — and watch a live word count against the usual 150–200 words. Copy the finished entry laid out for APA 7 or MLA 9. It formats what you write; it does not write the annotation for you. Free, no sign-up.
Paste or type your full reference entry. Use our Citation Generator to create one.
Annotation
0 / 150–200 words
What is the source about? Summarize the main argument or findings.
0 words
Is the source reliable? Is the author credible? What are its strengths and weaknesses?
0 words
How does this source relate to your research? How will you use it?
0 words
Length Guideline
Most annotated bibliographies require 150–200 words per annotation. Your current annotation is 0 words.
How to Use the Annotated Bibliography Maker
- 1. Choose APA or MLA. The style controls how the preview indents the annotation under the reference.
- 2. Paste the reference entry. Use the citation exactly as it will appear in your list. The citation generator creates one from a URL, DOI or ISBN.
- 3. Write the three parts. Summary says what the source argues. Assessment judges how reliable it is. Reflection says how you will use it. The counter adds the three together and turns green between 150 and 200 words.
- 4. Copy the entry. The preview shows a hanging indent on the reference with the annotation below. Copy it into your document, then set the exact indents in your word processor.
What Goes in an Annotation
An annotation is a short paragraph, not a second abstract. The three boxes follow the usual order of an evaluative annotation:
- Summary. The source's question, argument and main findings, in your own words. State it as the author's claim ("Hardin argues…"), not as fact.
- Assessment. Who the author is, what evidence supports the claim, what the limits are, and how the source compares with others you have read.
- Reflection. What you will use the source for in your paper, and how it connects to the other entries.
A descriptive annotation stops after the summary, and an evaluative one adds the assessment; many instructors want all three. Check your assignment: the word count and the parts vary. The boxes are joined into one paragraph, so write each part as a continuation of the last.
Annotated Bibliography Example
An annotation for Garrett Hardin's "The Tragedy of the Commons", in the three parts. The summary has 69 words, the assessment 59 and the reflection 35, so the counter reads 163 words.
Entry in APA 7
Reference:
Hardin, G. (1968). The tragedy of the commons. Science, 162(3859), 1243–1248. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.162.3859.1243
Summary:
Hardin argues that a shared resource open to everyone will be overused, because each user gains the full benefit of taking more while the cost is spread across all users. He applies the logic of the herders' pasture to pollution, overfishing and, above all, population growth, and concludes that problems of this kind have no technical solution. Instead, he proposes “mutual coercion, mutually agreed upon” through laws and institutions.
Assessment:
The essay is short, forceful and one of the most cited in the social sciences, but it is an argument, not a study, and its evidence is anecdotal. Hardin treats an open-access resource and a managed commons as the same thing; later research, notably Elinor Ostrom's, found that communities often manage shared resources successfully without privatization or state control.
Reflection:
This source will frame the opening section of my paper on fisheries policy, where I will use it as the classic statement of the problem and then contrast it with Ostrom's evidence on community management.
Reference line in MLA 9
Works Cited:
Hardin, Garrett. “The Tragedy of the Commons.” Science, vol. 162, no. 3859, 1968, pp. 1243–48, https://doi.org/10.1126/science.162.3859.1243.
APA and MLA Layout
| APA 7 | MLA 9 | |
|---|---|---|
| Order | Alphabetical by the first author's surname | Alphabetical by the first author's surname |
| Reference | Hanging indent of 0.5 inch | Hanging indent of 0.5 inch |
| Annotation | A new line below, the whole paragraph indented 0.5 inch | A new line below, the whole paragraph indented 1 inch |
| Several paragraphs | Later paragraphs get another 0.5 inch on the first line | Later paragraphs get another 0.5 inch on the first line |
| Spacing | Double-spaced throughout | Double-spaced throughout |
| Heading | Annotated Bibliography, or the Reference List heading your instructor wants | Annotated Bibliography or Annotated List of Works Cited |
The MLA Handbook does not fix a layout for annotations, so the widget follows the common library convention. If your instructor gives a template, follow that. The copied text uses spaces to show the indent; set real indents in your word processor.
Common Mistakes
- Copying the abstract. An annotation is in your words and includes your judgement. An abstract has neither.
- Citing the source in the annotation. The reference above it already names the source. Mention other works only when you compare them.
- Going far over the length. A paragraph of 150–200 words is typical; check whether your instructor wants less or more.
- Forgetting alphabetical order. Sort the entries by author, and use the Bibliography Alphabetizer for a long list.
Frequently Asked Questions
- What is an annotated bibliography?
- A list of sources, each followed by a short paragraph that summarizes it, evaluates it or explains how you will use it. It shows the reader what you have read and why each source matters to your project.
- How long should each annotation be?
- Most are 100–200 words, about one paragraph. The widget's counter targets 150–200 because that is a common requirement. Some assignments ask for 200–300 words for an evaluative annotation, so follow your instructor's guidelines.
- What is the difference between a summary and an evaluative annotation?
- A summary annotation says what the source is about. An evaluative annotation also assesses its strengths, weaknesses, methods and relevance. A reflective annotation adds how you will use it. The three boxes cover all three.
- Do annotated bibliographies need to be alphabetized?
- Yes. Like a normal reference list, an annotated bibliography is ordered alphabetically by the first author's surname in APA, MLA and Chicago.
- How do I format an annotated bibliography in APA 7?
- Give each reference with a hanging indent, then the annotation on a new line, with the whole paragraph indented 0.5 inch. Later paragraphs of the same annotation get an extra 0.5 inch on the first line. The text is double-spaced.
- How do I format an annotated bibliography in MLA 9?
- Format each entry like a Works Cited entry with a 0.5 inch hanging indent, and start the annotation on a new line, indented 1 inch. Double-space the whole list. MLA does not set a rule for annotations, so use your instructor's template if there is one.