Write an Annotated Bibliography From Your Highlights
An annotated bibliography asks you to describe and judge each source you used. If you highlighted as you read, most of each annotation is already sitting in the margins.
in short
An annotated bibliography is a reference list in which each citation is followed by a paragraph, typically about 150 words, that summarizes the source, evaluates its reliability and explains its relevance to your project. Format each citation in the required style, then indent the annotation beneath it as its own paragraph.
An annotated bibliography is a list of sources in which each entry is followed by a short paragraph that says what the source is, how good it is, and what it does for your project. Students dread it because it looks like a stack of small essays. It is easier than that if you did one thing while reading: highlighted the passages that mattered and wrote a word beside each. This page shows how to draft each annotation from those marks, how to format the result in APA 7 and MLA 9, and why keeping the highlight links makes the finished list a record a teacher can check.
What an annotated bibliography is
Every annotation is a small claim about a source, and your highlights are its evidence.
Purdue's Online Writing Lab defines an annotation as a summary and/or evaluation, so an annotated bibliography is a bibliography in which each source gets one. The citation part is the same as a normal reference list or works cited entry in whatever style the course uses. The annotation part is a paragraph in your own words, placed under the citation.
Instructors assign it for a reason Purdue names plainly: writing the annotations forces you to read each source carefully instead of merely collecting it. Cornell University Library's guide adds the usual length, about 150 words per entry, and stresses that an annotation is not an abstract. An abstract describes; an annotation also judges.
The three parts of an annotation
| Part | What it answers | Where it comes from in your highlights |
|---|---|---|
| Summary | What does the source argue or report, and how? | The sentences you underlined as claims and the evidence you highlighted beside them |
| Evaluation | Is it reliable, current and well supported? Who wrote it, and for whom? | Your question marks, your checked and not-checked notes, and anything you circled and looked up |
| Relevance | What does it do for your project, and how will you use it? | The starred passages you marked as quotable, and arrows to your other sources |
Not every assignment wants all three. Some ask for descriptive annotations only (summary), some for evaluative ones (summary plus judgment), and most college assignments want the full set. Read the assignment sheet and ask. When in doubt, write all three parts and cut the ones not wanted; cutting is easier than adding.
Drafting each annotated bibliography entry from your marks
Open the source and its marks side by side
Put the annotated PDF, the marked book or the web page with your highlights next to a blank document. If you used a consistent symbol set, claims, evidence, questions and stars are already sorted for you. If you did not, spend five minutes labelling the marks now; it is faster than rereading.
Write the citation first
Format the source in the required style before writing a word of annotation. It fixes the author, title and date in front of you, and the annotation should not repeat them. For the citation rules, the guide to citing quotations in APA, MLA and Chicago covers the same three styles.
Draft the summary from the claim marks
Read only the underlined claims in order and write two or three sentences that state the source's main argument and how it supports it. Use your own words. Do not quote; the MLA Style Center's guidance on annotations says an annotation should distil the work, not cite its evidence or recount every step.
Draft the evaluation from the question marks and checks
Look at what you doubted and what you verified. Was the evidence checkable? Is the author qualified on this subject? Is the source current and aimed at the right audience? One or two sentences, with a reason. Reliable because it is a university teaching resource that cites published research is an evaluation; a good source is not.
Draft the relevance from the starred passages
The passages you marked as quotable tell you what the source will do in your paper. Write one or two sentences: which section of your project it supports, and whether it is background, a main source or a counter-view.
Trim to length and keep the links
Cut the paragraph to the required length, often around 150 words. In your own copy, keep a highlight link or page reference under each annotation pointing to the passages it rests on. Those links do not go in the submitted version unless asked for, but they are what make the list a record.
Formatting in APA 7 and MLA 9
| Rule | APA 7 | MLA 9 |
|---|---|---|
| Title of the list | Annotated Bibliography, centered and bold | Annotated Bibliography or Annotated List of Works Cited, centered |
| Citation format | Same as a reference list entry, with a hanging indent | Same as a works cited entry, with a hanging indent |
| Annotation placement | New paragraph under the citation, indented a further half inch (about 1.27 cm), no extra line space | Under the entry; if written as full sentences, a line space after the entry and a paragraph indent |
| Order | Alphabetical by author, like a reference list | Alphabetical by author or title; by date or subject if the instructor allows |
| Length | Not fixed by APA; follow the assignment | Often succinct phrases; complete sentences if required |
APA's page on annotated bibliographies adds one useful point: because the annotation sits under its citation, you do not add in-text citations inside it. The MLA Style Center gives the example of an annotation written as a single succinct phrase, then shows the full-sentence alternative. Chicago-style annotated bibliographies follow the bibliography entry format with the annotation as a paragraph beneath, and Purdue's overview covers that variant.
A worked example entry
This entry uses a real public web page, the University of North Carolina Learning Center's handout on annotating texts, which we read and marked for this article. The citation is in APA 7; the annotation is drafted from the marks in the order described above.
The same entry in MLA 9 begins with the title, because the organization is both author and publisher: "Annotating Texts." The Learning Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, learningcenter.unc.edu/tips-and-tools/annotating-texts/. Accessed 24 Sept. 2026. The annotation follows unchanged.
In our own copy of the entry, three highlight links sit beneath the annotation: one to the handout's definition, one to the list of symbols, and one to the closing tip about separating reading from annotating. Each opens the page at that passage. A reader who doubts the summary can check it in under a minute.
Annotated bibliography example: one APA 7 entry and one MLA 9 entry
Unlike the entry above, the two below use invented sources, so the full pattern is easy to see: a citation, then a summary, an evaluation and a relevance sentence, in that order. The authors, titles and example.com addresses are made up. The layout follows the APA Style page on annotated bibliographies and the MLA Style Center's guidance on annotations.
Both annotations leave out quotations, any repeat of the author or title, and in-text citations. The citation lines follow the ordinary reference rules. When the source is a book rather than a web page the entry changes shape, and citing a book in APA, MLA and Chicago gives the templates. When the same source appears in the essay itself, cite it in the sentence as usual, following the in-text citation rules for each style.
| Part | What it does | Usual length | Openings that work |
|---|---|---|---|
| Citation | Lets a reader find the source | One entry in the required style | The elements in your style's order |
| Summary | States the main argument and how the source supports it | Two or three sentences | Starts such as: This article argues, This report finds |
| Evaluation | Judges reliability, currency and audience, with a reason | One or two sentences | Starts such as: The author argues, The evidence shows, Because |
| Relevance | Says what the source will do in your project | One or two sentences | Starts such as: I will use it to, It supports my section on |
Length rules and what to leave out
- Around 150 words is the common target, per Cornell's guide. Purdue notes that annotations run from a couple of sentences to a couple of pages depending on purpose, so follow the assignment.
- Do not repeat the citation. The author, title and date are already above the paragraph.
- Do not quote the source. MLA's guidance is explicit; summarize in your own words.
- Do not list the contents. A chapter-by-chapter rundown is a table of contents, not a summary of an argument.
- Keep judgment and use separate. One sentence that says whether the source is reliable, one that says what you will do with it.
Pitfalls, and how highlights prevent them
The commonest fault in an annotated bibliography is the annotation written from the abstract or the first page, because the student did not read the rest. It shows: the summary matches the abstract's wording and the evaluation is generic. Highlights made while reading the whole source prevent it, and they show a reader that you did the reading. The second fault is the unsupported evaluation. A bare statement that a source is biased is an opinion; a highlighted passage and a note saying what you checked is a finding. The method in testing a source's claims one by one before relying on it produces exactly the notes an evaluation needs.
The third fault is the bibliography that has no connection to the essay. If the relevance sentences are written from the starred passages, the same passages appear as quotations and citations in the paper, and the two documents match. Teachers notice when they do not.
Expert tips
- Write each annotation as you finish the source, not all at the end. The marks are freshest and the evaluation is honest.
- Turn the highlights into notes first if the source is long. Working your marked passages into short notes gives you the summary almost for free.
- Use the same verb list for every summary: argues, reports, reviews, proposes. Consistency makes the list readable.
- Keep a private version with links. The submitted list follows the style guide; your own copy keeps the highlight links and page references under each entry.
- Treat the list as evidence of your reading. It is one of the documents in a reading and sourcing record that answers questions about how a piece of work was made, before they are asked.
Two neighbouring pages in the highlights-as-a-record section do the work before and after this one: the annotation method with a fixed symbol set produces the marks each annotation is drafted from, and the quotation and citation rules for APA, MLA and Chicago govern the citation line above every annotation. If the sources live in an app, exporting the highlights first saves retyping. The summary line for each entry is a paraphrase; paraphrasing without plagiarizing shows how to write one that is yours. Annotations of papers start with reading them well: how to read a research paper in three passes and how abstracts are built.
An annotated bibliography built from highlights is quicker to write and easier to defend. The summary comes from the claims you underlined, the evaluation from what you questioned and checked, the relevance from what you starred, and the citation from the source you had open. Keep the links under each entry in your own copy, and the list becomes a record of your reading that anyone can verify. Next time you open a source for a project, mark it with the annotation in mind.
Common questions
How do you format an annotated bibliography in APA 7?
Use a normal APA reference list, alphabetical with hanging indents, and put each annotation as a new paragraph directly under its entry, indented a further half inch. Title the page Annotated Bibliography. No in-text citations are needed inside the annotations.
How long should an annotated bibliography be?
Each annotation is typically around 150 words, per Cornell University Library's guide, though assignments vary from two sentences to a page. The number of entries is set by the assignment. Ask for both figures before you start.
What are the three parts of an annotation?
Summary (what the source argues and how), evaluation (whether it is reliable, current and well supported, and who wrote it) and relevance (what it does for your project). Purdue's handout calls these summarize, assess and reflect.
Can I use quotes in an annotated bibliography?
It is better not to. The MLA Style Center says annotations should distil the work rather than quote it or cite its evidence, and the paragraph is short. Summarize in your own words and keep the quotable passages, with their page numbers, for the essay itself.
What is the difference between an annotated bibliography and a literature review?
An annotated bibliography treats each source separately, one paragraph each, in list order. A literature review is continuous prose that groups sources by theme and argues about the state of a field. The annotated bibliography is usually the raw material for the review.
What does an annotated bibliography example look like?
Each entry is a normal citation in the required style followed by an indented paragraph, often about 150 words. The paragraph summarizes the source's argument, evaluates its reliability with a reason, and says how you will use it. Entries run in alphabetical order under the title Annotated Bibliography.
Is an annotated bibliography example the same in APA and MLA?
The annotation is the same; the citation above it changes. APA puts the date after the author and indents the annotation a further half inch. MLA puts the date later in the entry, leaves https:// off the address, and adds a line space before an annotation written in full sentences.
Sources
- Purdue Online Writing Lab: Annotated Bibliographies (definitions, purpose and format)
- APA Style: Annotated Bibliographies (APA Style, 7th edition)
- Cornell University Library: How to Prepare an Annotated Bibliography
- MLA Style Center: What guidance should I give my students for preparing an annotated bibliography? (2016)
sign-off
Checked against its sources and signed before it went out.
Nora Feld
Editor · reviewed 2 Nov 2026
