An annotated bibliography includes a summary and/or evaluation of each of your sources. It may include any or all of these 3 sections, depending on your assignment requirements:

1. Summary: Summarize the source. What are the main arguments? What is the point of this book or article? What topics are covered? If someone asked what this article/book is about, what would you say?
    
2. Assessment: After summarizing a source, it may be helpful to evaluate it. Is it a useful source? How does it compare with other sources in your bibliography? Is the information reliable? Is this source biased or objective? What is the goal of this source?
    
3. Reflection: Once you've summarized and assessed a source, you need to ask how it fits into your research. Was this source helpful to you? How does it help you shape your argument? How can you use this source in your research project? Has it changed how you think about your topic?

   Credit Courtesy of Purdue OWL

Sample Annotated Bibliography (in APA):

Trevor, C.O., Lansford, B. and Black, J.W. (2004). Employee turnover and job performance: monitoring the influences of salary growth and promotion. Journal of Armchair Psychology, 113(1), 56-64.

In this article Trevor et al. review the influences of pay and job opportunities in respect to job performance, turnover rates and employee motivation. The authors use data gained through organizational surveys of blue-chip companies in Vancouver, Canada to try to identify the main causes of employee turnover and whether it is linked to salary growth. Their research focuses on assessing a range of pay structures such as pay for performance and organizational reward schemes. The main limitation of the article is that the survey sample was restricted to mid-level management, thus the authors indicate that further, more extensive, research needs to be undertaken to develop a more in-depth understanding of employee turnover and job performance. The article is useful to my research topic, as Trevor et al. suggest that there are numerous reasons for employee turnover and variances in employee motivation and performance. It will not form the basis of my research; however, it will be useful supplementary information for my research on pay structures.

Credit courtesy of UNSW Sydney