Literature Reviews and Annotated Bibliographies

Introduction

Annotated bibliographies and literature reviews are both comprehensive collections of relevant sources, but that is where the similarity ends. Their purposes, structures, and components are very different.

	Annotated Bibliography	Literature Review
Purpose	Provides the reader with an ordered list of sources for additional reading. Usually also provides brief explanations of why each source is credible and relevant to the topic.	Provides an overview of a particular topic or problem by summarizing and explaining the most significant sources in the field.
Structure	Sources are separated from each other and are arranged alphabetically, so they will be easy to locate.	Sources are integrated into paragraphs based on the progression of the topical overview, and they may be mentioned more than once.
Components	Each item in the list uses the formal citation style (usually APA, MLA, or Chicago) to cite a single source and includes a short paragraph with a summary explaining its credibility and relevancy.	Uses an introduction to explain the topic, synthesizes sources progressively as the topic is explained through the body, and then concludes by summarizing the overall background presented.

Additional differences:

• In the case of an annotated bibliography, there is a separate paragraph for each source cited. In a literature review, each body paragraph should include several sources, and sources may be repeated as necessary.

• An annotated bibliography examines each source based on its relationship to the topic; a literature review draws together multiple sources to examine where they agree or disagree.

• An annotated bibliography must organize sources alphabetically, but a literature review is likely to use problem/solution, cause/effect, comparison/contrast, classification/division, or process to organize sources.

• An annotated bibliography allows the reader to choose whether to explore the available sources or not on their own while a literature review directs the reader to a particular understanding of the available sources;

Literature Reviews

The literature of a literature review is not made up of novels and short stories and poetry—but is the collection of writing and research that has been produced on a particular topic.

The purpose of the literature review is to give you an overview of a particular topic. Your job is to discover the research that has been done, the major perspectives, and the significant thinkers and writers (experts) who have published on the topic you’re interested in. In other words, it’s a survey of what has been written and argued about your topic.

By the time you complete your literature review you should have written an essay that demonstrates that you:

• Understand the history of what’s been written and researched on your topic.
• Know the significance of the current academic thinking on your topic, including what the controversies are.
• Have a perspective about what work remains to be done on your topic.

 

Thus, a literature review synthesizes your research into an explanation of what is known and what is not known on your topic. If the topic is one from which you want to embark on a major research project, doing a literature review will save you time and help you figure out where you might focus your attention so you don’t duplicate research that has already been done.

Just to be clear: a literature review differs from a research paper in that a literature review is a summary and synthesis of the major arguments and thinking of experts on the topic you’re investigating, whereas a research paper supports a position or an opinion you have developed yourself as a result of your own analysis of a topic.

Another advantage of doing a literature review is that it summarizes the intellectual discussion that has been going on over the decades—or centuries—on a specific topic and allows you to join in that conversation (what academics call academic discourse) from a knowledgeable position.

The following presentation will provide you with the basic steps to follow as you work to complete a literature review.

Tips on Writing an Annotated Bibliography

You need a relatively narrow focus (a relatively narrow research question or a working thesis sentence with a clear angle) in order to gain value from doing an annotated bibliography.

As you research, select the sources that seem most related to your narrow focus. Skim the sources first; then more carefully read those that seem useful to your research focus.

In your annotation for each entry in your annotated bibliography, summarize the source. Reproduce the author’s main ideas in your own words. Be careful to change the wording and the structure as you put the information from the source into your own words.

After you summarize, analyze the source. Ask yourself questions such as the following: Is there enough relevant information to address my narrow focus? Does the author delve deeply into the subject as opposed to offering a general overview? What type of evidence does the author use? Does the author use statistical information accurately, to the best of my knowledge?

Finally, evaluate the source’s usefulness to the narrow focus of your research. Make connections between the source and your focus for your project.

Be sure to use the assigned bibliographic style (usually standard MLA or APA style) to create the bibliography entry that starts off each annotated source on your list.

In most annotated bibliographies, your summary, analysis, and evaluation for each source becomes the body of your annotation for that source. Some annotated bibliographies may not require all three of these elements, but most will. Be sure to consult your professor and ask questions if you’re unsure about the required elements within each entry of your annotated bibliography.

Summary

Literature Reviews:

• Provide the reader with an ordered list of sources for additional reading. Usually also provides brief explanations of why each source is credible and relevant to the topic.
• Separate sources from each other and arranged them alphabetically.
• Uses the formal citation style (APA) to cite a single source and includes a short paragraph with a summary explaining its credibility and relevancy.

Annotated Bibliographies:

• Provides an overview of a particular topic or problem by summarizing and explaining the most significant sources in the field.
• Integrate sources into paragraphs based on the progression of the topical overview, and they may be mentioned more than once.
• Use an introduction to explain the topic, synthesizes sources progressively as the topic is explained through the body, and then concludes by summarizing the overall background presented.

Buttram, C., MacMillian, D., Koch, R. (November 2012) Comparing the Annotated Bibliography to the Literature Review. Retrieved from https://www.una.edu/writingcenter/docs/Writing-Resources/Comparing%20the%20Annotated%20Bibliography%20to%20the%20Literature%20Review.pdf

“Literature Reviews.” By Excelsior OWL. Retrieved from: https://owl.excelsior.edu/research/literature-reviews/ Licensed under: CC-BY