Executive

Annotated Bibliography Information Sheet

Critical Reading This set of guidelines may help you as you read the journal articles you have selected. It is not intended that this is the format you should follow in writing your annotated bibliography, but it will help you to critically evaluate as you read the articles you have selected. What is the issue being addressed? What is the purpose of the writers? Who is the intended audience? What, if any, hypotheses are being tested? Are these logically derived from the material presented? What do the writers conclude? What evidence and arguments were presented by the writers to support the conclusion(s)? Do these convince you of the conclusions reached? What are the limitations of the research conducted? Are these recognised by the writers? Do you think the conclusions reached can be used in the workplace? Why? Why not? What further information do you need to determine the “truth” of the conclusions reached?

Other questions you may consider are : Have you heard of the researchers listed as authors? What do you know about the journal in which the article is published? Does the date have any bearing on the utility of this article?

Finally it is important to ask Are there cultural factors which may affect the generalisability of the findings?

These questions do not all have to be answered for each annotation in your bibliography, but may be useful when evaluating the material.

Annotated bibliography

How should I set it out?

Introduction Brief introduction – set out the key elements of the topic so that you have them as a frame for the annotations This is a good opportunity to comment on the overall state of the literature on your chosen topic in a brief way. Revised focus question or same focus question should be included.

Each entry Reference – set out correctly in the appropriate selected reference list format (APA or Chicago) One to two paragraphs on that reference (up to about 150 words on average –...