Boxer Library
An annotated bibliography is almost exactly as its name entails. It is a bibliography, also known as a reference list or works cited, with an annotation component to it. Creating an annotated bibliography can be helpful to both the researcher and the reader as it allows both parties to evaluate why a particular resource is being used for research. We can break an annotated bibliography into two parts:
1. The first part contains a citation of the resource that was cited, i.e. journal articles, books, chapters, etc. This will be formatted according to what citation style you are using.
2. The second part contains an evaluation of the source. This is often referred to as the summary or evaluation. The summary/evaluation is typically between 150 - 200 words, however they can be as short as a single sentence or as long as a couple of pages. Check with your faculty advisor to verify the length they are looking for.
To build an annotated, you will want to follow these steps to build an annotated bibliography:
1. Check the requirements your instructor/faculty advisor has set. The instructor/faculty advisor sets citation style, word count, and purpose/goal of the document.
2. Create citations in the appropriate style.
3. Write the summary/evaluation.
When creating your citations, you want to first check that it is formatted in the appropriate citation style (APA, AMA, etc.) If you are using a citation manager, such as Zotero, you always want to make sure to check that your auto-generated citations contain the correct information in the correct order. However you are creating your citations, we always recommend you ask the following questions:
Where can it be found? (Journal Name, Volume, Publication Date, etc.)
Who wrote/created it? (Author(s))
What is it called? (Title)
Unlike citation styles, such as APA and AMA, that have set manuals with a very specific set of rules, the evaluation/summary section of an annotated bibliography does not. With that being said some questions you may want to consider when creating your evaluation/summary:
What is this article about?
What are the qualifications of the author to write about the topic?
What are the resources’ strengths and weaknesses?
How does it compare to other works on the topic?
How will this resource be useful for your research on this topic?
Craig, S. L., Eaton, A. D., Belitzky, M., Kates, L. E., Dimitropoulos, G., & Tobin, J. (2020). Empowering the team: A social work model of interprofessional collaboration in hospitals. Journal of Interprofessional Education & Practice, 19, 100327. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.xjep.2020.100327
This article focuses on the role social workers play in Interprofessional Collaboration (IPC) teams in order to understand how this profession contributes to models of interprofessional work in healthcare. The study collected data from 46 participants with a Masters in Social Work (MSW) across 6 hospitals in two urban areas using a grounded theory approach to record and analyze interviews. From this study, a couple of key themes emerged as the researchers found that social workers in IPC teams were most often responsible for empowering collaboration by actively communicating, proactively educating, and managing risk. The first author, Dr. Shelley Craig, is a professor of Social Work at the University of Toronto and has published extensively in this field and all authors are noted to have experience working in hospitals. The qualitative approach to this study gives us a nuanced look into how social workers may positively influence the IPC teams they are involved in, however, because only social workers were interviewed, we lack the perspectives from other members in different professions. Exploring the perspective of social workers in IPC teams gives us a focused look at how a sometimes overlooked profession within a hospital environment can bring a unique set of skills to the IPC model.
