Annotated bibliography vs. abstracts

Annotated bibliographies are not only descriptive but also evaluative; they seek to explain, clarify, and express the author’s point of view and authority. On the other hand, Abstracts are the merely descriptive reviews usually written at the beginning of scholarly articles.

The process of writing annotated bibliography

Writing an annotated bibliography demands for a variety of academic skills: succinct exposition, brief analysis, and well extensive research.

The first thing to do is to get hold of citations to books, journals, periodicals, and other documents that may contain relevant information on your research topic.

Secondly, succinctly review the sources. Then select those sources that are more relevant to the topic; those that provide important perspectives on your topic.

Thirdly, cite the academic source using the appropriate style.

Write a brief annotation that recapitulates the main theme and scope of the cited source. It is important to include one or more sentences that: critically evaluate the author’s background; briefly comment on the intended readers; compare and contrast the work with other documents; and explain how this document adds value to your annotated bibliography topic.

Critically appraising the cited source

In order to dig out more information on the author’s background and what other people are saying, you can request your university’s librarian for help finding appropriate biographical reference information and book review sources. One can also search online for this information.

Choose the correct citation style

Confirm with your lecturer/tutor on which citation style is preferred for your class.

Common citation styles include APA, MLA, HARVARD, CHICAGO, and OXFORD

Sample annotated bibliography

The following example uses the MLA format

Community Policing and Human rights

Edwards, C. ‘The triangle of tension’, Changing Policing Theories for the 21^st Century Societies, Federation Press, Sydney, Sydney, 2005, pp.6-18.

This book is a comprehensive revision of the 1999 edition, integrating the various changes that have taken place in policing in the past five years of the 21st century. Edward examines the philosophical history and practice of policing in Australia, the US and Great Britain, clearly showing how and why the different policing structures in the three countries are a result of differing constitutional structure of the three countries. The author also digs deep in crime and how it affects society and media. In addition, various forms of community policing are examined together with accountability and organisation of the police force.  The final part of the book examines the changes in the management of police organisations with regard to political imperatives such as the war on terror, and their impact on community policing.

Neyroud, P. and A. Beckley ‘From ethics to rights’, Policing, Ethics and Human Rights, Willan Publishing, Portland Oregon, 2001.

The authors examine community policing with an aim of recommending the creation of an organzation that can critically scrutinize policy making and operational decision making with regard to human rights and ethics in policing. The authors emphasize on the revision of rules of conduct expected of the police. The rules must be designed so as to serve the dual purpose of protecting human rights and improving the status of police officers.

Beckett, K. and S. Herbert ‘Dealing with disorder: Social control in the post-industrial city’, Theoretical Criminology, Vol. 12, No. 1, 2008, pp.5-30.

Beckett and Herbert argue that constitutive powers can be used to examine the origin of social order and disorder. The authors examine various controls used by municipal governments in the US and recommend that new tools are being used to marginalize individuals from accessing public utilities. This article explains such legal innovations; their theoretical implications and origin.

Stephens, M. ‘Risk, security and surveillance: The care and control of people with serious mental health problems’, Security Journal, Vol. 20, No. 3, 2007, pp.211-21.

Steven analyses media reports on murders caused by patients suffering from serious mental health complications and the moral panic caused by such cases in the U.K. The author asserts that compulsory detention and treatment for individuals with mental problems is necessary to enhance security-minded surveillance of these groups. The drift to surveillance must be predicated on exclusionary and enforced terms. This article is resourceful as it specializes on the risk caused by the patients with mental complications at the same time looking at the application of the bill of rights to the mentally ill.