Annotated Bibliography JM

Topic: •Mushroom

•Common name – chicken of the woods

•Scientific name – Laetiporus

The Annotated Bibliography

Objective:  Assess sources for your research for your final presentation (for credibility, reliability, and relevance) and list references in proper APA reference list format. That means the sources you use for this assignment should be directly related to the species that you chose in the Week 1 Discussion of the class. Remember, the organism you selected in Week 1, is the organism you will research for the associated assignments in the course.

Assignment Instructions:  The Research Project/Presentation for this class is divided into three major Assignments, 1) annotated bibliography, 2) outline, and 3) final presentation. The first part is the annotated bibliography. An annotation is a summary and evaluation, and your annotated bibliography will include a summary and evaluation of some of the sources (or references) you will use for your presentation.

To prepare for this assignment, I recommend that you do the following:

• Read these directions carefully.
• Review the sample annotated bibliography provided to you below.
• Read the BIOL180 – Annotated Bibliography Grading Criteria below. The grading criteria is a detailed evaluation that I will use to assess your performance. It will also help you understand what is expected of you as you prepare your assignment. 
• Use your own words (paraphrase). For help with paraphrasing, please review the ‘Quoting and Paraphrasing’ help in the Trefry Library [email protected] Center. 
• Note that your Turinitin report similarity score should be under 20% (not including references) and free of paraphrasing issues. Review the color-flagged text on your report, fix any issues, and resubmit again before the deadline.
• Note that less than 10% of your work should contain direct quotes.
• Message me with any questions!

The reason the annotated bibliography is included as part of the research project is that writing an annotated bibliography is important in that it provides excellent preparation for the final presentation. One of the issues regarding any type of research, especially in biology, is the credibility of the sources used, particularly those obtained from various websites. By forcing you to evaluate each of your potential sources carefully, the annotated bibliography helps you determine if, in fact, the source you chose is credible and helps you determine how relevant it is to your topic and understand the topic better, which will help you develop your presentation.

For this project, you will assess three sources to include:

1) a complete citation (in reference list format) for each source,

2) a summary of each source, and

3) an evaluation of each source. 

Three sources are required for this assignment (i.e., you are to write an annotation for each source).  However, you must use five or more sources in your final presentation.  

Use this TEMPLATE to summarize and evaluate each of your three sources.    <—— Click to download the required template and fill in your answers.

1. Citation:

          Written in APA reference list format. For more help with formatting, see the APA handout.

1. Summary:

What is the purpose of the source, review article, original research? What topics are covered? This section is generally 4-6 sentences that summarize the author’s main point. For more help, see this link on paraphrasing sources.

1. Evaluation:

After summarizing the article (or research paper or book), it is necessary to evaluate it and state where you found it – its source (e.g., journal, website, etc.).  Briefly answer the following questions in 4-6 sentences:

What is the format or type of source (e.g., peer-reviewed journal paper, website, book)? How reliable is the information in the article, and how credible is the source (e.g., the website’s sponsoring organization, journal, or book publisher) and the author(s)?

            For more help, see this handout on evaluating resources.

Additional Resources: 

• Sample Annotated Bibliography
• Also, please see the resources below at The Owl at Purdue site for more information on how to write an annotated bibliography as well as other pages on the site to assist you with the other parts of the research paper:

Annotated Bibliographies

Annotated Bibliography Example

Annotated Bibliography Samples

Evaluation:  Please review the Annotated Bibliography Grading Criteria that describe how your annotated bibliography will be graded.