Remember the following steps when writing an annotated bibliography:

1. Choose sources by doing research and locating materials that may apply to your topic.
2. Review the items and select those that provide a wide variety of perspectives on your topic. (Article abstracts are helpful in this process.)
3. Write the citation and annotation as a draft. When writing your annotation, the complete citation should always come first and the annotation follows. Depending on the type of annotated bibliography you are writing, you will want to include:
   1. The purpose of the work
   2. A summary of its content
   3. The intended audience for the piece
   4. Its relevance to the topic
   5. Any special or unique features about the material
   6. The strengths, weaknesses, or biases in the material
4. Annotated bibliographies may be arranged alphabetically or chronologically.
5. Citations must be formatted properly according to APA style.