Annotated Bibliography

Purpose 🎯 

By completing this task you will develop an understanding of the research that exists, and evaluate whether it is relevant to your research. Through this task, you will develop your research, reference and critical literacy skills. 

Research Topic 🔎 


  • To what extent do ethical issues influence consumer buying decisions 

For this task, you are required to provide an evaluation of 5 academic resources. 

Additional Information 📚 

To help you complete this task successfully, the following resources are provided:
  • Marking Rubric — refer to this to understand how you will be assessed 
  • Guide: Rubrics — use this to better understand how to interpret rubrics
  • Checklist: How to write an Annotated Bibliography — use this to help you complete the task
  • Example: Annotated Bibliography — review this to see a completed example of the task
  • Glossary — use this to interpret any words that you don’t understand
  • Library Search Tips — use this guide to search for resources

Checklist: How to write an Annotated Bibliography ✅ 

Step 1: Task Understanding
  • Read the Instructions and Checklist carefully using the Glossary
  • Read the Guide: Rubrics and then your Marking Rubric 

Step 2: Selecting Texts
  • Read the Library Search Tips guide
  • Identify a set of potentially useful resources
  • Survey, skim, and scan to find the relevant articles, and parts of articles

Step 3: Critical Reading
  • As you read each resource, jot down notes using this framework (adapted from Marshall and Rowland (2006)):
  • The author’s purpose: why has the author written the material? Are these purposes explicitly stated? Are these implicitly stated?
  • The author’s approach: what are the author’s underlying assumptions? Are these explicitly stated? Is there any proof of bias? 
  • Content: what is the author’s thesis? How do they develop the thesis? What evidence, examples, or explanations are used?
  • Tip: as you read, make reference notes of any sources

Step 4: Submit Draft
  • Submit your critical reading notes (as a draft) before tutorial

Step 5: Tutorial Discussion  
  • Engage in a discussion with your peers about your research, sharing valuable sources and insights. Instructions will be provided in-class.

Step 6: Critical Writing
  • Using this structure, critically review each resource:
  • Reference: an end-text reference (see referencing in Manual)
  • Summary: brief summary of the theory, findings, or argument 
  • Author’s viewpoint: 
  • Describe the main argument(s). E.g. Evans (2010) found that… 
  • Interpret the significance of the ideas. E.g. Evans (2010) found that… and this was significant because…