Skip to Main Content

Annotated Bibliography : Formatting and Sample Papers

The purpose of this guide is to introduce students to the process of writing an annotated bibliography.

Annotated Bibliography: APA Format

Please double check with your instructor on specific formatting requirements: citation style, title pages, number of citations. 

Title page

The title page should contain the following elements double-spaced and centered in the upper-half of the page:

  • Title of paper (bold text)
  • Author name
  • Institution Name (Great Falls College)
  • Course number or name
  • Instructor name
  • Due date

Page numbers should be in the upper-right side of the page, with the title page starting at page 1. Running heads are not required by APA for student papers; however, you should check with your instructor on if they require a running head. The running head is placed in the page header aligned with the left margin and contains a shortened paper title in all caps. The words running head should not be placed before the shortened title. For more information see the APA Style website's page on page header formatting.  You can also view title page examples created by the Purdue Online Writing Lab. 

Annotation entries

To get started, cite your sources like you would in a reference list following APA style. For help with formatting citations, see our Citation Quick Guide. Sources should be listed alphabetically by author last name. References should be double-spaced with a hanging indent. On a new line underneath the reference entry, you will block indent the annotation paragraph by a half-inch, meaning the annotation paragraph will be in line with the indented portion of the citation. 

Putting it all together

Annotated Bibliography: MLA Format

Please double check with your instructor on specific formatting requirements: citation style, title pages, number of citations. 

Formatting the First Page

MLA Style does not use a title page in the same way that APA Style does. Instead the information that would typically go on the title page, will appear, double-spaced and left-justified at the top of the page:

  • Author name
  • Instructor's Name
  • Course number or name
  • Due date (Day Month Year)

Page numbers should be in the upper-right side of the page with the author's last name appearing before the number. The words "Annotated Bibliography" or "Annotated List of Works Cited" should appear below the header information in the center of the page. For more information on formatting in MLA, see the MLA General Format page and the Annotated Bibliographies Samples page from Purdue OWL. 

Annotation entries

To get started, cite your sources like you would in a reference list following MLA style. For help with formatting citations, see our Citation Quick Guide. Sources should be listed alphabetically by author last name. References should be double-spaced with a hanging indent. On a new line underneath the reference entry, you will block indent the annotation paragraph by an inch.

Putting it all together

Sample Student Papers

These sample annotated bibliographies were completed for a psychology course at Great Falls College. Please note that these papers are actual student assignments, and while they are well done and met many of the assignment requirements they are not perfect. These sample papers are only intended as references to understand how an annotated bibliography is written. 

Always check with your instructor to make sure you are following assignment requirements and expectations.