It is usual for college professors to ask their students to write annotated bibliographies. You are more likely to get such a request while in graduate school than as an undergraduate student. Staying prepared at all times helps. What is a nursing annotated bibliography, anyway? How is it different than a reference list? Are they not the same? We will answer all these questions and more.
What is a Bibliography?
It is common to use the terms bibliography and reference list interchangeably. However, they are different. A bibliography lists all the sources used when developing a paper or proposal. You are supposed to include every source whether you are going to be referring to it in your document or not. You should present every source not cited in your narrative but which led you to an idea or even another source. A bibliography shows that you researched extensively.
A reference list, on the other hand, lists every source you cited in your nursing paper. It does not include any source not cited in your document. In other words, all your in-text citations need to appear in full on the references list.
Why is a Bibliography or Reference List Important?
Their purpose is to provide the reader with enough details concerning the sources you used. When writing them out, you need to include relevant information such as:
- Author’s name
- Source
- title
- Edition
- Volume
- Issue
- Page numbers
- Publication date
When writing either a bibliography or a reference list, you should pay attention to the editorial style your professor needs you to follow. The commonest ones are APA, MLA, Harvard, and Chicago. Typically, nursing writing follows the APA formatting style. In a textbook, you will usually find the bibliographies or reference lists at the end of each chapter or in an appendix positioned at the end of the book.
What is Annotated Nursing Bibliography?
When we talk of annotated references, we mean that we have written a concise summary of such sources in our own words. Your nursing professor may ask you to annotate various course readings such as textbooks, websites, chapters, and novelse.t.c. They want you to underline or highlight the key points and finally summarize the main ideas from that source.
Your instructor aims to help you learn how to compress information into its essence. Possessing such a skill helps nurses a great deal when it comes to writing reports. A nursing annotated bibliography is something you can handle with ease. That said, we can help when you get stuck or are running late.
A Nursing Annotated Bibliography Helps You:
- To gain a clearer understanding of your topic
- To see the gaps existing in the current body of knowledge
- To know where you need to research further
- To understand what others have said concerning your topic
- To develop an informed point of view
- To decide if sources are relevant to your study
Styles of Annotation
- Indicative annotation
- Informative annotation
- Evaluative annotation
- Combination annotation
You may want to read more on these annotation styles. Or you can contact us.
Need help with writing your nursing annotated bibliography? We are here. Talk to us.