Literature Review: The What, Why and How-to Guide — Other Academic Writings

Sometimes people confuse Literature Reviews with Annotated Bibliographies but they are quite different in format but they are similar in purpose, to survey the literature.

So what is an annotated bibliography? "... is a list of citations to books, articles, and documents. Each citation is followed by a brief (usually about 150 words) descriptive and evaluative paragraph, the annotation. The purpose of the annotation is to inform the reader of the relevance, accuracy, and quality of the sources cited.” Definition from Cornell University Library, available at https://guides.library.cornell.edu/annotatedbibliography <Accessed September 30, 2021>

To write a good annotated bibliography you need to be:

• Concise: Get to the point of what the book/article is about, in few words, summarize.
• Evaluative: Determine who is the author, what is his/her expertise in the topic, how reliable is the information
• Critical: Reflect on what is the strength and weakness of the work, what is missing, etc.
• Comparative: Describe how the book/article compares to other similar works

Useful site with tips on how to write an Annotated Bibliography:

The Research Prospectus is a planning document, usually use before writing your thesis or some seminar paper to complete a degree (e.g. Master's thesis or Plan B paper). It does include a working bibliography and small literature review. Below are some useful links on how to write a prospectus, best practices and examples.

"A reflection paper is your chance to add your thoughts and analysis to what you have read and experienced. It is meant to illustrate your understanding of the material and how it affects your ideas."

Below are some resources that will help you write a reflection essay and avoid typical mistakes when writing one.