In this lesson, you will learn about annotated bibliography vs literature review.
From purpose and structure to components and writing, this guide gives you the differences between the two and points you in the right direction.
Our goal in this lesson is simple: to help you know what goes into each type so that you don’t waste your time working on an assignment you have no idea how to handle.
Note that both annotated bibliography and literature reviews both gives a collection of relevant sources, but that’s all there is to what makes them similar.
Annotated Bibliography vs Literature Review
The following are the differences between an annotated bibliography and a literature review. Note that we’ve looked at the differences in terms of purpose, structure, components, and writing.
Annotated Bibliography vs Literature Review: Purpose
By definition, an annotated bibliography is an ordered list of sources with a brief explanation of each source.
Since each source is a brief and concise exposition of the original author’s central ideas, a reader should be able to get a clear objective of the content of the source.
A literature review, on the other hand, gives a reader an overview of a given topic.
The focus of the author in this case is to provide a comprehensive summary and explanation of the most significant sources in the respective subject.
In addition to giving readers an overview of the already existing academic literature on a subject or topic under investigation, a literature review gives a concise evaluation of the strengths and drawbacks of authors’ arguments.
Usually, you have to look into these existing sources, summarize your research and then draw possible conclusions about the issue in question.
In research development, a literature review is necessary because it enables a researcher to uncover existing studies and find gaps and opportunities in existing studies for further research.
Annotated Bibliography vs Literature Review: Structure
Authors mention sources more than once in literature reviews by integrating them into paragraphs based on the progression of the topic under investigation.
The structure of an annotated bibliography is different in that an author lists sources alphabetically so that they’re easy to locate.
Annotated Bibliography vs Literature Review: Components
Every source item in an annotated bibliography features a formal citation style. Your instructor may ask you to use APA, MLA, or Chicago format to cite a source alongside a short paragraph that explains the credibility and the relevance of the annotation.
The structure of a literature review is different in that it has an introduction, body paragraphs, and a conclusion.
Using this format, an author gives a summary of the topic in the introduction, explain the subject in the body while synthesizing the sources progressively, and then writes a conclusion that summarize the background under investigation.
Annotated Bibliography vs Literature Review: Writing
When it comes to writing an annotate bibliography, you need to have a separate paragraph describing each source that you cite.
The work examines each source separately based on its relation to the topic under investigation, and you need to make sure you organize these sources alphabetically.
You have to follow each citation with an annotation. Each annotation should be one paragraph with at least 150 words. That’s about 5 to 7 sentences long.
The single most valuable advantage of an annotated bibliography is that it gives a person the freedom to choose whether they would like to explore these sources or look elsewhere altogether.
Check out our comprehensive guide on writing an annotated bibliography to learn more about the topic in-depth.
In the case of a literature review, authors have the freedom to incorporate several sources in their writing, and they can repeat them if necessary.
By drawing together multiple sources, an author is able to determine where the works of literature agree and or disagree.
Instead of organizing sources in an alphabetical order, a literature review uses classification or division, cause or effect, comparison or contrast, and problem or solution to organize the sources.
Unlike an annotated bibliography, a literature review doesn’t give readers the freedom to choose which sources to explore and which ones to leave out altogether.
Instead, it gives the audience a clear understanding of all the sources used. Check out our comprehensive guide to writing a literature review to learn more about this type of assignment in academic writing.
Get Help with Annotated Bibliography Writing
While collecting sources and organizing them in an alphabetical order is simple, writing the annotated can be somewhat a challenge. It’s challenging for two reasons: either you don’t have the time to complete the work yourself or you have a complex topic to work on.
However, you don’t have to let your annotated bibliography to be a headache at all. Take advantage of our annotated bibliography writing service and let us help you get the work completed in a good time.
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Get Help With Literature Review Writing
Are you having a difficult time putting together a comprehensive literature review? Maybe you don’t have enough time to handle the assignment and you need help to get the work done? Or maybe your instructor has asked you to explore a topic you don’t like?
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