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Annotated Bibliographies

Create an Annotated Bibliography Using Refworks and Word

  1. Create a bibliography in RefWorks using either the Chicago 17th Edition (Author-Date System) or the Chicago 17th Edition (Notes & Bibliography) style. Confirm with your instructor which style they would like you to use. Screnshot of refworks folder titled annotated bibl

    Screenshot of Refworks bibliography style drop down menu. The menu says Chicago 17th Edition (Note & Bibliography), a box next to the text "Include CSL styles (crowdsourced repository) is checked blue, and there are two seach results of Chicago 17th edition styles with stars next to them. A red arrow points to the drop down menu box.

  2. Click the "copy to clipboard" button. 
  3. Open a Word document. The instructions below are based on the online version of Word, not the desktop application. 
  4. Paste the bibliography into the document, keeping the source formatting. 
  5. Change the title from "Bibliography" to "Annotated Bibliography." Confirm title requirements with your instructor.
  6. Use the Citing Sources Guide to fix any errors in the citations.  Screenshot of a word document with a Chicago 17th - Edition Notes-Bibliography style bibliography with three citations. Black text in red outlined boxes list the errors in the citations, with red arrows pointing from the boxes to the errors.
  7. Click to move your cursor to the end of your first citation (after the final period). 
  8. Click on the three dots on the far right of the menu bar to access the paragraph settings. 
  9. Hover over the "line spacing" option from the drop down menu. Click on "Remove space after paragraph." Red arrows point to three dots that open paragraph
  10. Press the enter key.
  11. Again, click on the three dots on the far right of the menu bar. 
  12. Hover over the "special indent" option from the drop down menu. Click on "None." Red arrows point to three dots that open paragraph
  13. Write your annotation. When done, highlight the text of the annotation. 
  14. While the text is highlighted, click the increase indent button once to indent the annotation 0.5 inch from the margin. This button is located in the middle of the menu bar and looks like 5 horizontal lines with a blue arrow pushing them to the right. Screenshot of a word document with a Chicago 17th-edition Notes-Bibliography style annotated bibliography with an annotation highlighted under the first citation. Above the title there is a red box with black text that says "click 1 time while annotation is highlighted", and a red arrow points from the box to the increase indent button on the menu bar at the top of the image.
  15. Repeat steps 7-14 for each citation. Black text on a white background with links in blue. Screenshot of a Chicago 17th Edition Notes-Bibliography style annotated bibliography including three citations, the first of which has an annotation below it.