What is wrong with the format of this sample annotated bibliography entry in Chicago standard format

While a standard Chicago style bibliography provides publication details of your sources, an annotated bibliography also provides a summary (and often an evaluation) of each source.

Turabian style, a version of Chicago style specifically designed for students and researchers, provides formatting guidelines for an annotated bibliography. A typical entry might look like this:

Kenny, Anthony. A New History of Western Philosophy: In Four Parts. Oxford: Oxford
University Press, 2010.

Broad history of Western philosophy from the ancient Greeks to the present day. Divided into four periods—ancient, medieval, early modern, and modern—each section begins with a chronological overview of the key thinkers, followed by chapters dedicated to each significant subfield in the period: metaphysics, political philosophy, God, etc. Kenny generally provides thorough and fair assessments of the major philosophers’ work, but is pointedly dismissive of Derrida and other critical theorists, significantly weakening the book’s coverage of “postmodern” philosophy.

How to write annotations

The purpose of annotations is to give the reader relevant information about each source you have consulted. There are two main types of annotation.

Descriptive annotations simply describe your sources, briefly summarizing their arguments and ideas. They are useful for keeping a record of your reading and giving a quick overview of sources related to your topic. 

Evaluative annotations go into more detail and provide your own perspective on each source. For example, you may:

• assess the strength of the author’s arguments.
• describe the ways in which the source is helpful or unhelpful to your own research.
• evaluate the evidence presented in the source.

Check the requirements of your assignment to find out whether you need to write descriptive or evaluative annotations.

How long should annotations be?

Annotations can vary in length according to the approach taken and the length of the source. You may write a couple of sentences describing the argument of an essay, or several paragraphs summarizing and evaluating a book.

A good guideline is to aim for 50 to 200 words for each source. Consult your instructor to check how long your annotated bibliography should be and how many sources you need to include.

How to format an annotated bibliography

Each entry starts with a Chicago style citation, which gives full publication details of the source. The citation is formatted the same as a normal bibliography entry:

• Single-spaced
• Each line after the first indented
• Organized in alphabetical order by author last name

The annotation appears on a new line directly after the source citation. The whole annotation is indented, to make it clear when the annotation ends and a new source appears.

According to Turabian guidelines, annotations should be formatted the same as the main text of any paper:

• Double-spaced
• Left-aligned
• Indent the first line of each new paragraph

A Chicago style bibliography lists the sources cited in your text. Each bibliography entry begins with the author’s name and the title of the source, followed by relevant publication details. The bibliography is alphabetized by authors’ last names.

A bibliography is not mandatory, but is strongly recommended for all but very short papers. It gives your reader an overview of all your sources in one place. Check with your instructor if you’re not sure whether you need a bibliography.

Chicago style bibliography examples

Bibliography entries vary in format depending on the type of source. Templates and examples for the most common source types are shown below.

• The edition is always abbreviated (e.g. 2nd ed. or rev. ed.).
• Only include the URL for books you consulted online.

• Use this format to cite a chapter in a multi-authored book. If all the chapters in a book were written by the same person, reference the whole book.
• Begin the citation with the author of the chapter. The editor who compiled the book is listed later.

• The page range identifies the location of the article within the journal issue.
• For articles accessed online, include a DOI (digital object identifier) where available, and a URL if not.

• If the author is unknown, list the organization or website name as author, and don’t repeat it later in the citation.
• If no publication date is listed, include an access date instead.
• The website name is not italicized, unless it is an online version of a newspaper or magazine.

Formatting the bibliography page

The bibliography appears at the end of your text. The heading Bibliography is bolded and centred at the top of the page.

Unlike the rest of a Chicago format paper, the bibliography is not double-spaced. However, add a single line space between entries.

If a bibliography entry extends onto more than one line, subsequent lines should be indented, as seen in the example below. This helps the reader to see at a glance where each new entry begins.

There are further guidelines for formatting a Chicago style annotated bibliography, in which you write a paragraph of summary and evaluation under each source.

Receive feedback on language, structure and formatting

Professional editors proofread and edit your paper by focusing on:

• Academic style
• Vague sentences
• Grammar
• Style consistency

See an example

Author names in the bibliography are inverted: The last name comes first, then the first name(s). Sources are alphabetized by author last name.

If a source has no named author, alphabetize by the first word of the title or organization name that starts the entry. Ignore articles (“the,” “a,” and “an”) for the purposes of alphabetization.

Sources with multiple authors

For sources with more than one author, only the first author’s name is inverted; subsequent names are written in the normal order.

For texts with up to 10 authors, all the authors’ names should be listed in the order they appear in the source, separated by commas.

Gmuca, Natalia V., Linnea E. Pearson, Jennifer M. Burns, and Heather E.M. Liwanag. “The Fat and the Furriest: Morphological Changes in Harp Seal Fur with Ontogeny.” Physiological and Biochemical Zoology 88, no. 2 (March/April 2015): 158–66.

If there are more than 10 authors, list the first seven, followed by “et al.”

Multiple sources by the same author

If you include multiple works from the same author, only include the author name in the first entry. In subsequent entries, replace the name with three em dashes, followed by the rest of the citation formatted as normal. List the entries in alphabetical order by title.

Rhys, Jean. Good Morning, Midnight. London: Penguin, 2000.
———. Quartet. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 1997.
———. Wide Sargasso Sea. London: Penguin, 1997.

Bibliography vs reference list

A reference list is mandatory in Chicago author-date style, where you cite sources in parentheses in the text. The only differences between a Chicago bibliography and a reference list are the heading and the placement of the date.

The reference list is headed “References.” In reference list entries, the publication date is placed immediately after the author’s name. This allows the reader to easily find a reference on the basis of the corresponding in-text citation.

Frequently asked questions about the Chicago bibliography

How do I cite a source with multiple authors in Chicago style?

In a Chicago style footnote, list up to three authors. If there are more than three, name only the first author, followed by “et al.“

In the bibliography, list up to 10 authors. If there are more than 10, list the first seven followed by “et al.”

The same rules apply in Chicago author-date style.

How do I cite a source with no author in Chicago style?

In a Chicago footnote citation, when the author of a source is unknown (as is often the case with websites), start the citation with the title in a full note. In short notes and bibliography entries, list the organization that published it as the author.

In Chicago author-date style, treat the organization as author in your in-text citations and reference list.