IDH1931 Research Guide

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 (Cornell University Library).

A literature review is an account of what has been published on a topic by accredited scholars and researchers. Occasionally you will be asked to write one as a separate assignment (sometimes in the form of an annotated bibliography—see the bottom of the next tab), but more often it is part of the introduction to an essay, research report, or thesis.

In writing the literature review, your purpose is to convey to your reader what knowledge and ideas have been established on a topic, and what their strengths and weaknesses are. As a piece of writing, the literature review must be defined by a guiding concept (e.g., your research objective, the problem or issue you are discussing, or your argumentative thesis). It is not just a descriptive list of the material available, or a set of summaries (University of Toronto). 

Rubrics listed below were crafted for grading the Freshman Thesis. Students may wish to use the rubrics as a guide to what is expected of of them in the writing of their paper.

Below are a few databases and resources that will assist in narrowing your topic and in your preliminary research. When everyone has decided on a specific topic more may be added to the list.