Choosing References for Annotated Bibliography: A Guide for Academicians - Essay Sample

Introduction

Choosing references when writing an annotated bibliography as early preparation for a later research paper is a hurdle to many academicians. This topic is important as it gives an insight on what to consider while deciding the reference to include and those to exclude during writing. Writing an annotated bibliography demands a variety of skills. These may include critical analysis, the ability for one to be concise and precise, as well as do library research. Locating and recording books, journals, and other sources could be difficult. Even so, it remains interesting, especially when one does it right.

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The use of professional sources is what is required the most by most institutions. Non-professional sources do not give succinct and credible information on a particular topic. Most schools cite Wikipedia as a non-professional source since the information given can be edited at any one time. Therefore, understanding the differences is of benefit not only to the researcher, but also the tutor demanding a comprehensive and credible paper. Even so, both professional and non-professional sources give almost the same information. A professional source would also call for professional writing of an annotation. Concise writing of the annotation that gives an insight into the central matter in consideration is critical. It is also important to ensure that one writes various sentences that give information on the credibility of the author. Other requirements may concern a comment on the intended audience as well as a comparison work with some other works that have been cited. Finally, a professional source can explain well how the presented work illuminates the bibliography topic.

Professional sources ensure that the reader notices a compelling work that proves valid research that will be used to back up any arguments and claims within the later research paper. Interest seems to prevail more on professional sources as readers can refer to the citation in the bibliography and look it out later for themselves. For non-professional sources such as Wikipedia, interest would die off immediately. Besides, professional sources tend to inspire the reader more in a way that they would want to double-check the claim and interpretation made. As the foundations for a good annotated bibliography, professional sources encourage a professional conversation and establish the entire work as a valid source.

Annotated Bibliography

Blikstad-Balas, M. (2016). "You get what you need": A study of students' attitudes towards using Wikipedia when doing school assignments. Scandinavian Journal of Educational Research, 60(6), 594-608.

This is a professional scholarly article by Blikstad-Balas that connotes the difference between traditional and modern knowledge. Blikstad-Balas notes the variety of sources today as compared to the time in the past. Even so, he notes how students still stick to Wikipedia besides being a non-professional source for academic and literary studies. The author notes how students neglect issues concerning the credibility of sources when using non-professional sources. Additionally, attitudes towards credible and professional sources are looked into. This source is useful because of the insight provided concerning the difference between professional and non-professional studies.

Conrad, S. M. (1999). The importance of corpus-based research for language teachers. The system, 27(1), 1-18.

This is a scholarly article that discusses the difference between the sources of knowledge at some time in the past as compared to the present. Conrad particularly focuses on the use of language corpora as well as the computer to source non-credible information. The use of computers has been noted as not effective in introducing teachers to corpus-based studies. The author notes how non-professional articles do not use linking adverbials in their contents compared to professional studies. The use of automatic computer programs tends to neglect important components of a professional paper. This article is useful in giving an insight into the difference between professional and non-professional sources in terms of linking adverbials.

Egger, M., Juni, P., Bartlett, C., Holenstein, F., & Sterne, J. (2003). How important are comprehensive literature searches and the assessment of trial quality in systematic reviews? Empirical study. Health Technol Assess, 7(1), 1-76.

This is a scholarly article by Egger, Juni, Bartlett, Holenstein, and Sterne that primarily focuses on the credibility of systematic reviews. The authors attribute professionalism to the utilization of a comprehensive literature assessment. They also note the inclusion of unbiased samples of relevant studies as critical aspects of a professional paper. On the other hand, they note that non-professionalism involves neglecting meta-analyses and systematic reviews. Besides, the non-professional sources are those that consume a lot of time and money in providing little and non-credible content. Even though the authors focus more on the medical industry, information from the article applies to almost every industry and research area.

Mabry, R. H., & Sharplin, A. D. (1985). The relative importance of journals used in finance research. Journal of Financial Research, 8(4), 287-296.

Mabry and Sharplin discuss matters concerning research in this scholarly article. The two authors look into the aspects of financial research, being among the most critical areas of study. The authors attribute quality and professionalism to the use of credible and renowned journals, including "the Journal of Finance, Journal of Financial Economics, Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, and Journal of Money, Credit, and Banking " (Mabry, & Sharplin 1985). Besides, professionalism is also attributed to the use of citations, which offer the general criterion of writing. Therefore, scholarly articles remain to be credited as professional sources more than any others. This article is important in providing the important features of a credible and professional source.

Maxwell, J. A. (2012). The importance of qualitative research for a causal explanation in education. Qualitative Inquiry, 18(8), 655-661.

This is a scholarly article that looks into the features of qualitative research as part of professional requirements in academics. Among the features includes a well-cited causal explanation. Non-professional papers tend to view such causal explanations as incompatible with some of the approaches used within the paper. Professional papers can support causal claims credibly by focusing on such explanations. On the other hand, non-professional papers seem to lack the adequacy of explanations concerning causation. This article is important in research as it gives some of the key features that enhance the credibility of professional sources.

References

Blikstad-Balas, M. (2016). "You get what you need": A study of students' attitudes towards using Wikipedia when doing school assignments. Scandinavian Journal of Educational Research, 60(6), 594-608.

Conrad, S. M. (1999). The importance of corpus-based research for language teachers. The system, 27(1), 1-18.

Egger, M., Juni, P., Bartlett, C., Holenstein, F., & Sterne, J. (2003). How important are comprehensive literature searches and the assessment of trial quality in systematic reviews? Empirical study. Health Technol Assess, 7(1), 1-76.

Mabry, R. H., & Sharplin, A. D. (1985). The relative importance of journals used in finance research. Journal of Financial Research, 8(4), 287-296.

Maxwell, J. A. (2012). The importance of qualitative research for a causal explanation in education. Qualitative Inquiry, 18(8), 655-661.

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Plucker, J. A., Beghetto, R. A., & Dow, G. T. (2004). Why isn't creativity more important to educational psychologists? Potentials, pitfalls, and future directions in creativity research. Educational psychologist, 39(2), 83-96.

Plucker, J. A., Beghetto, R. A., & Dow, G. T. (2004). Why isn't creativity more important to educational psychologists? Potentials, pitfalls, and future directions in creativity research. Educational psychologist, 39(2), 83-96.

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Sharplin, A. D., & Mabry, R. H. (1985). The relative importance of journals used in management research: An alternative ranking. Human Relations, 38(2), 139-149.

Spanakis, G., Siolas, G., & Stafylopatis, A. (2012). Exploiting Wikipedia knowledge for conceptual hierarchical clustering of documents. The Computer Journal, 55(3), 299-312.

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