Once you have decided on a topic, the second task is to conduct scholarly research to learn more about your topic and to collect and organize data for your research paper. The goal is to conduct enough research on your topic to be able to make a declarative statement about your topic. An annotated bibliography will help you organize your notes and keep track of your sources. This lesson will address ways to conduct research and produce an annotated bibliography.
Lesson Objectives:
- define annotated bibliography
- recognize sources for scholarly research in African Studies
- identify scholarly books or articles related to a specific research topic
- produce a properly formatted annotated bibliography
What is an annotated bibliography?
An annotated bibliography is an organized list of sources (like a reference list). It differs from a straightforward bibliography in that each reference is followed by a paragraph length annotation, usually 100–200 words in length. The annotations provide a brief overview of the information in the source and relevant data that will be useful in your research. For this class, you can use the annotated bibliography to organize your notes. This will be particularly helpful to meet the requirement for in-text citations in your paper and poster. Your annotated bibliography can be in any citation style.
For more information, see the Purdue Owl guide on annotated bibliographies and watch the video below.
What is a scholarly source?
Your final project requires at least five scholarly sources (books and/or research articles) in your bibliography. Scholarly sources (also referred to as academic, peer-reviewed, or refereed sources) are written by experts in a particular field and serve to keep others interested in that field up to date on the most recent research, findings, and news. When a source has been peer-reviewed, it has undergone the review and scrutiny of a review board of colleagues in the author’s field. They evaluate this source as part of the body of research for a particular discipline and make recommendations regarding its publication in a journal, revisions prior to publication, or, in some cases, reject its publication. See: University of Illinois ‘Determine if a source is scholarly.’
By using scholarly sources in your research, you are ensuring that the information your are presenting in your final project has been produced and reviewed by experts in African Studies. This will help you avoid reproducing stereotypes and misinformation that is often spread by people who are uneducated about and/or unfamiliar with Africa and African Studies.
You can include non-scholarly sources in you paper, but you must have at least five scholarly sources.
Locating Scholarly Resources
There are a wide variety a databases providing access to scholarly sources. Some databases charge a fee, and Santa Fe College pays a licensing fee so you may access them. This makes it a good idea to conduct your research through the SF Library website and logging into the off-campus access page. Visit the SF resources below to get started:
- SF College Library Guide.
- SF Off-campus Database Access
- SF Library Guides
- Google Scholar
- SF Librarian Assistance
- Tyree Library Research Tools
Additional resources specifically related to African Studies include:
- GEFAME Journal of African Studies, University of Michigan
- University of Florida Study Guide is a compendium of research and teaching resources in African Studies.
- H-Africa is an electronic discussion group that covers African history, culture, politics, environment and a wealth of other topics. Reviewers for H-Africa provide substantial reviews of scholarly books on Africa. H-Africa is also the gateway to book, film and web reviews from other networks.
- Cambridge Africa Bibliography is an ‘authoritative guide to works in African studies published under the auspices of the International African Institute annually since 1984. This the online consolidated version brings together every record collected since the bibliography’s foundation, producing a rich and interactive resource for all scholars interested in the study of Africa.’
It is important to note that a cultural expression (poem, scripture, etc.) is not a scholarly source, but you still need to cite it. For example, if you want to use the song, ‘This is Nigeria,’ by Falz as an example of politics in Nigerian music, you will need to reference the song in your paper and the bibliography. Yet, the song reference will not count as one of your scholarly sources. The article, ‘And the beat goes on? Message music, political repression and the power of hip-hop in Nigeria,’ is a scholarly reference that addresses political patterns of politics in Nigerian music like Falz’s song.
It is also important to note that the following sources are NOT scholarly.
- Wikipedia
- magazine or news articles
- most websites
- blogs
The sources listed above should not be included in your paper unless you are using them as an example. For instance, you may want to use a tourism website as an example of contemporary orientalist representations of African people by European tourism companies. You will need to cite the website, but it does not qualify as a scholarly source and should not be used as a source of information in your paper.
Formatting Your References
References in the bibliography need to be properly formatted, yet the referencing style (APA, MLA, etc.) does not matter in this course. It is a good idea to learn which style is used most often in your field of study, and use that style in your bibliography. The following websites can assist in formatting your references for you.
For Discussion in Canvas
Create an Annotated Bibliography of at least five scholarly sources that will be used in your research. You can include non-scholarly sources, but the bibliography must have at least five scholarly sources for information. To receive credit, you must provide constructive criticism to at least two other students’ bibliographies with information on how to improve it. Simply telling someone they did a good job is not helpful. Check their references and consider the following:
- Are there at least five scholarly sources?
- Are the references properly formatted?
- Are the references annotated?
- Are the references relevant to African Humanities?
- You can also share a scholarly reference with a student as one of your comments.