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In this assignment, you will select your research topic related to juvenile delinquency that will be used in Weeks 4 and 5 for this course, and then you will prepare an annotated bibliography. This topic will be used throughout the remainder of the course to fulfill the requirements of the study. The limit on serial references will be a maximum of 3. See below for further information.

What is an annotated bibliography?

This is a bibliography that includes brief explanations or notes for each reference. An annotated bibliography helps the researcher determine which sources are relevant to a line of inquiry.

Example:

Green, B. (2011). Criminal justice-what’s ahead? Roadblocks and new directions. Criminal justice, 25(4), 1-7. Retrieved from ProQuest Database.

This is where you would put a description of the article, discuss the author, mention the strengths and weaknesses of the topic, and mention any reviews if possible. This paragraph will be single-spaced.

Examples on topics to search:

• Articles on juvenile delinquency and causes
• Articles on theory that one can use for juveniles
• Web pages for statistics.
• Any peer reviewed article.

What are serial references?

Serial references are those that are over 10-years-old and that put forth a theory that has been deemed to be a foundation for other theories. Examples: Sutherland and differential association theory, Freud and psychoanalytical theory, or Pavlov and behavioral theory.

How to Prepare an Annotated Bibliography

An annotated bibliography is a list of references to books, articles, and documents. Each reference is followed by a brief description and analysis of the reference. The purpose of such a bibliography is to inform the reader of the importance, precision, and value of the reference in relation to the study being considered. This description should be between 100–150 words.

Annotations Versus Abstracts

Abstracts are the purely descriptive summaries often found at the beginning of scholarly journal articles or in periodical indexes. Annotations are descriptive and critical; they expose the author's point of view, clarity, and appropriateness of expression and authority. Look for the following when making your evaluation:

• The author’s credentials: Look at his or her employment, educational background, past articles, or books.
• Date of publication: When was the source published? Is it less than 10 years? Is there another edition? Is the information dated? If so, look for a more current time frame. There are such things as serial references. These references are explained in the instructions above.
• Published by a university press: It is more likely to be considered scholarly if it was published this way, but it does not guarantee that fact.
• Reviews: Investigate to see if there are any reviews of the article or book.

Assignment Guidelines  4–6 pages (10–15 annotations)

• First, search for books, periodicals, and related information to the topic of your study. Take your time to look them over and see what the authors are describing in their work, and then make a decision on which material would have the most impact upon your paper.
• Select 10–15 sources that you will use for your annotated bibliography.
• For each selected source, complete the following:
  • Make an APA reference for the material.
  • Write a brief description that summarizes the central theme of the material.
    • Evaluate the background of the author, comment on the intended audience, compare or contrast this work with other sources that you have referenced, and explain how this work relates to your topic.
• All references should be in APA style.

Please submit your assignment.