One expert described an annotated bibliography (which can be expanded as the paper develops) as the “data” from which authors derive their theory. Just as in writing an empirical paper, where authors should be intimately familiar with their data, authors building theory should have a very good understanding of the data that make up their theoretical model. Creating an annotated bibliography gives the student a sense of what it means to be part of the “conversation” associated
with a particular body of literature. Being part of this conversation, or changing the direction of a conversation, requires knowledge of the language of the conversation, the history of that conversation, and the boundary conditions of the conversation in which they are engaging. However, too much time spent on reviewing the
existing literature and justifying the need for
a theoretical perspective often results in manu-
scripts where the actual theoretical contribution
is underdeveloped.