As a scholar, you will enter into conversation with other writers and thinkers. As you do so, you will build upon past conversations and point to future ones. The norms of academic writing require that you ethically and responsibly point to the sources you consult, in order to:
- Frame the issue and share your understandings
- Signal your allegiance or disagreement with others
- Establish your credibility as a knowledgeable participant
- Supply evidence, examples, and findings
To use information legally and ethically, you need to cite any information not originally created by you, including:
- Quotations
- Key terms or phrases
- Ideas & theories
- Facts not broadly known
- Images & sounds
Here are three effective ways to use the work of others in your writing:
Brief presentation, in your own words, of another author's main points as related to your writing.
Useful practice when:
Your interpretation of another author's words or ideas, usually shorter passages or paragraphs.
Useful practice when:
Your use of an author's exact words, terms, or phrases in direct quotes.
Useful practice when:
Can your readers distinguish which content is yours and which belongs to sources you are citing?
To help the reader make those distinctions, introduce your sources. For example: In the Library Chronicles, George Norlin claims ....
Try some of these verbs to help introduce your sources.
acknowledges | adds | admits | agrees | argues | asserts | believes | claims | comments | compares | confirms | contends | declares | demonstrates |denies | describes | disputes | emphasizes | endorses | explains | grants | illustrates | indicates | implies | insisted | narrates | notes | observes | offers outlines | reasons | refutes | rejects | reports | responds | says | shows | suggested | writes
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Summarizing is also a good note taking strategy and allows you to test your understanding of the material. The more deeply you understand a topic, the better you will be at paraphrasing and quoting.
Read actively! Take notes and make annotations.
Learn more about when to paraphrase and when to quote.