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Sourcing 101

It is the bane of every undergraduate student when it comes to written assignments: finding good sources. One of the biggest gripes that new students have is how long it takes to find the correct sources for their paper. Especially in the case of evidence-based writing, finding the right sources and using them, more often than not, takes up more time than actually writing the paper itself. Given these challenges, here a few tips on how to help you find and use those quality sources.

Start early

The best piece of advice is to start your writing assignments early so that you have time to sift through the literature and find the best sources. Unfortunately, it is impossible to find good sources the night before an assignment is due, so starting a week or two earlier will help immensely.

Use scholarly search engines

Although very basic, this tip is very important. Search engines vary among discipline and it is essential to use one that is appropriate for your discipline. One way to find the right engine is using the Research and journal database from the University of Waterloo library . The engines are relatively easy to use and they can be a great resource for assignments that require you to find peer-reviewed journal articles.

Search for keywords

When you finally find an article, you can assess if it will be useful to your topic by searching for keywords. On a computer Ctrl+F (Command+F for mac users) can be really helpful for finding these keywords, and if they are nowhere to be found in the paper, you know right away that the article is not relevant.

Retrieved from: The Blue Diamond Gallery

Keep track of where to cite

It is better to mark a sentence that needs a citation as you write it. You can mark the sentence with parentheses at the end, which tells you that you need a citation there.

A good trick is to assign each of your sources a different letter. The letter is a placeholder for a specific source. Putting a letter in the parentheses tells you what source you are going to use there. A number after the letter can also make it even more specific by telling you what page of the source the information is on.

For example:

Amino acids are essential nutrients needed by all living things (A12).

The "A" is the letter of the source and the number 12 is the page number you can find the information being referred to. 

Hopefully these tips come in handy the next time you have to hand in a ten-page assignment with references. These tips won’t help you write the paper, but at least you’ll have the references down.

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Show Your Students Why Sourcing Matters

Many students struggle with sourcing , specifically, how to use source information to evaluate online sources or how to cite ones’ sources in the essay. Some students  may not know how to source while others have knowledge about sourcing, but they don’t typically choose to apply that knowledge in practice This might be because they do not understand the value of sourcing.

When investigating how children respond to information differently from adults and how they select whom to trust, researchers Paul Harris and Kathleen Corriveau found that , even for children, the source of information matters. For example, when two caregivers presented different statements, the children turned to the more familiar caregiver for confirmation. Children seemed to be nonselective in what they learn from others, but not in whom they learn from. This kind of spontaneous attention to sources of information may serve as a starting point for educators when explaining to students why sourcing matters. So, let’s do that!

We will begin by sharing two examples that teachers could use to discuss the value of sourcing with their students. The first example from everyday life takes advantages of students’ spontaneous attention to sources and can also be used with younger students. The second example illustrates how information about the source may affect one's interpretation of a text's reliability. It also shows why one should pay attention to different aspects of the source during online inquiry.

When students have understood the value of source information, they may be better motivated to cite their sources when reporting the results of their online research in a way that serves their readers. To provide informative in-texts citations, students need some guidelines. Our third example introduces two dimensions that students can keep in mind when formulating in-text citations.

Example no. 1: Sourcing in everyday life

• After showing the first note, without the source, begin the conversation by asking students, “Would you like to know who has written the note? Why?”
• After revealing the three other notes and calling attention to the different signatures (or sources) of each, ask students, “How do you interpret and react to the notes with different sources (signatures)?"

Example no. 2: Sourcing when evaluating the reliability of a website

Discuss the value of sourcing by asking students to evaluate the reliability of a fictitious website after showing them one piece of source information at the time, as listed below.

• How reliable do you find the Web text that concerns health effects of chocolate when you know that:
• An expert working at the health institute has been interviewed for the text?
• The text has been published recently?
• The text has been written by a web designer?
• The text is published in the website of a chocolate manufacturer?
• How did your interpretations on reliability change after each new piece of information about the source?
• Do you think that one piece of information about the source is enough to make a proper conclusion about the reliability of the text? Why do you think so?

Example no. 3: How to cite your Web sources in an essay? When older students are asked to formulate in-text citations  in their essays, it is important that their citations are both accurate and provides rich information about the source. An accurate citation provides precise information about the Web page that students had actually read (e.g., it is published by The Washington Post ). A citation that provides rich information includes two or more pieces of information that helps a reader to understand the nature of the source. 

After explaining the dimensions, encourage your students to apply these principles in their essays.

Eva Wennås Brante is a senior lecturer at the University of Malmö, Sweden.

Carita Kiili   is a  postdoctoral fellows at the Department of Education at the University of Oslo. This article is part of a series from the International Literacy Association’s  Technology in Literacy Education Special Interest Group (TILE-SIG) .

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Quoting and integrating sources into your paper

In any study of a subject, people engage in a “conversation” of sorts, where they read or listen to others’ ideas, consider them with their own viewpoints, and then develop their own stance. It is important in this “conversation” to acknowledge when we use someone else’s words or ideas. If we didn’t come up with it ourselves, we need to tell our readers who did come up with it.

It is important to draw on the work of experts to formulate your own ideas. Quoting and paraphrasing the work of authors engaged in writing about your topic adds expert support to your argument and thesis statement. You are contributing to a scholarly conversation with scholars who are experts on your topic with your writing. This is the difference between a scholarly research paper and any other paper: you must include your own voice in your analysis and ideas alongside scholars or experts.

All your sources must relate to your thesis, or central argument, whether they are in agreement or not. It is a good idea to address all sides of the argument or thesis to make your stance stronger. There are two main ways to incorporate sources into your research paper.

Quoting is when you use the exact words from a source. You will need to put quotation marks around the words that are not your own and cite where they came from. For example:

“It wasn’t really a tune, but from the first note the beast’s eyes began to droop . . . Slowly the dog’s growls ceased – it tottered on its paws and fell to its knees, then it slumped to the ground, fast asleep” (Rowling 275).

Follow these guidelines when opting to cite a passage:

• Choose to quote passages that seem especially well phrased or are unique to the author or subject matter.
• Be selective in your quotations. Avoid over-quoting. You also don’t have to quote an entire passage. Use ellipses (. . .) to indicate omitted words. Check with your professor for their ideal length of quotations – some professors place word limits on how much of a sentence or paragraph you should quote.
• Before or after quoting a passage, include an explanation in which you interpret the significance of the quote for the reader. Avoid “hanging quotes” that have no context or introduction. It is better to err on the side of your reader not understanding your point until you spell it out for them, rather than assume readers will follow your thought process exactly.
• If you are having trouble paraphrasing (putting something into your own words), that may be a sign that you should quote it.
• Shorter quotes are generally incorporated into the flow of a sentence while longer quotes may be set off in “blocks.” Check your citation handbook for quoting guidelines.

Paraphrasing is when you state the ideas from another source in your own words . Even when you use your own words, if the ideas or facts came from another source, you need to cite where they came from. Quotation marks are not used. For example:

With the simple music of the flute, Harry lulled the dog to sleep (Rowling 275).

Follow these guidelines when opting to paraphrase a passage:

• Don’t take a passage and change a word here or there. You must write out the idea in your own words. Simply changing a few words from the original source or restating the information exactly using different words is considered plagiarism .
• Read the passage, reflect upon it, and restate it in a way that is meaningful to you within the context of your paper . You are using this to back up a point you are making, so your paraphrased content should be tailored to that point specifically.
• After reading the passage that you want to paraphrase, look away from it, and imagine explaining the main point to another person.
• After paraphrasing the passage, go back and compare it to the original. Are there any phrases that have come directly from the original source? If so, you should rephrase it or put the original in quotation marks. If you cannot state an idea in your own words, you should use the direct quotation.

A summary is similar to paraphrasing, but used in cases where you are trying to give an overview of many ideas. As in paraphrasing, quotation marks are not used, but a citation is still necessary. For example:

Through a combination of skill and their invisibility cloak, Harry, Ron, and Hermione slipped through Hogwarts to the dog’s room and down through the trapdoor within (Rowling 271-77).

Important guidelines

When integrating a source into your paper, remember to use these three important components:

• Introductory phrase to the source material : mention the author, date, or any other relevant information when introducing a quote or paraphrase.
• Source material : a direct quote, paraphrase, or summary with proper citation.
• Analysis of source material : your response, interpretations, or arguments regarding the source material should introduce or follow it. When incorporating source material into your paper, relate your source and analysis back to your original thesis.

Ideally, papers will contain a good balance of direct quotations, paraphrasing and your own thoughts. Too much reliance on quotations and paraphrasing can make it seem like you are only using the work of others and have no original thoughts on the topic.

Always properly cite an author’s original idea, whether you have directly quoted or paraphrased it. If you have questions about how to cite properly in your chosen citation style, browse these citation guides . You can also review our guide to understanding plagiarism .

University Writing Center

The University of Nevada, Reno Writing Center provides helpful guidance on quoting and paraphrasing and explains how to make sure your paraphrasing does not veer into plagiarism. If you have any questions about quoting or paraphrasing, or need help at any point in the writing process, schedule an appointment with the Writing Center.

Works Cited

Rowling, J.K. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone.  A.A. Levine Books, 1998.

How to Use Sources in College Essays

Written by Emily Smith

When we talk about academic writing, we often refer to it as a conversation. This analogy is an easy way to think about the ways in which scholars respond to, build upon, and challenge the work of other academics through their writing.

In college, you’ll have an opportunity to participate in this dialogue, as many academic writing assignments will require that you utilize sources to support your ideas. Like any good conversationalist, it’s important to adopt the right approach when responding to others’ ideas (i.e., writing from sources) to create a dialogue that is balanced, clear, and dynamic. 

How do you do that? We’ve got you covered! In this guide, we’ll show you how to utilize sources strategically so that you can support your ideas, build credibility, and craft papers that are clear and compelling. 

Sources and evidence can take a variety of forms, including experiments and observations, depending on your field. For the purposes of this guide, we’ll be focusing on best practices for using academic texts in college-level papers. For more information on other forms of evidence, check out our guide on research.  

Table of Contents

Before you write, organizing your sources, four ways to integrate your sources.

Paraphrasing

Summarizing

Synthesizing

Balancing Strategies

How to Assess Your Source Utilization

A strong piece of writing usually begins with thoughtful preparation. In the case of an academic writing assignment, that means understanding your assignment prompt (including your professor’s expectations about the use and citing of sources), conducting careful research to identify credible sources, and carefully reading any materials you plan to use. 

That last step is especially important for our purposes: you cannot effectively or ethically use a source if you do not understand it. Admittedly, that’s probably easier said than done, as many academic texts can be downright dense due to their use of jargon and complex theoretical concepts. So how can you know if you’ve really understood what you’re reading? 

The key is to read actively by taking the following steps: 

SLOW DOWN. Many students try to rush through their reading due to time constraints, but just because your eyes are moving over a page doesn’t mean you’re understanding or retaining information. Check in with yourself to be sure you’re fully engaged in your reading. If you’re not focused, consider taking a break and returning to your work later, if time allows. 

Annotate texts by summarizing important concepts or ideas in your notes. If you can easily articulate an idea in your own words, that is a strong indicator that you understand it. 

Document your questions. In some cases those questions may help you identify which concepts you do not yet understand, and in other cases, these questions may help you generate ideas for your writing. 

After you finish a text, conduct an informal debrief by asking yourself a few questions: 

What was the main argument or idea of this text? Summarize it in your own words. 

Do you understand all of the key concepts in the text?  If not, try rereading the source and seek additional support from classmates, your TA, or your professor. If you need guidance on how to communicate with an instructor and connect with academic support services, check out this guide.

Could you teach this material to someone else?   If you have a friend or classmate available, try to explain the material to them. Note what ideas you stumble over, as that can indicate where you might need to invest more time. 

How does the text connect to your writing assignment?   Does it support, contextualize, refute, or challenge your ideas? Which sections, quotes, or concepts are most relevant to your topic? Make note of your answers to these questions, as they can help you decide if and how to utilize a source (more on that below). 

Okay, you’ve done the reading (and you understand it!). Now it’s time to start thinking strategically about the assignment at hand. Looking back over your reading, consider which sources will be most useful for your assignment and how you might like to use them. Sources can be used in a variety of ways: 

As evidence to support an idea. 

As an artifact to be analyzed (like in a literary analysis). 

As context to provide necessary background information about a topic or idea. 

To introduce a counterargument to complicate and—hopefully—strengthen an argument. 

As you consider these possibilities, take note of what concepts or passages might be most useful throughout your paper, being sure to record citation information (e.g., authors, page numbers, etc.) to make it easy to cite your sources. If you have not yet found a note-taking system that works for you, consider using Steve Runge’s organizational method to keep track of your sources. For more information about how and why you should cite your sources, take a look at our guides on citations and plagiarism. 

Once you’ve done the appropriate prep work, you can start writing, which means you need to decide how you want to weave sources into your paper. There are four ways to integrate a source into a draft, and the exact approach you use will depend on the purpose your source serves within your paper.

The way in which you integrate sources using the options below will depend on your assignment and rhetorical goals. As a general rule of thumb, you should strive to utilize multiple techniques and balance outside sources with your own ideas so that you can craft papers that are clear and compelling.

Option 1: Quoting

When you quote a source, you represent the original author’s words exactly . Students often default to quoting as their go-to source integration strategy because it likely seems like the easiest technique, since the writer doesn’t have to articulate an idea in their own words. However, an overabundance of quotations can lead to a few problems:

Relying too heavily on outside sources, particularly in the form of quotations, can create a paper that lacks a point of view or perspective. If your audience is reading a draft that is primarily composed of loosely connected quotations, wouldn’t it be easier for them to just read the original texts? 

Papers with an overabundance of quotes can be boring! As the old adage goes, variety is the spice of life … and writing. Our eyes and ears like variety; utilizing multiple source integration strategies in conjunction with your own ideas can help you produce a draft that will grab and maintain your reader’s interest. 

With that being said, there are times when quoting is the right call. Quote a text when the language of the original source is important to your paper, like in cases where you are analyzing its language (hello, literary analysis!), or when a quote might add needed emphasis or authority to a point you’re making, or in a case where it might be very difficult to paraphrase due to technical jargon.

Fundamentally, using a quote signals to your reader that that specific language is important. If your reader simply needs to know information from a source (rather than the language used to communicate that information), consider using one of the other source integration techniques discussed below. 

How to Quote

We mentioned earlier that quoting can seem like the easiest option when it comes time to use a source, but there are actually a few steps you need to follow to quote a source effectively and ethically: 

Select your quote.  Quoted materials should generally be used sparingly, so quote as little material as possible. In many cases, you might just need to quote a particular phrase or maybe a sentence. Occasionally, you might need to quote multiple lines or utilize a block quote, which is a longer quote that is set apart from the rest of your paper’s text. Be sure to defer to your discipline’s style guide (e.g., MLA) to determine when and how to use a block quote. Generally speaking, longer quotes, particularly block quotes, should be used VERY judiciously and only in cases where their length can be justified by the content’s relevance to your paper AND by what you have to say about the quoted material (more on that in Step 3). 

Introduce your quote.  Once you have a quote picked out, you can’t just drop it into your paper and move on, as your reader will need to understand its context. It is unethical to misrepresent someone’s words by taking them out of context, so be sure to explain who said or wrote the quoted material, as well as where it came from. Providing this context will also help you avoid a dropped or standalone quote that is disconnected from the rest of a paper, which can be confusing for a reader.  To illustrate the importance of context, here is an example (without context) from Stephen King’s On Writing : “I want you to understand that my basic belief about the making of stories is that they pretty much make themselves.”  If you read this quote on its own, you might think that King is saying that good writing just … happens. However, that isn’t the case, since King makes numerous recommendations to aspiring writers in his memoir. In actuality, King is discussing his views on plot and the ways in which a writer’s fixation on plot can be detrimental to their work.  So here is how a writer using this quote might introduce it to provide the necessary context to avoid misrepresenting King’s thoughts:  In On Writing , King identifies practices that fiction writers can use to strengthen their work, ranging from developing their grammar proficiency to curating an appropriate workspace. However, he actively discourages writers from becoming overly concerned with plot, stating, “I want you to understand that my basic belief about the making of stories is that they pretty much make themselves” (163). King believes that plotting is counterproductive to the creative process, going so far as to suggest that the two are incompatible. 

Offer explanation or analysis.  Quotations (and any form of evidence for that matter) don’t speak for themselves; as a general rule, assume your reasoning for using a particular quote isn’t obvious to your reader. As a writer, you must create a bridge between your argument and a quotation by interpreting, analyzing, or discussing its content to clarify its relevance to your paper. As a rule of thumb, your explanation or analysis should also balance out your quotation, meaning it should be at least as long as the quote you selected. For example, if you use a block quote, but only have one sentence of analysis to offer about it, that might be a sign that you don’t actually need to use the entirety of that passage (see Step 1 for additional information about quote selection). 

Cite your source.  Any time you use content from outside sources, you must provide a citation . The exact rules and format for citing sources will vary depending on your field or discipline, so be sure to consult a style guide for specific guidance. If you’re new to the idea of citing sources, you can also review our citation guide for general information about citations’ purpose and logic. 

For more guidance on quotations, including how to punctuate and modify them, check out this guide from the UNC Writing Center. 

Option 2: Paraphrasing

When you paraphrase, you communicate the content of a specific line, passage, or idea in your own words. Paraphrasing is often used in cases where a particular excerpt of a text is important, but your reader does not need to be privy to the original author’s exact language. For example, a writer might paraphrase a section of dialogue from a novel before quoting a specific phrase that they want to analyze.

As with quoting, it is important to accurately represent paraphrased material by offering any needed context. Another consideration writers should be mindful of when paraphrasing is being careful to use their own original language and sentence structures. New academic writers sometimes think that they can paraphrase by simply switching up a few words in a quote, but that would actually be considered plagiarism— mosaic plagiarism or patchwriting to be specific. For this reason, writers must paraphrase thoughtfully to ensure they accurately represent a text’s meaning without mirroring its original language or sentence structure. One of the easiest ways to do this is to step away from the content you need to paraphrase and explain it from memory. This approach can help you generate new phrasing and avoid the temptation to borrow elements from the original. For additional guidance on paraphrasing, check out our guide on avoiding plagiarism. 

Option 3: Summarizing

A summary provides a brief and, often, broad overview of a source in your own words. Summaries are frequently used to provide context or background information for a reader; for this reason, you’re likely to use summaries early in a paper where you need to orient a reader to your topic. There are a few considerations you should weigh when deciding if and how to summarize: 

Summary vs. paraphrase.  Summarizing and paraphrasing are similar strategies in that they both require writers to represent a source in their own words. The main way in which these techniques differ is in the scope of the content being discussed. A summary generally covers a broad topic (think the main argument of a journal article or the plotline of a book), while paraphrasing is used to represent a narrower idea, such as a snippet of dialogue or the meaning of a specific concept. Writers should consider the scope of the content they need to discuss when deciding which strategy is most appropriate

Using original language.  Another commonality between summary and paraphrase is that students sometimes struggle to translate content (particularly long or complex arguments) into their own words. One strategy that can make it easier to summarize is to use simple language in a rough draft, almost as if you were talking to a friend. You might even look back at your notes and annotations from your reading for help with this step. This approach can help you produce a working summary that is clear and direct that you can then polish to remove any slang or colloquialisms that might not be appropriate for an academic writing assignment. For more information on academic writing, check out our guide on academic writing style in the United States. 

Should you be analyzing instead?  A common mistake among first-year college students is summarizing material when they should be writing about it analytically or argumentatively. This issue often arises while students are getting acclimated to college-level writing assignments. To avoid this pitfall, be sure to return to your assignment prompt to check whether the content and style of your paper align with your professor’s expectations. If you’re not sure whether your writing counts as summary or analysis, consider what kind of questions you are answering. Are you simply describing the who, what, and when of your topic (Ex: The plot of a book, the history of a particular event, etc.) or are you exploring the “how” and “why” of your topic? Summary tends to focus on basic descriptions or facts, which generally are not up for interpretation, while analysis usually explores more complex ideas that can be questioned.

Option 4: Synthesizing

A perhaps lesser-known form of source integration is synthesis. Similar to summary, synthesizing occurs when a writer discusses sources in tandem with one another, illustrating how those sources agree on a given idea in order to arrive at a conclusion about a topic. You can check out an example of effective and ineffective synthesis on the Purdue OWL site. Synthesis is a useful way to put sources in conversation with one another to contextualize the discourse surrounding a topic or to illustrate support for an idea. For this reason, synthesis is commonly used in literature reviews and research papers. Effective synthesis requires:

Intentional reading and organization.  To figure out where sources agree, writers must first read and organize their sources. Aside from the active reading strategies discussed previously, this also involves keeping track of the areas in which sources align. One way to organize this information is to develop a synthesis matrix , which makes it easy to visualize commonalities between sources. 

Use of clear transitions.  Synthesis hinges on how effectively a writer can explain the relationships between sources. Using clear transitions is one of the best ways to communicate those connections. For more guidance on creating transitions, check out our literary analysis guide and this handout from the UNC Writing Center. 

Careful citation.  As with any kind of source integration, it’s critical that writers carefully cite material to avoid plagiarism. This step is especially important when synthesizing texts to ensure you clearly distinguish where ideas from one source end and another begin. For more guidance on citations, check out our citation guide. 

How to Assess Your Source Utilization—The Color Method

Effective source utilization hinges on a balance of voices (i.e., yours as a writer and those of your sources). One of the easiest ways to gauge your source utilization is to color code your paper. 

To use this strategy, select three colors. For the purposes of this example, we’ll use the stoplight method: 

Red for quoted material

Yellow for summarized, paraphrased, or synthesized material

Green for your original ideas and analysis 

Color code your draft according to this system. Once you are finished, analyze the balance and distribution of color in your draft. Specifically, you might consider:

Do you notice an overabundance of one color in your paper?  If so, what might that indicate? For example, a lot of green (i.e., your ideas) might suggest that you need more support from your sources. An abundance of quotes might suggest that you either need to utilize alternative source integration techniques or offer more robust analysis.

Is the color distribution in individual paragraphs appropriate?  You might expect a literature review paragraph, for example, to include a lot of summary and synthesis, but if you notice that a body paragraph is all one color, that might indicate that you need more support or you need to offer clearer connections between your evidence and your overarching argument.

Does the color distribution make sense for the assignment and for your discipline?  Different styles and genres of writing require various approaches to source utilization. For example, a literary analysis in an English class would likely utilize a decent number of quotations, while a research paper for a sociology class would likely utilize more synthesis. 

This basic method can also be adapted to better suit your needs. For example, you can assign colors to additional forms of evidence (e.g., statistics, observation, interviews, etc.) to provide a more granular perspective on your source integration. 

As you’ve probably realized by now, effective source utilization can vary depending upon several factors, including your discipline, the kind of assignment you’re completing, and your rhetorical goals. However, in any context, effective source utilization has the following qualities: 

Intentionality.  Strong writers think critically about what sources they use and how they weave them into their papers. For each quotation, paraphrase, summary, or synthesis you use, try to justify why you are using a particular source and why you have chosen a given source integration technique. If you draw a blank, that might be a sign that you need to spend more time assessing either (a) the relevance of a source or (b) your source integration strategy. 

Variety.  At the risk of sounding like a broken record, varied writing tends to be stronger writing. Try to use a healthy balance of source integration techniques in conjunction with your own original ideas to create papers that are interesting and well supported. 

Connection.  No matter how relevant or compelling a source is, it cannot support a paper’s argument or purpose if it is not clearly woven into the draft. Be sure to carefully contextualize and, if necessary, analyze source content to connect it to a paper’s overarching argument. 

Citation.  Effective source integration cannot happen without clear and consistent citation. Be sure to clearly cite your sources to attribute credit where it’s due and make it possible for your reader to track down additional information about your topic. 

Although it can take some practice, falling back on these basic principles will ensure you have the knowledge and skills you need to craft effective source dialogue and make a meaningful contribution to scholarly discourse in your discipline. 

Special thanks to Emily Smith for writing this post and contributing to other College Writing Center resources

Emily Smith (she/her) has worked with hundreds of students to become more thoughtful, intentional, and confident writers in her work as a composition instructor, college essay specialist, and, most recently, as a writing center director. Leveraging her background in writing center work, Emily loves to collaborate with students to find ease in the writing process. When not coaching students, she can likely be found baking in pursuit of the perfect chocolate chip cookie, watching TCM, and spoiling her cat.

Top Values: Empathy | Inclusion | Balance

How to Write a Strong Argument

Evaluating Sources

College Writing Center

First-Year Writing Essentials

College-Level Writing

Unpacking Academic Writing Prompts

What Makes a Good Argument?

Evaluating Sources: A Guide for the Online Generation

What Are Citations?

Avoiding Plagiarism

US Academic Writing for College: 10 Features of Style

Applying Writing Feedback

How to Edit a College Essay

Asking for Help in College & Using Your Resources

What Is Academic Research + How To Do It

How to Write a Literature Review

Subject or Context Specific Guides

Literary Analysis–How To

How to Write A History Essay

A Sophomore or Junior’s Guide to the Senior Thesis

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37 Using Sources in Your Writing

Teaching & Learning, University Libraries and Christina Frasier

Learning Objectives

• Identify different types of sources.
• Recognize what type of information the source has.
• Categorize available sources according to how they meet your needs.
• Books and encyclopedias
• Websites, web pages, and blogs
• Magazine, journal, and newspaper articles
• Research reports and conference papers
• Field notes and diaries
• Photographs, paintings, cartoons, and other art works
• TV and radio programs, podcasts, movies, and videos
• Illuminated manuscripts and artifacts
• Bones, minerals, and fossils
• Preserved tissues and organs
• Architectural plans and maps
• Pamphlets and government documents
• Music scores and recorded performances
• Dance notation and theater set models

With so many sources available, the question usually is not whether sources exist for your project but which ones will best meet your information needs.

Being able to categorize a source helps you understand the kind of information it contains, which is a big clue to (1) whether might meet one or more of your information needs and (2) where to look for it and similar sources.

A source can be categorized by:

• Whether it contains quantitative or qualitative information or both
• Whether the source is objective (factual) or persuasive (opinion) and may be biased
• Whether the source is a scholarly, professional or popular publication
• Whether the material is a primary, secondary or tertiary source
• What format the source is in

As you may already be able to tell, sources can be in more than one category at the same time because the categories are not mutually exclusive.

Knowing the kinds of information in each category of sources will help you choose the right kind of information to meet each of your information needs. And some of those needs are very particular.

Information needs are why you need sources. Meeting those needs is what you’re going to do with sources as you complete your research project.

Here are those needs:

• To learn more background information.
• To answer your research question(s).
• To convince your audience that your answer is correct or, at least, the most reasonable answer.
• To describe the situation surrounding your research question for your audience and explain why it’s important.
• To report what others have said about your question, including any different answers to your research question.

Sources to meet needs

Because there are several categories of sources (see Types of Sources), the options you have to meet your information needs can seem complex.

Our best advice is to pay attention to when only primary and secondary sources are required to meet a need and to when only professional and scholarly sources will work.  If your research project is in the arts, also pay attention to when you must use popular sources, because popular sources are often primary sources in the arts.

These descriptions and summaries of when to use what kind of source should help.

1. To Learn Background Information

When you first get a research assignment and perhaps for a considerable time afterward, you will almost always have to learn some background information as you develop your research question and explore how to answer it.

Sources from any category and from any subgroup within a category – except journal articles – can meet students’ need to learn background information and understand a variety of perspectives. Journal articles, are usually too specific to be background. From easy-to-understand to more complex sources, read and/or view those that advance your knowledge and understanding.

For instance, especially while you are getting started, secondary sources that synthesize an event or work of art and tertiary sources such as guidebooks can be a big help. Wikipedia is a good tertiary source of background information.

Sources you use for background information don’t have to be sources that you cite in your final report, although some may be.

Sources to Learn Background Information

• Quantitative or Qualitative:  Either—whatever advances your knowledge.
• Fact or Opinion:  Any—whatever advances your knowledge.
• Scholarly, Professional, or Popular: Any—whatever advances your knowledge–at this stage, Wikipedia or other general, online references work well.
• Primary, Secondary, or Tertiary:  Any—whatever advances your knowledge.
• Publication Format:  Any—whatever advances your knowledge.

One important reason for finding background information is to learn the language that professionals and scholars have used when writing about your research question. That language will help you later, particularly when you’re searching for sources to answer your research question.

To identify that language, you can always type the word glossary and then the discipline for which you’re doing your assignment in the search engine search box.

Here are two examples to try:

• Glossary neuroscience
• Glossary “social media marketing”

(Putting a phrase in quotes in most search boxes insures that the phrase will be searched rather than individual words.)

2. To Answer Your Research Question

You have to be much pickier with sources to meet this need because only certain choices can do the job. Whether you can use quantitative or qualitative data depends on what your research question itself calls for.

Only primary and secondary sources (from the category called publication mode) can be used to answer your research question and, in addition, those need to be professional and/or scholarly sources for most disciplines (humanities, social sciences, and sciences). But the arts often require popular sources as primary or secondary sources to answer research questions. Also, the author’s purpose for most disciplines should be to educate and inform or, for the arts, to entertain and perhaps even to sell. (As you may remember, primary sources are those created at the same time as an event you are researching or that offer something original, such as an original performance or a journal article reporting original research. Secondary sources analyze or otherwise react to secondary sources. Because of the information lifecycle, the latest secondary sources are often the best because their creators have had time for better analysis and more information to incorporate.)

• Qualitative or quantitative data Suppose your research question is “How did a a particular king of Saudi Arabia, King Abdullah, work to modernize his country?”That question may lend itself to qualitative descriptive judgments—about what are considered the components of modernization, including, for instance, what were his thoughts about the place of women in society. But it may also be helped by some quantitative data, such as those that would let you compare the numbers of women attending higher education when Abdullah became king and those attending at the time of his death or, for instance, whether manufacturing increased while he reigned.

From the example, we see that looking for sources providing both quantitative and qualitative information (not necessarily in the same resource) is usually a good idea.

If it is not clear to you from the formats of sources you are assigned to read for your course, ask your professor which formats are acceptable to your discipline for answering your research question.

Sources to Answer Your Research Question

• Quantitative or Qualitative:  Will be determined by the question itself.
• Fact or Opinion:  Professional and scholarly for most disciplines; the arts often use popular, as well.
• Scholarly, Professional, or Popular:  Professional and scholarly for most disciplines; the arts often use popular, as well.
• Primary, Secondary, or Tertiary:  Primary and secondary.
• Publication Format:  Those acceptable to your discipline.

3. To Convince Your Audience

Convincing your audience is similar to convincing yourself and takes the same kinds of sources—as long as your audience is made up of people like you and your professor, which is often true in academic writing. That means using many of those sources you used to answer your research question.

When your audience isn’t very much like you and your professor, you can adjust your choice of sources to meet this need. Perhaps you will include more that are secondary sources rather than primary, some that are popular or professional rather than scholarly, and some whose author intent may not be to educate and inform.

Sources to Convince Your Audience

• Quantitative or Qualitative Data:  Same as what you used to answer your research question if your audience is like you and your professor. (If you have a different audience, use what is convincing to them.)
• Fact or Opinion:  Those with the purpose(s) you used to answer your research question if your audience is like you and your professor. (If you have a different audience, you may be better off including some sources intended to entertain or sell.)
• Scholarly, Professional or Popular:  Those with the same expertise level as you used to answer the question if your audience is like you and your professor. (If you have a different audience, you may be better off including some popular.)
• Publication Mode:  Primary and secondary sources if your audience is like you and your professor. If you have a different audience, you may be better off including more secondary sources than primary.
• Publication Format:  Those acceptable to your discipline, if your audience is like you and your professor.

4. To Describe the Situation

Choosing what kinds of sources you’ll need to meet this need is pretty simple—you should almost always use what’s going to be clear and compelling to your audience. Nonetheless, sources intended to educate and inform may play an out-sized role here.

But even then, they don’t always have to educate and inform  formally , which opens the door to using sources such as fiction or the other arts and formats that you might not use with some other information needs.

Sources to Describe the Situation

• Quantitative or Qualitative:  Whatever you think will make the description most clear and compelling and your question important to your audience.
• Fact or Opinion:  Often to educate and inform, but sources don’t have to do that  formally  here, so they can also be to entertain or sell.
• Scholarly, Professional, or Popular:  Whatever you think will make the description most clear and compelling and your question important to your audience.
• Primary, Secondary or Tertiary:  Whatever you think will make the description most clear and compelling and your question important to your audience. Some disciplines will not accept tertiary for this need.
• Publication Format:  Whatever you think will make the description most clear and compelling and your question important to your audience. Some discipline will accept only particular formats, so check for your discipline.

5. To Report What Others Have Said

The choices here about kinds of sources are easy: just use the same or similar sources that you used to answer your research question that you also think will be the most convincing to your audience.

Sources to Report What Others Have Said

• Quantitative or Qualitative:  Those sources that you used to answer your research question that you think will be most convincing to your audience.
• Fact or Opinion:  Those sources that you used to answer your research question that you think will be most convincing to your audience.
• Scholarly, Professional, or Popular:  Those sources that you used to answer your research question that you think will be most convincing to your audience.
• Primary, Secondary, or Tertiary:  Those sources that you used to answer your research question that you think will be most convincing to your audience.
• Publication Format: Those sources that you used to answer your research question that you think will be most convincing to your audience.

Adapted from English Composition: Connect, Collaborate, Communicate  by Ann Inoshita; Karyl Garland; Kate Sims; Jeanne K. Tsutsui Keuma; and Tasha Williams,  CC BY 4.0

Using Sources in Your Writing Copyright © by Teaching & Learning, University Libraries and Christina Frasier is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

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Integrating Sources

Once you have evaluated your source materials, you should select your sources and decide how to include them in your work. You can quote directly, paraphrase passages, or simply summarize the main points— and you can use all of these techniques in a single document. It’s important to learn how to quote, when to quote, and when not to quote so that you can utilize examples most effectively. Outside sources can be incredibly supportive in your writing if you know how to incorporate them effectively.

Choosing Sources to Establish Credibility

The main reason writers include sources in their work is to establish credibility with their audience. Credibility is the level of trustworthiness and authority that a reader perceives a writer has on a subject and is one of the key characteristics of effective writing, especially argumentative writing.

Without credibility, a writer's ideas are easily dismissed. Including sources in your writing indicates that your opinions are based on more than a personal or surface knowledge of the subject. It shows that others find your ideas worthy of consideration, that experts in the field corroborate your reasoning, and that there is hard evidence to support your opinion. “Peer Reviewed” sources are generally considered the most credible.

To Show Your Knowledge of the Subject

Writing that "shoots from the hip," without citing sources, is fine for many purposes. It works for an Op-Ed piece, for instance, but not for academic writing.

Without establishing that they have researched and studied their subject, writers can and do appear intelligent and witty, however, the question arises: how much do they really know about their topic?

Citing and documenting source material in your work shows your reader how knowledgeable you are regarding the facts and background of your subject. Your reader will know that you've put time and effort into making sure you "know whereof you speak."

Aligning Yourself with Experts

When establishing credibility with a jury, attorneys often call witnesses to the stand who have expertise in a given field. The "expert witness" provides opinions and presents facts regarding the technical aspects of a case. This is done because the attorney does not have the professional credentials of the witness. By borrowing the credentials of the "expert" the attorney is better able to argue his or her case.

For instance, a brain surgeon has the medical expertise to explain whether, why, or how a certain type of brain injury leads to memory loss. The attorney does not and banks on the jury trusting the "expert testimony" of the surgeon.

As a student, you are often put into this same position. You will be writing about unfamiliar subjects; topics in which you have little or no expertise. By including source material in your writing you, too, are calling upon "expert witnesses."

Researching outside sources helps you find statements from authorities on the subject that you then can quote or paraphrase within your paper. The ideas you express then become not just yours, but those of men and women who have studied and worked in your field of study for years. In effect, you make your case by "borrowing" the knowledge of experts and including it in your paper.

To Show Agreement

One person declaring something to be true can be easily ignored or dismissed. After all, it is only one person's opinion. It may or may not be true. When several people agree that something is true, however, it is not so easy to dismiss.

By including source material in your writing, you tell your reader, in effect, that there is a "chorus" of agreement on your ideas.

That said, be aware that a "chorus" of agreement does not necessarily mean that the "chorus" is right. Citing and documenting the "chorus" simply bolsters the credibility of your argument and gives others the opportunity to research your findings further and come to their own conclusions.

It also indicates that you have done your homework on the subject and that what you have to say can be trusted at least to the extent of your research efforts.

To Introduce Factual Evidence

Because factual information (such as the date a war started) and statistics can be independently verified by your readers through their own research or experimentation, this type of evidence is often the most credible form of support you can offer for your ideas.

As a student, you usually might not have the time to conduct first-hand surveys or experiments of your own to generate this kind of evidence. Instead, you might call on the research conducted by others to bring in factual evidence to back up your ideas (giving full credit to the source of the evidence, of course).

Methods for Synthesizing Sources

After choosing your sources and establishing what you want to do with them, you should synthesize those sources to relate them to your own writing purpose. There are a few different methods you can use to synthesize sources. To synthesize sources is to combine different scholarly works to produce a nuanced understanding or insight. Two of the most common strategies for synthesizing sources are ‘Explanatory Synthesis’ and ‘Argumentative Synthesis’-- they each do different work and should be employed in different writing situations.

Explanatory Synthesis

An explanatory synthesis is generally more factual and not inclusive of writer opinion. In informative or explanatory writing you are bringing related information together, explaining that relatedness, and relaying the implications. When synthesizing explanatory sources, you are using established knowledge from researchers to reach some sort of conclusion. Again, you should stay neutral in an explanatory synthesis and not take one position or another on the topic.

Argumentative Synthesis

An argumentative synthesis is oriented around an opinion or argument, which is explained by the writer. You are bringing together multiple sources and showing how they relate to your argument, either supporting it or disagreeing with it. By combining different sources related to your argument, you can form a new ‘take’ that directly references established research. The analytical comments you provide on those sources should make your stance on the issue clear to the audience.

Quoting Source Material

There are many reasons for quoting source material, a primary one being that captured in the expression: "getting it straight from the horse's mouth."

Quoting authoritative voices in your field lends credence to the arguments you present. By association, your words and those you quote are drawn closer together, creating powerful perceptions for you readers regarding the veracity and validity of your work.

It's especially important in academic writing that original sources be quoted accurately and correctly and that they be cited immediately following their appearance in the text.

Quoting Directly

Quoting Directly means taking a specific statement or passage made directly by an author and including it, word for word, in your work. The words you quote are original to the author you are quoting and are not taken from any other source.

You may not rephrase the statement or passage; simply copy it into your document exactly as you found it, punctuating it with an open quotation mark placed directly before the first word and a closing quotation mark placed directly after the last word.

Example of Quoting Directly

Original Passage:

This first juxtaposition sets up a tension between black reality and the white ideal. The question that arises is how this disparity came about. Readers--particularly white readers as we most closely match that ideal--must ask themselves: "Who or what is, after all, responsible for the soil that is bad for certain kinds of flowers, for seeds it will not nurture, for fruit it will not bear?" (Napieralski 61)

--from Brenda Edmands, "The Gaze That Condemns: White Readers, Othering And Division in Toni Morrison's The Bluest Eye" (Unpublished Essay)

Edmonds material quoted directly in the following passage:

It is clear that Toni Morrison is using the excerpt from the classic children's novels, Dick and Jane, for the purpose of establishing a conflict between "the norm"-in this case the white culture-and "the other"-black culture. By following the Dick and Jane excerpt so closely with the short prologue describing Pecola's pregnancy by her father and her subsequent shunning by the townspeople, Morrison "sets up a tension between black reality and the white ideal" (Edmands).

Note how the source citation is documented within the sentence in which the quote appears.

Quoting Previously Quoted Material

Quoting previously quoted material means taking a specific statement or passage that the author of your source material has already taken (directly quoted) from another source, and inserting it into your work.

The rules remain the same as when quoting directly; you may not rephrase the statement or passage, but copy it exactly as it was written, placing the quotation marks in exactly the same manner. You must document previously quoted material differently, however, than other types of quotations.

Example of Quoting Previously Quoted Material

The Original Source Material says:

The question that arises is how this disparity came about. Readers--particularly white readers as we most closely match that ideal--must ask themselves: "Who or what is, after all, responsible for the soil that is bad for certain kinds of flowers, for seeds it will not nurture, for fruit it will not bear?" (Napieralski 61)

Napieralski's statement, previously quoted by Edmonds, quoted in the following passage:

In Morrison's novel, The Bluest Eye, the overriding question is about responsibility according to Professor Edmund A. Napieralski: "Who or what is, after all, responsible for the soil that is bad for certain kinds of flowers, for seeds it will not nurture, for fruit it will not bear?" (qtd. in Edmands)

Note how the citation here tells the reader that this quotation was previously quoted in the source by Edmands and how it appears outside of the sentence in which the quote appears.

Using a Quotation within a Quotation

Using a quotation within a quotation means taking a passage from your source material that is a combination of the author's own words and a passage that he or she has quoted from yet another source, and inserting that into your own work.

While you document these types of quotations in the same manner as direct quotations, you use slightly different punctuation to indicate where the author's own words leave off, and the quoted passage begins.

Example of Using a Quotation within a Quotation

This first juxtaposition sets up a tension between black reality and the white ideal. The question that arises is how this disparity came about. Readers-particularly white readers as we most closely match that ideal-must ask themselves: "Who or what is, after all, responsible for the soil that is bad for certain kinds of flowers, for seeds it will not nurture, for fruit it will not bear?" (Napieralski 61)

Edmands' introductory material, including the previously quoted Napieralski statement, quoted in the following passage:

Many scholars feel there is a need for white readers to wrestle with questions of race in Morrison's The Bluest Eye in a fashion different from readers of other races. Brenda Edmands, a lecturer in the English Department at Colorado State University, argues that white readers must consider questions of racial disparity in the novel more closely. According to Ms. Edmands: "Readers-particularly white readers as we most closely match that ideal-must ask themselves: 'Who or what is, after all, responsible for the soil that is bad for certain kinds of flowers, for seeds it will not nurture, for fruit it will not bear?' (Napieralski 61)" ("The Gaze That Condemns").

Note how the material quoted from Napieralski is enclosed by single quotation marks while the entire passage taken from the Edmands essay, including the Napieralski quote, is enclosed in double quotation marks. As with a direct quotation, the relevant documentation is cited within the sentence in which it appears.

Using Block Quotations

A lengthy quotation—one exceeding three lines of text—is often set off as a"block quotation," or independent passage indented on the left margin. Typically, they appear immediately following the paragraph introducing the quotation.

The general rule is to end the last sentence of the paragraph preceding the block quotation with a colon, then drop down a line in your text—as if beginning a new paragraph—before inserting the quoted material. One inch (about 10 spaces) is the standard.

Be sure to cite the source of your quotation properly: for more on that, please refer to the style rules of the documentation system (MLA, APA, Chicago Manual of Style, etc.) your academic discipline requires.

Note: Unlike other quotations, block quotations do not require the use of quotation marks. Blocking and indenting the text, as well as introducing the quotation in the preceding paragraph, sufficiently notifies the reader of its status.

Example of Block Quoting

In the article "Dispositions for Good Teaching," Gary R. Howard concludes:

Having said this, it remains true that all American citizens have a constitutionally guaranteed First Amendment right to remain imprisoned in their own conditioned narrowness and cultural isolation. This luxury of ignorance, however, is not available to us as teachers. Ours is a higher calling, and for the sake of our students and the future of their world, we are required to grow toward a more adaptive set of human qualities, which would include the dispositions for difference, dialogue, disillusionment, and democracy. These are the capacities that will make it possible for us to thrive together as a species. These are the personal and professional dispositions that render us worthy to teach. (para. 28)

Howard, G. R. (2007). Dispositions for Good Teaching. Journal of Educational Controversy . Retrieved Oct 25, 2007, from http://www.wce.wwu.edu/Resources/CEP/eJournal/v002n002/a009.shtml

When to Quote

Source material should be quoted when it enhances the focus of your document and maximizes the impact of the message you are trying to convey. When it does not, it's best to use your own words. In other words, you should only really quote if some kind of efficacy will be lost by not quoting.

Quoting a Well Known Person

Quoting a well known person helps catch the attention of your reader. A trait of human nature is that people often listen more carefully when a widely recognized authority speaks. When you include statements from such people, quote them directly, rather than paraphrasing or summarizing. Doing so preserves the accuracy of the author's original words.

Quoting Unique or Striking Material

Quoting unique or striking material preserves the freshness, power and beauty of the author's original words. Paraphrasing or summarizing this kind of material will diminish the inherent strength that attracted you to them in the first place.

Direct quotations allow you to "borrow" the writing tone and style of a recognized author. This will enhance your own writing, without plagiarizing, and make it more appealing to your reader while successfully conveying your own ideas.

Example of Unique or Striking Material

When you can "hear" an individual's spoken voice in a written passage or, when the writing is particularly beautiful or unique, quote it directly. The stylistic flair in the following passage, for instance, would be hard to duplicate if not quoted directly.

We've seen a huge rise in the number of fatal Human-Mountain Lion encounters during the past decade (Smith 21). With humans increasingly moving into the lion's natural territory, is it any wonder that these tragedies are occurring? These kinds of attacks must be laid squarely at the pedicured feet of the yuppie mountain dwellers who build million-dollar homes in the foothills, right smack in the middle of the mountain lion's usual hunting ground, and then wonder why their poodle Fifi becomes lion chow or why, when they go to put their garbage out, they find themselves staring into a lion's unblinking golden gaze.

Rephrasing "right smack in the middle" and "lion chow" with "directly in the path of" and "lion food", would diminish the spoken quality and sarcastic tone of the original wording; a "lion's unblinking golden gaze" would lose a great deal of beauty and rhythm if converted to "the lion's staring yellow eyes".

Quoting Controversial Material

Quoting controversial material puts distance between you and the quoted source. This is especially important when readers might react negatively toward information or opinions that contain startling, questionable or overly biased statements and statistics.

Example of Controversial Material

This paragraph contains controversial material. It is blunt, sarcastic and highly opinionated. It is best to quote statements of this nature directly, as they exhibit an overly biased position.

We've seen a huge rise in the number of fatal Human-Mountain Lion encounters during the past decade (Smith 21). With humans increasingly moving into the lion's natural territory, is it any wonder that these tragedies are occurring? These kinds of attacks must be laid squarely at the carefully pedicured feet of the yuppie mountain dwellers who build million-dollar homes in the foothills, right smack in the middle of the mountain lion's usual hunting ground, and then wonder why their poodle Fifi becomes lion chow or why, when they go to put their garbage out, they find themselves staring into a lion's unblinking golden gaze.

By directly quoting this material, you will avoid leaving the impression that the thoughts conveyed in the passage are yours. A quotation clearly indicates that you are not the author.

When Not to Quote

Source material should be quoted when it enhances the focus of your document and maximizes the impact of the message you are trying to convey. When it does not, it's best to use your own words.

In an argumentative piece, it’s especially important to ensure that your own voice is present and at the forefront at all times.

Overusing Quotations

Overusing quotations may leave the impression that you are simply cutting and pasting the words and opinions of other people into your document rather than expressing your own ideas. It may lead a reader to question your originality and understanding of the material you are quoting.

Example of Overusing Quotations

In the following paragraph, a series of quotations about smoking have been cut and pasted together. Each quote has a specific focus, ranging from medical dangers to lingering bad odors, and yet, none build up to or explain their relevance.

Smoking should be banned from restaurants. "The regulation is long overdue" (Jones 12). "We need to ban smoking to help prevent diseases such as cancer, asthma, and bronchitis" (Smith 45). According to one restaurant customer: "I find someone smoking next to me really destroys my meal. I can't taste it anymore" (qtd. in Smith 45). "Too many restaurant owners ignore how dangerous second hand smoke is. They don't take steps voluntarily to make sure their nonsmoking customers aren't exposed, so we need to force the issue through regulations" (Jones 21). "Smoking makes my hair and clothes smell. I always have to take a shower after I've been out to eat in a restaurant that allows smoking" (Andrews 5).

As it stands, the paragraph is no more than a list of random complaints serving no clear purpose. The quotes could easily be paraphrased and placed in a bulleted list entitled "Reasons Why Smoking Should be Banned from Restaurants".

Not only does the paragraph lack purpose as a result of overusing quotes, the author’s voice isn’t present either. It’s completely overshadowed by other people’s words. Each quote should be introduced, and the purpose of its inclusion should be made clear in the author’s own words.

Unmemorable Material

Unmemorable material contains widely accepted statements of fact that are unlikely to generate debate (i.e. "Smoking causes cancer"). There is nothing to be gained by quoting this kind of statement. Source material containing a generally neutral tone or stated without some sort of stylistic flourish that strengthens your own thoughts and ideas can just as easily be paraphrased or summarized.

Example of Unmemorable Material

There is nothing particularly memorable, stylish, or controversial in the highlighted sentence below. Since it can be rephrased without losing any meaning, quoting makes little sense.

Immediately upon opening Toni Morrison's The Bluest Eye we are confronted with the idea of othering and, in particular, that this othering is a result of establishing the white culture as the norm. The novel begins with a section from a classic children's book that paints an idealized picture of a family. We assume the family being described is white both because we are familiar with the book being excerpted and because of the era in which it was written.

--from Brenda Edmands, "The Gaze That Condemns: White Readers, Othering And Division in Toni Morrison's The Bluest Eye"

Irrelevant Material

Irrelevant Material contains information or opinions that have little to do with the point you are trying to make. Briefly summarizing this kind of material rather than quoting it will help keep your writing focused on a specific idea. In addition, your reader will not get the idea that quotations have been included as filler rather than as meaningful and useful information. Using a quote without reason can derail the focus of a paper and therefore confuse the reader.

Example of Irrelevant Material

In the passage below, the writer discusses how the Pulitzer Prize winning author Toni Morrison uses children's literature in her own writing. For an essay arguing that adult novelists frequently use children's literature in their works, quoting the passage might support the argument.

Including all, or even part of it, may leave your reader wondering who Pecola is, however, and why the details of her pregnancy are relevant to your focus.

Toni Morrison's novel begins with a section from a classic children's book that paints an idealized picture of a family. We assume the family being described is white both because we are familiar with the book being excerpted and because of the era in which it was written. Mother, father, sister, brother, cat and dog all live in harmony in a white and green house. Contrasted with this portrait on the very next page is an image of utterly frightening disharmony in a family--Pecola's father has gotten her pregnant--and of two sisters in disagreement over seeds being planted in black dirt. This first juxtaposition sets up a tension between black reality and white ideal. --from Brenda Edmands, "The Gaze That Condemns: White Readers, Othering And Division in Toni Morrison's The Bluest Eye"

The particular point Morrison makes when quoting The Bluest Eye has nothing to with an essay on novelists citing children's literature. It would be better to simply summarize the idea that Morrison quotes a child's book to set up tension and introduce her major themes, rather than quote the entire passage.

Overly Wordy Material

Overly Wordy Material should not be quoted. When you can restate the same information or the general idea in a more succinct fashion, do so. While it is tempting to include original wording to help increase the length of your essay, don’t do it. Similar to Irrelevant Material, Overly Wordy Material confuses the reader and makes your overall focus less clear.

Readers can spot this kind of filler easily and will cause them to question your integrity. Are you trying to present your points clearly and convincingly, or are you simply trying to fill up pages?

Example of Overly Wordy Material

Each sentence in the sample paragraph below says essentially the same thing, though in a slightly different manner. Together, they are a tangle of unnecessary, confusing and repetitive subordinate clauses. It would be better and more efficient to summarize what Bowers is saying, rather than quote the whole passage.

Teachers from all levels of the education process, from kindergarten to graduate schools, need to take immediate steps to ensure that all students leave school fully prepared to be contributing members of society. We must make certain that they graduate ready to give back to their communities, not just to take from them; that they walk out the doors of our institutions not just thinking about how to make a buck, but how to make a difference. Students must be taught to be civic minded, to think in terms not only of what will benefit them individually, but also in terms of what will benefit society as a whole. We have to teach them not to be selfish isolationists, but generous, willing contributors to our communities.   --from Angela Bowers, "Our Responsibility to the Community" *

*This is a fictional source created solely for the purpose of providing an example.

Sample Summary:

Angela Bowers, a professor of human development, feels that one of our duties as educators is to teach civic responsibility to our students. ("Our Responsibility" 21)

Note how this cuts to the chase of the main point of the source material, neither leaving out crucial points, nor repeating any statements included in the original passage.

Editing Quotations

In order to clarify vague references, avoid irrelevant details or blend a quoted passage smoothly into the surrounding text. You may also need to edit the quotations you use.

Omitting Words and Phrases

At times, you may wish to quote only parts of a passage, omitting words and phrases to avoid irrelevant details or combine it smoothly with the sentences in which it is framed. You may do so at the beginning, middle or end of the quoted material, but remember, your reader must be informed of the omission.

The manner in which you indicate what has been omitted depends upon where in the passage it occurs and whether it remains a complete grammatical unit after the omission.

Making Quotes Grammatically Correct

If, after omitting words from the beginning, the quoted passage becomes an incomplete grammatical unit, a dependent clause, you may either insert a bracketed ([]) word or phrase into the quote or, combine it with a framing sentence that corrects the improper grammar as in the following examples.

Example of Framing to Make a Quotation Grammatically Correct

"These kinds of attacks must be laid squarely at the pedicured feet of the yuppie mountain dwellers who build million-dollar homes in the foothills, right smack in the middle of the mountain lion's usual hunting ground, and then wonder why their poodle Fifi becomes lion chow or why, when they go to put their garbage out, they find themselves staring into a lion's unblinking golden gaze."

In this case you wish to preserve the author's unique and striking tone; however, the entire passage is too wordy. You may introduce the portion of the passage with a beginning frame.

Correctly Quoted:

The blame for the increasing frequency of these dangerous, and sometimes fatal, human-mountain lion encounters "must be laid squarely at the pedicured feet of the yuppie mountain dwellers who build million-dollar homes in the [Rocky Mountain] foothills. . . ." (Cronin 21)

Note how the clause before the quotation (the beginning frame) and the quotation itself are grammatically incomplete. Each is a dependent clause when standing alone. Notice that when the two clauses are combined, they form a complete and grammatically correct sentence.

Example of Inserting Words to Make a Quotation Grammatically Correct

"They feel there is only one answer to the lack of civility and increase in violence in schools: to post the Ten Commandments in every classroom."

The wording following the colon, "to post the Ten Commandments in every classroom", is all you intend to quote from the original passage, however, standing alone, it is an incomplete sentence, a dependent clause. To correct this you might insert the words [The answer is], in brackets, like so:

Congress has addressed violence in schools by pushing for laws that would require schools to provide a specific moral code to students: " [The answer is] to post the Ten Commandments in every classroom."

Omitting Words at the Beginning of a Quote

If, after omitting words from the beginning, the quoted passage remains a complete grammatical unit, an independent clause, simply capitalize the first letter of the first word of the shortened quotation. Brackets ([]) placed around the newly capitalized letter indicate that words preceding the bracketed letter have been omitted.

Example of Omitting Words at the Beginning of a Quote

Using Brackets to indicate Omitted Words

Second, there are economic benefits to cycling. I save money on gas, car insurance, parking fees, and maintenance costs on my car. While there are occasional costs for maintenance on my bicycle, much of the work I can do myself, and when I do have to take it to a bike shop, the hourly rate for labor is considerably lower than what most auto mechanics receive.

To blend the above passage more smoothly into a paragraph on the benefits of cycling, the author of the piece below removed the word "second". To indicate the omission, the first letter of the abbreviated quote was capitalized and bracketed.

In addition, according to cycling advocate Harold Burns, " [T] here are economic benefits to cycling. I save money on gas, car insurance, parking fees, and maintenance costs on my car. While there are occasional costs for maintenance on my bicycle, much of the work I can do myself, and when I do have to take it to a bike shop, the hourly rate for labor is considerably lower than what most auto mechanics receive" (154).

Omitting Words from the Middle or at the End of a Quote

When omitting words from the middle or end of a quoted sentence, indicate with an ellipse (…) where the omission occurs. When they occur at the end, place a period after the last word and then insert your ellipse. In either case, take care that the wording remains grammatically correct.

Example of Using Ellipses to Indicate Omitted Words

In example A below, the writer omitted words from the middle of the original passage, replacing them with an ellipse (?). In example B the writer omitted the entire second sentence, replacing it with an ellipse immediately following the period ending the first sentence.

"Second, there are economic benefits to cycling. I save money on gas, car insurance, parking fees, and maintenance costs on my car. While there are occasional costs for maintenance on my bicycle . . . the hourly rate for labor is considerably lower than what most auto mechanics receive."

"Second, there are economic benefits to cycling . . . . While there are occasional costs for maintenance on my bicycle, much of the work I can do myself, and when I do have to take it to a bike shop, the hourly rate for labor is considerably lower than what most auto mechanics receive."

Inserting Editorial Comments into a Quote

At times, you will find it necessary to add an editorial comment within a quotation in order to clarify terms or references which, having been pulled from their original context may not be as clear to your reader as they are to you.

Understanding your audience will help you decide what needs clarification. Bear in mind they may not have the same research and scholarship under their belt as you. The terms and references in a quote may be unfamiliar and need explaining.

Under such circumstances you may either insert an explanation, within brackets ([]), directly after the word or phrase needing clarification or, you may replace it entirely with the bracketed word or phrase.

Example of Using Brackets to Insert Editorial Comments

"They frequently argue for the need to apply the First Amendment to the issue of prayer in schools."

If you were to include the quotation above in a document you are writing, you would doubtless know to whom "they" refers because you would have read the original source material in which it was included. But will your reader?

To clarify who is making the argument about prayer in schools, an editorial comment can be inserted within brackets ([]) directly after the word "they", as in example A below or, instead of it, as in example B.

"They [religious leaders] frequently argue for the need to apply the First Amendment to the issue of prayers in school."

" [Religious leaders] frequently argue for the need to apply the First Amendment to the issue of prayers in school."

Blending Quoted Material

One of the goals of effective writing is creating a sense of unity, a sense that all parts of the text are clearly related. To achieve this you must connect each part. A quotation must blend into your text so that it reads as an integral part of the sentence and paragraph in which it is included.

A quotation that lacks a clear relationship to its surrounding text makes a paragraph sound choppy and unfocused. Your reader will find it more difficult to decide if the quotation expands or clarifies the idea being presented, or if it is an example of a situation or fact that supports the idea, or whether it presents an opposing view.

To avoid this, make sure to blend your quotations into the text of your document. Use frames and transitions that clue your reader into the reason why it is being included.

Framing to Blend Source Material

Framing any quote or paraphrasing that you use helps ensure that you are sufficiently analyzing that source material wherever it’s included. A frame is simply an introduction at the beginning of your quote and a follow-up statement at the end. They are the bookends that keep the quote from sliding off the shelf.

An Opening Frame is often called an "Author's Tag". It establishes the identity and credibility of your source. It also ties the quotation to the focus of your document, hinting at what you are going to reveal, explain, or support.

Without a beginning frame, your reader may rightly question the authority and trustworthiness of the source of the quotation.

A Closing Frame explains how the quotation is relevant to the point being made and, in addition, shows that you are capable of expressing ideas in your own words. This is important in the process of establishing your authority as a writer.

Without an end frame, different readers may take away different ideas from the same piece of text: an unintended consequence.

Example of Framing a Direct Quote

Notice how the opening frame in the paragraph below introduces the quotation. First, a general point is made regarding increased mountain lion encounters. Next, Biologist Samuel Cronin, a credible expert, is introduced. The fact that Cronin "agrees" tips the reader that the quotation is there to support the writer's view presented in the opening frame.

Each year has seen an increase in encounters between humans, and their pets, and mountain lions. This is the fault of humans encroaching on the animal's rightful territory. Biologist Samuel Cronin agrees: "These kinds of attacks must be laid squarely at the pedicured feet of yuppie mountain dwellers who build million-dollar homes in the foothills, right smack in the middle of the mountain lion's usual hunting ground, and then wonder why their poodle Fifi becomes lion chow, or why when they go to put their garbage out, they find themselves staring into a lion's unblinking golden gaze." It is our behavior that has created the danger. The lion did not come down out of the mountains into our suburban backyards; we've moved the suburbs into his.

The closing frame focuses the reader's attention on the fact that human behavior and the issue of where million-dollar homes are built is the main point and that other issues, such as keeping pets in a wild area and class-status of homeowners, is not.

Notice how restating the idea in the Cronin quotation allows the writer's own voice to emerge. A strong personal statement on the subject clarifies why the quotation was included in the first place.

Using Transitions to Blend Quoted Material

Transitions are words or phrases that indicate the relationship between two statements. They are the "bridges" that link two sentences or paragraphs together.

For instance, the words "furthermore", "also", and "additionally" are transitions indicating that the statement to follow will link to or build upon the ideas expressed just previously. Notice how this paragraph begins with "for instance".

Transitional words and phrases like "for example" and "for instance" establish that the following statement is going to illustrate the point made in the first. Words such as "however" and "although", on the other hand, establish that the statement following it is a contradiction to the preceding statement.

Using transitions before and after you insert outside source material clarifies for your reader why it was included and how it relates to your focus.

Example of Using Transitions

Notice how the phrase "In addition" tips off the reader that the quotation is going to build on the ideas in the preceding sentences. The transition indicates that the quotation is an additional item in the focus of this paragraph: the benefits of cycling.

There are many health reasons to bike instead of drive. It's a cardiovascular workout; it burns many more calories than driving; it's less stressful, so it keeps your blood pressure down; and it strengthens your muscles. In addition , according to cycling advocate Harold Burns, "[T]here are economic benefits to cycling. I save money on gas, car insurance, parking fees, and maintenance costs on my car. While there are occasional costs for maintenance on my bicycle, much of the work I can do myself, and when I do have to take it to a bike shop, the hourly rate for labor is considerably lower than what most auto mechanics receive" (154). Cycling, we can see, is good for the well being of your body and your wallet.

Grammar and Spelling Issues

Problems regarding misspelled words and grammatical errors are bound to occur when quoting an outside source. There are two underlying causes for this.

Quotations Containing Pre-existing Errors

Quotations containing pre-existing grammar and spelling errors are often found in source material published by highly recognized and credible authors. Naturally, you may be tempted to make an appropriate correction. Don't-doing so is against the rule disallowing the alteration of someone else's words. Instead of correcting spelling and grammar errors, simply note them for your reader's benefit.

Example of Noting Grammatical Errors in a Quotation

"Many activists feels that the gun lobby holds too much influence in Congress."

The original wording is grammatically incorrect due to a misspelled word. Regardless, you may not alter the original words. Note the error by inserting the word "sic", which means as it is in the original, in brackets ([]) directly after its occurrence in the sentence.

"Many activists feels [sic] that the gun lobby holds too much influence in Congress."

This is a signal to your reader that the error was not committed by you, that you are aware of the error and that your intention is to accurately and faithfully transcribe the original wording found in the quote. This is known as an editorial comment.

Creating Grammatical Errors by Omitting

Creating grammatical errors is the inevitable consequence of omitting words and phrases from a quotation. This usually happens at the beginning or end of a quote in order to eliminate irrelevant material or reduce its wordiness.

If a passage is no longer a complete grammatical unit after omitting words, you may either insert an editorial comment in brackets ([]) to help it make grammatical sense or, combine the quoted passage with an opening frame in a manner that creates a complete grammatical unit.

Example of Combining an Opening Frame with a Quotation

In the passage below the author's unique and striking tone is worth preserving, however, the entire passage is too wordy. Both the beginning and the end of the quotation are going to be omitted.

The clause before the quotation (the opening frame) and the quotation itself are dependent clauses when standing alone. When the two are combined, however, they form a complete, grammatically correct sentence.

Note how the writer has inserted an ellipse before the period at the end of the sentence to indicate omitted text. Note also how the bracketed words provide a clarification regarding to which foothills the quote refers.

Punctuating Quotations

An opening frame such as an attribution or Author tag introducing a quotation, and the quotation itself should be punctuated at the spot in the sentence where the two meet. This guide provides instructions on how to do that.

The grammatical relationship between the opening frame and the actual quotation will define what type of punctuation you should use.

Punctuating Two Independent Clauses

When a beginning frame is an independent clause and the quotation it precedes is also an independent clause, the two may be separated with a colon or semi-colon.

This indicates to the reader the close relationship between the two and that the quotation is either a restatement or a clarification of the idea presented in the beginning frame.

Both can stand on their own as complete grammatical units, however, the colon separating them indicates that the frame leads into the quotation.

Example of Punctuating Two Independent Clauses

Teachers have a responsibility to teach students to be contributing members of society: "We [educators] must make certain that they graduate ready to give back to their communities, not just ready to take from them. . . ." (Bowers 21)

Notice how the quotation elaborates on what is meant by "contributing member of society." It clarifies that "contributing" means "giving back." Each statement is an independent clause; however, the colon linking them together indicates a close relationship between the two.

Punctuating Two Dependent Clauses

When you choose to quote only part of an original passage and the resulting quotation becomes an incomplete sentence (a dependent clause), you may combine it with an opening frame that is also incomplete in order to form one complete grammatical unit.

Example of Punctuating Two Dependent Clauses

There is no doubt that those at fault are "yuppie mountain dwellers who build million-dollar homes in the foothills. . . ."

Neither clause in this sentence can stand on its own. When combined, however, the sentence reads as a complete grammatical unit. Though this is not always the case, in this example, the two dependant clauses are combined without any punctuation between the frame and the quotation.

Punctuating a Dependant and an Independent Clause

One of the most common opening frames is an author tag or attribution such as, "According to Howard Sprague, an accountant with…" or, "As President Clinton said in his first inaugural speech…."

By themselves neither is a complete sentence. We are left waiting to hear what was said by Mr. Sprague and what was said by President Clinton. As opening frames they are dependent upon the quotes they precede.

When the opening frame is a dependant clause, such as an author tag, and the following quote is an independent clause the two may be separated by a comma or a colon, depending upon the length of the quote, as in Examples A and B.

Example of Punctuating an Independent and a Dependent Clause

(A) Author Tag followed by a Short Quote

As John Murphy says, "There is no other viable option."

(B) Attribution followed by a Long Quote   Biologist Samuel Cronin contends: "These kinds of attacks must be laid squarely at the pedicured feet of yuppie mountain dwellers who build million-dollar homes in the foothills, right smack in the middle of the mountain lion's usual hunting ground, and then wonder why their poodle Fifi becomes lion chow, or why when they go to put their garbage out, they find themselves staring into a lion's unblinking golden gaze."

Here again, the beginning frame can not stand on its own as a complete grammatical unit. It is dependent on the quotation to make it a complete thought. Because the quotation is so long, a colon should be placed between the frame and the quotation.

Quick Guide to Punctuating Quotations

Here are some simple rules to follow when punctuating quotations:

• Place double quotation marks (""), often called opening and closing quotation marks, at the beginning and end of your quotation.
• Place single quotation marks (' '), at the beginning and end of a quotation that appears within another quotation.
• "Mary is fine," her sister said.
• "When Mary said 'she was cool' , she meant that she was fine," her sister said.
• What did Mary mean when she said she was "cool" ?
• Always place colons and semicolons outside quotation marks.
• Do not place quotation marks around extended blocks of quoted text. Instead, format four or more lines into an indented block one inch, or ten spaces, from the left margin. Place a colon at the end of the sentence that introduces your block quote.
• Place a three-point ellipse, with one space before and one after, to mark the location inside a quotation from which words have been omitted.
• Place a four-point ellipse, with no space before and one after, to mark the location of at the end of a quotation from which words have been omitted.
• Citation information placed in parentheses after a quotation should be followed by the appropriate punctuation mark (comma, period, colon, semicolon or question mark).

Paraphrasing Source Material

Paraphrasing restates ideas and information found in source material. It requires that you fully understand the contents of the passage enough to explain or reiterate them in your own words while retaining the meaning intended by its original author. This guide explains the paraphrasing process and provides both accurate and inaccurate examples, as well as tips on how to avoid plagiarism.

Overview: Paraphrasing

Simply quoting someone on a subject achieves little toward building your own scholarly reputation. In many cases, the choice to paraphrase rather than quote demonstrates your grasp of the subject matter. It also enhances your credibility as both a critical reader and thinker.

Being able to paraphrase accurately demonstrates that you respect the contributions made by others while showcasing your own skill as a writer. This is especially useful when you want to point out specific details or information bearing directly on your argument or, when you wish to reference an opposing idea.

As with summarizing and quoting, whenever you restate someone else's words, thoughts or points of view you must document the source.

Accurate Paraphrasing

Accurate paraphrasing requires careful attention to the nuance and meaning of words. The ones you choose must reflect the meaning found in the original source without plagiarizing its author.

The key to this begins with your own comprehension. How well you understand the contents of a passage will determine how accurately you restate it in your own words. Using sentence structures and rhythm patterns that are uniquely your own will distinguish your voice from the ones you paraphrase.

When you are through there should be no mistake regarding the speaker's identity. The following example illustrates accurate, inaccurate, and inappropriate paraphrasing.

Example of Punctuating Accurate Paraphrasing

The Lomonosov Ridge is 1,100 miles long, about the distance from San Francisco to Denver, and rises about 10,000 feet from the floor of the Arctic Ocean. Geologists think the ridge might have broken away from a continent about 55 million years ago and remained near the North Pole while other landmasses drifted away. Moran and other scientists chose the ridge for potential drilling during a 1991 cruise during which they crossed the North Pole. The site was intriguing for the fact that no one had ever drilled the seafloor for a core there because of sea ice that drifts around like pieces of a massive jigsaw puzzle.   Source: Rozell, N. (2005). A fern grows in the Arctic Ocean. Alaska Science Forum Article #1773. Retrieved December 15, 2005, from http://www.gi.alaska.edu/ScienceForum/ASF17/1773.html.

Accurate Paraphrase:

Climbing 10,000 feet above the floor of the Arctic Ocean, the Lomonosov Ridge stretches 1,100 miles in length: roughly the distance between San Francisco and Denver. Geologists believe that it may be what remains of a continent that broke apart and moved away from the North Pole around 55 million years ago. Moran and her colleagues, knowing that the shifting sea ice in the Arctic Ocean had prevented others from having ever drilled there, selected the Lomonosov Ridge location as a future core-sampling site on a 1991 excursion across the North Pole.

As you can see, when comparing the original passage with this paraphrase, the writer's word choices and sentence structure are not the same, yet the information has remained the same.

Inaccurate Paraphrase:

In 1991, Moran and her colleagues, convinced that the core samples retrieved would reveal startling new geologic information, chose to drill the Arctic Ocean seafloor near the 1,100 mile long Lomonosov Ridge, a left over relic of continents breaking up and moving away from the North Pole some 55 million years ago.

In this example, the wording and sentence structure are significantly different; however, the meaning of the original passage has been considerably distorted. Inferences are drawn that are simply not accurate enough for a paraphrase.

Inappropriate Paraphrase:

The 1,100 miles long Lomonosov Ridge, about the same distance from San Francisco to Denver, rises about 10,000 feet from the floor of the Arctic Ocean. Scientists think the ridge may have broken away from another continent about 55 million years ago, remaining near the North Pole while the rest of the landmass drifted away. Moran and other scientists chose this ridge for drilling on a cruise in 1991 in which they crossed the North Pole. They were intrigued by the fact that no one had ever drilled the seafloor there for a core because of sea ice drifting around like massive jigsaw puzzle pieces.

In this example, the wording and sentence structure corresponds too closely to the original for it to be fairly called a paraphrase.

How to Paraphrase Without Plagiarizing

Plagiarism is a serious offense. It means that you have used someone else's words or ideas without proper acknowledgement. This is easy to do unintentionally, especially when paraphrasing. Once understood, it can be avoided.

One useful technique for textual retention is to read the passage carefully several times to identify its main points; then set it aside. Try rewriting the main points in your own words without looking at the original. In other words, explain it to yourself.

When finished, set your draft aside and move on with the rest of your writing, or to some other activity. Turning your attention to something else puts distance between yourself and the original passage. It clears your head, so to speak.

When you return to it you will have a fresh perspective. Your recollection of the exact words being paraphrased will have faded to some degree and it will be easier to focus on your own language choices and sentence structure.

At this point, still not looking at the original, revise and polish your draft. You will discover your own voice asserting itself in the writing process. After editing and revising, compare your paraphrase with the original passage. Do your words accurately convey the original contents? Are they sufficiently different to avoid a charge of plagiarism?

You may find it useful to repeat the process several times. Revise your paraphrase, in other words. Examine your results carefully and compare them with the original to see that what you have written is original, gives credit and repeats the essential information. Below is an example that walks you through the paraphrasing process.

Example of How to Paraphrase Without Plagiarizing

Derived partially from the Greek prefix epi-, which means "on" or "in addition," the epigenome is to the cell what an organism's sensory organs are to the individual. Like an octopus's tentacles that, among other functions, gather information from the environment so that the brain can tell the neurons, "Move your eighth arm here," the epigenome gathers information from the cell's environment and tells the genes, "turn on" or "turn off." In science lingo, it governs "gene expression." Based on emerging evidence, the epigenome appears to play a vital role in most, if not all, cellular activity, from metabolism to fertilization.   Source: Pray, L. A. (2005). Soiled Genes: Can toxic exposures be inherited? Orion Magazine. Retrieved December 15, 2005, from http://www.oriononline.org/pages/om/05-6om/Pray.html.

The original passage contains three relevant pieces of information that need restating in order to create an accurate paraphrase. The highlights in paragraph A below identify these pieces of information.

(A) Derived partially from "the Greek prefix epi-, which means "on" or in addition," the epigenome is to the cell what an organism's sensory organs are to the individual. Like an octopus's tentacles that, among other functions, gather information from the environment so that the brain can tell the neurons, "Move your eighth arm here, " the epigenome gathers information from the cell's environment and tells the genes, "turn on" or "turn off." In science lingo, it governs "gene expression." Based on emerging evidence, the epigenome appears to play a vital role in most, if not all, cellular activity, from metabolism to fertilization.

Paragraph B below restates the highlighted information and cites the source. Notice that it is roughly the same length as the original. This is as it should be; a summary would need to be shorter. Consider Paragraph B a first draft. It's still a little wordy.

(B) Pray (2005) compares the epigenomes of a cell to the sensory organs of an individual. She likens them to octopus tentacles gathering information from the environment so that the brain has something to work with when deciding what instructions to send the neurons governing specific tasks, like moving an arm for instance. The epigenomes turn genes governing cellular activity on or off. The latest research suggests that epigenomes (the Greek prefix epi-, meaning "on") , are an integral and decisive part of practically every cellular activity, from metabolism to fertilization, known to science.

Paragraph C is a final revision based on the draft above. Notice how the sentence structure and word choices have evolved and yet the essential meaning of the paragraph has not changed.

(C) Reporting on recent research, Pray (2005) observes that epigenomes (the prefix epi-, meaning "on" in Greek) are much like the tentacles of an octopus. Attached to individual cells, the epigenomes collect and provide external data to specific genes as do the tentacles to the brain of an octopus. As the octopus's brain transmits a signal via a neuron back to one of its tentacles telling it to move, the latest scientific evidence indicates that epigenomes are the transmitters responsible for conveying the information that flips the on/off switch on the genes governing practically every kind of cellular-activity, from metabolism to fertilization, known to science.

Summarizing Source Material

A summary captures the general idea, main points or opinions found in your source material without providing a lot of details.

Note: The examples here have been created for instructional purposes using Mindy Pennybacker's article "Why Fast Food Costs Too Much" .

Overview: Summarizing Source Material

Summarizing a single source or a collection of related sources can provide your reader with background or supporting information that helps them better understand your chosen topic. It is also a useful method to point out material that either supports or contradicts your argument while not distracting your reader with irrelevant details.

As with quoting and paraphrasing, you must document the sources you summarize. Unlike a paraphrase, which rewords a specific passage and often remains the same length as the original, a summary reduces the material into a more concise statement. To be effective you must choose your words carefully, and make sure to be accurate, objective, focused, and concise.

Once you fully understand the intended meaning conveyed by the source material, write your summary. Pay close attention to the precise meaning of the words you choose and be especially careful not to introduce new ideas.

Developing critical reading skills will help you examine source materials with an eye toward what to include in a summary.

Being Accurate

Being accurate requires that you fully understand the ideas and information presented in your source material. Misunderstanding an author's tone of voice or misinterpreting the information he or she has extrapolated from numerical data, for instance, may cause you to inadvertently misrepresent their point of view, ideas, opinions or position.

Example of Being Accurate

Here is an example of source material being inaccurately summarized and a brief description of what the writer misunderstood. An accurate summary follows.

Original Source: At slaughterhouses, on too-fast production lines, manure and the contents of stomachs and intestines often splatter the meat. In winter, about 1 percent of cattle from feedlots harbor E. coli; in summer, up to 50 percent can do so. "Even if you assume that only one percent is infected, that means three or four cattle bearing the microbe are eviscerated at a large slaughterhouse every hour, and a single animal infected with E. coli can contaminate 32,000 pounds of ground beef," Schlosser writes. --Excerpted from Mindy Pennybacker, "Why Fast Food Costs Too Much"

Inaccurate Summary:

In her Green Guide article, "Why Fast Food Costs Too Much" Mindy Pennybacker states that one percent of the cattle slaughtered in a fast-paced, meat-processing plant on any given day carry the E. coli microbe and, as a result, 32,000 pounds of ground beef are contaminated in the eviscerating process every hour.

On the surface this summary appears to be accurate, however, it is not. As in most cases, inaccuracies are caused by omission or misinterpretation of facts.

In the first place, Pennybacker refers specifically to feedlot cattle in her article. This fact is important and must be included so that your readers understand the author's argument: pasture-fed and feedlot cattle carry widely differing risks in the slaughter and meat-packing process.

Secondly, the summary omits the fact that up to 50 percent of the cattle may carry the E. coli microbe during the summer months. It obscures the fact that the author deliberately chose the lower, one-percent figure as a baseline from which to draw a conclusion. The phrases "on any given day" and "every hour" are suggestive half-truths and completely inappropriate.

Lastly, the summary misstates the Eric Schlosser quote, which will lead the reader to a wrong conclusion. There is a world of difference between the words are and can. The summary states that 32,000 pounds of ground beef are contaminated every hour. In fact, in the original, Schlosser said "can contaminate", which only implies contamination and doesn’t explicitly state it.

Accurate Summary:

In her Green Guide article, "Why Fast Food Costs Too Much" Mindy Pennybacker states that one percent of feedlot cattle during the winter, and as much as 50 percent during the summer, carry the E. coli microbe from the feedlot to the slaughter house. Using Eric Schlosser's one percent baseline argument calculating three to four infected animals being slaughtered every hour, Pennybacker illustrates that 32,000 pounds of ground beef risk being contaminated every time one infected animal is eviscerated.

Being Objective

Being objective is as important as being accurate. It's a matter of fairness. Interjecting personal opinions into the ideas or information in your summary confuses the reader by obscuring the information in the original source material. Expressing your attitude toward it, whether negative or positive, is inappropriate and self-serving.

You may express your own opinions, of course, but that should be done in the surrounding comments framing your summary. Bear in mind, being respectful is simply a matter of good form when arguing a difference of opinion.

Example of Being Objective

Here is an example of source material being summarized in a non-objective manner and a brief discussion of the writer interjecting a personal bias. An objective summary follows.

Original Source: Other environmental costs include depletion of natural resources. It takes 4.8 pounds of grain to produce one pound of beef, Jim Motavalli reports in E Magazine . Animal feed corn "consumes more chemical herbicide and fertilizer than any other crop," Pollan writes, noting that the petrochemical fertilizer used to grow corn, he says, "takes vast quantities of oil-1.2 gallons for every bushel." The cow Pollan has bought "will have consumed in his lifetime roughly 284 gallons of oil." The industrial food system guzzles fossil fuels at a time when we should be conserving energy for the sake of our national security-and that of pristine ecosystems such as the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. --Excerpted from Mindy Pennybacker, "Why Fast Food Costs Too Much"

Non-Objective Summary:

In her leftist Green Guide article, "Why Fast Food Costs Too Much" Mindy Pennybacker reports that it takes 1.2 gallons of petrochemical fertilizer to grow one bushel of feed corn, making it the largest consumer of chemical herbicides among all industrial-farmed crops. Quoting tree-hugging writer Michael Pollan, she then points out, after first converting bushels to gallons, that a single cow consumes 284 gallons of oil before fulfilling its inevitable obligation of a once-in-a-lifetime pilgrimage to McDonalds. Concluding her environmental rant, she accuses the industrial food-production system of "guzzling" precious fossil fuel reserves at a time when we should be conserving energy.

This is an unfair summary: the writer's bias is clearly obvious. In this example, adjectives such as "leftist" and "tree-hugger" are derogatory labels deliberately expressing the author's low regard for Pennybacker's opinion.

Characterizing her opinion as an "environmental rant" is also deliberately belittling and the "pilgrimage to McDonalds" remark borders on editorializing, neither of which is appropriate in a summary.

Unfair labels and editorializing fall outside the boundaries of a summary for the simple reason that they add nothing new or helpful to the process of understanding the actual information. As a matter of fact, they get in the way, succeeding only in exposing personal biases.

Such distractions can lead the reader to question your motives and whether you are fully informed; to question whether your opinion is reasoned and credible.

In the revision below, the opinion of the writer has been removed and the summary succeeds in being far more objective. Notice that it is also much shorter.

Objective Summary:

In her Green Guide article, "Why Fast Food Costs Too Much" Mindy Pennybacker reports that 1.2 gallons of petrochemical fertilizer is required to grow one bushel of feed corn, making it the largest consumer of chemical herbicides among industrial-farmed crops. Using Michael Pollan's calculations to illustrate how conventional farming practices consume fossil fuels, she points out that a single cow, on a diet of petrochemically fertilized field-corn, will consume 284 gallons of oil in its lifetime.

Being Focused

Being focused means not wandering off-topic. Stick to what's important. A good summary highlights only those facts, ideas, opinions, etc., that are useful in helping your reader understand the topic being presented. Avoid a detailed account of the minutia contained in your source material.

Including minute details hinders the reader's ability to understand why the summarized information is relevant to your document in the first place and can lead them to conclude that you may not fully understand your topic.

Example of Being Focused

Here is an example of an unfocused summary and a brief discussion of how the writer wanders off point. A much more focused summary follows.

Original Source: Better Farming Methods: Organic farming of animals and field crops is cleaner. "Conventional farmers have no regulations regarding management of manure. Organic does," says Fred Kirschenmann, Ph.D., director of the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture at Iowa State University. "You have to leave at least 90 days-120 days for root crops-between application of manure and the harvest. That's how long it takes for bacteria such as E. coli to degrade and become neutralized in the soil." Kirschenmann, who was a member of the National Organic Standards Board, expresses regret that the final rules don't require that ruminant animals be "pasture-based" to ensure that they get out and graze. In practice, though, "all the organic meat producers I know of are small, two to three hundred head, and they all graze, get exercise, eat organic foods-just before slaughter they are switched to corn, which is usually grown on the farm," says Scowcroft. If a cow gets sick and is treated with antibiotics, it cannot be labeled "organic." Wihelm says she would welcome an organic hog farm as a neighbor. Consumers can also seek ecological, humanely raised meat from local farms, or look for other sustainable labels. --Excerpted from Mindy Pennybacker, "Why Fast Food Costs Too Much"

Unfocused Summary:

In her Green Guide article, "Why Fast Food Costs Too Much" Mindy Pennybacker argues that applying organic methods when raising field crops and animals makes for cleaner farming practices. Citing Fred Kirschenmann, director of the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture at Iowa State University and a member of the National Organic Standards Board, she points out that E. coli bacteria requires 90-120 days between manure application and the actual harvest to be rendered harmless. Since organic farmers must abide by regulations established by the National Organic Standards Board to be certified as organic, manure application to their crop fields is carefully monitored. Conventional farmers have no such oversight. Completely unmonitored, manure gets applied to their crops in ways that are hazardous to the environment. In turn, this creates ideal conditions in which E. coli, Salmonella and other infectious bacteria thrive and enter the food chain.

While this summary is accurate, it includes points that do little to help the reader understand the main focus. The fact that organic farming is cleaner than conventional farming is not really the point, nor the fact that a 90-120 day cycle is required for E. coli to be rendered completely harmless.

The main point is that, unlike organic farms, manure management on conventional farms is completely unregulated which creates a dangerously unhealthy environment in which to raise farm crops and animals.

Extra details clutter up this summary, creating additional distractions the reader must wade through while trying to grasp its main focus. The fact that Fred Kirschenmann directs the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture at Iowa State University and is a member of the National Organic Standards Board is a case in point. It's extremely wordy and completely irrelevant.

Now, suppose the "90-120 day" detail in the summary was necessary. Should Fred Kirschenmann be cited? Not necessarily. Information of this sort quite often falls into the category of widely-accepted. Check a variety of resources. If you can find such information readily, it is not privately-held intellectual property and authorship need not be cited.

The following revision eliminates unnecessary details and is much more sharply focused on the main idea. Again, notice how much shorter the summary is.

Focused Summary:

In her Green Guide article, "Why Fast Food Costs Too Much" Mindy Pennybacker argues that, since organic farmers must abide by regulations established by the National Organic Standards Board to be certified as organic, manure application to their crop fields is carefully monitored. No other farmers have such oversight. As a result, manure is applied to conventional crops in ways that are hazardous to the environment, creating ideal conditions in which E. coli, Salmonella and other infectious bacteria thrive and enter the food chain.

Being Concise

Being concise means being as brief as possible. Details, examples and descriptions contained in the original source material should be removed, as well as information repeated or rephrased in slightly varying ways.

The whole idea of a summary is to be direct and to get to the point. Being focused, objective and accurate will go a long way toward achieving this goal.

Example of Being Concise

Here is an example of an overly detailed and repetitive summary along with a brief discussion of how it can be corrected. A concise summary follows and then, an even more concise summary.

Original Source: Stricter Regulation: "Delays in detection and recall of bad meat happen because the industry is too weakly regulated," Schlosser says. "By the time the USDA discovers tainted meat, it's already being distributed," he wrote in The Nation on September 16. Since then, the agency has announced that it will begin random tests at all meatpacking plants in the U.S., and will have the power to close facilities where contamination is found. What hasn't changed? The USDA still lacks the power to order the recall of contaminated meat. "Every other defective product can be ordered off the market. Mandatory recall is important because under the current voluntary standard the company decides how much meat needs to be recalled and doesn't have to reveal where the meat has been shipped," Schlosser says. He advises that we write our congressional representatives in support of the SAFER Meat, Poultry, and Food Act and the Meat and Poultry Pathogen Reduction Act, which would give the agency power to enforce limits on contaminants, order recalls and impose fines. The meat industry says it cannot produce bacteria-free meat, so it's up to us to cook it until it's safely well done (160? F) to kill E. coli. But the tainted food should not be getting to us in the first place. The industrial food system produces force-fed, disease-prone animals and people. An estimated 120 million Americans are overweight or obese. McDonald's announced in September, 2002 that it would switch to heart-healthier polyunsaturated vegetable oil, but that won't make the fries any less fattening. It's just a gloss on the system in which, through their massive purchasing and marketing power, giant companies control how our food is produced, from seed to feed to processing. As Wilhelm says of the big meat processors who buy from megafarms, "They say that we consumers want this pork and they need it to come from one place to be efficient. "It's time we consumers made it clear that industrial farms, fast foods and their costly "efficiencies" are not what we want. --Excerpted from Mindy Pennybacker, "Why Fast Food Costs Too Much"

Overly Detailed and Repetitive Summary:

In her Green Guide article, "Why Fast Food Costs Too Much" Mindy Pennybacker exposes a weakness in the regulatory procedures with which the USDA monitors the meatpacking industry: it lacks the power to order a recall of contaminated meat. By the time it gets discovered, contaminated meat is already on the market. All the USDA has done lately is announce random testing of all meatpacking plants in the U.S. and threaten to close contaminated facilities when they are discovered.   Leaving safety up to the consumer, the meatpacking industry claims that producing meat uncontaminated by E. coli and other bacteria is impossible. They say that meat cooked to 160? kills the bacteria. Consumers who cook their meat safely to 160? are in no danger. But the question remains: Why is tainted food allowed to get to the market in the first place? The answer, supplied by the meat-packing industry, is that consumers demand the product and suppliers can only meet the demand in an efficient manner by buying from giant mega farms that control production without the USDA looking over their shoulder. Pennybacker argues for mandating stricter regulations on meatpackers because tainted meat is being distributed and, after it's too late, meat is voluntarily recalled. The whole operation is managed, with no USDA oversight, by the meatpackers. Meatpacking companies who recall contaminated meat decide how much to recall and are not required to report where the meat was shipped and how much is actually recalled. She urges that every concerned person write congress in support of the SAFER Meat, Poultry and Food Act and the Poultry Pathogen Reduction Act. Enacting these laws would empower the USDA to enforce limits, order recalls and impose fines. The giant industrial food complex that controls food production, from seeding the fields to slaughtering the meat, and that wields massive purchasing and marketing power should not be in charge of voluntarily ordering recalls of tainted meat that has already made it to the marketplace.

In this summary, the writer includes unnecessary details and repeats information in a manner that adds no new information to the reader's knowledge. The fact that tainted meat gets to the market, for instance, is mentioned in each paragraph, though each time it is worded in a slightly different way.

The second paragraph presents an argument that is not central to the main point: USDA regulations need to be stricter and the agency needs to have greater enforcement power. The components of an argument should not be included in a summary unless summarizing the argument itself is the purpose.

Details such as what the USDA "has done lately" and how to "safely cook meat" should not be included in this summary either, as they do not inform the reader about the author's main point. Notice that the summary is nearly as long as the original passage.

By eliminating details and repetitious language, as in the following example, the summary will be far more concise while still providing an accurate picture of the author's main point.

Concise Summary:

In her Green Guide article, "Why Fast Food Costs Too Much" Mindy Pennybacker exposes a weakness in the regulatory procedures with which the USDA monitors the meatpacking industry: it lacks the power to order a recall of contaminated meat. By the time it gets discovered, contaminated meat is already on the market.   Pennybacker argues for mandating stricter regulations on meatpackers, noting that recalling meat is currently a voluntary operation wherein the industry itself decides how much to recall while not being required to report from where it was recalled. She urges that every concerned person write congress in support of the SAFER Meat, Poultry and Food Act and the Poultry Pathogen Reduction Act. Enacting these laws would empower the USDA to enforce limits, order recalls and impose fines. The giant industrial food complex that controls food production, from seeding the fields to slaughtering meat, and that wields massive purchasing and marketing power should not be in charge of voluntarily ordering recalls of tainted meat that has already made it to the marketplace.

An Even More Concise Summary:

In her Green Guide article, "Why Fast Food Costs Too Much" Mindy Pennybacker exposes a weakness in the regulatory procedures with which the USDA monitors the meatpacking industry: it lacks the power to order a recall of contaminated meat. By the time it gets discovered, contaminated meat is already on the market. Pennybacker argues for mandating stricter regulations on meatpackers, urging that every concerned person write congress in support of the SAFER Meat, Poultry and Food Act and the Poultry Pathogen Reduction Act. Enacting these laws would empower the USDA to enforce limits, order recalls and impose fines.

Additional Resources

Purdue OWL - ‘ Synthesizing Sources ’

Purdue OWL - ‘ Quoting, Paraphrasing, and Summarizing ’

East Carolina University Writing Center - ‘ Integrating Sources ’

University of Illinois Library - ‘ Integrating Sources ’

Northern Arizona University Writing Commons - ‘ Finding, Using, and Citing Sources in Disciplinary Writing ’

Palmquist, Mike, Peter Connor, & Andrea Bennett. (2022). Integrating Sources. Writing@CSU . Colorado State University. https://writing.colostate.edu/guides/guides.cfm?guideid=16

Want to create or adapt books like this? Learn more about how Pressbooks supports open publishing practices.

VI. Joining the Academic Conversation

6.3 Using Sources in Your Paper

John Lanning; Amanda Lloyd; Robin Jeffrey; Melanie Gagich; Terri Pantuso; Sarah LeMire; and Kalani Pattison

Academic writing requires the use of signal phrases to properly embed quoted material and document information. While basic signal phrases require the use of the author’s name and a strong verb, attribution tags emphasize different types of information related to the source in order to set up the quoted material and can help shape your reader’s response to the information presented. In grammatical terms, an attribution tag can be viewed as an appositive, an adjectival clause following a noun that modifies the noun and provides contextual information. In the following examples, the signal phrases (appositives) are italicized.

As Benjamin Franklin, one of the Founding Fathers , states, “Well done is better than well said.” [1]

The slogan “Just Do It” was highly successful for Nike, an athletic apparel company .

What you have to say is more important than the passage you are citing, so you want the information leading into your evidence/ support to work to your advantage. A basic signal phrase is a device used to smoothly integrate quotations and paraphrases into your essay and consists of an author’s name and an active verb indicating how the author is presenting the material. It is important for beginning academic writers to use signal phrases to clearly attribute textual evidence to an author and to avoid interrupting the flow of an essay.

Referring to the Author within a Signal Phrase

In most instances, a signal phrase should contain only the last name of the author or authors of the source text (as opposed to the author’s first and last name). APA style guidelines require no reference to a first name at any point in an essay and few if any gender specific pronouns. But in MLA papers, if you are referring to an author for the first time in your essay, you should include that author’s first name. Any future signal phrase should refer to the author by last name only or with a pronoun when it’s perfectly clear to whom the pronoun refers.

Ellen J. Langer observes, “For us to pay attention to something for any amount of time, the image must be varied” (39). [2]

Langer continues, “Thus, for students who have trouble paying attention the problem may be that they are following the wrong instructions” (39).

She then states, “To pay constant, fixed attention to a thought or an image may be a kind of oxymoron” (39).

Notice how each signal phrase verb is followed by a comma, which is then followed by one space before the opening quotation mark.

Varying Your Verbs

While it’s important to use signal phrase verbs, you’ll want to make sure that you vary them to avoid repetition (rather than simply using “states” throughout your entire essay for example) in order to maintain your readers’ interest and to indicate the author’s intended use of the excerpted material. See below for examples of strong signal phrase verbs.

Table 6.3.1: Strong Signal Phrase Verbs

Why use signal phrases and attributive tags.

While many students may see attributive tags as filler, they can provide the audience with valuable insight into how you, the writer, intend the quoted material to be read/viewed. In addition to setting up the source evidence, attribution tags can also be used as meaningful transitions moving your readers between your ideas and those of your support.

In most instances, the first time the author is mentioned in an MLA style essay, it is a good idea to provide an attributive tag as well as the author’s first and last name. When using APA style, list the author’s first initial and last name. Style will vary with studies including multiple authors.

While providing the author’s credentials and title of the source are the most common attributions used, there are others we should be aware of.

Types of Attributive Tags (attributive tag is underlined in each example)

Type : Author’s credentials are indicated.

Grace Chapmen, Curator of Human Health & Evolutionary Medicine at the Springfield Natural History Museum , explains…

Purpose: Presenting an author’s credentials should help build credibility for the passage you are about to present. Including the author’s credentials gives your readers a reason to consider your sources.

Type : Author’s lack of credentials is indicated.

Matthew Spencer, whose background is in marriage counseling, not foreign policy , claims…

Purpose: Identifying an author’s lack of credentials in a given area can help illustrate a lack of authority on the subject matter and persuade the audience not to adopt the author’s ideas. Pointing to an author’s lack of credentials can be beneficial when developing your response to counterarguments.

Type : Author’s social or political stance, if necessary to the content, is explained.

Ted Cruz, the Republican Senator from Texas , claims… Debbie Dingell, the Democrat representing Michigan’s 6th district , spoke today about…

Purpose: Explaining the author’s social or political stance can help a reader to understand why that author expresses a particular view. This understanding can positively or negatively influence an audience. Be careful to avoid engaging in logical fallacies such as loaded language or genetic fallacy .

Type : Publisher of the source is identified.

According to a recent Gallup poll…

Purpose: Identifying the publisher of the passage can help reinforce the credibility of the information presented and you can capitalize on the reputation/ credibility of the publisher of the source material.

Type : Title of the source is included.

In “ Understanding Human Behavior ,” Riley argues …

Purpose: Informs the reader where the cited passage is being pulled from.

Type : Information that establishes context is presented.

In a speech presented during a Free Speech rally , Elaine Wallace encourages …

Purpose: Presenting the context that the original information was presented can help the audience understand the author’s purpose more clearly

What are Direct Quotes?

Direct quotes are portions of a text taken word for word and placed inside of a work. Readers know when an author is using a direct quote because it is denoted by the use of quotation marks and an in-text citation. [3]

Example of Direct Quote

In his seminal work, David Bartholomae argues that “Every time a student sits down to write for us, he has to invent the university for the occasion-invent the university ”(4).

Direct quotes might also be formatted as a “block quote” which occurs if the borrowed language is longer than four (4) lines of text in MLA formatting, or more than 40 words in APA formatting. In MLA, A block quote requires the author to indent the borrowed language by 1/2 an inch, place the citation at the end of the block, and remove quotation marks.

Example of Block Quote

In his seminal work, David Bartholomae argues that

Every time a student sits down to write for us, he has to invent the university for the occasion-invent the university, that is, or a branch of it, like History or Anthropology or Economics or English. He has to learn to speak our language, to speak as we do, to try on the peculiar ways of knowing, selecting, evaluating, reporting, concluding, and arguing that define the discourse of our community. (4).

Be careful when using direct quotes because failing to write the text exactly as it appears in the original is not an ethical use of direct quotes. Also, failing to bracket the quote with quotation marks and/or cite it inside the text is also unethical. Both mistakes are a form of plagiarism.

When Should I Use Direct Quotes?

Generally speaking, direct quotes should be used sparingly because you want to rely on your own understanding of material and avoid over-relying on another’s words. You want your voice to be the dominant one in an argument. Over quoting does not reinforce your credibility as an author; however, according to the Purdue Online Writing Lab (OWL) you should use direct quotes when “the author you are quoting has coined a term unique to her or his research and relevant within your own paper.” [4]

The Basics of Directly Quoting

• All quoted material should be enclosed in quotation marks to set it off from the rest of the text. The exception to this is block quotes which require different formatting.
• Quoted material should be an accurate word-for-word reproduction from the author’s original text. You cannot alter any wording or any spelling. If you must do so, you must use a bracket or an ellipsis.
• A clear signal phrase/attribution tag should precede each quotation.
• A parenthetical citation should follow each quotation. For information about formatting parenthetical citations, see section 8.6 (APA) and 8.7 (MLA) .

The Hard Part of Directly Quoting: Integrating Quotes into Your Writing

As the author of your essay, you should explain the significance of each quotation to your reader. This goes far beyond simply including a signal phrase. Explaining the significance means indicating how the quoted material supports the point you are making in that paragraph. Remember, just because you add a quote does not mean that you have made your point. Quotes never speak for themselves. When quoting material, ask yourself how and why does that quoted material make the point you think it does? Then, follow the quote with a sentence that adds clarity for your insertion of that quoted material. Table 6.3.2 contains some helpful phrases for explaining quoted materials where “X” represents the author’s last name.

Table 6.3.2. Phrases for Explaining Quoted Material

Sometimes, in order to smoothly integrate quoted material into your paper, you may need to remove a word or add a word to make the quote make sense. If you make any change to quoted material, it must be formatted correctly using an ellipsis or brackets. In the following, a portion of Hamlet’s “To Be, or Not To Be” soliloquy is used as the exemplar:

Original quote: “To be, or not to be, that is the question”

• Use brackets [these are brackets] to change a word or add additional information.

As Hamlet states, “To be, or not to be, that is the [essential] question.”

• Use an ellipsis (this is an ellipsis…) to indicate omissions in the middle of a quote, not at the beginning or ending of quoted material.

As Hamlet states, “To be, or not to be … is the question.”

When in doubt, strive to allow your voice – not a quote from a source – to begin each paragraph, precede each quote, follow each quote, and end each paragraph. Quotes that are integrated well into a paper allow you to control the paper. That is what a reader wants to see: your ideas and the way that you engage sources to shape and discuss your ideas.

Paraphrasing and Summarizing

While quoting may be the first thing that many people think of when they think about integrating sources, paraphrasing, summarizing, and citing data are also ways to incorporate information from outside materials into your essays or projects.

Paraphrasing

• Paraphrases allow you to describe specific information from a source (ideas from a paragraph or several consecutive paragraphs) in your own words .
• Paraphrases are like translations of an author’ original idea. You retain the detail of the original thought, but you express it in your own way.
• Paraphrases of the text should be expressed in your own words, with your own sentence structure, in your own way. You should not simply “word swap”; that is, replace a few words from the original with synonyms.
• If you must use a few of the author’s words within your paraphrase, they must have quotation marks around them.
• Paraphrases often include attributive tags (or signal phrases) to let your readers know where the paraphrased material begins.
• Paraphrased material should be followed by a parenthetical citation. For information about formatting parenthetical citations, see section 8.6 (APA) and 8.7 (MLA) .
• As with a quote, you need to explain to your reader why the paraphrased material is significant to the point you are making in your paper.

Summarizing

• Summaries allow you to describe general ideas from a source. You do not express detailed information as you would with a paraphrase.
• Summaries are shorter than the original text.
• Any summaries of the text should not include direct wording from the original source. All text should be in your words, though the ideas are those of the original author.
• A signal phrase should let your readers know where the summarized material begins. Depending on what information you include in your signal phrase, you may still need to include a parenthetical citation. For information about formatting parenthetical citations, see section 8.6 (APA) and 8.7 (MLA) .
• If you are offering a general summary of an entire article, there is no need to cite a specific page number.

Referring to AI-Generated Content

In some ways, incorporating information from an AI source looks very similar to incorporating information from any other type of source.

• Are you using language directly from the AI source? Quotations from AI sources need quotation marks and parenthetical citations just like quotations from other sources.
• Are you paraphrasing or summarizing information from an AI source? Although you don’t need quotation marks, you still need parenthetical citations.

For more information on citing AI sources, see sections 8.6 (APA) and 8.7 (MLA) .

Unlike other sources, however, a reader can’t easily look up an AI source and read the original text. For that reason, it is important to be very transparent about where your information comes from. Both APA and MLA recommend including your prompt as part of your attribution. APA recommends introducing the prompt within the body of your text, [5] while MLA includes that information within the citation itself. [6]

Example (APA format)

ChatGPT, when prompted to answer “What are the ethical implications of the death penalty,” responded that the “disproportionate impact of capital punishment on people of color” is an important factor (OpenAI, 2023).

Example (MLA format)

When considering the ethical implications of the death penalty, the “disproportionate impact of capital punishment on people of color” is an important factor (“What are the ethical implications”).

In order to maximize transparency, you may wish to include the full transcript of your AI-generated content in an appendix to your paper. [7] In this way, you can ensure that your source remains fully accessible to you and to your audience. Such transparency and documentation also greatly contributes to maintaining your ethos — your credibility.

Practice Activity

This section contains material from:

Lanning, John, and Amanda Lloyd. “Signal Phrases.” In A Guide to Rhetoric, Genre, and Success in First-Year Writing , by Melanie Gagich and Emilie Zickel. Cleveland: MSL Academic Endeavors. Accessed July 2019. https://pressbooks.ulib.csuohio.edu/csu-fyw-rhetoric/chapter/apa-signal-phrases/ . Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License . Archival link: https://web.archive.org/web/20201027005526/https://pressbooks.ulib.csuohio.edu/csu-fyw-rhetoric/chapter/apa-signal-phrases/

Gagich, Melanie. “Quoting.” In A Guide to Rhetoric, Genre, and Success in First-Year Writing , by Melanie Gagich and Emilie Zickel. Cleveland: MSL Academic Endeavors. Accessed July 2019. https://pressbooks.ulib.csuohio.edu/csu-fyw-rhetoric/chapter/quoting-paraphrasing-and-summarizing-to-avoid-plagiarism/ . Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License . Archival link: https://web.archive.org/web/20201027012338/https://pressbooks.ulib.csuohio.edu/csu-fyw-rhetoric/chapter/quoting-paraphrasing-and-summarizing-to-avoid-plagiarism/

Jeffrey, Robin. “Paraphrasing and Summarizing.” In A Guide to Rhetoric, Genre, and Success in First-Year Writing , by Melanie Gagich and Emilie Zickel. Cleveland: MSL Academic Endeavors. Accessed July 2019. https://pressbooks.ulib.csuohio.edu/csu-fyw-rhetoric/chapter/9-3-paraphrasing-summarizing-and-integrating-data/ . Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License . Archival link: https://web.archive.org/web/20201027011135/https://pressbooks.ulib.csuohio.edu/csu-fyw-rhetoric/chapter/9-3-paraphrasing-summarizing-and-integrating-data/

OER credited in the texts above includes:

Jeffrey, Robin. About Writing: A Guide . Portland, OR: Open Oregon Educational Resources. Accessed December 18, 2020. https://openoregon.pressbooks.pub/aboutwriting/ . Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License . Archival link: https://web.archive.org/web/20230711210756/https://openoregon.pressbooks.pub/aboutwriting/

• Benjamin Franklin, Poor Richard, 1737, Founders Online, National Archives, accessed December 18, 2020, https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Franklin/01-02-02-0028 . ↵
• Ellen J. Langer, The Power of Mindful Learning (Boston: Da Capo Press, 1997). ↵
• The following examples come from: David Bartholomae, “Inventing the University,” Journal of Basic Writing 5, no. 3 (1986): 4-23. ↵
• “How to Use Quotation Marks,” Purdue Online Writing Lab , accessed May 8, 2020, https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/general_writing/punctuation/quotation_marks/index.html . ↵
• Tim McAdoo, "How to Cite ChatGPT," APA Style, accessed August 17, 2023, https://apastyle.apa.org/blog/how-to-cite-chatgpt ↵
• "How Do I Cite Generative AI in MLA Style?," MLA Style Center, accessed August 17, 2023, https://style.mla.org/citing-generative-ai/ ↵

Loaded language is related to the fallacy of "begging the question." Sometimes begging the question includes using "loaded language" in which word choice has strong connotations or extra meanings that attempt to sway the audience.

This fallacy claims that an idea or fact or argument is incorrect because the speaker is someone one usually disagrees with -- that the idea is wrong because of the origin of the idea or argument, rather than because it is incorrect or invalid on its own merits. For instance, just because you generally disagree with a politician's policies or ideas doesn't mean that every single thing they say is incorrect or invalid just because it was them who said it. (The idiom often used is "even a stopped clock is right twice a day).

An ambiguous or amorphous quality to writing comprising the vocabulary, word choice, tone, point of view, syntax, attitude, emotion, and style of a writer. Because writing is a personal and individual exercise, every writer has their own unique voice.

6.3 Using Sources in Your Paper Copyright © 2023 by John Lanning; Amanda Lloyd; Robin Jeffrey; Melanie Gagich; Terri Pantuso; Sarah LeMire; and Kalani Pattison is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

Using Sources Correctly

Crediting and Citing Your Sources

Now that you’ve just summarized or paraphrased or directly quoted a source, is there anything else you need to do with that source? Well, it turns out there is. There are some standard ways of using sources that let your readers know this material is from other texts rather than original ideas from your own brain. Following these guidelines also allows us, your readers, to locate those sources if we are interested in the topic and would like to know more about what they say.

 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Giving credit to the sources you used creating a text is important (and useful!) for several reasons.

• It adds to your own credibility as an author by showing you have done appropriate research on your topic and approached your work ethically.
• It gives credit to the original author and their work for the ideas you found to be useful, and in giving them credit it helps you avoid unintentionally plagiarizing their work.
• It gives your readers additional resources (already curated by you in your research process!) that they can go to if they want to read further your topic.

What Does It Mean to Credit or Cite Your Sources?

For college-level work, this generally means two things: in-text or parenthetical citation and a “Works Cited” or “References” page. What these two things look like will be a little different for different types of classes (for example, it’s likely your writing class will use MLA—Modern Language Association—format, while a psychology class is more likely to use APA—American Psychological Association—format). The specific details required and the order in which they appear changes a little between different formats, but practicing one of them will give you a general idea of what most of them are looking for. All of the information we are looking at here is specific to MLA, which is the format you will use for your writing classes (and some other humanities classes).

Citing: Identifying In-Text Sources

Once you have brought source material into your writing (via quotation, summary, or paraphrase), your next task is to cite or identify it. This is essential because giving credit to the creator of the source material helps you avoid plagiarism. Identifying your sources also helps your reader understand which written content is from a source and which represents your ideas.

When you cite or identify source materials, you make it absolutely clear that the material was taken from a source. Note that if you don’t do that, your reader is left to assume the words are yours—and since that isn’t true, you will have committed plagiarism.

In-Text Citation

Every time you use an idea or language from a source in your text (so every time you summarize, paraphrase, or directly quote material from a source), you will want to add an in-text citation. Sometimes you can accomplish this simply by mentioning the author or title of a source in the body of your writing, but other times you’ll handle in-text citation differently, with a parenthetical citation. Parenthetical means that the citation appears in parentheses in the text of your essay.

A starting point for parenthetical citations is that they include the author’s last name and the page number where the borrowed information came from. For example, let’s say I’m using material from an article written by Lisa Smith. It’s in a physical magazine and spans pages 38-42. If, on page 41, she says something like, “While most studies have shown that Expo dry erase markers have superior lasting power, erasability, and color saturation than other brands on the market, their higher cost is a concern for some consumers,” I might incorporate that into a paper like this:

By most measurable standards, Expo markers are clearly the favored option (Smith 41).

However, you don’t always need both components (last name and page number) in the parenthetical citation. If I introduced the source material in the sentence above a little differently, introducing the author before delivering the material, I wouldn’t need to repeat the author’s name in that same sentence in the parenthetical citation. In that case, my sentence would look something like this: According to Lisa Smith, Expo markers are clearly the favored option by most measurable standards (41).

In this section, we’ll discuss three ways to cite or identify written source materials in your own writing.

1. Introduce the Author and/or the Title of the Source

By introducing the author or the material, you make it clear to the reader that what you’re talking about is from a source. Here’s an example of a quotation that is identified by introducing the author and the title of source (which are highlighted):

In the article, “Grooming Poodles for Fun and Profit,” Jonas Fogbottom explains , “Poodle grooming is a labor of love. It takes years of practice to be good at it, but once learned, it’s a fun and worthwhile career.”

Here’s an example of a paraphrase that is identified in the same way:

In the article, “Grooming Poodles for Fun and Profit,” Jonas Fogbottom says that although it takes a long time to become a skilled poodle groomer, it’s well worth the effort and leads to a good career.

Note that, in the example above, (1) if there are no page numbers to cite and (2) if the name of the author is signaled in the phrase that introduces the bit of source material, then there is no need for the parenthetical citation. This is an example of a situation where mentioning the author by name is the only in-text citation you’ll need. And sometimes, if the name of the author is unknown, then you might just mention the title of the article instead. It will be up to you, as a writer, to choose which method works best for your given situation.

The first time that you mention a source in your writing, you should always introduce the speaker and, if possible, the title of the source as well. Note that the speaker is the person responsible for stating the information that you’re citing and that this is not always the author of the text. For example, an author of an article might quote someone else, and you might quote or paraphrase that person.

Use the speaker’s full name (e.g. “According to Jonas Fogbottom . . .”) the first time you introduce them; if you mention them again in the paper, use their last name only (e.g. “Fogbottom goes on to discuss . . .”).

2. Use Linking or Attributive Language

Using linking language (sometimes called attributive language or signal phrases) simply means using words that show the reader you are still talking about a source that you just mentioned.

For example, you might use linking language that looks something like this:

• The author also explains . . .
• Fogbottom continues . . .
• The article goes on to say . . .
• The data set also demonstrates . . .

By using this kind of language, you make it clear to the reader that you’re still talking about a source. And while you’ll use this type of language throughout any researched essay whether you’re also using parenthetical citations or not, as we mentioned above, sometimes this linking language will be all you need for in-text citation.

Let’s look back at the last Fogbottom example from above, and imagine you wanted to add two more sentences from the same source. The linking language is highlighted :

In the article, “Grooming Poodles for Fun and Profit,” Jonas Fogbottom says that although it takes a long time to become a skilled poodle groomer, it’s well worth the effort and leads to a good career. Fogbottom goes on to explain how one is trained in the art of dog and poodle grooming. The article also gives a set of resources for people who want to know more about a dog grooming career.

Using the linking language makes it absolutely clear to your reader that you are still talking about a source.

3. Use a Parenthetical Citation

A parenthetical citation is a citation enclosed within parentheses.

The classic parenthetical citation includes the author’s name and, if there is one, a page number. To learn more about parenthetical citation and see some examples, see the Purdue OWL article on “ MLA In-Text Citations: The Basics ” (available from owl.english.purdue.edu).

Here’s an example :

(Fogbottom 16)

If there are two authors , list both (with a page number, if available):

(Smith and Jones 24)

If there are three or more authors , list the first author only and add “et al.”* (with a page number, if available):

(Smith et al. 62)

* et al means “and others.” If a text or source has three or more authors, MLA style has us just list the first one with et al .

But my source doesn’t have page numbers!

If you are using an electronic source or another kind of source with no page numbers, just leave the page number out:

(Fogbottom)

If you’re quoting or paraphrasing someone who was cited by the author of one of your sources , then that’s handled a bit differently. For example, what if you quote Smith, but you found that quote in the article by Fogbottom. In this case, you should introduce the speaker (Smith) as described above, and then cite the source for the quote, like this:

(qtd. in Fogbottom)

But my source doesn’t have an author!

This happens sometimes. Many useful documents, like government publications, organizational reports, and surveys, don’t list their authors. On the other hand, sometimes no clearly listed author can be a red flag that a source is not entirely trustworthy or is not researched well enough to be a reliable source for you.

If you encounter a source with no author, do look for other indicators that it is a good (or poor) source—who published it, does it have an appropriate list of references, is it current information, is it unbiased?

If you determine that this source is an appropriate source to use, then, when you create your in-text citation for it, you will simply use the title of the source (article, chapter, graph, film, etc.) in the place where you would have used the author’s name. If the title is long, you should abbreviate by listing the first one or two words of it (with a page number, if available).

Let’s imagine you’re working with a newspaper article entitled, “What’s New in Technology,” enclosed in quotation marks to indicate that this is an article title, and with no known author . Here’s what that would look in a parenthetical citation:

(“What’s New” B6)

If there is no author and you’re working with an electronic article, use the first one or two words in your parenthetical citation, again, enclosed in quotation marks. Let’s imagine you’re working with a web article entitled, “Pie Baking for Fun and Profit” and with no author. Here’s what that would look in a parenthetical citation:

(“Pie Baking”)

The parenthetical citation should be added at the end of the sentence that contains the source material. Let’s go back to the Fogbottom example and see how a parenthetical citation would work:

“Poodle grooming is a labor of love. It takes years of practice to be good at it, but once learned, it’s a fun and worthwhile career” (Fogbottom).

Here’s what it would look like if we used it with a paraphrase instead of a quotation:

Although it takes a long time to become a skilled poodle groomer, it’s well worth the effort and leads to a good career (Fogbottom).

Note that the citation is placed at the end of the sentence; the period comes after the parentheses. Misplacing the period is one of the most common formatting errors made by students.

Using parenthetical citation makes it crystal clear that a sentence comes from source material. This is, by far, the easiest way to cite or identify your source materials, too.

If using parenthetical citations is easy, why would we bother with using introduction or linking language to identify sources?

Good question! There would be nothing wrong with only using parenthetical citations all the way through your writing—it would absolutely do the job of citing the material. But, it wouldn’t read smoothly and would feel somewhat rough because every time a parenthetical citation popped up, the reader would be “stopped” in place for a moment. Using a combination of introduction, linking language, and parenthetical citation, as needed, makes the writing smoother and easier to read. It also integrates the source material with the writer’s ideas. We call this synthesis, and it’s part of the craft of writing.

Works Cited Entries

At the end of texts that have drawn from existing sources, you will often find a Works Cited page. This page gives more information than the parenthetical citations do about what kinds of sources were referenced in this work and where they can be found if the reader would like to know more about them. These entries all follow a specific and consistent format so that it is easy for readers to find the information they are looking for and so the shape and type of that information is consistent no matter who is writing the entries.

Until recently, the MLA required a slightly different format for every type of source—an entry for a Youtube video required certain information that was different from an entry for a book that was different from an entry for an online article. The most recent version of MLA, though—MLA 8—has simplified this so there is just one format rather than many.

You can learn how to create works cited entries in MLA 8 format, and see an example, in the “ Creating a Works Cited Page ” appendix to this text.

The Word on College Reading and Writing Copyright © by Carol Burnell, Jaime Wood, Monique Babin, Susan Pesznecker, and Nicole Rosevear is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

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Using Sources

Using sources overview.

One of the challenges of writing an essay using sources is successfully integrating your ideas with the material from your sources. Your essay must explain what you think, or it will read like a disconnected string of facts and quotations. However, you also need to support your ideas with research or they will seem insubstantial. How do you strike the balance?

Balancing your own ideas with sources’ ideas involves synthesizing the information from those sources so that you can blend multiple source ideas into your own idea structure that supports your thesis.  The following video offers information about the concept of synthesis, or blending ideas from others’ with your own in research writing.

One main method of synthesizing source information with your own ideas is to offer your own comments and insights about others’ ideas that you have included from your research. Once you have analyzed the texts involved in your research and taken notes, you must turn to the task of writing your essay. The goal is here is not simply to summarize your findings. Critical writing requires that you communicate your analysis, synthesis, and evaluation of those findings to your audience .

Integrating materials from sources into your own text can be tricky; if you consider the metaphor that writing a paper and including sources is a way of facilitating a conversation about a topic, it helps to think about how this will best work.

When you’re discussing a topic in person with one or more people, you will find yourself referencing outside sources: “When I was watching the news, I heard them say that . . . I read in the newspaper that . . . John told me that . . .” These kinds of phrases show instances of using a source in conversation, and ways that we automatically shape our sentences to work references to the sources into the flow of conversation.

Think about this next time you try to work a source into a piece of writing: if you were speaking this aloud in conversation, how would you introduce the material to your listeners? What information would you give them in order to help them understand who the author is, and why her view is worth referencing? After giving the information, how would you then link it back to the point you were trying to make? Just as you would do this in a conversation if you found it necessary to reference a newspaper article or television show you saw, you also need to do this in your essays.

As you can see, using sources involves much more than just including a series of quotations in your essay. To avoid falling into the trap of having strings of quotations and very little else in a research essay, follow a few simple pointers:

• Avoid using strings of long quotations. The overuse of long quotations gives the reader the impression you cannot think for yourself.
• Use summaries and paraphrases in addition to direct quotations. To the reader, the effective use of summaries and paraphrases indicates that you took the time to think about the meaning behind the quote’s words.
• Make sure to comment on any information you quote, summarize, and paraphrase. Remember that your researched information is there to support to your own ideas and logical argument in your research essay, and that incorporating research is like creating a conversation.
• Finally, make sure to identify all of your quoted, summarized, and paraphrased information with citations, so your reader can easily differentiate your sources’ from your own information and ideas.
• Using Sources Overview. Revision and adaptation of the page Synthesizing Sources at https://courses.lumenlearning.com/suny-esc-wm-englishcomposition1/chapter/text-synthesizing-sources/ which is a revision and adaptation of sources listed below. The first paragraph on this page is from the page Week 7 - Writing Using Sources at https://sites.google.com/a/hawaii.edu/lee-oer-eng100/week7 . Authored by : Susan Oaks. Provided by : Empire State College, SUNY OER Services. Project : College Writing. License : CC BY-NC-SA: Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike
• Synthesizing Sources. Provided by : Lumen Learning. Located at : https://courses.lumenlearning.com/wm-englishcomposition1/chapter/text-synthesizing-sources/ . Project : English Composition I. License : CC BY-SA: Attribution-ShareAlike
• Synthesizing Sources from Chapter 4 and Integrating Sources from Chapter 5: Critical Thinking, Source Evaluations, and Analyzing Academic Writing. Authored by : Denise Snee, Kristin Houlton, Nancy Heckel. Edited by Kimberly Jacobs. Located at : http://lgdata.s3-website-us-east-1.amazonaws.com/docs/679/734444/Snee_2012_Research_Analysis_and_Writing.pdf . Project : Research, Analysis, and Writing. License : CC BY-NC-SA: Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike
• video Research Synthesis. Provided by : USU Libraries. Located at : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ObK6J7vGnw8&t=6s . License : CC BY-NC: Attribution-NonCommercial
• Incorporating Your Sources Into Your Paper. Provided by : Boundless. Located at : https://www.boundless.com/writing/textbooks/boundless-writing-textbook/the-research-process-2/understanding-your-sources-265/understanding-your-sources-62-8498/ . Project : Boundless Writing. License : CC BY-NC: Attribution-NonCommercial
• Critical Thinking, Source Evaluations, and Analyzing Academic Writing. Authored by : Denise Snee, Kristin Houlton, Nancy Heckel. Edited by Kim Jacobs. Located at : http://digitalcommons.apus.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1001&context=epresscoursematerials . Project : Research, Analysis, and Writing. License : CC BY-NC-SA: Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike
• Week 7 - Writing Using Sources. Provided by : Leeward Community College. Located at : https://sites.google.com/a/hawaii.edu/lee-oer-eng100/week7 . Project : English 100: Composition I. License : CC BY-NC-SA: Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike
• image of students in conversation. Authored by : Free-Photos. Provided by : Pixabay. Located at : https://pixabay.com/en/workplace-team-business-meeting-1245776/ . License : CC0: No Rights Reserved
• video Incorporating Information from Sources into Your Research Paper. Provided by : OSLIS Secondary Videos. Located at : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pyxR2pwqXEY . License : Other . License Terms : Standard YouTube License

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• Knowledge Base
• Citing sources

How to Cite Sources | Citation Generator & Quick Guide

Citing your sources is essential in  academic writing . Whenever you quote or paraphrase a source (such as a book, article, or webpage), you have to include a  citation crediting the original author.

Failing to properly cite your sources counts as plagiarism , since you’re presenting someone else’s ideas as if they were your own.

The most commonly used citation styles are APA and MLA. The free Scribbr Citation Generator is the quickest way to cite sources in these styles. Simply enter the URL, DOI, or title, and we’ll generate an accurate, correctly formatted citation.

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Table of contents

When do you need to cite sources, which citation style should you use, in-text citations, reference lists and bibliographies.

Scribbr Citation Generator

Other useful citation tools

Citation examples and full guides, frequently asked questions about citing sources.

Citations are required in all types of academic texts. They are needed for several reasons:

• To avoid plagiarism by indicating when you’re taking information from another source
• To give proper credit to the author of that source
• To allow the reader to consult your sources for themselves

A citation is needed whenever you integrate a source into your writing. This usually means quoting or paraphrasing:

• To quote a source , copy a short piece of text word for word and put it inside quotation marks .
• To paraphrase a source , put the text into your own words. It’s important that the paraphrase is not too close to the original wording. You can use the paraphrasing tool if you don’t want to do this manually.

Citations are needed whether you quote or paraphrase, and whatever type of source you use. As well as citing scholarly sources like books and journal articles, don’t forget to include citations for any other sources you use for ideas, examples, or evidence. That includes websites, YouTube videos , and lectures .

Prevent plagiarism. Run a free check.

Usually, your institution (or the journal you’re submitting to) will require you to follow a specific citation style, so check your guidelines or ask your instructor.

In some cases, you may have to choose a citation style for yourself. Make sure to pick one style and use it consistently:

• APA Style is widely used in the social sciences and beyond.
• MLA style is common in the humanities.
• Chicago notes and bibliography , common in the humanities
• Chicago author-date , used in the (social) sciences
• There are many other citation styles for different disciplines.

If in doubt, check with your instructor or read other papers from your field of study to see what style they follow.

In most styles, your citations consist of:

• Brief in-text citations at the relevant points in the text
• A reference list or bibliography containing full information on all the sources you’ve cited

In-text citations most commonly take the form of parenthetical citations featuring the last name of the source’s author and its year of publication (aka author-date citations).

An alternative to this type of in-text citation is the system used in numerical citation styles , where a number is inserted into the text, corresponding to an entry in a numbered reference list.

There are also note citation styles , where you place your citations in either footnotes or endnotes . Since they’re not embedded in the text itself, these citations can provide more detail and sometimes aren’t accompanied by a full reference list or bibliography.

A reference list (aka “Bibliography” or “Works Cited,” depending on the style) is where you provide full information on each of the sources you’ve cited in the text. It appears at the end of your paper, usually with a hanging indent applied to each entry.

The information included in reference entries is broadly similar, whatever citation style you’re using. For each source, you’ll typically include the:

• Author name
• Publication date
• Container (e.g., the book an essay was published in, the journal an article appeared in)
• Location (e.g., a URL or DOI , or sometimes a physical location)

The exact information included varies depending on the source type and the citation style. The order in which the information appears, and how you format it (e.g., capitalization, use of italics) also varies.

Most commonly, the entries in your reference list are alphabetized by author name. This allows the reader to easily find the relevant entry based on the author name in your in-text citation.

In numerical citation styles, the entries in your reference list are numbered, usually based on the order in which you cite them. The reader finds the right entry based on the number that appears in the text.

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Because each style has many small differences regarding things like italicization, capitalization , and punctuation , it can be difficult to get every detail right. Using a citation generator can save you a lot of time and effort.

Scribbr offers citation generators for both APA and MLA style. Both are quick, easy to use, and 100% free, with no ads and no registration required.

Just input a URL or DOI or add the source details manually, and the generator will automatically produce an in-text citation and reference entry in the correct format. You can save your reference list as you go and download it when you’re done, and even add annotations for an annotated bibliography .

Once you’ve prepared your citations, you might still be unsure if they’re correct and if you’ve used them appropriately in your text. This is where Scribbr’s other citation tools and services may come in handy:

Plagiarism Checker

Citation Checker

Citation Editing

Plagiarism means passing off someone else’s words or ideas as your own. It’s a serious offense in academia. Universities use plagiarism checking software to scan your paper and identify any similarities to other texts.

When you’re dealing with a lot of sources, it’s easy to make mistakes that could constitute accidental plagiarism. For example, you might forget to add a citation after a quote, or paraphrase a source in a way that’s too close to the original text.

Using a plagiarism checker yourself before you submit your work can help you spot these mistakes before they get you in trouble. Based on the results, you can add any missing citations and rephrase your text where necessary.

Try out the Scribbr Plagiarism Checker for free, or check out our detailed comparison of the best plagiarism checkers available online.

Scribbr Plagiarism Checker

Scribbr’s Citation Checker is a unique AI-powered tool that automatically detects stylistic errors and inconsistencies in your in-text citations. It also suggests a correction for every mistake.

Currently available for APA Style, this is the fastest and easiest way to make sure you’ve formatted your citations correctly. You can try out the tool for free below.

If you need extra help with your reference list, we also offer a more in-depth Citation Editing Service.

Our experts cross-check your in-text citations and reference entries, make sure you’ve included the correct information for each source, and improve the formatting of your reference page.

If you want to handle your citations yourself, Scribbr’s free Knowledge Base provides clear, accurate guidance on every aspect of citation. You can see citation examples for a variety of common source types below:

And you can check out our comprehensive guides to the most popular citation styles:

At college level, you must properly cite your sources in all essays , research papers , and other academic texts (except exams and in-class exercises).

Add a citation whenever you quote , paraphrase , or summarize information or ideas from a source. You should also give full source details in a bibliography or reference list at the end of your text.

The exact format of your citations depends on which citation style you are instructed to use. The most common styles are APA , MLA , and Chicago .

The abbreviation “ et al. ” (Latin for “and others”) is used to shorten citations of sources with multiple authors.

“Et al.” is used in APA in-text citations of sources with 3+ authors, e.g. (Smith et al., 2019). It is not used in APA reference entries .

Use “et al.” for 3+ authors in MLA in-text citations and Works Cited entries.

Use “et al.” for 4+ authors in a Chicago in-text citation , and for 10+ authors in a Chicago bibliography entry.

The Scribbr Citation Generator is developed using the open-source Citation Style Language (CSL) project and Frank Bennett’s citeproc-js . It’s the same technology used by dozens of other popular citation tools, including Mendeley and Zotero.

You can find all the citation styles and locales used in the Scribbr Citation Generator in our publicly accessible repository on Github .

APA format is widely used by professionals, researchers, and students in the social and behavioral sciences, including fields like education, psychology, and business.

Be sure to check the guidelines of your university or the journal you want to be published in to double-check which style you should be using.

MLA Style  is the second most used citation style (after APA ). It is mainly used by students and researchers in humanities fields such as literature, languages, and philosophy.

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• Hersh Goldberg-Polin

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At the Jerusalem synagogue where Hersh Goldberg-Polin danced in life, grief and anger reign after his death

JERUSALEM — Three hundred and thirty-two days after Hersh Goldberg-Polin danced in the courtyard next to his Jerusalem synagogue on the holiday of Simchat Torah, more than a thousand people gathered there in grief and prayer to mourn his murder by Hamas terrorists in Gaza.

During the Sunday night vigil, the courtyard railings were lined with oversized yellow ribbons to symbolize advocacy for the hostages, Hapoel Jerusalem soccer flags — the 23-year-old’s favorite team — and posters that read, “We love you, stay strong, survive,” a mantra coined by his mother, Rachel Goldberg-Polin.

Just hours earlier, one of the posters had been hanging over the balcony of the home of Shira Ben-Sasson, a leader of Hakhel, the Goldberg-Polins’ egalitarian congregation in the Baka neighborhood of Jerusalem.

“We were sure we would take it down when he came home,” Ben-Sasson said.

The community wanted to unite while respecting the Goldberg-Polins’ desire for privacy, she said, prompting them to organize the prayer gathering.

“But it’s like a Band-Aid or giving first aid, it’s what you do in an emergency. I don’t know how we go on after this,” she said.

A covered courtyard at the Hakhel congregation was filled with mourners the day after Hersh Goldberg-Polin, whose family are prominent members, was found to have been killed in Gaza. Hundreds of other people crowded outside the gates, Sept. 1, 2024. (Deborah Danan)

She added that the community, which has a large contingent of English-speaking immigrants, was not prepared for the High Holidays, which begin in about a month. She said, “Seeing his empty seat is hard.”

For Ben-Sasson, who wore a T-shirt bearing the Talmudic dictum “There is no greater mitzvah than the redeeming of captives,” the tragedy is especially painful because, she said, it could have been avoided with a ceasefire agreement that freed hostages.

“Hersh was alive 48 hours ago. We think a deal could have saved him. There is no military solution to this,” she said.

That feeling of bereavement, often mixed with betrayal, pervaded gatherings across Israel on Sunday, as the country struggled with the news that six hostages who may have been freed in an agreement were now dead as negotiations continue to stall. Speakers at protests in Tel Aviv blamed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who himself apologized for not getting the hostages out alive but blamed Hamas for obstructing a deal. The country’s labor union, the Histadrut, has called a national strike on Monday to demand a deal.

A rare early September rain lashed parts of Israel on Sunday, leading to a widespread interpretation: God, too, was weeping.

Some at the Jerusalem gathering, including the relative of another former hostage, said Netanyahu had chosen defeating Hamas over freeing the captives.

Josef Avi Yair Engel’s grandson Ofir was released from Hamas captivity in November. He paid tribute to Hersh Goldberg-Polin, murdered in captivity, in Jerusalem, Sept. 1, 2024. (Deborah Danan)

Josef Avi Yair Engel, whose grandson Ofir, 18, was released from Hamas captivity in November during that month’s ceasefire deal, expressed shock over Hersh’s murder but said he was not surprised, given the wartime policies of Netanyahu’s government.

“We knew months ago this was going to happen. Bibi’s formula, to dismantle Hamas and return the hostages, wasn’t logical. It’s an either/or situation,” Engel said, referring to Netanyahu by his nickname. “He’s tearing the country apart. I’m afraid that in the coming months there won’t be a state at all.”

Engel said he felt a close bond with Hersh’s father Jon Polin, not only because of their joint activism in the hostage families’ tent outside the Prime Minister’s Residence, but also because of their shared identity as Jerusalemites.

“There aren’t many of us in the hostage circle,” he said. “We’re like family.”

Sarah Mann, who did not know the family personally, said the weekend’s tragedy reminded her of Oct. 7.

“This day has sparks of the seventh, which created numbness and an inability to talk. Just complete shock,” she said.

Mourners left notes at a gathering at Hersh Goldberg-Polin’s family synagogue in Jerusalem. Many of the messages used the Hebrew word for “sorry.” (Deborah Danan)

Part of the reason for that, Mann said, was Rachel, who she described as a “force of faith.” Goldberg-Polin’s mother emerged as the most prominent advocate for the hostages globally and became a symbol in her own right as she crisscrossed the world calling for her son’s freedom.

“Millions of people around the world held onto her. Once that was cut, people’s ability to hold onto faith was knocked out today. But even though this has shattered us, we need to keep holding onto God,” Mann said.

For Susi Döring Preston, the day called to mind was not Oct. 7 but Yom Kippur, and its communal solemnity.

She said she usually steers clear of similar war-related events because they are too overwhelming for her.

“Before I avoided stuff like this because I guess I still had hope. But now is the time to just give in to needing to be around people because you can’t hold your own self up any more,” she said, tears rolling down her face. “You need to feel the humanity and hang onto that.”

Like so many others, Döring Preston paid tribute to the Goldberg-Polins’ tireless activism. “They needed everyone else’s strength but we drew so much strength from them and their efforts, “she said. “You felt it could change the outcome. But war is more evil than good. I think that’s the crushing thing. You can do everything right, but the outcome is still devastating.”

Guy Gordon, with his daughter Maya, added a broken heart to the piece of tape he has worn daily to mark the number of days since the hostage crisis began, Sept. 1, 2024. (Deborah Danan)

Guy Gordon, a member of Hakhel who moved to Israel from Dublin, Ireland, in the mid-1990s, said the efforts towards ensuring Hersh’s safe return have been an anchor for the community during the war. The community knew him as the family described him in its announcement of his funeral on Tuesday, as “a child of light, love and peace” who enjoyed exploring the world and coming home to his family, including his parents and younger sisters, Leebie and Orly.

“It gave us something to hope for, and pray for and to demonstrate for,” he said. “We had no choice but to be unreasonably optimistic. Tragically it transpired that he survived until the very end.”

Gordon, like many others in the crowd, wore a piece of duct tape marked with the number of days since Oct. 7 — a gesture initiated by Goldberg-Polin’s mother. Unlike on previous days, though, his tape also featured a broken red heart beside the number.

Nadia Levene, a family friend, also reflected on the improbability of Hersh’s survival.

“He did exactly what his parents begged him to do. He was strong. He did survive. And look what happened,” Levene said.

She hailed Rachel Goldberg-Polin’s “unwavering strength and belief in God,” adding, “There were times I lost faith. I suppose I was angry with God. But she just kept inspiring us all to pray, pray, pray.”

Leah Silver of Jerusalem examined stickers showing Rachel Goldberg-Polin’s mantra for her son Hersh, who was murdered in captivity in Gaza, at a gathering after Hersh’s death, Sept. 1, 2024. (Deborah Danan)

Jerusalem resident Leah Silver rejected politicizing the hostages’ deaths.

“Everything turns political so quickly. I came here because I felt that before all the protests, we need to just mourn for a moment and to pray. And show respect for each other,” she said. “We’ve become confused about who the enemy is. It’s very sad.”

But not everyone at the gathering joined in to sing Israel’s national anthem at the closing of the prayer gathering.

“I’m sorry, I can’t sing ‘Hatikvah,'” Reza Green, a Baka resident who did not know the Goldberg-Polins personally, said. “I’m too angry. We shouldn’t be here.”

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