Integrating
Sources In Your
Writing
Learning Enhancement Team
[email protected]
Variety is the Spice of Life!
Different Schools…
….Different Rules
– Can you use ‘I’ in an academic text?
– Should an essay have section headings?
– How long is a report?
– Do you use primary or secondary research?
– Footnotes, endnotes or no notes?
– Harvard style referencing or MLA? What about APA?
Which school are you in? What is acceptable and what is
unacceptable in your field?
Always check in your module handbooks or with your
tutor if you are concerned about appropriacy
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Integrating Sources In Your Writing Aims
— To look at how to use sources in your writing
— To examine how to position yourself in relation to other
people’s ideas in your field/s
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Task
Imagine you have walked into the coffee shop, only to find a
group of your friends having a very heated argument about ‘Susie’
and ‘Bill’. Some of your friends think Susie should break-up with
Bill, others think she should stay with him. You want to join in the
debate:
— What do you do?
— What do you need to know?
— How do you decide who to agree with?
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Entering The Conversation
Intellectual (logos):
— Location of your question / problem within its wider academic / professional
context
— Position of your research within the discipline; its meaning, significance,
relevance and purpose
Social (ethos):
— Establishing your right to speak
— Establishing why someone should read your work
Rhetorical:
— General
specific pattern of information
— The creation of the thread
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Task
Why do you think referencing is so important in academic writing?
Here’s a clue, plagiarism is only one of the possible answers!
— To give yourself credibility
• This establishes your right to participate in the field (ethos)
— To make yourself more persuasive
• Giving evidence in your arguments (logos)
— To give credit to the original author
• This shows professionalism and respect
— To give your readers clear and sufficient detail
• This allows your readers to locate ideas for themselves
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Fact or Fiction?
Consider these statements. What do they have in common?:
— The earth is flat.
— Smoking helps cure sore throats.
— Women are bad luck on boats.
— Global warming is a myth.
Once, all the above were considered ‘facts’ – some still are! You must always
consider:
— What is a fact?
— What is knowledge?
— What is objective ≠ subjective belief?
— What is permanent ≠ temporary?
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Critical Referencing
“It’s all very well wanting government funded higher education
system, but the truth is that by charging fees, universities are able
to attract on those students who value education” (Smith, 2009).
— Do you agree with Smith?
— How do you show how you feel about what Smith says?
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Presentation title | 8
Task
Do all these sentences have exactly the same meaning?
— John’s ill and wont be coming in today
— John said he’s unable to come as he is ill
— John said he’s unable to come as he was ill.
— John says he’s not coming in today.
— John claims he can’t come in due to illness.
— I hear John’s ill and won’t be coming in today.
— Apparently John can’t make it today
— Due to illness, John can’t come in. So he says.
— John’s ill, he can’t come in today.
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Critical Referencing
As you can see, different reporting verbs can have a significant
critical meaning in your text. Some of the more common reporting
verb are:
—Claim(s)/(ed)
—State(s)/(ed)
—Prove(s)/(ed)
—Suggest(s)/(ed)
—Argue(s)/(ed)
—Maintain(s)/(ed)
What differences? What criteria?
Truth status – present or past tense?
Your interpretation of original writer ‘motivation’ (e.g. Hall denies this however,
pointing out …)
Your purpose
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Task
Do all these sentences have exactly the same meaning?
— As stated by Hall (1998: 32), “codes fix relationships between concepts and
signs”
— Hall (1998: 32) stated that “codes fix relationships between concepts and
signs”
— Hall (1998: 32) states that “codes fix relationships between concepts and
signs”
— “Codes fix relationships between concepts and signs” (Hall 1998: 32)
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Reporting
In terms mechanical citation, you have two choices:
— Removed from grammar of sentence
• “Codes fix relationships between concepts and signs” (Hall, 1998: 32).
— As grammatical part of sentence:
• According to Hall (1998: 32), “codes fix...”
• As stated by Hall (1998: 32), “codes fix …”
• Hall (1998: 32) states that “codes fix …”
Both are allowable in Academia, and each has its advantages and
disadvantages. What do you think?
The AWL Open Workshop
Understanding Plagiarism and
Referencing may also be helpful!
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Your View
In addition to carefully selecting your reporting verb and tense,
you can also use adverbs to comment directly on the source’s
findings/theories/views. Here are some common commenting
words.
What do they tell the reader?
‒ Surprisingly….
‒ Wisely….
‒ Inevitably…
‒ Sagely…
‒ Sensibly….
‒ Most surprising of all…
‒ Quite rightly…
‒ Even worse…
‒ Conveniently…
‒ Disturbingly
‒ As might be expected…
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Your View
You can use the language of evaluation to help show the
reader your critical opinion:
‒ (Quite) frankly….
‒ More simply put
‒ Technically
speaking…
‒ In a word
‒ Building on…
‒ Undeniably…
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‒ Strictly Speaking..
‒ Put more simply…
‒ Figuratively
speaking…
‒ In short…
‒ Putting it bluntly
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Task
You want to use the data from the EGT in your paper – but you
cannot find the original article, only this reference to it in an
article by Garin-Muṅoz (2004). What do you do?
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Sources in sources
There are two possible answers the previous question:
— Honestly: Indicate the genuine origin of your material:
• (EGT 2002, in Garin-Muṅoz 2004).
• Use Garin-Muṅoz in your reference list.
— Strategically: Just cite the secondary source:
• (EGT, 2002).
• Dishonest – but it looks as if you’ve read the original secondary
source
• You will need to locate the full citation for your reference list
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Paraphrasing & Summarising
In order to paraphrase or summarise correctly you need to have a deep
understand of the original:
— Understanding vs. remembering and repeating
— What
— Why
— How
— Connections between ideas / authors
— Similarities ≠ differences
— Underpinnings
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Paraphrasing and summarising are a
reading skill as much as a writing
skill. If you’re feeling unsure, try our
How To Read Journal Articles AWL
Open Workshop!
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Paraphrasing
Change the syntax
—i.e., the word order
Change the word class
—i.e., a noun verb; verb
adjective; verb noun
Use synonyms
—i.e., happy, delighted, pleased…
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Task
“I really like you, and you’re a great friend, but…”
“I think we’re going to have to let you go…”
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Paraphrasing & Summarising
When you are paraphrasing and summarising, it’s good to also
consider these points:
— What’s your purpose?
— What are you trying to do?
— Why are you using the material?
— How does it fit into your writing?
— How can you use it?
— How will you use it in ur writing?
Paraphrase and summarise accordingly!
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Language to Summarise
There are many different ways to summarise your
sources, for example:
Essence
— The essence of the argument is that …. (Emslie & Hunt, 2009).
— In essence, Emslie & Hunt’s (2009) argument is that…
— Essentially, what Emslie & Hunt (2009) argue is that…
— At its heart, Emslie and Hunt (2009) are arguing that..
Other common verbs are:
Argue
Claim
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Suggest
Show
Demonstrate
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Avoiding Plagiarism
Write notes in your own words
Be fanatical about keeping notes of where you get your
information from when making notes
In your own writing, use a clear and consistent system of
referencing
Always provide a full list of references in your
bibliography
When in doubt – give a reference!
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Where now?
— Need more detailed assistance? Book a tutorial!
— Want feedback on a specific section? Drop in to Getting Your Assignment
Ready!
— Want somewhere quiet to write, and get on the spot assistance? Try The
Writing Space!
— Got a few quick questions? AWL Office Hours at [The Study Hub] are for
you!
— AWL Open Workshops can be booked here!
• Suggestions:
– Critical Thinking
– How To Read Journal Articles
– Essay Writing
– Understanding Plagiarism And Referencing
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Integrating Sources In Your Writing
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