Citing your sources helps you support your own ideas with evidence and previous research, and makes connections between your ideas and those of others. Documentation of sources is necessary in research, not only to give credit to the creators of the information, but also to enable readers to easily locate the items you cite. You must acknowledge and document your sources not only when directly quoting, but also when summarizing or paraphrasing someone else's work. Not doing so, either on purpose or through carelessness, is a serious offense known as plagiarism.
Avoid inserting source information without adding your own analysis; instead include your own voice and your own analysis and ideas. You will likely want to include sources which are are in agreement AND in disagreement with your own views. This way you can recognize and respond to multiple perspectives on the given issue. In doing so, you can make your own argument stronger.
The best time to document sources is when you are actually using them. It can be very difficult to go back at a later date to relocate your sources. Because the style you should use is generally determined by the discipline in which you are working, ask your instructor what style s/he recommends for each course. The two cardinal rules of citing:
In-text citations are included in the main body of a text. They usually appear in the following contexts:
For more detailed information, please see the Purdue Online Writing Lab on Quoting, Paraphrasing, and Summarizing
A reference list (sometimes called a bibliography or works cited page) appears at the end of a written text. It includes the full citations for all referenced sources.
It is important to draw on the work of experts who came before you to formulate your own original ideas, as long as you make sure it is clear they come from someone other than yourself. Backing up your own points with supporting evidence from the experts makes your argument, or thesis statement, more convincing. You are creating a conversation between people who have not met, but all of them know a lot about your main topic. Now you are adding your own voice to the conversation.
This is the main difference between a scholarly research paper and any other paper. You must include your own voice and your own analysis and ideas along with those of the experts who came before you.
All your sources, or conversation partners, must relate back to your thesis, or central argument, whether they agree or disagree (both are important!). It is often a good idea to address all sides of the argument regarding your thesis to make your own stronger.
What is the best way to incorporate sources into your research paper? Three ways to present sources in support of your central argument are:
When including a source in your paper, remember to use these three important components:
Introductory phrase to the source material: Can your readers distinguish which content is yours and which belongs to sources you are citing? To help the reader make those distinctions, introduce your sources. Learn more about using signal phrases, or lead-in phrases, when quoting or paraphrasing.
Source material: A direct quote, paraphrase, or summary with proper citation
Analysis of source material: Your response, interpretations, or arguments regarding preceding source material should follow the source material itself. This is a crucial step when incorporating source material into your paper--so do not forget about it! Remember to relate your source and analysis back to your original thesis.
This video, Incorporating Sources into your Paper, from CLIP, provides a good example of how to introduce, present, and analyze a source quote. Contact the Center for Academic Excellence to get more in-depth help with integrating sources into your paper.
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