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SummaryofConceptsLanguage
and
Communication:
Research
WhatIsResearchWriting?
TopicandQuestionSelection
Writersoftenusewordsandphrasesliketopic,researchquestion,andthesisstatementasiftheywereinterchangeable,buttheyaren't.Thetopicofyourresearchpaperisageneralfieldofstudy;theresearchquestionasksaspecificquestionwithinthetopic;thethesisstatementisthemostspecificofthethree.Yourthesisstatementisaonesentencestatementthatanswersyourresearchquestionbymakingaclaimandprovidesthemainreasonsforwhichyoucameto
the
conclusion
you
did.
These
reasons
are
also
called
major
points.
KeyTerms
Research,likeanydiscipline,hassomespecializedterminology,butdifferentwordsappealtodifferentpeople,soyoumayheardifferentpeoplereferringtoresearchterminologyusingdifferentwords.Thetablebelowlistssomeresearchtermsandpopularsynonymsandexplainswhatwemeanbytheseterms.Thislearningresourcewillconsistentlyusethetermsintheleftcolumn,thoughitwillremindyouoftheotherterminologythroughout;youmayhearotherstalkingabouttheseconceptsusingthetermsinthesynonymcolumns.Examplesofthesetermsareprovidedbelow.
Term
Synonyms
Definition
mainclaim positionstatement,topic Yourmainclaimistheheartoftheresearchpresentation,anditistheanswertoyourresearchquestion.Itisasufficientlynarrowedquestionthatyoucananswerwithintherequiredlengthofyourpresentation.Provingthismainclaimisthereasonyouarewritingyourpresentation.Youshouldavoidcallingyourmainclaimyourtopicbecause,asexplainedbelow,atopicisgenerallyconsideredamuchbroaderfieldofinquiryratherthananarrow
researchquestion.
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majorpoints
mainpoints,supportingpoints,pointssupportingthesis,subtopics,reasons,subclaims,mainsupportingpoints
Majorpointsarethereasonsthatyoubelieveyourmainclaimholdstrue.Majorpointsshouldsupportyourmainclaiminthewaythatthelegsofatablesupportthetable.Withoutmajorpointsprovidingreasonsthatshowthatyourmainclaimistrue,yourmainclaimisjustanopinion.
evidence details,supportinginformation,research
Evidencereferstotheresearchthatsupportsyourmajorpoints.Evidenceneedstoberelevant,sufficient,andauthoritative(whichmeansitshouldbecredible).Thenextfewassignmentswillexplainwhatthismeansinmoredetail.Yourreaderswillnotbelieveyourmajorpointsifyourevidencedoesnotproperlysupportthem.Ifyourmajorpointsaren'tbelievable,yourreaderswillnotbelieveyourmainclaim.
thesisstatement
thesissentence Yourthesisstatementisonesentencethatanswersyour
research
question
and
explains
why
your
researchledyoutothatanswer.Thethesisstatementincludesyourmainclaimandabriefstatementofyourmajorpoints.Nomatterhowlongyourpresentationis,youshouldbeabletostateyourmainclaiminonesentence.
ChoosingaResearchQuestion
Whenyoudeveloparesearchquestion,askyourselfthefollowingquestions:
Whowillcareaboutmyquestion?Isthescopeofmyquestionpersonal,local,regional,national,orinternational?(Avoidtopicsthatarepersonalorthosethatwillaffectonlyafewpeople.)
Istheanswertomyquestionalreadyknowntomyaudience?Iftheaudiencealreadyknowstheanswertoyourquestion,youshouldchooseanotherquestion.
DoesmytopicrequiremetodefineacomplexandcontestedtermorconceptbeforeIevenstarttomakemyargument?Avoidtopicsthatrelyonpersonalbelief,opinion,orexperienceinordertosupportyourargument.Forexample,topicsthatrequirethatyoufirstargueforaparticulardefinitionoftaste,morality,ethics,orsinwillbehardtoarguebecauseyouwillrarelysucceedatfindingananswertoyour
question.
WherewillIfindevidenceformytopic:books,journals,newspapers,magazines,websites,orothersources?
Agoodtopicisonethatinterestsyou.Perhapsyouaremostinterestedinsports,aparticularbattle,anovel,agenreoffilm,socialmedia,abusinessconcept,ecology,orInternetsecurity.
Almostanytopicisagoodtopic,butextractingaresearchquestionfromyourtopicrequires
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morethought.Agoodresearchquestionwillbeonethatyouhaven'tformedanopinionaboutalready,anditwillbeabletobeansweredthroughresearch;whenbrainstormingresearchtopics,youshouldthinkabouttheresearchyouwouldneedtodotoansweryourquestion.
Severalsetsofexampletopics,researchquestions,theses,andpotentialmainpointsareprovidedbelow:
Topic ResearchQuestion
Thesisstatement Majorpoints/reasonsthatcanbeproventhroughresearch
Vaccinations Shouldparentsvaccinatetheirchildren?
Parentsshouldvaccinatetheirchildrenbecausethepositiveeffectsofvaccinationsoutweightherisks,andparentsareresponsibleforotherchildrenwhomaybecome
sickafter
coming
into
contact
with
anunvaccinatedchild.
Theriskofachildgettingsickorbeingharmedfromavaccinationislow.
Vaccinationsreducethechances
that
achild
will
getsickvaccinationssavelives.
Parentswhochoosenottovaccinatetheirchildrenputotherchildrenatrisk.
Urbanagriculture
Shouldcitydwellersbe
allowedto
keepbees?
Citydwellersshouldbeallowedtokeepbeesbecausetheyare
relativelyharmless,
they
produce
honeywithhighnutritionalvalue,andtheyhelppollinateurbangardens.
Certainbeespeciesaretameenoughtobekept
inthe
city
because
they
poseverylittledangertocitizens.
Naturalhoneyhasmorepositiveeffectsonpeoplethanmassproducedhoney.
Beekeepingcanhelpkeepurbangardensproducing.
You'llnoticethateachthesisstatementbothanswersthequestionandgivesabriefoverviewofwhythewritercametohisorherconclusion.Themajorpoints(youcanalsothinkofmajorpointsasreasons)intherightmostcolumnshouldallbeabletobeproventhroughresearch.Asyourefineyourtopicintoaresearchquestionandthesisstatement,besurethateachof
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yourmajorpointscanbesupportedbyresearchratherthanpersonalbelief,opinion,oryourownexperience.Ifyourthesiscannotbesupportedwithoutrelyingonpersonalbelief,opinion,oryourownexperience,it'snotagoodthesisforaresearchdrivenpaper.
Asanexampleofaresearchquestionandthesisthatwouldnotbeagoodquestionforaresearchdrivenpaper,considerthequestion,"Isownershipofpetsethicallywrong?"(Sometimesyou'llhearthesedifficulttoproveresearchquestionsphrased"Isownershipofpets
wrong?"
or
"Is
it
bad
to
own
pets?")
If
you
forecast
your
main
points,
you
will
quickly
realizethatyouneedtodefineethicsfirst.Unlessyoudoaverygoodjobofdefiningethicsinawaythatresonateswithageneralaudience,yourpaperisdeadinthewater.PETAmaybelievethatit'sunethicaltoownapet,butethicsisatopicthatisopentosomanypointsofviewthatyou'reunlikelytomakeadentinyourreaders'ownbiasesaboutethicsinaresearchpaper.Yourpaperwillonlyappealtothosewhobelievedyoutobeginwith.
Asyouaskyourresearchquestionandnarrowyourscope,you'llwanttocreateaquestionthatappealstoasmanypeopleaspossible,soyou'llwanttosticktoclaimsbasedonresearchacceptabletoageneralaudienceanaudiencedefinedonlybyitsdiversity.Tryrefiningyourquestionto,"Whataretheenvironmentalimpactsofowningapet?"Youraudiencewilllikely
havefewer
preconceived
notions
about
this
topic
because
the
evidence
will
be
research
based.
Topic ResearchQuestion
ThesisStatement Majorpoints/reasonsthatcanbeproventhroughresearch
Petownership
Whataretheenvironmentalimpactsofowning
a
dog
or
cat?
Ownershipofdogsandcatsisharmfultotheenvironmentbecausetheirfoodrequiresa
large
amount
of
carbon
emissions,theydisruptnaturalecosystems,andtheycanspreaddisease.
Dogsandcatseatmeatbasedfoodsalmostexclusively,andthisfood
requires
agricultural
land
andcarbonemissionstoproduce.
Dogsandcatsdisruptthenaturalecosystemandbiodiversityofland.
Petfecescanleadtodiseaseandpollution.
Awritercanmaketheprecedingmainclaimabouttheownershipofpetsbecausethewriterisabletodrawuponsourcesacceptedbyageneralaudienceasauthoritativeandnonbiased.Researchcantellushowmuchfoodtheaveragedogorcateatsperyear,andagriculturaldatacantellustheresourcesthatarerequiredtocreatethatfood.Environmentalimpactstudiescantellushowpetsaffectecosystemsandbiodiversity,andmedicalstudiescantellushowpetfecesinpublicareasmightimpactourhealth.Allofthesepointscanbeprovenwithouthavingtofirstdefineethics,sothequestion"Whataretheenvironmentalimpactsofowningadogor
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cat?"isabletobeansweredinaresearchpaperwhilethequestion"Isownershipofpetsethicallywrong?"isnot.
Writerswillencounterthesameproblemwhenaskingquestionsthatrelyondefinitionsoftaste,belief,opinion,orsin.Forexample,supposeyouweretochoosetheresearchquestion"Ispremaritalsexasin?"Ifyouforecastyourresearchprocess,youwillrealizethatyoureallyneedtodefine"sin."Youwilldiscoververyquicklythatdifferentaudienceswillrefertodifferent
texts
to
define
sin
and
that
some
audiences
don't
accept
"sin"
as
avalid
concept
at
all!
Startingoutyourresearchpaperwithasignificantnumberofreadersdisapprovingofyourdefinitionofatermthatyourelyontomakeyourmainclaimisnotagoodwaytostartaresearchpaper.
So,youmightnarrowthequestionto,"AccordingtoChristianfaith,ispremaritalsexasin?"You'vesolvedoneproblemyouaren'toverreachingwhatyoucanprovewithresearchthatyouraudiencewillacceptascredible.Ontheotherhand,you'renowmakingapointthatisn'treallyworthresearching.IfmostChristiandoctrinesayspremaritalsexisasin,andstandardChristianthoughtisthatpremaritalsexisasin,youalreadyknowtheanswertoyourquestion
beforeyou
begin
your
research
writing.
Theresearchquestions"Isownershipofpetsethicallywrong?"and"AccordingtoChristianfaith,ispremaritalsexasin?"arebothexamplesofquestionsthatcanonlybemadesuccessfullyifyouare"preachingtothechoir."Thatistosaythatyouareunlikelytochangeanyone'smindabouttheanswertothesequestionsinashortresearchpaper,soquestionssuchastheseshouldbeavoided.
Besidesthefactthatboththeprecedingtopicexamples("Ispremaritalsexasin?"and"Isownershipofpetsethicallywrong?")areexamplesofpreachingtothechoir,theyshareanotherfactorincommon:theybothcomeattheresearchpaperbackwards.
Youshouldn't
know
the
answer
to
your
research
question
to
begin
with,
though
you
can
have
a
hunch.Thepointofresearchwritingistolettheresearchspeakthroughyouandtotellyoutheanswertoyourquestion.Ifyoustartwithaquestionthatcanberesearchedratherthanwithapreconceivedanswer,youwillbeworkinginharmonywiththeresearchprocess.Asaresult,yourresearchpaperwillbemuchmoreinterestingandeffective.
TheAnnotatedBibliography:SummarizingandEvaluatingtheAuthorityof
Sources
Anannotatedbibliographyentryisacombinationofareferencespageandashortsummaryandcritiqueofthevalueofaparticularsourcetoyourresearchquestion.Annotated
bibliographies
can
have
any
number
of
entries,
and
writing
one
will
help
you
think
critically
aboutyoursourcesandconsidertheauthor'scredibilityandhowthesourcewillhelpyouansweryourresearchquestion.
Eachannotationiscomposedofareferencesliststylecitationandoneparagraphthatsummarizesandevaluatesthesourceauthor'scredibility.Eachannotationshouldhaveanintextcitationattheendoftheannotation.Annotationswillhelpyouknowwhetheryouhaveadequateresearchandwhetheryouarecitingrealexpertswithtiestotheresearchcommunity
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inyourtopic.
BecauseoftheInternet,writershaveunprecedentedaccesstoinformationintheworld.Asaresult,researchwriterscommonlyforgettothinkcriticallyaboutthesourcestheyincorporateintotheirwriting.
Whenwritersdon'tquestionthecredibilityoftheinformationtheyfind,theyruntheriskof
usingfaulty
evidence
and
drawing
unfounded
conclusions.
Your
job
as
aresearch
writer
is
to
determinewhetherasourceisauthoritative(alsoreferredtoascredible)andrelevant,andtheannotatedbibliographyhelpsyoutodothat.
Summary
Whencreatinganannotatedbibliographyentry,youshouldfirstwriteabriefsummaryabouthowasourceisrelevanttoyourtopicexplaintoyourreaderinasentenceortwowhataboutthesourcemakesitrelevantorusefulinansweringyourresearchquestion.
Readthetitleandsubtitleifthesourcehasone.Whatdothesetellyouaboutthemain
point?
Identifythemainclaimofthesourceandthenidentifythemajorpoints.
Statethemainclaimofthesourceinonetotwosentences.
Identifyevidenceorexamples(includingcharts,tables,orothervisualaids)and
counterexamples.Makesureyoudon'tgetconfusedbetweenexamplesand
counterexamples.(It'sconsideredabestpracticeofresearchwriterstoaddressinthe
research
papernotonlyevidencethatsupportsthewriter'sownmainclaimbutalsoto
brieflyaddressevidenceorargumentsthatdonotsupporttheclaim.Thispracticeensures
thatwritershavenotignoredsignificantargumentsagainsttheirarguments.Inyourbrief
summaryforyourannotatedbibliography,youdon'tneedtogointothespecificsofhow
writersdeal
with
counterexamples
unless
it's
relevant
to
your
argument,
but
don't
be
confusedaboutthewriter'smainclaimwhenyoucomeacrossacounterexampleinyour
reading.)
Isthereanydatathatwillbeessentialinhelpingyouproveyourpoint?Summarizethis
informationintheappropriatelevelofdetailforyourpurpose.Foryourannotated
bibliography,
you
won't
be
able
to
include
much
detail,
but
be
sure
to
take
notes
for
later
inclusionintoyourwriting.Don'tforgettocite:ifyouloseacitation,youmayneverfindit
again,andyoucan'tusethesourceinyourpaper!
Yoursummarymustbewritteninthethirdpersonvoice(no"I,""me,""my,"or"you.")
There'salot
of
information
that
you
could
put
into
your
paper,
but
if
information
isn't
relevant
toyourresearchquestion,it'sjustwastedspacenotevidence.Informationfromasourceonlycountsasevidenceifitsupportsyourmainclaimorapotentialmajorpointyourthesisstatement.Ifyourmajorpointsarenotproperlysupportedbyevidence,yourmainclaimwillnotholdtogether.
Summariescanvaryinlength,andthelengthofthesummarywilldeterminethelevelofdetailthatyoursummaryshouldprovide.Longersummariesmightincludequotationsand
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paraphrases,butthe150wordsallottedforyourannotatedbibliographyentrieswillprecludeincorporatingdirectquotationsintoyoursummaryfocusonthebroadideasinstead.
Inyoursummaryofthesourcefortheannotatedbibliography,youdon'tincludeyouropinionsorbiasesaboutthetopic;yourjobistosummarizebrieflywhattheauthorissayingaboutyourresearchquestionandthenmoveontoananalysisoftherelevanceandauthorityofthesource.
Evaluation:
Peoplesaythingsthatareunfounded,untrue,anddownrightnonsensical.Yourjobasawriteristofindauthoritativeevidencetosupportyourmajorpointstheauthorsshouldbecredible.
Authority(alsocalledcredibility)comesinmanyways.Inacademia,whetherasourceispeerreviewedornotisastrongindicatorofcredibility.
Mostofthesourcesthatyouaccessthroughthelibrary,librarydatabases,andGoogleScholarwillhavebeenpeerreviewed,sotheytendtobemorevaluableforuseinyourresearch.
Foundationwebsitesorwebsitesrunbyorganizationscanalsobehelpful,aslongasthosewebsitespresentfactualinformationwrittenbyanexpert.Beware,though:foundationsandorganizationscanalsohavetheirownbiases.Questioningtheauthorityofeachsourceandusingavarietyofsourceswillensurethatyourresearchwritingisstrong.
Youshouldnotusewikis,blogs,personalwebsites,opinionwebsites,orwebsiteswrittenbyanonymousauthorstosupportyourclaims.Thesewebsitesarenotrequiredtogothroughtheprocessofpeerreview,sotheinformationcontainedinthemmaynotbetrue
ormay
be
only
partially
true.
IntroductiontoAPAFormatandCitingSources
Yourresearchpaperwilluseacombinationofyourquotation,paraphrase,summary,andsynthesisskills.You'llpracticetheseskillsmoreinfutureassignments,butthesenextfewassignmentswillfocusoncorrectlycitingyoursources.Anytimeyousummarize,quote,orparaphrasetheideasofanotherauthor(asyouwillberequiredtodoforyourannotatedbibliography,paraphrase,synthesis,outline,andresearchpaper),youneedtocorrectlycitethesource.
Whycitations?
Whenwritingaresearchpaper,thewritermustparaphrase,summarize,orquotesourcetextsandsynthesizethemintosomethingnew.Youwilllearnaboutparaphrasingandsynthesizinginalaterassignment,butfornow,it'sonlyimportantthatyouunderstandthatresearchwritersusealloftheseskillsinordertowriteaboutresearch.Anyinformationthatisnotcommonknowledgemustbecited,andbecauseyourresearchpaperisdrivenbyresearchandevidence,youshouldmostlikelybeciting23timesineachparagraph.Theformatofyour
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citationwilldependonwhetheryouarequoting,paraphrasing,orsummarizing:
Aquotationisthemostprecisewaytotellyourreaderwhatasourcesaid.Whenyouquoteasource,youusetheexactwordsoftheoriginalauthor,andyouincludethesewordsinquotationmarkstoshowyourreaderthattheyoriginatedwithyoursource.Allquotationsshouldbecited;thenextassignmentwillexplainAPAconventions.
Quotationscan
be
run
into
the
body
of
your
paper,
or
they
can
be
set
as
ablock
quotation
if
theyare40wordsorlonger.
Quotationsshowyourreadertheflavoroftheoriginalsource,andtheyaregoodifyoucouldn'tpossiblystatetheinformationasconciselyastheoriginalauthor.Youshouldalwaysprovidecommentarybeforeandafteraquotationdon'tjustthrowdataatyourreaderwithoutescortingthereaderthroughthedata.Quotationsarebulkyafterall,youarewritingyourownpaper,andaquotationisameanstoanend.Youruseofquotationsshouldbelimited.(Usuallynomorethan10%ofyourresearchpapershouldbedirectquotations.)
Aparaphraseismoreconcisethanaquotation.Itissimilartoaquotationinthatitcovers
limited
ground
of
the
original,
but
it
is
different
because
you
don't
use
the
same
words
as
the
author.Youdon'tusequotationmarksaroundthewords,butitisessentialthatyoucitethesource,includingthenameoftheauthorandthedateofpublication.
Asummary(sometimescalledadistantparaphrase)usesthesameskillsasparaphrasingexceptyousummarizethemainideaoftheoriginalwork.Fortheannotatedbibliography,yoursummaryshouldbecursory,highlightingjusttheideasthatareimportanttoyourresearchquestion.
Shortsummariesshouldnotusetheexactwordsoftheauthor;sosummarizedcontentdoesn'tneedquotationmarksaroundit.However,youdoneedtocreateanintextcitationsothatyourreadercantellwhenyouaresummarizinganauthor'sideasandwhenyouarepresenting
yourown
or
those
of
adifferent
author.
Summariescanvaryinlength,andthelengthofthesummarywilldeterminethelevelofdetailthatyoursummaryshouldprovide.Longersummariesmightincludequotationsandcloseparaphrases,butthe150wordsallottedforyourannotatedbibliographyentrieswilldefinitelyprecludeincorporatingquotationsintoyoursummaryfocusonthebroadideasinstead.
Thestudentispartofacommunityofscholarsorknowledgeproducers.Whetherinauniversitycommunity,inabusinessenvironment,orinasocialenvironment,citingsourcesisanimportantmatter.
Common
Knowledge
Allinformationthatisnotcommonknowledgeneedstobecited.Verylittleofwhatyouwriteinyourresearchpaperwillbecommonknowledge.Ifyouweretowriteyourresearchpaperwithmostlycommonknowledge,you'dhavelittlereasontowriteyourpaper.Commonknowledgeisknowledgethatisuncontestableorfact.Afewexamplesofcommonknowledgearelistedbelow:
BarackObamaisthe43rdpresidentoftheUnitedStates.
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ChristopherColumbusfirstlandedintheAmericasin1492. TheCivilRightsActof1964madethesegregationofschoolsillegal. e.e.cummingswasapoet. Humangestationaveragesninemonths.
Asyoucansee,yourresearchpaperwouldnotbeveryinterestingifitonlyincludedfactsofcommonknowledge,butyoucanrelyonuncontroversialfactssuchasthesewhenusingyoursources
to
support
your
arguments.
Youdon'tneedtocitecommonknowledge,butsomeknowledgethatseemsuncontroversialisinfactnotasclearcutasitseems.Forinstance,intherecentdecadesPlutohasgainedandlostitsstatusasaplanet,andtheargumentsthatsurroundthisdebatearecompelling.Citeyoursourcesifyouareatalluncertainabouttheextenttowhichyourassertionisacceptedbyageneralaudienceasanuncontestedfact.
Citationslendauthoritytoresearchpapers,andtheygivecreditwherecreditisdue.Propercitationhelpsthewritershowreadersthatthewriterhasdoneduediligenceinbecominganexpertonthetopicandiscontributingtotheconversation.
WhatisAPAformat?
APAformatisanagreeduponstyleofcodingyourresearchandwascreatedatHarvardUniversity.ItisofficiallyrepresentedtodaybytheAmericanPsychologicalAssociation.Thereareotherformats(MLA,CSE,andChicagoarealsopopular)butWGUusesAPA.MostsocialsciencesuseAPAformat.
Eachstylehasitsownconventions.Ononehand,APAisjustastyle,butitmustbefollowedinorderforcitationstobeusefulandforyourpapertobeacceptabletothescholarlycommunity.
Differenttypesofsourcesneeddifferenttypesofinformationtoidentifythem.Eachofthe
sources
you
use
will
require
an
in
text
and
a
reference
citation.
APA
formatting
has
a
specific
setofrequirementsforcitationsandforformattingthepaperingeneral.
APAformattingrequirements
Titlepage
o runninghead
o pagenumber
o titleofyourpaper
o yourname
o youruniversityaffiliation
Bodypages
o runninghead
o pagenumber
References
o runninghead
o pagenumber
o citationsinAPAformat,usingahangingindentstyle
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Allpages
o 1"marginsontop,bottom,left,andright
o Doublespacesbetweensentences
o Noextraspacebetweenparagraphs
o TimesNewRomanfont,12pt
o Indentsof.5inches
Formattingyourassignmentstherightway
Formattingcanbefrustratingifyoudoitincorrectly.Somestudentsusethespacebarinsteadofthetabkey,andtheyusethereturnorenterbuttoninsteadofallowingtheprogramtheyareusingtodoublespaceautomatically.Thismakesyourpaperlookunprofessional,anditcausesyoumorefrustrationintheendbecauseyou'reworkingagainstyoursoftwareratherthanwithit.Thetutorialtothetoprightwillexplainhowtoformatyourpaperandhowtoformatyourannotatedbibliographyassignment.
PracticewithIntextAPACitations
Howdo
Icreate
an
in
text
citation?
Intextcitationsarecitationsthatyouseeinthetextofthewritingratherthanonaseparatepageinthelistofreferences.Whilethereferencescitationprovidesalltheinformationaboutthetextthatthereaderwillneedtofindthesourceyouusedagain,ifheorshehasquestionsaboutitthatyourwritingdoesn'taddress,theintextcitationshowsthereaderwhichspecificwordsandideascomefromtheauthoryouareciting.Eachsourceyouuseinyourresearchpaperwillneedatleastoneintextcitationandafullcitationinthereferenceslist.Intextcitationsworkasacodeinthepapertoconnecttothereferencesattheendofthepaper.
Youshouldcite2 3timesperparagraphtomakesureyourreaderunderstandsthatyouaresupportingyourclaimswithresearch.
Therearethreedifferentwaystocreateanintextcitation:
Refertotheauthor'snameinthesentenceandincludethedateofpublicationin
parenthesesaftertheauthor'sname(goodforparaphraseorsummary);
insertaparentheticalnotationwiththeauthor'sname,thedateofpublication,andthe
pageorparagraphnumberattheendofthesentence(goodforparaphrase,summary,
ordirectquotations);
useablockquotationforquotations40wordsorlonger.Theauthor'snameanddateof
publicationshouldintroducethequotation,andaparentheticalnotationwiththepage
numbershouldfollowtheendingpunctuationofthequotation.Blockquotationsbreak
upthe
flow
of
your
paper
and,
most
of
the
time,
summaries
or
paraphrases
would
betterhelpyourreaderunderstandwhytheideasinthesourceareimportanttoyour
topic.Asaresult,blockquotationsshouldbeusedsparingly.
Creatingintextcitationsisntjustamatterofformattingyourparentheticalcitationscorrectlythoughthat'scertainlyaconcern.Wheninsertinganintextcitation,youneedtogiveyourreaderenoughcontextsothatheorsheunderstandswhetheryouarequotingor
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paraphrasingwordsorideas.Readersalsoneedtounderstandwhyyouarecitinganotherauthor:Areyougivingvoicetoacounterargument?Orareyouprovidingevidenceforamajorpoint?
Signaltoyourreaderwhyyouarecitingbyusingintroductoryphrasessuchastheoneitalicizedintheexcerptbelow:
Thus began a stalemate that took its toll in many ways.Strachan (2003) writes that, even when the front
lines that divided the troops were merely yards apart, the commanders saw major offensives as the only option.
Theitalicizedsentenceexplainswhythecitationisimportantthewriterofthispaperwantedhisreaderstoknowthathe'sabouttogivesomebackgroundinformationaboutwhythisstalematecontributedtoanAlliedlossinthebattleofGallipoli.Hefollowsupthatintroductorysentencewiththecitedinformation,whichyouwillnoticeintroducesthesourceauthor'sname,providestheyearofpublicationofthebook,andfollowswiththeparaphrased
information.
Everytimeyouciteasource,youwillneedtoincludetheauthor'sname,thedateofpublication,andthepagenumber(ifyouarequoting).
However,thelocationinwhichyouprovidethisinformationwillchangedependingonwhetheryouwritetheauthor'snameaspartofthesentenceornot.Alaterquotationbythesameauthorinthesameparagraphwouldnotnecessarilyneedtoreiteratetheauthor'snametointroducethequotedorparaphrasedcontent,butitwouldneedtoincludethenameoftheauthor,thepublicationdate,andthepagenumberintheparentheticalcitationattheendofthephraseorsentence.Theexamplebelowshowsyouthepassageabovealongwiththerestofitsparagraph.
Thus began a stalemate that took its toll in many ways. Strachan (2003) writes that, even when the front
lines that divided the troops were merely yards apart, the commanders saw major offensives as the only option.
Strachan (2003) asserts that it is difficultif not impossibleto arrange an offensive, let alone win it, when
troops are in such close proximity to one another. However, the Turks had learned to effectively neutralize the
supporting Allied naval cannons by digging in as close as possible to the Allied trenches, making it impossible
for the cannons to be used for fear of hitting their own troops. Staying in close proximity became a major
Turkish strategy (Strachan, 2003).
Ifyourparaphraseislongerthanoneparagraph,youshouldincludeacitationattheendofeachofyourparagraphs.Ifyouarecitingmorethanoneauthorinaparagraph,besuretoincludeadequateintroductionsandcitationssothatyourreaderknowswhenyouare
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transitioningbetweentheideasofyourvariousauthors.
Alternately,youmightquotecontentdirectlyifyoufeelthattheauthor'soriginalphrasingoffersatoneoraconcisionthatyouwouldnotwanttodisrupt.TheparagraphbelowusesaquotationthatlistsinquicksuccessiontheproblemsthattheAlliesfaced,sothewriterofthispaperchosetokeepthequotationintactbecauseitoffersmoreconcisionthanhecouldreplicate.
Other Allied mistakes that directly affected the outcome can be traced to the very first day of the land
invasion, which came in April. According to Strachan (2003), "The army relied on ship-based artillery support,
but the navy confronted considerable difficulties in providing it. The maps it was using were inadequate; the
ground itself was steep and intersected; and observation of fire inadequate" (pp. 121122). Combined with the
fact that the Allied powers had very few airplanes in the area, the weak naval support made it hard for the
Allies to observe Turkish maneuvers, contributing further to their diminishing prospects (Strachan, 2003).
They were unable to ever gain a solid foothold on the peninsula, and they spent much of the campaign on the
shores, unable to advance deeply into the interior (Strachan, 2003).
Youwillnoticeintheexcerptabovethattheauthorstillusesanintroductorystatementtoexplainwhythequotationisimportanttohismajorpoint.Afterreadingthefirstsentence,weknowthequotationisgoingtotellusmoreaboutAlliedmistakesthatledtotheirloss.Theconclusionsentencefurtherexplainswhythequotationandparaphrasedcontentareimportanttotheresearchpaperasawhole.
Youmightwanttousepartofaquotationinsideofasentencethatisparaphrasedorsynthesized
in
your
own
words.
The
sentence
below
contains
aquotation
in
the
middle
of
a
sentence.Payspecialattentiontothewayinwhichthisquotationiscited.
Historians like James (1965) are in near unanimous agreement that Churchill was responsible for the
debacle of Gallipoli, going so far as to say that because of Churchill's "excess of imagination, a layman's
ignorance of artillery, and the fatal power of a young enthusiasm to convince older and slower brains" (p. 352),
the Allies lost the war. However, this opinion undercuts the superb leadership skills of the otherleader in the
war, Mustafa Kemal.
Thispassagehasanintroductionthatexplainswhothewriteriscitingandthedateofpublication,butitalsoexplainswhatthequotationwillillustrate.Then,becausethesentencedoesn'tendwiththeendofthequotation,thepagenumberisplacedaftertheclosingquotationmark,beforethenextsentencepunctuationinthiscaseacomma.
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Rememberthat,regardlessofthepunctuationthattheintextcitationprecedes,theclosingparenthesisofthecitationfallsbeforetheclosingpunctuation.Neverplacetheclosingpunctuationofthesentenceinsidetheparentheticalcitation.
Theconclusionofthepassageabovealsoexplainswhythefactisimportanttotheresearchpaperasawhole.ThelastsentencetellsthereaderthathistorianswhoblameChurchillareunderestimatingtheleadershipskillsoftheTurkishleader.Readersshouldalsoexpectthattheresearch
paper
writer
is
transitioning
to
talking
about
Mustafa
Kemal.
Rememberthatwhenyouuseaquotation,youmuststillwritecompletesentences.Everysentenceofyourwritingmustbegrammaticallycorrect.Whenyouusequotations,youneedtoincorporatethemintoyourownsentences.Evenifyouuseonlypartofasentencefromyouroriginalsource,itisyourresponsibilitytousethecorrectgrammarsothatitfitscomfortablyintoyourownwriting.Breakquotationsintosmallerpiecesifyouneedtoandcombineparaphraseswithquotations,butensurethatyoudon'tchangethemeaningofthequotationbyeliminatingimportantwordswhenyoutrimquotationsdown.
Finally,onveryspecialoccasions,youcanuseablockquotationtoincludedirectquotationsof
40or
more
words
within
your
research
paper:
A biographer of the Turkish leader Mustafa Kemal remarked on the how the Allied perspective of their
Turkish enemies changed from one of disregard to one of admiration after the battle:
The Turks, whom they at first underrated, had turned the weapon against them. The first surprise was the
emergence, at the crucial time and place, of a Turkish commander equal, if not superior in military skill
to their own. The second surprise was the Turkish soldier himself. Besides a sure grasp of tactical
essentials, Kemal had shown a shrewd understanding of his men. He knew the psychology of the Turk,
and thefighting spirit of which he was capable, once he had faith in his leaders and his blood was
roused; and he knew how to rouse it. Thus between them, Kemal and the Turkish soldier saved the
Gallipoli Peninsula. (Kinross, 1964)
So while many have written off the battle of Gallipoli as an Allied loss, the fighting spirit of the Turkish
soldiers and their fearless leader should not be ignored.
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Blockquotationsshouldbeindentedasablock,andthefirstsentenceofthefirstparagraphisnotindentedfurther.Thefirstsentenceofanyadditionalparagraphsintheblockquotation,
Introducing Words
acknowledges concludes elucidates offers
admits contends expresses presents
advises criticizes illustrates refutes
agrees demonstrates implies rejects
argues describes insists replies
asserts disagrees lists reports
believes discusses maintains responds
claims disputes notes suggests
concedes emphasizes objects writes
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however,shouldbeindented.Also,pleasenoticethatblockquotationsaretheonetypeofquotationinwhichtheendingsentencepunctuationprecedestheparentheticalcitation.Thereisnopunctuationaftertheendingparentheticalcitation.
Again,pleasenoticethatthequotedmaterialaboveis"chaperoned"bysentencesbeforeandafterthatexplainwhyitisimportanttotheresearchpaperaswhole.Inaddition,readingthroughthepassage,thereadergetsasenseoftheadmirationthesourceauthorhasfortheleader;
this
tone
is
why
the
research
paper
writer
left
this
quotation
intact
as
ablock
quotation.
Healsoexplainedintheintroductorysentencethatthisnewfoundadmirationisanimportantpartofhispoint.
Rememberthat,ingeneral,blockquotationsareaninefficientuseofspace.Youshouldonlyusethemwhenparaphrasingthematerialwoulddiminishtheeffectivenessofyouruseofthatevidence.
Youshouldnowhaveagoodunderstandingofafewrules:
Allcitedmaterial(quotationsandcloseordistantparaphrases)needstobe
accompanied
by
an
in
text
citation
consisting
of
the
author's
name,
the
date
of
publication,and(whenitcoversapageorfinitepagerange)thepagenumberornumbers.
Anytimeyoustateanauthor'snameinyourwriting,thedateofpublicationshouldcomeafteritinparentheses;thepagenumberthenwouldbeplacedafterthecitedmaterial,beforethenearestpunctuation(whetherthat'sacomma,aperiod,oranotherpunctuationmark).
Directlyquotedmaterialshouldbeusedonlyinspecialcircumstanceswhentheauthor'soriginalphrasingimpartsatoneoraconcisenessthatyoucouldn'timprove.
Directlyquotedmaterialmustalwaysbeenclosedwithquotationmarks,andthe
citationmust
include
the
author's
name,
the
date
of
publication,
and
the
page
number. Youshouldincorporateintroductorywordsintoyoursummaries,quotations,andparaphrases.Tryusingwordsfromthetabletotheright.
PracticewithAPAReferencesPage
Inadditiontointextcitations,APAformatrequiresyoutoincludeareferencespageformattedinacertainwaysothatreaderswillbeabletofindthesourcesyoureferredtoiftheyhaveanyquestionsthatyoudidn'taddressinyourwriting.YourannotatedbibliographywillalsorequirethatyoucreateareferencesliststyleAPAformattedcitationattheendofeachentryforpractice.NormallyanannotationdoesnotincludeanintextcitationinAPAstylesincethefull
referenceis
given
above
the
annotation.
Thereferencespageliststhecompletecitationinformationofeachsourceyouusedinalphabeticalorderaccordingtothefirstletterofthecitation(whichmaybeanauthor'snameorthetitleofthesourceiftheauthorisunknown).Thoughdifferentsourceswillrequireyoutoincludedifferentinformation,thereisageneralpatterntoallreferencespageentries:
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Last name, First initial. (Date of publication). Title of work.Relevant publication or retrieval information.
Averybasicreferencecitationwouldbe:
Shirky, C. (2008).Here comes everybody: The power of organizing without organizations. New York: The
Penguin Press.
Placetheauthor'slastnamefirstifitisavailable.Useonlytheauthor'sfirstinitial.Booktitlesareitalicized,andarticletitlesarenotitalicizedandhavenoquotationmarks.Onlythefirstwordandpropernamesarecapitalizedinbooktitles,andaperiodcomesattheendofthetitle.Periodsareplacedaftertheclosingparenthesisofthedate.Thepublicationcity(orcityandstateifthecityisn'taworldclasscity)isseparatedfromthepublisherbyacolon,andaperiodfollowsattheveryend.Theentryusesahangingindentedstylethesecondandall
subsequentlines
are
indented.
Sometimesbookshavemorethanoneauthor.Theentryisjustaboutthesame:
Buderi, R., & Huang, G. (2006). Guanxi: The art of relationships.New York: Simon & Schuster.
Usean&symbolbetweenauthors'names,andbesuretolistthenamesinsameorderinwhichtheyarelistedonthebookthepersonwhosenameislistedfirsteitherdidmoreworkoristhemoreprofessionallyrecognizedauthor.Besuretoincludesubtitles(thepartofthetitleafterthecolon).Thefirstwordofthesubtitleshouldbecapitalized.
Sometimesabook
will
be
an
edited
collection
of
articles,
but
you
may
have
found
the
whole
bookortheeditor'spieceshelpful.Inthiscase,thecitationisprettysimilar:
Fraginals, M. (Ed.). (1984).Africa in Latin America(L. Blum, Trans.). New York: Holmes & Meier
Publishers, Inc. (Original work published in 1977)
Allabbreviatedforms(Ed.for"editor";Trans.for"translator")haveaperiodafterthemtoindicatetheabbreviation;anotherperiodfollowstheclosingparenthesis.Theoriginalpublicationdateisplacedattheendofthecitationwithnoclosingpunctuation.
Ontheotherhand,ifyouonlyuseonearticleinaneditedbook,youshouldcreateanentryforjustthearticlethatyouused.
Aretz, I (1984). Music and dance in continental Latin America, with the exception of Brazil. In Fraginals, M.
(Ed.),Africa in Latin America(L. Blum, Trans.) (pp. 189 226). New York: Holmes & Meier
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Publishers, Inc. (Original work published in 1977)
Theauthorofthearticleyouusedcomesfirst.Thearticletitleissetinromanfont(noitalics)withnoquotationmarksaroundit.Sentencecapitalizationisused(since"LatinAmerica"isa
proper
noun,
it
is
capitalized
in
both
the
article
title
and
the
book
title),
and
a
period
follows.
Write"In"beforetherestofthecitationfortheeditedbook.
Periodicalsandmagazinesfollowsimilarlogic.
Birnbaum, C. (2007, September). Cultivating appreciation.Dwell, 7,196.
Facing up to China. (2010, February 6). The Economist,11.
Eggertson, L. (2010). Lancet retracts 12-year-old article linking autism to MMR vaccines. CMAJ: Canadian
Medical Association Journal, 182,E199E200.
Manyarticlesinmagazinesornewspaperswillnotlisttheauthortheauthorityforthearticlecomesfrombeingpublishedbyanauthoritativesourcelikeawellknownnewspaperorperiodical.Ifthedayisavailable,andthesourceisanewspaperormagazine,includethepublicationdateoftheperiodicalinthecitation;otherwise,theyearandmonthisfine(2010,February).Thepagenumbercomesattheend.
Articlesthat
you
find
online
follow
the
same
logic,
but
you
need
to
include
more
information
aboutthedateandmethodofretrieval.
Ifthesourceisformattedexactlythesame(pagenumbersandall),thecitationonlychangesslightly:
Facing up to China. (2010, February 6). The Economist, 11. Retrieved from http://www.economist.com
Frank, R. (2010, February 20). A small price for a large benefit. The New York Times. Retrieved from
http://www.nytimes.com
Eggertson, L. (2010). Lancet retracts 12-year-old article linking autism to MMR vaccines. CMAJ: Canadian
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Medical Association Journal, 182,E199E200. Retrieved from http://www.cmaj.ca/
YoushouldincludetheURLforanyresourcesyoufoundonline.Ifyoufoundthearticlethroughadatabase,youshouldnotcitethedatabase.Instead,usethelinkforthejournalorperiodical's
homepage.
You
may
need
to
add
a
space
in
the
middle
of
the
link
to
allow
the
link
to
break
overmultiplelines.Youshouldalsopreventyourwordprocessingsoftwarefromunderliningorhyperlinkingthelink.Usually,youcanbackspacerightafterthesoftwarechangesthetexttoalink.Ifthatdoesn'twork,presscontrolwhileclickingthelink,gotoHyperlink,EditHyperlink,andclickRemoveLink.
Sometimesajournalwillusethedigitalobjectidentifier(DOI)systemtoidentifytheparticulararticle.Thesystemassignsauniquesetofnumbersandsometimesletterstoidentifyoneuniquearticle.YoucanseeintheimagebelowthattheDOIishighlighted.NotallarticleswillhaveaDOI,butwhenanarticledoes,youcanlisttheDOInumberattheendofthereferencecitation,asyouseebelow.NoperiodcomesaftertheDOI,andyoudonotneedtolisttheretrievalURLortheissuenumber.Thecitationbelowtheimageshowsyouhowthisresourcewould
be
cited.
Kyriacou, A. P. (2010). Intrinsic motivation and the logic of collective action: The impact of selective
incentives.American Journal of Economics & Sociology, 69, 823839. doi:10.1111/j.1536-
7150.2020.00722.x
Moremediaismovingonline,andsometimes,youwillfindjournalsthatareexclusivelyonlineandavailabletoall,suchastheoneintheexamplebelow:
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Blankenship, T., Boon, R. T., & Fore, C. (2007). Inclusion and placement decisions for students with special
needs: A historical analysis of relevant statutory and case law.Electronic Journal for Inclusive
Education, 2(1). Retrieved from http://www.cehs.wright.edu/resources/
publications/ejie/Winter_Spring_2007/HTML_Files/1Fore_Inclusion.htm
Theexampleaboveusesthedirectlinktothearticlebecauseitisastablelinkthatisavailabletoall.Tocompare,theEggertsonarticlethatprecedesthisexampleisonlyavailablethroughdatabases,butyourreadermayhaveaccesstoadifferentdatabasethanyoudo,whichiswhyyoulinktothehomepageofthejournal.
ERICisapopulardatabasethathostsresearchinthefieldofeducationthathasbeenpublishedbyjournalsorselfpublished.APAhasaspecialformatforarticlefromERIC:
Savich, Carl. (2008).Inclusion: The Pros and ConsA Critical Review.Retrieved from ERIC database.
(ED501775)
Asyoucanseetheaccessionnumber(auniquelocatornumber)isprovidedbythedatabaseandshouldbeincludedattheendofthecitation.
Untilthispoint,wehavemostlyprovidedexamplesfromeditedandpeerreviewedsources
found
in
or
through
database
searches.
The
Web
does
have
a
lot
of
additional
content
to
offer.ThenextfewexampleswillshowyouhowtociteWebcontentthatisfreelyaccessible.(Rememberthatfreelyaccessiblecontentisn'talwaysauthoritative.)
Center for Disease Control. (2009).Recommended immunization schedule for persons aged 0 through 6 years.
Retrieved from http://cdc.gov/vaccines/recs/schedules/downloads/ child/2009/09_0-
6yrs_schedule_pr.pdf
Toyota USA Newsroom. (2010, March 15). Toyota offers preliminary findings from technical field
examination of alleged "Runaway Prius" in San Diego. Retrieved from
http://pressroom.toyota.com/pr/tms/toyota/toyota-offers-preliminary-findings-155268.aspx
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Thepreviousexampleshadaninstitutionalandacorporateauthor,andyoucanincludethedirectlinkbecauseitislikelytobestableandremainfreelyaccessible.TheToyotaexampleincludedadateintherelease,soyoushouldusethatasthedate.
Often,ontheWeb,youwillneedtolookcloselyforinformationaboutthedateandtheauthor.Whenthedateisn'tavailable,youcanuse(n.d.),shortfor"nodateavailable,"asintheexamplebelow:
Vasilikiotis, C. (n.d.). Can organic farming feed the world?Retrieved from
http://www.cnr.berkeley.edu/~christos/articles/cv_organic_farming.html
How to enjoy hummingbirds. (n.d.). Retrieved March 24, 2010, from http://howtoenjoyhummingbirds.com/
Rememberthat
websites
with
no
authors
are
not
usually
worth
using
to
support
research
anyway.Thewebsiteaboveisdefinitelyaselfpublished,noncrediblewebsite.It'sanextremeexampleofselfpublishedwebsitesthatmixresearchwithopinion,buttherearemanyoutthere.Ifyoucan'tfindanauthor'snameorinstitutionalauthor'snameanywhere,chancesare,youshouldmoveonandfindmoreauthoritativeinformation.
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