Research

Objectives

By the time you finish this you unit, you should:
  • be able to summarize, quote, paraphrase, and cite source material;
  • know the meanings of the terms below.

Terms

  • attributive phrase
  • colon
  • full quotation
  • paraphrase
  • parenthetical citation
  • partial quotation
  • plagiarism
  • quotation marks
  • summary
  • syntax
  • works cited

Resources

The following Internet and print sources can help you with the concepts covered in this unit:


Updated January 5, 2001
© Mark Canada, 2001
mark.canada@uncp.edu

Incorporating Sources

The great English scientist Sir Isaac Newton claimed that he achieved great things because he "stood on the shoulders of giants."  In other words, he learned from his predecessors.  Even today, scientists, doctors, teachers, business executives, and leaders in other professions do not start from scratch each time they embark on a project and make a decision.  Like Newton, they take advantage of what others have already learned.  When writing an argument, you can make your work easier and more productive if you first learn what others have learned about your subject.  In other words, start with research.

By identifying and evaluating sources, you already have begun the research process.  Now it is time to incorporate others' findings into your own article.  The key word here is "incorporate," which means to bring into a body; that is, you need to bring others' words and interpretations into the body of your own argument.  This step is perhaps the most challenging part of writing a researched argument.  If you merely string together quotations from sources, your argument will come across as fragmented and unoriginal.  On the other hand, if you borrow others' words and ideas without giving them credit, you are guilty of plagiarism, a type of academic dishonesty that can result in an F or even expulsion from the university.  Instead, you must come to understand your source material, weave it into your own argument, and give credit to sources for exact words or interpretations that you borrowed.

You can incorporate source material into your own writing in a number of ways:

  • Full Quotation: When reading a source, you may come across one or more complete sentences that are striking because of they way they are expressed; perhaps, for example, the author has used some colorful or poetic language.  In such a case, you should consider using a full quotation, which is the use of one or more complete sentences from a source.  You must place a full quotation within quotation marks.  Do not change any of the words.  Identify the source with an attributive phrase that names both the author and the publication.  After you have identified the author and publication once, you may use just the author's last name in future attributive phrases.  If the source has page numbers, place the number or numbers where the quotation appeared in a parenthetical citation at the end of the full quotation.  Below is an example, in which colors indicate the various components just described.  Pay close attention to the placement of punctuation marks, such as the period at the end of the sentence.  In particular, note that a colon appears between the verb in the attributive phrase and the quotation itself.
    • Original: While he ruled, however, he did so in the old-fashioned way: by divine right as the ultimate lawgiver, political authority, arbiter of manners and morals for his people.
    • Full Quotation: In an article on James Strang in Smithsonian magazine, Bil Gilbert explains: "While he ruled, however, he did so in the old-fashioned way: by divine right as the ultimate lawgiver, political authority, arbiter of manners and morals for his people"(84).
  • Partial Quotation:  In some cases, you may want to use only part of a sentence you found in a source--perhaps just a phrase or even a single word.  As with a full quotation, you must place the exact words you borrow within quotation marks.  Do not change any of the words that appear within the quotation marks. Identify the source with an attributive phrase that names both the author and the publication.  After you have identified the author and publication once, you may use just the author's last name in future attributive phrases.  If the source has page numbers, place the number or numbers where the quotation appeared in a parenthetical citation at the end of the sentence.  Below is an example, in which colors indicate the various components just described.  Unlike full quotations, partial quotations require no additional punctuation other than quotation marks.  Simply punctuate the sentence as you normally would, but be sure to place the final period after the parenthetical citation.
    • Original: While he ruled, however, he did so in the old-fashioned way: by divine right as the ultimate lawgiver, political authority, arbiter of manners and morals for his people.
    • Partial Quotation: In an article on James Strang in Smithsonian magazine, Bil Gilbert explains that Strang governed "in the old-fashioned way: by divine right as the ultimate lawgiver, political authority, arbiter of manners and morals for his people"(84).
  • Paraphrase: Most of the time, the material you find within a source will be valuable primarily for its content, and not for the way it is expressed.  In such cases, you should use a paraphrase, which is the rephrasing of someone else's information in your own words. To paraphrase without plagiarizing, you must change both the words and the syntax--the way the words fit together in a sentence--of the original.  Because you no longer are using the source's exact words, you should not use quotation marks.  If the material is purely factual, you generally do not need to give credit to the source.  On the other hand, you should give credit to the source if 1) the material you are paraphrasing contains any kind of interpretation, 2) presents facts--particularly statistics-- that required painstaking investigative work, or 3) includes facts that may elicit curiosity or doubt in your audience.  You should give credit to the source in the same way you give credit for quotations.  That is, use an attributive phrase that names both the author and the publication.  After you have identified the author and publication once, you may use just the author's last name in future attributive phrases.  If the source has page numbers, place the number or numbers where the quotation appeared in a parenthetical citation at the end of the sentence.  Below is an example, in which colors indicate the various components just described.  Note the placement of punctuation.
    • Original: While he ruled, however, he did so in the old-fashioned way: by divine right as the ultimate lawgiver, political authority, arbiter of manners and morals for his people.
    • Paraphrase: In an article on James Strang in Smithsonian magazine, Bil Gilbert explains that Strang exercised great power in his dominion, providing laws and even shaping his subjects' personal lives (84).
  • Summary: If you come across a paragraph, a section, or even an entire chapter or article that is valuable to you for its major point and not for all the particulars, you may want to provide a summar, which is a condensed version of the original.  Like a paraphrase, a summary must be in your own words and does not require quotation marks.  You still should identify the source with an attributive phrase that names both the author and the publication.  After you have identified the author and publication once, you may use just the author's last name in future attributive phrases.  If the source has page numbers, place the number or numbers where the quotation appeared in a parenthetical citation at the end of the summary.
No matter how you incorporate material into your article, you should interpret its significance for the audience.  In other words, use one or more of your own sentences to explain how the full quotation, partial quotation, paraphrase, or summary fits in the argument you are making.  If I paraphrasing Bil Gilbert's article to support my own argument about how religious leaders such as James Strang have turned into dictators, I might write the following:
In an article on James Strang in Smithsonian magazine, Bil Gilbert explains that Strang exercised great power in his dominion, providing laws and even shaping his subjects' personal lives (84).  The example of Strang shows how this Mormon "king," like the other religious leaders I have described, took advantage of his position to subjugate his followers.
Finally, you must include at the end of your article a list of works cited--that is, a list of the sources that you referred to specifically in your article through attributive phrases, parenthetical citations, or both.  If you borrowed only factual material from a source and have not identified it through attributive phrases or parenthetical citations in your article, do not include it in your list of works cited.  Your list of works cited should conform to the style used in the particular discipline in which you are writing or the style dictated by your instructor. When writing a paper for an English class, for example, you generally will use MLA style. See The MLA Handbook or The Ready Reference Handbook for guidelines on using MLA style. Do not assume that the format that appears in the research database is MLA format.  Instead, you generally will need to rearrange the components that appear in the citations you find on databases.

Exercises

  1. Write Date Article: Drawing on what you have learned about incorporating sources, write a draft of your date article.  Use the photocopies you made during the unit on finding sources and work on paraphrasing the portions you highlighted.  Place your draft in your research notebook.
  2. Evaluate Date Articles: Trade research notebooks with someone else in your group.  Compare the original source material with your partner's paraphrases.  Below the draft, type responses to these questions:
    1. How extensively has your partner changed the words and syntax of the original source?  Note any portions that too closely resemble the original source.
    2. How well has your partner captured the meaning of the original source?
    3. How carefully has your partner conformed to the conventions of punctuation and MLA documentation?
    4. How clear, organized, and thorough is your partner's date article?  Suggest improvements.
  3. Write Definition Overview: Collaborate with your groupmates to write the essay portion of your definition.  Use what you have learned in this unit to use full and partial quotations, paraphrases, and summaries effectively.
  4. Evaluate Definition: Working together with your groupmates, evaluate another group's definition.  In the space below the definition, type responses to the following questions.
    1. How extensively have the authors  changed the words and syntax of the original source?  Note any portions that too closely resemble the original source.
    2. How well has group captured the meaning of the original source?
    3. How carefully has the group conformed to the conventions of punctuation and MLA documentation?
    4. How clear, organized, and thorough is the group's definition?  Has the group omitted any necessary information?  Using the group's definition, jot down answers to the following questions: Who? What? When? Where? Why? How?  Suggest additions, deletions, and changes that would improve the definition.