21.1: Understanding Source Use

A source is anything that you didn’t write or create; a source is anything that you are using to build something that you are writing or creating. You’re probably used to thinking of sources for research papers, such as articles you found through library databases. But you will use sources in almost all your writing in college. For example, the novel, poem, or play you’re reading in English is a source for the literary analysis paper you have to write; a website is a source for a market analysis in your business class; a newspaper editorial is a source for your response in a current events class; and so on. However, it is important to remember that your sources are always supplementary to your own ideas. Your own voice and ideas should always be at the center of your paper.

Any time that you use something that you did not write or create yourself, you are using a source. If you fail to cite your sources, you are committing plagiarism.

Why do you have to involve sources in your writing?

Depending on the size and scope of the writing project, you may have to build arguments based on sources you’ve read in class, you may have to write an argument based on research sources, you may have to write a personal response to a course text, you may have to summarize or analyze a course text, or you may have to present on a text in class. In short, you will need to support what you communicate in the college classroom. You will need evidence. Sources are that evidence.

There is also a larger philosophical reason for using sources: when you write in academia, you take part in a conversation that has gone on for centuries before you and will go on long after you. Using sources is the main way you become involved in—and later help to shape— that conversation. You converse both with your colleagues and professors about sources, but you also converse with the sources, and that dialogue composes a large measure of your learning. In order to take part in that conversation, you need to understand the conventions of academic culture (even though you may be skeptical or critical of parts of that culture at times). These conventions are not only the conventions of American Standard English but are also the conventions of good source use.

See this video for more help understanding why we use sources in college papers.

Well Integrated and Ethical Source Use

Good source use means both ethical source use and well-integrated source use. They work together so that at the same time you are giving due credit to the creator of the source you’re using or engaging, you are making it work well with your words and ideas. Ethical Source Use means giving credit, and it also means providing the required information about the source. Giving credit in something you write may look a lot like the Burke example above, where Burke was introduced by name and then the quote was annotated. There are a number of valid ways to ethically use a source, and these often depend on what discipline you’re writing in, such as English, psychology, journalism, or history.

Well integrated source use means introducing and interacting with your sources in a meaningful way. Thoughtfully integrating sources means you do more than just drop in quotes and provide a parenthetical citation; instead you help your readers understand the source material and how it relates back to your point.

In other words, always show why you are using source. Many of us are comfortable with explaining what a source means and even how a source supports our argument. However, it is also important to show why you picked the source you picked as well. Is the source by a person who is well-known in the field? Do you want to show that you have consulted a leading expert? Does the person offer an opinion which contradicts many other people in their field? Why did you choose a person who is an outlier? Did you pick information which has been backed by other people in the field? Did you pick information which shows what the average person thinks? Is this something which is discussed in a specific community?

Why must you show that you are part of a larger conversation? We want to encourage authentic engagement. Showing you are part of a larger conversation shows that you want to interact with others in a specific community. We’ve all been part of conversations which are not natural or authentic. For example, if you have worked in customer service or retail, you are very familiar with this concept. We may have even had a specific script to follow in these conversations. Although many of these interactions might be pleasant, they really only serve to convey information from one person to the next. We do not learn and grow from these superficial interactions. When you are part of a larger conversation, you forward your own personal knowledge and the knowledge of others.

You might want to think of authentic academic conversations like conversations on social media. Many creators do not know each other personally, but they interact with each other’s content. Many creators will find a comment, place it in their own video, attribute it to the original creator, and respond to the comment. Sometimes a creator is part of a community which people find to be objectionable. Many viewers will not take any of their content seriously due to their participation in a specific community or way of thinking. Many types of social media have subgroups where people who share an interest congregate. These people often have specific terms which only other people in the community know.

In other words, although it is important to show how information supports your viewpoint, it is also important to place yourself in the conversation.

Employing the source techniques discussed in the following pages will help you use sources ethically and integrate them thoughtfully into your paper.

 

Methods for Understanding Source Integration

Source integration can be a complex process to master, but both the "They Say / I Say" method and the "ice cream sandwich" method will both help you remember to how to integrate sources ethically. 

"They Say / I Say" Method

One way to understand this type of source integration is to think of a conversation. Gerald Graff and Cathy Birkenstein coined this the "They Say / I Say" method. Thinking of source integration as a conversation can be helpful because it helps students remember that source integration is a back and forth. Relaying information from the source is only part of the process. Prefacing the source information in your own voice first and then addressing the source information after it appears in the paper make source integration into a conversation. 

The Ice Cream Sandwich Method

Another way to understand this type of source integration is the "ice cream sandwich" method.  The ice cream sandwich method provides a tangible way to remember and apply effective source integration as outlined below. 

Top Crust: Signal Phrase ("They Say")

Before putting source information into your paper, you always introduce it with a signal phrase. A signal phrase works as a bridge between your other writing in the sentence and the source information you want to drop in. Generally, a signal phrase should be in your own words, so in that way, it also works as an "I say" element and will require some critical thinking on your part. Sometimes, it is easier to put the source content (the ice cream) in your paper first, and then work on the signal phrase to bridge your essay content and the source. 

Example signal phrases:

In her poem “Wild Geese” poet Mary Oliver writes, “....” 

In the article “How Poverty Taxes the Brain,” the author explains ...

Ice Cream: Source Information ("They Say")

This is where you relay the source information through directly quoting, paraphrasing, or summarizing. These three different types of source integration will be covered in the coming sections in this chapter. After you drop in the source information, be sure to add any required parenthetical information. 

Bottom Crust: Address Source Information ("I Say")

Explain to the reader want you want the reader to understand to connect with the point. Do you want to connect the source to your experience? To another source? Remember to be patient in this part of your source integration: it will likely take up at least two sentences to first address the source content and then relate it back to your point. 

Following the quote, paraphrase, or summary, explain how the idea is relevant to the point of the paragraph.  We also call this called “explanation” or “explication.”  Generally, this explanation takes a few sentences. Your purpose is not to rehash what the author said but, instead, to explain how you interpret the source’s ideas and see it connecting to the point that you are making. 

Here is some language you can use to start your integration:

X’s analysis proves...

X’s claim shows the importance of...

The essence of X’s argument is that...

X’s perspective shows...

X’s point is similar to Y’s/my point in that... X’s argument closely relates to...

In other words, ...

In sum...

Basically, the point is....

Struggling to Figure Out What to Say After Borrowed Information?

If you’re struggling to figure out what to write after a quote or to close a paraphrase, it may be that you haven’t yet figured out what role the quote is playing in your own analysis. If that happens to you a lot, try writing the whole first draft in your own words and then incorporate material from sources as you revise.

 

Integrating Sources Using the P.E.E.L. Strategy

Integrating sources into your body paragraphs is directly related to using the P.E.E. L. strategy, which was discussed in the “Writing Essays” chapter. They fit together beautifully! The top layer and ice cream of the “ice cream sandwich” is the same as the Evidence layer of P.E.E.L. Also, the bottom layer is the same as the Explanation component of P.E.E. L., as modelled below:

POINT State the point of your body paragraph in a topic sentence.

EVIDENCE Use a signal phrase, then the quote/paraphrase/summary, then the in-text      citation.

EXPLANATION Your explanation of how you interpret the source’s ideas and see it connecting     to the point that you are making in the paragraph.

LINK     Link back to the topic sentence or thesis point.

 

How can I avoid plagiarism?

Plagiarism is always a serious concern for college students, but the very best way to avoid plagiarism is to take good notes on your sources and always cite your sources in your paper, either through a parenthetical citation or signal phrase. Both of these tactics are covered at length in this chapter.

We discussed plagiarism briefly on in Chapter 1. Generally, plagiarism is using someone else’s words or ideas without giving them credit. However, plagiarism goes deeper than this! Many people consider plagiarism to be a spectrum. We often view this spectrum as going from an attempt to intentionally steal from others to accidently forgetting proper citation methods. All plagiarism is harmful as it undermines your credibility as a writer and does not forward the academic conversation. That is, it is hard for your readers to tell who they are actually in conversation with if plagiarize. However, some acts of plagiarism are accidental and can be fixed easily.

Let’s look at the ten most common types of plagiarism:

1. Submitting another’s work, word-for-word, as one’s own
2. Containing significant portions of text from a single source without alterations
3. Changing key words and phrases but retaining the essential content of the source
4. Mixing paraphrased material from multiple sources
5. Borrowing generously from one’s previous work without citation
6. Combining perfectly cited sources with copied passages without citation
7. Mixing copied material from multiple sources
8. Citing non-existent sources or including inaccurate information about sources
9. Including proper citation of sources but containing almost no original work
10. Including proper citation but relying too closely on the text’s original wording and/or structure

The above list originally appeared in https://www.turnitin.com/static/plagiarism-spectrum/ from The Plagiarism Spectrum: Instructor Insights into the 10 Types of Plagiarism. The website contains longer explanations of each type as well as extended examples.

As you can see from the list above, academic papers value a writer’s original thoughts. We show appreciation for an author’s hard work and ideas by citing them and using their work ethically. We show appreciation for our own thoughts by showing clear boundaries between our work and a source’s material and by relying on our own analysis. In other words, most of the types of plagiarism above do not give you space as a writer to synthesize information and come up with your own original conclusions. Remember, your audience is interested in what you think, as supported by outside texts.

Exercise 21.1: Identifying Plagiarism

Which of the following instances constitute plagiarism? Justify your answer through an explanation of at least a few sentences.

1. A student takes a Composition I class but drops the class before completing it. Her first essay received feedback and a grade. She turns in this essay again without changing anything when she retakes the course.
2. A student writes a paper in which they use 7 outside sources to support their central argument. The student does not use parenthetical citations in their paragraphs, but there is a properly formatted Works Cited page and many of the sources are introduced within the paper.
3. A student created a strong research question, but he is getting frustrated at the results he is finding on the library’s databases. Most of the sources contradict his opinion. He wants to write a paper supporting this opinion, so he decides to quote only parts of sentences to make it appear as if the original authors agree with him. Every quotation and paraphrase are followed by a parenthetical citation.
4. A student heavily paraphrases in their paper. All of the paraphrases are cited with parenthetical citations. The paraphrases are not totally rewritten but many words have been replaced with suggestions from a thesaurus.
5. A student writes a paper in which they use 10 sources. All of the sources have been cited with parenthetical citations. Most of the paper follows this format: quote, citation, new quote, citation, new quote, citation. In other words, the student provides almost no explanation or analysis of the quotes.
6. A student writes a paper in which he uses multiple sources per paragraph. He usually uses an example from each source, offers and explanation of each, and then offer his analysis of what the information means when he puts it all together. He cites each source with a parenthetical citation.
7. Watch this YouTube video of a side-by-side comparison of Michelle Obama’s speech and Melania Trump’s speech. Michelle Obama’s was delivered first. Does Melania Trump’s speech too closely resemble Obama’s speech?