15.8: Expert Source Use

Now that you have examined some of the “rules” for in-text and Works Cited citations, let’s dive a little deeper into why showing what information is from an outside source is so important. This was discussed briefly earlier when we mentioned “source boundaries" in section 14.2.

What does “show your source boundaries” mean? What this means is that we (as writers) need to accurately show our audience what information is from the original source and what information is our own analysis or explanation.

Why is this important? There are several reasons. Firstly, we always want to give credit to someone for their ideas. If you clearly show where source information begins and ends, you are being ethical. Secondly, the main purpose of source-use in a college-level paper is to support your own argument or point. If you show source boundaries, you are clearly showing what is support and what is your own stance. Thirdly, showing source boundaries helps you to figure out what you think about a topic. If you show where source information begins and ends, this gives you an opportunity to be in a conversation with the material. You are clearly part of the academic conversation in which both you and the original author have something important to say.

As discussed previously, there are three major ways to convey information from a source: quotations, paraphrases, and summary. Quotations use the original author’s direct words. Paraphrases reorganize the original author’s ideas. Summaries convey the original author’s main ideas.

After you have chosen how to convey information from the original author, you must show where the source material begins and ends. We usually use a mixture of these techniques in order to be as accurate as possible.

Earlier we discussed how to introduce a source (Section 14.2). This usually establishes part of the boundary of the source. This indicates that we are going to present information from a specific source, written by a specific person or group of people.

If we are quoting, quotation marks are placed around the words from the author. This is a pretty clear boundary! A citation is placed after this information to reiterate where it is from. Paraphrasing and summary can be a little tricker. We still want to introduce the information. However, how do we indicate when we are finished presenting source information? Citations help to establish some of these boundaries. When you are done paraphrasing or summarizing, place a citation at the end of the information. Also, if you are writing several sentences which contain information from a source, be sure to indicate this in every sentence. Something as simple as, “The author claims…” or “The author further explains…” can guide your audience.

One of the biggest issues that occurs when trying to establish source boundaries is “patchwriting”. This was discussed briefly in Section 14.4. Patchwriting occurs when you stick too closely to the original writing. In other words, you (as a writer) simply replace a few words or phrases, but neglect to fully rewrite the syntax of the original sentences. Remember, the way an author expresses something (including how they put a sentence together) needs to be credited. If you are using the original sentence structure, it is often better just to quote! If you are paraphrasing or summarizing, be sure to use your own language and concentrate on conveying the original author’s ideas.

Representing the Whole Source

It is tempting to simply drop in a quote when we need to cite information from a sourc but using a single quote can be a disservice to the source and our paper in a number of ways. First, if we are doing college-level research, most of our sources are going to be too complicated to be represented by a sentence or two. Additionally, simply plunking in a quote from a source will often sell your source short because it does not show the reader how the author reached their conclusions and ignores the complexity of the source.

To build your ethos as an author and to show your reader why your evidence is worth believing, work on giving your readers a broad picture of a source before you drop in a detail, and then give more than a single fact from the source to help your readers understand the complexity of the source. See the example below for help understanding this concept.

Example of dropping in a quote: In a recent study, Liu and colleagues show people who drank a moderate amount of coffee "were less likely to die during a seven-year follow-up period" (3).

Example of understanding the whole source: In a recent study of over 150,000 people, Liu and colleagues show, people who drank a moderate amount of coffee "were less likely to die during a seven-year follow-up period" (3). This study is surprising because they also found that the coffee drinkers did not have to completely avoid sugar in their coffee to reap the benefits; adding up to one teaspoon of sugar does not seem to affect the results. However, Liu et al. does argue that high sugar coffee drinks, such as those available at many American drive thrus, should still be avoided due to high sugar content.