Using Sources

Good academic writing should use evidence to support its claims - since no one can know everything, academic writers read the texts of experts and use them to make their own text more authoritative. The following pages show you how to use sources correctly.

A good text should

• combine the author's own argument with evidence (for an example, see here)
• be transparent and show the reader where the author has found the information that supports her or his argument (for information on referencing click here)

Quotation, Paraphrase and Summary

There are three ways of introducing other people's words into your text: you can

QUOTE, that is repeat the original words.

PARAPHRASE, that is put someone else's ideas into your own words

SUMMARISE, that is give a short summary of an idea of even a whole article in your own words.

Here is a short piece of text:

Academic writing, like all forms of communication, is an act of identity: it not only conveys disciplinary ‘content’ but also carries a representation of the writer. The notion of identity has only surfaced in writing research relatively recently, but it is increasingly seen as less a phenomenon of private experience than a desire for affiliation and recognition (Norton, 1997). This view suggests that through adopting the practices and discourses  of a community we come, over time, to adopt its  perspectives and interpretations, seeing the world in the same ways and taking on an identity as a member of that community. In sum, our discoursal choices align us with certain values and beliefs that support particular identities.

Adapted from: Hyland, Ken. 2002. Authority and Invisibility. Authorial Identity in Academic Writing. Journal of Pragmatics 34 (2): 1091 - 1112

Here are EXAMPLES OF

• a quotation HOVER As we become more practised academic writers, we become more confident with the conventions of academic writing. This means, according to Hyland, that we begin "seeing the world in the same ways and taking on an identity as a member of that community" (Hyland. 2002, 1092) HOVER ENDS
• a paraphrase HOVER According to Hyland (2002), using the conventions of academic writing is not only an act of imitation, but also demonstrates that the writer is a member of the academic community and has adopted its core values. END HOVER
• a summary HOVER Hyland (2002) suggests that despite the impersonal style, academic writing also expresses the academic identity of the writer. END HOVER

of this text. To see another example and more explanation, look at our page on quotation, paraphrase and summary.

You could also have a look at the next page to see how NOT to use evidence, or at this page to see a good example of using evidence.