Guidelines for Integrating Sources Using and Citing Sources in Researched Writing

Why Are Sources Important? Research writing should feel objective Sources add credibility to your paper Sources demonstrate that you have educated yourself through research and know your topic well Sources allow readers to access information on your topic after reading your paper Sources provide a depth of information you would otherwise not be able to present in your paper (unless you are an expert on your topic)

Ways to Integrate Sources Direct Quotes Paraphrase Summary Common Knowledge

Quoting

Definition: Direct Quotes Quotations are a word for word copy of what is seen in the original text None of this material can be altered, though omissions can be made using an ellipsis

When to Use Direct Quotes Quotations are the most powerful way to integrate sources into researched writing Use quotes to gain the credibility of experts in the field you researched Use quotes when working with primary sources Use quotes when the way a passage is written is more powerful when kept in tact

Documenting Direct Quotes Use attribution/signal phrase (According to Dr. Doe...) Quoted material must appear within quotation marks (short quote) or indented in a block (long quote) Parenthetical reference (see Noodlebib) Include text on your Works Cited or Reference page

Example of Direct Quote From the essay “Is Google Making Us Stupid?” by Nicholas Carr on pg. 961 – quote is from the second paragraph of the essay According to Nicholas Carr, using the internet has changed his thought process. In his essay “Is Google Making Us Stupid?” he writes: “I’m not thinking the way I used to think. I can feel it most strongly when I’m reading. Immersing myself in a book or a lengthy article used to be easy…Now my concentration often starts to drift after two or three pages” (Carr, 961).

Paraphrasing

Definition: Paraphrase Paraphrasing is when you put a passage from a source into your own words Paraphrased material is usually shorter than the original passage

When to Paraphrase Use paraphrase to integrate information from a source without having to reproduce the passage – for example, to include statistics or data from a passage, table, or chart Use paraphrase when it is the information, itself, that is important rather than the credibility of the source or the eloquence of the statement

Documenting Paraphrase Use attribution/signal phrase (According to Dr. Doe...) Parenthetical reference (see Noodlebib) Include text on your Works Cited or Reference page

Example of Paraphrase This is the paraphrased version of the direct quote on Slide 7 According to Nicholas Carr, using the internet has changed his thought process. In his essay “Is Google Making Us Stupid?” he states that after having been exposed to the internet, it has become more difficult for him to concentrate on longer texts (Carr, 961).

Summarizing

Definition: Summary Summarizing is taking a text and condensing it into a much smaller form In summarizing, you read the entire text, think about it, and reproduce it in your own words

When to Summarize Use summarizing when you are referring to a source and its general ideas, but not to specific information from that source

Documenting Summary Summary doesn’t require documentation It is a good idea to use attribution/signal phrase so readers can understand the context for including the item in your essay Some writers include the information for a summarized text on their Works Cited or Reference page so readers can access the text if they choose, but this is not required

Example of Summary This is an example summary of the Carr essay Nicolas Carr’s 2008 article, “Is Google Making Us Stupid?” explores the way the human thought process has changed since the advent of the internet. He claims that we are no longer reading in the traditional sense but have become “programmed” to absorb information in only small chunks. He argues that we will ultimately lose a valuable aspect of our culture, long texts, if we are not mindful of how we interact with the internet.

Common Knowledge

Definition: Common Knowledge "Common knowledge" things like folklore, common sense observations, myths, urban legends, historical events, and generally-accepted facts (e.g., pollution is bad for the environment, including facts that are accepted within particular discourse communities, e.g., in the field of composition studies, "writing is a process" is a generally- accepted fact) How to identify common knowledge: it is found in five or more of your sources; it is something your audience will know; it is found in the encyclopedia or other general reference text

When to Use Common Knowledge You can’t avoid using common knowledge

Documenting Common Knowledge No documentation required

Preparing an MLA Style Works Cited Page

Definition: Works Cited Page List of the sources referenced in your essay In MLA style, this list is called a Works Cited page; in APA it is called a References page; you may have heard it referred to as a bibliography – they all contain essentially the same information for the same purpose Designed to help readers seek out the original sources of information so they can read them Demonstrates credibility of sources Gives credit to the authors of the original work Required to avoid plagiarism

Sample Works Cited Page Sample Works Cited page on pg. 475 – 476 Comes at the end of the sample research paper where you can see how sources were integrated and documented Information on compiling a list of Works Cited starts on pg. 439 in our text Document maps following those entry types show you where to find the required information in different types of sources We recommend students use Noodlebib to create their Works Cited pages

Noodlebib Noodlebib is an online tool that gathers information from you about your sources and turns it into a Works Cited page Noodlebib is linked to the NMCC Library website Look on our class site for a video tutorial on how to set up an account and create a Works Cited page using Noodlebib