Citation: Reporting Verbs

Citation: Reporting Verbs

What are reporting verbs and when should I use them?

Academic writing requires you to use citations to refer to the original source when you have used someone else’s ideas or concepts in your writing. One of the most common ways to incorporate these citations into your writing is to use ‘reporting’ verbs to present the information.

In addition to helping you to avoid plagiarizing others’ work, reporting verbs help you to strengthen your argument and to help the reader understand the relevance of the sources you are using in your writing.

Below is a table of other useful reporting verbs that you might use with citations. Please note, however, that these verbs are not all interchangeable!

Before selecting a verb it is vital that you carefully read the source and clearly understand the author’s claim(s).

When you have chosen a verb, ask yourself whether that is really what the author intended. You must make sure that you report others’ work accurately.

• argue
• analyze
• believe
• claim
• compare
• comment
• concede
• conclude
• criticize
• define
• demonstrate
• describe
• discuss
• dispute
• estimate / • observe
• point out
• predict
• recognize
• report
• show
• state
• stipulate
• suggest
• validate
• verify
• evaluate
• illustrate
• indicate
• investigate

The MLA style emphasizes the use of the simple present tense or present perfect tense when you are discussing an author’s ideas or writing.

For example,

• Harrison evaluates…

• White demonstrates…

• Lee has suggested…

Reporting verbs are also a way for you, the writer, to show your ‘attitude’ towards the source of information you are citing. These attitudes are either ‘positive’, ‘negative’ or ‘neutral’.

Do you agree with what the author has said? If so, use reporting verbs with a ‘positive’

meaning to them. Here are some reporting verbs that tend to be ‘positive’:

• Acknowledges

• Affirms

• Certifies

• Explains

• Identifies

• Observes

Do you disagree with what the author has said? In this case, you can use a ‘negative’ reporting verb to indicate this. Here is a sample of some reporting verbs usually understood as being ‘negative’:

• Accuses

• Claims

• Guesses

• Proclaims

• Expects

• Hopes

Perhaps you don’t feel positive or negative about the source you are citing. In this situation, you should use a ‘neutral’ reporting verb. Here is a small sample of ‘neutral’ reporting verbs:

• Adds

• Concludes

• Describes

• Feels

• Maintains

• Says

Keep in mind that there are many more reporting verbs you can use to more fully express how you feel about the sources you are using in your essays and papers.

Source:

http://www.port.ac.uk/departments/studentsupport/ask/resources/handouts/referencingandcitation/filetodownload,32781,en.pdf

http://www.ilc.cuhk.edu.hk/english/gepdf/Reporting%20verbs_guidelines.pdf