How to Incorporate Outside Sources Effectively in APA Style
Create a framework for the source material
1. Begin each paragraph of your paper with a topic sentence that sets up the point of that paragraph in your own voice.
2. Introduce each source in your own words and follow it with your own interpretation, explanation, discussion, or analysis.
3. Use transitional words and phrases to show the relationships between your own ideas and your source material.
4. This framework indicates the purpose your source material serves in your essay and creates a clear division between your own, original argument and the arguments presented in your source material.
5. Your paper should never contain a paragraph that consists solely of source material or contains disconnected references.
Use signal phrases to introduce source material
A signal phrase is a clause that introduces a shift from your own writing, or point of view, to that of an outside source. The structure of signal phrases varies from discipline to discipline. In the humanities, signal phrases often consist of an author’s name and a signal verb. Author names are used less frequently in the social sciences; their presence indicates the author’s importance in the field or emphasizes his or her credibility.
Pay close attention to how the authors of your course texts use signal phrases; these models will provide you with clues about the conventions of a particular discipline.
The verb in a signal phrase provides information about a source’s bias, tone, or purpose. A verb like “argue” indicates that an author is making a specific claim, while a verb like “notes” indicates a more neutral tone or position.
COMMONLY USED SIGNAL VERBS:
acknowledges advises agrees allows answers asserts believes charges claims concludes concurs confirms criticizes declares describes disagrees discusses disputes emphasizes expresses interprets lists objects observes offers opposes remarks replies reports responds reveals states suggests writes
Use grammar, punctuation, and syntax to integrate source material
1. use ellipses to condense a long quote by editing out any unnecessary words; use an ellipse (…) to indicate this edit
2. use brackets to add words or modify a verb tense to make a sentence grammatically correct; place these changes inside brackets [ ].
3. use a block quotation to set off long quotes of 40 or more words; start the quote on a new line and indent the block a half inch from the left margin. Double-space the entire block, and do not use quotation marks.
Limit direct quotations
Only quote directly if your reader needs to see the actual language used by the author of the source or will benefit from seeing that writer’s ideas expressed with the author’s original language, syntax, and cadence. Direct quotation is used very rarely in APA style.
Use direct quotations when you want to perform the following tasks:
• close reading: to discuss the actual wording of a text
• theoretical confrontation: to address or analyze a key concept or core assertion in an author’s position or theory
• lost in translation: to avoid losing the essence of the author’s meaning
• establish an alliance: to appeal to the authority of an author by using his or her exact words
Create effective paraphrases
Know when to summarize and when to paraphrase
Use summary when you are … / Use paraphrase when you are …· condensing information
· providing an overview
· referencing a main idea
· contrasting multiple facts
· explaining a general argument
· establishing credibility / · presenting an opposing viewpoint
· examining detail
· providing specific examples or explanation
· extending or altering an argument
· evaluating credibility
Examples of APA in-text citations
1. paraphrase or summary with author’s name used in essay text
Johnson (1987) explains that our emotional lives are not wholly internal; they are instead a continuous part of a larger social context.
2. paraphrase or summary that does not reference the author
The statuses we occupy in life are either ascribed or achieved. Ascribed statuses included gender, ethnicity, and race, while achieved statuses involve the different roles we play in society, such as husband, parent, or accountant (Johnson, 1987).
3. direct quotation with author’s name used in essay text
Johnson (1987) defines status as “a position in a system’s structure” (p. 82).
4. direct quotation that does not reference the author
It is unethical for teachers to engage in sexual relationships with their students because “from a structural perspective, sexual relationships between teachers and students cannot be equal … the roles that define their positions in the system are inherently unequal and cannot be made equal” (Johnson, 1987, p. 87).
5. paraphrase or summary of multiple works
Like status, we acquire our culture through a combination of birth and group socialization. The roles we occupy vary as we move from one cultural group to another (Sensoy & DiAngelo, 2012; Johnson, 1987).
Handout developed by the Wheelock College Writing Center staff. Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International