There Are Three Basic Reasons for Using a Reporting Verb

From: http://www.efl.arts.gla.ac.uk/writing/repverbs.html

Reporting Verbs

When you use information from books you have read you need to choose a suitable reporting verb to introduce it. This choice will depend on why you are using the information. What role in supporting your argument does it have?

There are three basic reasons for using a reporting verb:

· to present the aim of the study you are summarizing/quoting, e.g.
'Smith (1999) examines the relationship between diabetes and heart disease.'

· to talk about the results that the author you are summarizing/quoting has found, e.g.
'Al-Mawali (2002) shows that deaths per capita in car accidents are particularly high in developing countries.'

· to give the opinion of the author you are summarizing/quoting, e.g.
'Marklin (1998:76) argues that 'the adoption of just-in-time delivery systems was the decisive factor for Japanese economic success in the 1980's.'

The following table summarizes some of the most common reporting verbs.
N.B. some verbs (marked *) can be used to introduce either Results or Opinion, depending on the context/grammar.

For a sample sentence illustrating usage/strength of claim, click on a reporting verb.

Aim of Study / Results / Opinion
investigate / show (that) / state (that)
examine / suggest (that)* / believe (that)
analyze / find (that) / argue (that)
look at / indicate (that) / note (that)*
focus on / identify (x) as / point out (that)*
consider / reveal (that) / observe (that)*
identify / establish (that) / consider (that)
report (on) / confirm (that) / hold (that)
be concerned with / conclude (that)* / claim (that)
demonstrate (that) / emphasize/stress

You may want to add a comment after the paraphrase/quotation to make its significance clear to the reader:

'This means that ...'

'This shows that ...'

Verb tense

The tense most commonly used for reporting verbs is the present simple (see examples above). However, other tenses are also important:

The past simple: of course, it can be used to show that something happened / was written a long time ago, e.g. 'This was demonstrated in the 1984 WHO report.' But it is also used in two other ways:

· to increase the 'distance' between you, and what you are referring to, e.g. 'Lefevbre (2002) identified (x) as the main cause of (y) (but you think he may be wrong).

in scientific writing, to present methodology/results of one specific piece of research, e.g. 'Data was obtained, and was cross-checked by .../ Brown found that .... The results were consistent with ...'.

(N.B. when you move from 'results' to 'discussion/conclusion', it is usual to move from past simple to present simple, e.g. 'Therefore, the findings indicate that ...'. At this point, you are moving from describing what happened in one piece of research, to what may always/frequently happen, i.e. you are generalizing.)

The present perfect is used to introduce a topic by talking about general research in the area, e.g. 'Various studies have looked at ...', or 'Few researchers have investigated ...'

SUMMARY OF REPORTING VERBS: Note that some reporting verbs may appear in more than one of the following groups.

1. Verbs followed by 'if' or 'whether' + clause:

ask
know
remember / say
see

2. Verbs followed by a that-clause:

add
admit
agree
announce
answer
argue
boast
claim
comment
complain
confirm
consider
deny / doubt
estimate
explain
fear
feel
insist
mention
observe
persuade
propose
remark
remember
repeat / reply
report
reveal
say
state
suggest
suppose
tell
think
understand
warn

3. Verbs followed by either a that-clause or a to-infinitive:

decide
expect
guarantee
hope / promise
swear
threaten

4. Verbs followed by a that-clause containing should
(but note that it may be omitted, leaving a subject + zero-infinitive):

advise
beg
demand / insist
prefer
propose / recommend
request
suggest

5. Verbs followed by a clause starting with a question word:

decide
describe
discover
discuss
explain
forget
guess / imagine
know
learn
realize
remember
reveal
say / see
suggest
teach
tell
think
understand
wonder

6. Verbs followed by object + to-infinitive

advise
ask
beg
command / forbid
instruct
invite / teach
tell
warn

http://www.utoronto.ca/writing/reporting.html

You can indicate your attitude to the sources you cite by choosing specific verbs to refer to them. Don’t just keep repeating “Smith says.” There is a wide choice of such verbs in English – and you can use the dictionary to check that you have chosen a verb with the ‘nuance’ you intend.

Here are some grammatical patterns to follow in using these verbs:

Pattern 1: reporting verb + that + subject + verb

acknowledge / admit / agree / allege / argue
assert / assume / believe / claim / conclude
consider / decide / demonstrate / deny / determine
discover / doubt / emphasize / explain / find
hypothesize / imply / indicate / infer / note
object / observe / point out / prove / reveal
say / show / state / suggest / think

(a) Da Souza argues that previous researchers have misinterpreted the data.

(b) Researchers have demonstrated that the procedure is harmful.

(d) Singh infers that both states are essential.

Note that these verbs all differ in meaning-they cannot be used interchangeably.
For example, the verb argue in sample sentence (a) indicates your judgment that the author's conclusion is based on evidence and reasoning, but that other conclusions might be possible.
The verb demonstrate in sentence (b) indicates your judgment that the researchers' evidence and reasoning are so convincing that no other conclusion is possible.

Beware of using the verbs discuss or express followed by that. For example, it is incorrect to write, "The reviewer expressed that the movie is not worth seeing." You can, however, write the following: "The reviewer expressed the view that the movie is not worth seeing."

N.B.: Verbs in this category may also appear in a subordinate clause beginning with As:

(e) As Da Souza argues, misinterpretations by previous researchers need to be corrected.

(f) As researchers have demonstrated, the procedure is harmful.

Pattern 2: reporting verb + somebody/something + for + noun/gerund

applaud / blame / censure / criticize / disparage
fault / praise / ridicule / single out / thank

(a) Smith criticized Jones for his use of incomplete data (OR for using incomplete data).

(b) Both Smith and Jones condemn previous researchers for distorting the data.

Pattern 3: reporting verb + somebody/something + as + noun/gerund/adjective

appraise / assess / characterize / class / classify
define / depict / describe / evaluate / identify
interpret / portray / present / refer / view

(a) Jones describes the findings as resting on irrefutable evidence.

(b) Smith identifies the open window as a source of contamination.

Written by Martine Johnson, Coordinator, English Programme, International Student Centre, and revised by Rebecca Smollett, Margaret Procter, and Jerry Plotnick.
Copyright 2006. All rights reserved.

Reporting verbs http://www.gcal.ac.uk/student/coursework/writing/reporting.html

When introducing references into the text (citing) you should choose suitable 'reporting' verbs as these can:

· strengthen the arguments you are presenting

· help the reader understand why the source is relevant.

Some verbs are neutral:

Smith (2004) describes...
Jones (1999, p 3) states...
Green (2002) defines...

Some verbs draw attention to the author's viewpoint:

Harris (2001) argues...
O'Neill (1997) disputed...
Jackson (2003) conceded...

Some verbs give information about the author's work:

Holmes (2000) investigated...
Church (1998) evaluated...
McColl (2002) estimated...

Some verbs highlight the author's viewpoint:

Brown (2001) believes...
McAllister (1996) recognised...
Smith (2004) predicted...

Other useful reporting verbs (use present or past tense as appropriate)

analyse/analysed notes/noted
compares/compared observes/observed
comments/commented points out/pointed out
concludes/concluded reports/reported
criticises/criticized shows/showed
demonstrates/demonstrated suggests/suggested
discusses/discussed validates/validated
illustrates/illustrated verifies/verified
indicates/indicated

Plagiarism

Four students read the following text and used it in their essays in slightly different ways. Which would count as plagiarism?

Elaine Tyler May's (1997, ‘Barren in the Promised Land : Childless Americans and the Pursuit of Happiness’ Harvard University Press

‘Because women's wages often continue to reflect the fiction that men earn the family wage, single mothers rarely earn enough to support themselves and their children adequately. And because work is still organized around the assumption that mothers stay home with children, even though few mothers can afford to do so, child-care facilities in the United States remain woefully inadequate’

Student A wrote:
Since women's wages often continue to reflect the mistaken notion that men are the main wage earners in the family, single mothers rarely make enough to support themselves and their children very well. Also, because work is still based on the assumption that mothers stay home with children, facilities for child care remain woefully inadequate in the United States. / Verdict: Plagiarism.
There is too much direct borrowing of sentence structure and wording. The writer changes some words, drops one phrase, and adds some new language, but the whole text closely resembles May's. There is no acknowledgment (citation) of May’s work.
Even if May were acknowledged this is still plagiarising because the lack of quotation marks indicates that it has been put into the students's own words.
Student B wrote:
By and large, our economy still operates on the mistaken notion that men are the main breadwinners in the family. Thus, women continue to earn lower wages than men. This means, in effect, that many single mothers cannot earn a decent living. Furthermore, adequate day care is not available in the USA because of the mistaken assumption that mothers remain at home with their children. / Verdict: Plagiarism.
It shows good paraphrasing of wording and sentence structure, but does not acknowledge May's original ideas. Some of May's points are common knowledge (women earn less than men, many single mothers live in poverty), but May uses this to make a specific and original point.
Student C wrote:
As Elaine Tyler May (1997, p.588) points out, ‘women's wages often continue to reflect the fiction that men earn the family wage’. Thus many single mothers cannot support themselves and their children adequately. Furthermore, since work is based on the assumption that mothers stay home with children, facilities for day care in this country are still ‘woefully inadequate.’ / Verdict: Borderline plagiarism.
Although the writer now cites May, this still borrows too much language.
Student D wrote:
Women today still earn less than men — so much less that many single mothers and their children live near or below the poverty line. Elaine Tyler May (1997, p.588) argues that this situation stems in part from ‘the fiction that men earn the family wage’ May further suggests that the American workplace still operates on the assumption that mothers with children stay home to care for them. / Verdict: No plagiarism.
The writer makes use of the common knowledge in May's work, but acknowledges May's original conclusion and does not try to pass it off as his or her own. The quotation is properly cited, as is a later paraphrase of another of May's ideas.