INTEGRATING SOURCESINTO YOUR WRITINGUsing APA Style

Gavilan College Writing Center

Presentation Overview• Introductions (Name, Classes)• Integrating Sources: What and Why

• Summaries• Quotations• Paraphrases

Integrating Sources: What and Why• Integrating sources means you put ideas from outside sources together with your own

ideas.

• Sources help develop and support your own writing (your main ideas, purpose, claims). They do not replace your own ideas.

• Sources strengthen your writing because they:

• Provide background information and context

• Explain important terms and concepts

• Support your claims

• Add credibility to your writing

• Address other viewpoints

Ways to Integrate SourcesThree ways you include other writers’ work in your paper:

• Summaries• Quotations• Paraphrases

All three require in-text citation

Summaries• A summary restates the main points of a source or part of a source. It is much shorter than the original source material.

Why use a summary?• Summaries of other works can give background or context for your writing.

• Summaries of other works can provide strong examples that support your ideas.

• Summaries of other works can briefly explain other viewpoints.

How to Write Summaries• Leave out your own opinions. Stick to what the source says. Be objective.

• Use your own words and your own sentence structures.

• Use no more than 3-4 consecutive words from the source.

Steps for Writing a Summary1. Read the source or passage you want to summarize.

2. Try to understand the overall meaning of the source or passage before you start writing your summary. Ask yourself “What is the author’s meaning?”

3. Write down what you think the source or passage is saying without looking at the original (the “look away” technique). This avoids summarizing a word or a phrase at a time.

4. After writing your summary, look back at the source or passage to make sure you haven’t copied the author’s exact phrases.

Quotations• A quotation is a “word for word” copy of a short segment of source material.

Example• “Educational background, contacts with a particular occupation through one's ethnic or religious groups and family members, and discrimination operate for or against an individual's movement into an occupation" (Kimmel, p. 293).

Why Use Quotations?• To capture phrases or sentences that are particularly expressive, powerful, or informative.

• To accurately explain technical terms and concepts.

• To add credibility to your writing.

• To distance your ideas from the ideas of the source author with a different viewpoint.

How to Use Quotations• Use quotations selectively and sparingly.• Keep your quotations short.

Don’t leave a quotation stranded!

Quotation SandwichesStep 1 (Bread):• Introduce the Quotation

Step 2 (Meat):• Quotation

Step 3 (Bread):• Explain the Quotation

Introduce the Quotation• Introduce the quotation with:

• Author’s last name

• Publication year in parentheses

• Optional: context for the source

• These introductions work well for paraphrases and summaries too.

Introduce the Quotation—Examples• According to Boskin (2004), “…”

• Berstein (2001) claimed that “…”•

• Barinaga (2009) expressed an opposing viewpoint: “…”

• Young and Song’s (1997) study on fluoridation indicated that “…”

• Tyson (2004) gave the following analysis of the company’s current financial situation: “…”

Verbs for Introducing Quotations• In APA, use the past tense to describe other people’s work

• Avoid using said. Instead, use academic words to introduce the source information.

• Give source’s concepts/background: described, explained, stated

• Give source’s argument: argued, asserted, suggested, claimed

• Give source’s results: reported, showed, found, indicated

Explain the Quotation• Explain the quotation by saying:

• What you think the quotation means

• Why it is important

• How it is relevant to the point you are making

Explain the Quotation—Examples• Basically, Tyson argued that…“…”

• In other words, Boskin believed that…“…”

• In making this statement, Gee indicated that…“…”

• Young and Song’s point is that…“…”

Sample Sandwich Quotation• Kimmel (1990) claimed that "Socioeconomic status, ethnic

origin, intelligence, gender, and race tend to operate in complex . . . ways to limit the range of occupations open to an individual" (p. 293). In other words, many genetic and social factors contribute to the job opportunities available to people today.

Putting Quotations Together• Multiple sandwich quotations in a single paragraph

• May be from different sources

• Avoid starting or ending a paragraph with a quotation

• Instead, start and end with your own statements give the topic of the paragraph and connect the paragraph to the overall topic

Integrating Quotations into your own sentences

• Quotations can be full sentences or shorter phrases. • Integrate quotations into your own sentence structure.

• As Kern and Schultz (2005) indicated, “Because literacies are social practices, they are critically linked to social identities” (p. 383).

• Genres are “abstract, socially recognized ways of using language” (Hyland, 2003, p. 21).

• According to Kozol (2000), “savage inequalities” (p. 12) exist throughout our educational system.

APA Quotation Format—under 40 words

• Author’s name, year, and page number immediately following quotation• Because genres are “abstract, socially recognized ways of using language”

(Hyland, 2003, p. 21) the types of genres that language learners need to be taught will vary by culture.

• Author’s name in the sentence immediately followed by year• Page number immediately following quotation

• Hyland (2003) explained that genres are “abstract, socially recognized ways of using language” (p. 354).

• Omitting the quotation marks is PLAGIARISM (even if you include the citation)

•Start on a new line

•No quotation marks

•½ in. indent

•Double space entire quotation

•Citation at end after last punctuation

APA Quotation Format—40 words or more

Omitting Material from a Quotation• To shorten quotes by removing extra information, use ellipsis points (…) to

indicate omitted text.

• Use four points (….) for omission between two sentences.

• Ellipsis is not needed at the beginning or end of a quotation.

• Example• Original Source: In D/discourse analysis, any idea that applications and practice are less

prestigious or less important or less “pure” than theory has no place. Such a notion has no place, because, as the reader will see, the theory of language in this book is that language has meaning only in and through social practices, practices which often leave us morally complicit with harm and injustice unless we attempt to transform them.

•  • Quotation: “In D/discourse analysis, any idea that applications and practice are less

prestigious or less important or less “pure” than theory has no place….because…language has meaning only in and through social practices” (Gee, 2005, p. 8).

Adding to a Quotation• If additional words are needed to make a quotation clear,

add those words in brackets, [ ].

• Original Source: Many vegetarians are health conscious. They exercise regularly, maintain a desirable body weight, and abstain from smoking.

• Quotation: According to the American Council on Science and Health (2009), “They [many vegetarians] exercise regularly, maintain a desirable body weight, and abstain from smoking” (p. 12).

Paraphrases• A paraphrase restates a passage of source material using

your own words.

• Maintains both the main ideas and details of the passage.

• Is about the same length as the original passage, or slightly shorter.

Why Use Paraphrases?• To include more specific and detailed information than a summary, yet can be more general and widespread than a quotation.

• To add variety and avoid overusing quotations.

• To show your reader that you understand the source.

Paraphrasing without Plagiarism• Acceptable paraphrases convey the meaning of the source,

but use your own words and sentence structure. To avoid plagiarism, make sure your paraphrase does not:

• Create sentences by piecing together the source’s phrases with your own phrases

• Plug in different words (synonyms) into the source’s sentence structure

• Use more than 3-4 consecutive words from the source.

Acceptable Paraphrases• Original: Depression affects 22 percent of Americans aged eighteen

and older (one in five adults) every year, making it one of the most common medical conditions in the United States. It affects young and old, and is twice as common in women as in men.

Two paraphrases: Which is acceptable?• According to Balch (2006), over one-fifth of the adult American population

suffers from depression. In terms of at-risk populations, gender appears to be a more significant factor than age; in fact, women are twice as likely to suffer from depression as men.

• According to Balch (2006), depression impacts 22 percent of Americans (aged 18+) annually, making it one of the most widespread medical problems in America. The disease reaches people of every age, and is two times as common in women as in men.

Acceptable Paraphrases• Original: Nutritional deficiencies resulting from

malabsorption may weaken the immune system, in turn prolonging the time required for the inflammation and ulcers to heal.

• Two paraphrases: Which is acceptable?• Deficiencies in nutrition caused by malabsorption may make the

immune system weaker, which makes the required time longer for the inflammation and ulcers to heal (Balch, 2006).

• Stomach problems such as inflammation and ulcers may have difficulty healing when the stomach is unable to absorb nutrients properly (Balch, 2006).

Steps for writing a paraphrase1. Read the passage you want to paraphrase.

2. Try to understand the overall meaning of the passage before you start writing your paraphrase. Ask yourself “What is the author’s meaning?”

3. Write down what you think the passage is about without looking at the original (the “look away” technique). This avoids paraphrasing a word or a phrase at a time.

4. After writing your paraphrase, look back at the passage to make sure you haven’t copied the author’s exact phrases.

Try it out!• Read this passage. Then try to paraphrase it without

looking at it. Write what it means using your own words and sentences.

• Foods greatly influence the brain’s behavior. A poor diet, especially one with a lot of junk foods, is a common cause of depression. The levels of certain brain chemicals are controlled by what we eat. These brain chemicals are closely linked to mood.

Try it out!• Read this passage. Then try to paraphrase it without

looking at it. Write what it means using your own words and sentences.

• Foods greatly influence the brain’s behavior. A poor diet, especially one with a lot of junk foods, is a common cause of depression. The levels of certain brain chemicals are controlled by what we eat. These brain chemicals are closely linked to mood.

Acceptable Paraphrase:• A healthy diet is important for mental health. Because our food

controls our brain chemicals and our mood, poor eating habits can lead to depression.

Integrating Sources– A Review• Summaries• Quotations• Paraphrases

• TAKEAWAYS?

Gavilan College Writing Center• Workshop schedule on website• Writing Assistants trained to guide you through integrating

sources into your paper• Helpful advice for APA reference books and websites• Schedule an appointment or drop in• Hours: Monday thru Thursday 8:00 AM – 5:00 PM

Friday 8:00 AM-1:00 PM

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at Upcoming Workshops!