Chapter fifteen

Chapter fifteen: Using Sources Effectively

Chapter 15 of the Bedford Researcher is about how to use sources effectively to accomplish purposes as a writer. This means to induce the reader to consider the specific way the writer has approached the issue.

Sources need to bring to the reader the writer's ideas, to serve as contrasts to the writer’s position with those of others’, to provide evidence for the key points, define concepts, to illustrate processes, to clarify statements, set a mood and qualify and strengthen the writer’s point.  These are the most effective ways to use the information, ideas and arguments from the sources to advance the written conversation about an issue. The information can be presented in several forms such as a quotation, paraphrase, summary, numerical information and also as illustrations such as images, audio, video, and animations.

Depending on the point to be proved, some sources may be more important than others because they support the evidence better. Carefully selected sources can significantly help to achieve a direct point.

Quotation, paraphrase or summary as a way used to display ideas and arguments to the readers attracts reader’s attention to particular aspects of the writer’s argument.

Source information is great to point out the nature and intensity of disagreements.  For a need to present complex ideas more concisely, the writer should use paraphrase and summary.

Finding evidence to substantiate certain claims of the position will affect the overall acceptance of the writer's argument.  

Aligning an argument with an authority such as experts and scholars will give credibility to the author's writing. Usually it is in the form of a quotation, paraphrase or source summary.

Writers use sources of information to define the concept, illustrate a process, or clarify a statement i.e. to define concept – by quoting or paraphrasing, to clarify statement-by providing examples, amplify or qualifying a statement.

Using an illustration or a striking quote can help the writer set the mood.

An example is concrete evidence for the document and its position.

Amplifying a point makes it broader and more general ,while qualifying a point makes it more specific and less likely to be misunderstood.

When integrating sources, identifying the sources is very useful. It fulfills the writer’s obligation to credit ideas and words and can strengthen the argument by identifying quoted experts.  So, in-text citations and attributions are critical.

Providing a clear context for the source information is important and shows how the source is reliable. This is done by identifying the sources credentials and how it relates to the writer’s main idea.

Quoting strategically means picking a choice quote to have a real impact on the reader.  They can be brief, partial and extended.  Quotes can be modified as appropriate to fit the text.  Of course quotes must be correctly punctuated.

Paraphrasing is putting in your own words, passages from the sources. They can be as long as the original text and can be used to prove a point and even to illustrate another’s ideas on an issue. Paraphrases should be accurate and fair.

Summaries are integrated into the draft. Summaries need to be accurate, fair and useful in supporting the argument.  In addition, cite the source of a summary. The writer can summarize part or all of a source and even a group of sources to support the argument.

Numerical information can be presented with in sentences or by way of tables, charts or graphs.  They need to be accurately cited and presented.

Images, audio, video and animations in an electronic document and in print can be helpful in making an impact on the reader. In an academic essay permission may not be needed to use the media. When publishing and distributing, permission would be needed.  Such sources need to be properly cited.

The most common documentation systems  are MLA in the humanities, APA in social sciences, Chicago in history, journalism and the humanities, and CSE in life sciences.  The writer chooses the style most in line with the project.

In text citation format will depend on the style chosen for the project.  The in text citations are associated with the list of sources or works cited page.

The document should be checked for unattributed sources. The writer should make a list of each source referred to in the document.

The writer should clearly distinguish between their ideas and the ideas of others i.e. the sources. Credit the sources for their ideas using attribution or quote.