1. Using and Citing
Sources
Adapted from Reading Rhetorically by John C. Bean, et al. and A Short Guide
to College Writing by Barnet, Silvan, et al.
S

2. Controlling Information
S The ideal use of an outside source is to control the way
you wish to develop your ideas. Your sources should help
you support and clarify your own ideas.
S You should not allow your sources to control you. Do not
rely on your sources to explain your ideas, that’s your job.
Similarly, do not just dump sources into a text and hope
your reader understands their role in your essay. You
need to choose and place your sources carefully.

3. Five Purposes for Using
Sources
S Your use of a source should have one of the purposes
below:
S To use information that provides a useful background or a
context for understanding your research question
S To use information that answers a relevant question
S To use information as evidence to support a claim or idea
S To use information from an influential or relevant author
S To use information to complicate a writer’s question

4. Three Ways of Using Sources
S There are three main ways we uses sources in an
academic essay:
S Summary
S Paraphrase
S Direct Quote

5. Summary
S Summary – a condensed version of the author’s ideas
and works in your own words. You can summarize
either an entire text or a portion that is directly related to
your point. Bean et al. list the following reasons to use
summary.
S “When the source directly supports your thesis, or alternatively,
when the source offers a position you wish to argue against or
analyze” (124).
S “When the source offers important background information of
your ideas” (ibid)
S “When you need to provide teachers with an overview of a
source’s whole argument before analyzing particular ideas
from it” (ibid)

6. Paraphrase
S Paraphrase – similar to a summary, a paraphrase is
restating the author’s ideas in your own words. The
difference is that in a paraphrase you are concentrating
on one particular passage rather than a whole work,
section, or paragraph. A couple reasons to use
paraphrase are:
S “When you want to emphasize especially significant ideas by
retaining all of the points or details of the original” (Bean et.al.
126).
S “When you want to clarify ideas that are complex or language
that is dense, technical, or hard to understand” (ibid).

7. Direct Quote
S Quotation – directly inserting the exact words of the author in
your essay. It is crucial that you start and end a quotation with
quotation marks. Failure to do so could be construed as
plagiarism. It is also wise that you use direct quotation
sparingly otherwise, as Bean et al. show, “over reliance on
direct quotations weakens your authority and suggests that you
have no ideas of your own to contribute…” (127). It is also
important to remember that you do not need to quote an entire
sentence or passage. Instead use short quotations in your own
sentences. Some reasons to use quotes are:
S “When the language of the source is vivid, distinctive or memorable”
(128).
S “When the quotation directly supports a key point in your essay” (ibid).
S “When the person quoted is such a well-known authority on the
manner that even a few well chosen words carry considerable weight”
(ibid).

8. Citation
S Citation is the act of acknowledging where outside ideas,
facts, or words come from. Citing your sources shows the
research you have performed and who has helped to
support your ideas. Citation happens in two places:
S In-text citations: using signal phrases, which name the
author or work, and parenthetical citations, which give
reference information like page numbers
S Smith says “Dogs hate cats” (23).
S Reference Pages (Bibliographies or Works Cited): pages at
the end of essays which list all the sources used in the
essay.

9. Plagiarism
S Plagiarism is the use of someone else’s thoughts, ideas,
or words without clearly identifying that they are from an
outside source (Barnett, Silvan, et.al. 205).
S Plagiarism essentially is trying to “pass off someone
else’s work as your own” (205).
S Plagiarism can be both intentional and unintentional,
which means that just “forgetting” to cite a source is
considered plagiarism.