Research Paper Notes
INTEGRATING SOURCES INTO YOUR PAPER
Sunderman/1A
In previous writing assignments, many of you have attempted (sometimes successfully, sometimes not) to incorporate ideas from other sources into your papers. Although some of you did outside research, most of the time your sources came from our reader. You summarized, paraphrased, or quoted ideas from our readings to help develop your points.
In a RESEARCH PAPER, knowing how to effectively integrate sources is extremely important. Being able to integrate sources is important because it helps you:
• Bolster your point with the credibility or reputation of the source.
• Identify others’ opinions, theories, and personal explanations.
• Present assertions of fact that are open to dispute.
• Present statistics.
• Establish your ethos as a good, reliable scholar/researcher.
• Let readers know where to find information on your topic.
Generally speaking, there are three ways to integrate sources into a research paper – summarizing, paraphrasing and quoting. First, it is important to understand the difference between these three things:
SUMMARY – A relatively brief objective account, in your own words, of the main ideas in a source or a source passage.
PARAPHRASE – A restatement, in your own words, of a passage of text. Its structure reflects (but does not copy) the structure of the source passage, and may be roughly the same length as the passage, but does not use exact wording.
QUOTE – Using the exact words of a source.
You will want to summarize and paraphrase most often in your research paper, using direct quotes sparingly. Putting source material in your own words shows readers that you have a true understanding of that material. Also, to restate in your own words the full meaning of a phrase or passage helps readers understand difficult, complex, jargon-riddled or ambiguous passages. Such passages, if quoted, will still require extensive explanation in order to be understood.
Following are
Sunderman/1A
In previous writing assignments, many of you have attempted (sometimes successfully, sometimes not) to incorporate ideas from other sources into your papers. Although some of you did outside research, most of the time your sources came from our reader. You summarized, paraphrased, or quoted ideas from our readings to help develop your points.
In a RESEARCH PAPER, knowing how to effectively integrate sources is extremely important. Being able to integrate sources is important because it helps you:
• Bolster your point with the credibility or reputation of the source.
• Identify others’ opinions, theories, and personal explanations.
• Present assertions of fact that are open to dispute.
• Present statistics.
• Establish your ethos as a good, reliable scholar/researcher.
• Let readers know where to find information on your topic.
Generally speaking, there are three ways to integrate sources into a research paper – summarizing, paraphrasing and quoting. First, it is important to understand the difference between these three things:
SUMMARY – A relatively brief objective account, in your own words, of the main ideas in a source or a source passage.
PARAPHRASE – A restatement, in your own words, of a passage of text. Its structure reflects (but does not copy) the structure of the source passage, and may be roughly the same length as the passage, but does not use exact wording.
QUOTE – Using the exact words of a source.
You will want to summarize and paraphrase most often in your research paper, using direct quotes sparingly. Putting source material in your own words shows readers that you have a true understanding of that material. Also, to restate in your own words the full meaning of a phrase or passage helps readers understand difficult, complex, jargon-riddled or ambiguous passages. Such passages, if quoted, will still require extensive explanation in order to be understood.
Following are