Cite, Sight, and Site: What’s the Difference?

Cite, Sight, and Site: What’s the Difference?

Wikipedia as a Spring-Board to RELIABLE, CREDIBLE Sources

When conducting research for yourself or others (such as in an article or essay), you can use Wikipedia to spring-board your ideas on the topic.  However, since Wikipedia is not always reliable—meaning that the content is not always properly verified or accurate—it is best to not use any content from Wikipedia to construct your opinions or arguments on a matter. Instead, peruse the content on Wikipedia, gather ideas, write down some notes about keywords, people, or issues, and then get ready to search the library for scholarly sources to learn as much accurate content as possible. 

See the helpful links below to understand how to use Wikipedia successfully, or even to create your own Wikipedia page, but remember, DO NOT USE WIKIPEDIA AS A SOURCE.

Signal Phrases

Humanities › Languages

Examples of Signal Phrases in Grammar and Composition

By Richard Nordquist 

Updated September 10, 2018

In English grammar, a signal phrase is a phrase, clause, or sentence that introduces a quotation, paraphrase, or summary. It's also called a quotative frame or a dialogue guide. A signal phrase includes a verb (such as said or wrote) along with the name of the person who's being quoted. Although a signal phrase most often appears before a quotation, the phrase may instead come after it or in the middle of it. Editors and style guides generally advise writers to vary the positions of signal phrases to improve readability throughout a text. Examples of How to Vary Signal Phrases Maya Angelou said, "Start loving yourself before you ask someone else to love you." "Start loving yourself before you ask someone else to love you," Maya Angelou said. "Start loving yourself," Maya Angelou said, "before you ask someone else to love you." As Mark Twain observed, "Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions." According to Frito-Lay research, women snack only 14 percent ... The candidate insisted that the tariff must be reduced to a "competitive basis" and taxes ... Undernourished children have long been India’s scourge—“a national shame,” in the words of its prime minister ... Common signal phrase verbs include the following:  argue, assert, claim, comment,confirm, contend, declare, deny, emphasize, illustrate, imply, insist, note, observe, point out, report, respond, say, suggest, think, and write. Context, Flow, and Citation In nonfiction, signal phrases are used to give attribution rather than set off dialogue. They are important to use when you are paraphrasing or quoting someone's ideas other than your own, as at best it's intellectually dishonest if not plagiarism to do so, depending on the amount of text used and how closely it mirrors the original text. "A signal phrase usually names the author of the source and often provides some context for the source material. The first time you mention an author, use the full name: Shelby Foote argues. ... When you refer to the author again, you may use the last name only: Foote raises an important question. "A signal phrase indicates the boundary between your words and the source's words." (Diana Hacker and Nancy Sommers, A Pocket Style Manual, 6th ed. Macmillan, 2012) "Readers should never be in doubt about your use of a source. Your frame can introduce, interrupt, follow, or even surround the words or ideas taken from sources, but be sure that your  signal phrases are grammatical and lead naturally into the material." (John J. Ruszkiewicz and Jay T. Dolmage, How to Write Anything: A Guide and Reference With Readings. Macmillan, 2010) "If we mention the author's name in the text in a signal phrase ('According to Richard Lanham ...'), then the parenthetical citation includes the page number only (18). If we use more than one work by an author, and we have identified his or her name in the text, our parenthetical citation must include a short title of the work cited and a page number ( Style 18)." (Scott Rice, Right Words, Right Places. Wadsworth, 1993) "You ... need to integrate borrowed material naturally into your own work so that it reads smoothly as part of your paper. ... Leaving the signal phrase out results in an error known as dropped quotation. Dropped quotations appear out of nowhere. They can confuse your reader and interrupt the flow of your own writing." (Luis A. Nazario, Deborah D. Borchers, and William F. Lewis, Bridges to Better Writing, 2nd ed. Cengage, 2013) Punctuating Signal Phrases Punctuating signal phrases in a sentence is simple and straightforward. "If the quotation begins the sentence, the words telling who is speaking ... are set off with a comma unless the quotation ends with a question mark or an exclamation point. ... ·         'I didn't even know it was broken,' I said. ·         'Do you have any questions?' she asked. ·         'You mean I can go!' I answered excitedly. ·         'Yes,' she said, 'consider this just a warning.' "Notice that most of the previous quotations begin with a capital letter. But when a quotation is interrupted by a signal phrase, the second part doesn't begin with a capital letter unless the second part is a new sentence." (Paige Wilson and Teresa Ferster Glazier, The Least You Should Know About English: Writing Skills, 12th ed. Cengage, 2015)

Nordquist, Richard. "Examples of Signal Phrases in Grammar and

Composition." ThoughtCo, Dec. 6, 2018, thoughtco.com/

signal-phrase-grammar-and-com

Direct vs Indirect Quotations

  

LEO: Literacy Education Online Using Quotations

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 A quotation is a reference to an authority or a citation of authority. [A local blogger or a friend’s opinion is not an authority to reference.  Academic sources need to be used to support your writing.] There are two types of quotations: direct and indirect.

A direct quotation uses the exact words of authority and must be identified in your paper with quotation marks and parenthetical documentation.

An indirect quotation, or paraphrase, is a restatement of a thought expressed by someone else that is written in your own style that needs to be documented.

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Examples for How to Use Paraphrases

LEO: Literacy Education Online Using Paraphrases

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A paraphrase is an indirect quotation. It must be documented because it relates in your own words and style the thoughts you have borrowed from another person. Paraphrases are more flexible than quotations. They fit more smoothly into your text, and you can express your own interpretations as you paraphrase.

Paraphrasing is used for the following reasons:

• to restate a difficult passage the reader may not understand,
• to explain or interpret concepts or unfamiliar terms,
• or to make abstract facts and ideas concrete.

Documentation Style Quick Guide

                                            

ENGL 101 Students, see the content information below to assist you with your MLA, APA, and Turabian formatting requirements and source documentation.

Plagiarism Explained

LEO: Literacy Education Online Plagiarism

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When writers intentionally or unintentionally present another person's words, ideas, or work as their own, they are committing plagiarism. Most students know that passing off another individual's paper as their own is plagiarism. However, fewer students understand that accidentally including someone else's sentence in their writing without quotation marks and a reference is plagiarism, too.

For several important reasons, you must reference the original work and author in your writing whenever you: 

1. copy another person's exact words; 
2. paraphrase or summarize someone else's ideas; or 
3. present facts, statistics, charts, or diagrams developed by another individual. 

Formatting Style Links

Formatting Styles

There are three primary styles for citing sources of research. Make sure you know which style your professor requires before completing your research.

AMA

AMA Citation Video

AMA Formatting - Quick Guide

APA

Writing Center Guide for APA formatting

APA Citation Guide

MLA

Writing Center Guide for MLA formatting

MLA Citation Guide

Turabian

Writing Center Guide for Turabian formatting

Turabian Citation Guide

https://www.liberty.edu/library/writing-tutorials/

Citation Assistance

EndNote software software assists in managing and creating citations 

Note: These citations are not always 100% correct, so check them against the citation manual of the style you are using.

Citations from specific databases (Worldcat, Ebsco)

Must be cited:

Direct quotes, paraphrasing, or summarizing

Ideas, or references to ideas, that you obtained from somewhere

Internet sources that give you useful background information

Doesn't need to be cited:

Primary research that you conduct

Ideas that emerge (but are significantly different) from what is discussed in class, on the discussion board, etc.

Common knowledge (i.e., most everyone knows it)

 

Plagiarism & Copyright

See the copyright guidelines for detailed information on what constitutes plagiarism and how to determine copyright.

Evaluating Sources: Practice Tutorial

Below you will find a practice exercise to help you work through the stages of determining whether a source is reliable and credible.  

Prior to working through the exercises, review the CRAAP Test (not my word) to determine the worth of sources that you locate.  

Once you have mastered this test for sources you locate, you will be able to properly complete the evaluating sources practice tutorial below.

CRAAP Test

CRAAP

Research Writing

Plagiarism & Copyright

See the copyright guidelines for detailed information on what constitutes plagiarism and how to determine copyright.

When considering source materials to support your argument, you will want to conduct quality research using academic, scholarly sources.  Furthermore, you will want to paraphrase as much as possible—which still requires parenthetical citations within the sentence as well as full-source citations in a Reference, Bibliography, or Works Cited page at the end of the paper.

Work on paraphrasing your sources and limiting your quotations.

Research Writing Categories

View all articles and resources in the Research Writing category.

Choosing Research Paper Topics: Reading for Information | View Worksheet

Learn about how to choose research paper topics by going through a series of steps to form ideas and pick the most viable topic.

Conducting Research and Gathering Information | View Worksheet

Learn how to go about conducting research and gathering information to engage in structured searching based on a plan that makes the process smoother.

Introduction to Open Educational Resources

http://libguides.uta.edu/oer

Open educational resources (OER) are free teaching and learning materials that are licensed to allow for revision and reuse. OER can be fully self-contained textbooks, videos, quizzes, learning modules, lesson plans, syllabi, worksheets, data, and more. The benefits of using OER in your courses include improved student engagement and success, immediate and equitable access to resources, cost savings for students, flexible and high-quality learning materials that can be adapted to fit your individualized curriculum, and professional contributions to teaching and learning in your field.


Other open educational practices, such as open pedagogy, can result in the creation of OER. UTA Libraries sponsor a grant program that supports open pedagogy and OER adoption/creation projects.