Michele Griegel-McCord, 2014

How to Effectively
Integrate Sources into
Your Text

Effectively Introducing
Sources Into Your Text
Where

your evidence and information

comes from is just as important as what
that evidence illustrates! You need to tell
your readers IN YOUR ACTUAL SENTENCE
that the following information comes from a
relevant and credible source.

You

should not just rely on the parenthetical

citation ( ) at the end of the sentence.

Effectively Introducing
Sources Into Your Text
To introduce your sources effectively, before you insert
your evidence into your sentence,
Give the name of the author/speaker or organization that

generated the information,

Identify the date/timeliness of the information
Indicate expertise or credentials of the source

This formal credentialing only needs to happen the first

time you introduce the source into your essay.
Subsequent references can just refer to the name or
organization.

Examples of
Credentialing
In

the article Ten Ways to Marry the Wrong Person, Rabbi

Dov Heller, a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist who
holds Masters Degrees in Clinical Psychology from Antioch
University and in Contemporary Theology from Harvard
University, says blind love is not the way to choose a
spouse (Heller).
Highlights the article title and the professional position of the speaker.
Also includes the advanced degrees he holds from respected schools. This is
not absolutely necessary but doesn't hurt either!

John

Hopkins sociology professor Karl Alexander has

discovered that low-income children fall behind academically
over the summer months which accounts for most of their
subsequent achievement gap (Alexander).
Indicates the academic credentials of his source.

Examples of
Credentialing
According

to the Pew Research Center, a respected nonpartisan public opinion polling organization, more than
four-in-ten (44%) Americans say they expect economic
conditions to be better a year from now, up from 34% in
January and 28% in December (Pew).
Here the writer explains what organization collected thestatisticsand gives some
information about the authority and trustworthiness of the group.

According

to Dr. Cynthia Ris, a 15 year veteran

composition instructor, while todays incoming college
students seem to be more aware of plagiarism rules,
they still fall into traditional plagiarism traps (Ris).
While I know Dr. Ris personally, the credentials I used highlight the fact that she is in a
good position to compare students given her length of teaching experience.

How to Avoid Dropped

Quotes
Another

common issue with bringing in outside

material into your writing is making sure that you
AVOID dropped or stand-alone quotes.

Example

of a Dropped Quote:

Questioning the reader and addressing them at a personal level by creating a

feeling of fear and a slight sense of guilt is another of Goldwassers strategic
goals. Were afraid. Our kids know things we dont. Theyre . . . responsible for
pretty much every enduring consumer cultural phenomenon (Goldwasser). By
including herself in this quote by stating were afraid, she creates a relationship
with the reader and connects on a personal level to better persuade her purpose.
The quote in red is a sentence on its own. It must be connected to your own

writing in a grammatically correct way. See the next slide for ways to correct this
dropped quote.

How to Avoid Dropped

Quotes

3 Ways to effectively connect quotes to your

own writing
Use an attributive tag or signal phrase
Goldwasser writes, quote (Goldwasser).
According to Goldwasser, quote (Goldwasser).

Work to blend the quote (best for short phrases or

individual words)
Goldwasser recognizes her audience's fear by acknowledging that
were afraid. Our kids know things we dont" (Goldwasser).

Use a Lead-in sentence + colon (best for longer quotes)

Questioning the reader and addressing them at a personal level by
creating a feeling of fear and a slight sense of guilt is another of

Goldwassers strategic goals: Were afraid. Our kids know things we

dont. Theyre . . . responsible for pretty much every enduring
consumer cultural phenomenon (Goldwasser).