ES1103 Chap.6 Citing, Paraphrasing and Quoting in APA Style
Citing, Paraphrasing and Quoting in APA Style
Citation as a rhetorical choice
The fourth tutorial treats APA citation as more than a format. There are two ways to attribute a source. In an author-prominent citation the author's name does grammatical work in your sentence, usually as its subject. In an information-prominent citation the name appears in brackets at the end, so the idea leads.
The rubric for both essays asks for both kinds used with rhetorical discernment: author-prominent to appeal to authority or align with particular scholars, information-prominent to keep information flowing and to synthesise several sources behind one point.
Who takes responsibility for the claim
The tutorial shows that grammar also distributes responsibility.
When the author is the subject or agent of a sentence, the author carries full responsibility for the claim. When the author appears in an adjunct such as according to, or inside a noun phrase such as a researcher's proposal, writer and author become partners in it.
Comparative forms, which set two authors against each other, return full responsibility to the cited authors.
Reporting verbs and stance
Reporting verbs are sorted by the act they describe: research acts such as investigate and find, cognition acts such as believe and doubt, and discourse acts such as state and suggest. They are also sorted by the stance they carry.
Endorsing verbs such as demonstrate and establish present a claim as credible; neutral verbs such as report and note attribute without judgement; distancing verbs such as claim and allege cast doubt.
A citation can also perform different functions: attributing information, exemplifying your own point, establishing links between sources, or comparing a source with your own work.
Summary, paraphrase and quotation
Integrating a source means choosing a distance from its wording.
A summary shows overall understanding of a text by stating its central claim and sub-claims in your own words and leaving out supporting detail. A paraphrase conveys a sentence or short passage accurately in your own words. A direct quote reproduces the original word for word in quotation marks, and the course warns that overusing quotes weakens your own voice.
The first essay's podcast adds two firm rules: paraphrased and synthesised ideas still need a citation, and borrowed exact words still need quotation marks even when a citation is present.
What this chapter covers
- 01
Author-prominent and information-prominent citation and when each is strategic
- 02
How grammar assigns responsibility for a cited claim
- 03
Research, cognition and discourse reporting verbs
- 04
Endorsing, neutral and distancing stance
- 05
Attribution, exemplification, linking and comparison as citation functions
- 06
Summary, paraphrase and direct quotation
Worked example · free
Choosing the citation form for a purpose
- 1Write the sentence that groups the three sources.
- 1Justify the information-prominent form.
- 1Write the sentence that foregrounds Ramos.
- 1Justify the author-prominent form and verb.
Key terms
- Author-Prominent Citation
- A citation in which the author's name works inside the sentence grammatically, used to foreground authority or align with a scholar.
- Information-Prominent Citation
- A citation in brackets at the end of a sentence, used to keep the idea in front or group several sources.
- Reporting Verb
- A verb that introduces a cited idea and signals what the author did and how the writer regards it.
- Distancing Verb
- A reporting verb such as claim or allege that signals doubt about the cited claim.
- Paraphrase
- An accurate restatement of a sentence or short passage in the writer's own words, with a citation.
- Summary
- A condensed account of a text's central claim and sub-claims in the writer's own words, omitting supporting detail.
- Reference List
- The end-of-text list of every source cited, formatted in APA style with a hanging indent.
Citing, Paraphrasing and Quoting in APA Style FAQ
Do I still need a citation if I paraphrase completely?
Yes. Changing every word does not change who the idea belongs to, and the course podcast says the same applies when you combine ideas from two sources. The citation credits the idea, not the wording.
If I cite a source, do I also need quotation marks for its exact words?
Yes. A citation shows where an idea came from, while quotation marks show that the words themselves are borrowed. Using the source's exact wording without quotation marks misrepresents it as your own phrasing, even with a citation.
Do in-text citations count towards the word limit?
A Week 5 course announcement says in-text citations are counted towards the limit while the reference list is not. Plan for this, because a paragraph dense with citations uses more of the limit than it appears to.
How do reporting verbs show my stance?
Endorsing verbs such as demonstrate present a claim as well supported, neutral verbs such as note simply report it, and distancing verbs such as allege express doubt. Choosing deliberately lets the reader see where the source ends and your judgement begins.
What APA errors does the rubric treat as minor?
It gives mechanical slips such as a missing hanging indent or italics as examples of minor or infrequent errors in the competent band. Frequent errors across in-text citations and the reference list fall into the developing band.
Assessment move
Keep a two-column list while drafting: each reporting verb you use and the stance it carries. When one column is all neutral verbs, your voice is missing; when a distancing verb appears, check that the paragraph goes on to explain the doubt.
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