How to Integrate Others' Research into your Writing
This Resource Page will help you:
- Understand the importance of integrating others’ research into your own writing
- Learn effective strategies for integrating others’ research.
Why should I Integrate Others’ Research into my own Writing?
Integrating others’ research into your own writing is essential for several reasons:
- It strengthens the credibility and validity of your arguments by grounding them in existing scholarship and expert opinions.
- It provides a foundation for generating new insights and ideas.
- It fosters intellectual engagement and demonstrates respect for the contributions of others in the academic community.
- By incorporating well-researched evidence, you demonstrate a comprehensive understanding of the subject and contribute to scholarly conversation.
- Integrating diverse perspectives allows for a more nuanced and well-rounded discussion, acknowledging the broader context and potential counterarguments.
How can I Integrate Others’ Research into my own Writing?
Common strategies to effectively incorporate existing research into your writing include integral and non-integral citations, reporting verbs, summarization, paraphrasing and direct quotes. If you are an student, remember to use APA style whenever you incorporate others' research into your own writing.
Click on each strategy below to learn more. Note: The "Paraphrasing", "Summarizing" and "Direct Quotes" buttons will take you to separate Resource Pages.
Integral Citations
In academic writing, integral citations refer to the seamless integration of information from a source into the body of the text. This means that the author's name is incorporated directly into the sentence without the use of parentheses. Integral citations are part of the sentence structure and contribute to the overall flow of the narrative. Integral citations place the focus on the text/authors rather than on their ideas.
Author’s name + (publication year) + reporting verb
Example: Smith (2019) argues that climate change has far-reaching implications for global biodiversity.
- According to + author’s name + (publication year)...
According to Huntley (1993)…
- As indicated by + author’s name + (publication year)...
As indicated by Shu (2018)…
- In the view of + author’s name + (publication year)...
In the view of Abe et al. (1998)…
- The conclusion drawn in + author’s name + (publication year)...
The conclusion drawn in Shram and Lauver’s study (1998)…
- Author’s name + (publication year) + paper discusses...
- Dack’s (2017) paper discusses…
Integral citations work well in situations where you want to
- Focus on a specific study
- Focus on a specific author
- Seamlessly incorporate the author's perspective or findings into your own sentence
Non-Integral Citations
Non-integral citations involve enclosing the author's name and publication year within parentheses. These citations are called “non-integral” because the source information is not an integral part of the sentence structure. Non-integral citations are typically placed at the end of the sentence or paragraph that refer to existing research and provide a clear reference to the source. These citations place more emphasis on the ideas as opposed to the text/author(s).
Information + (Author’s name, publication year)
Example: Recent research suggests that climate change has far-reaching implications for global biodiversity (Smith, 2019).
Non-integral citations are appropriate when you don’t want the source information to disrupt the flow of your writing. For instance:
When the focus of your sentence is on a point or concept or finding. In other words, when the central point is what was found or argued, rather than who found or argued it.
- Example: The decline in polar bear populations is alarming (Jones, 2020).
When the point or finding you are writing about is supported by two or more studies which need to be included between parentheses.
- Example: English language proficiency was recognized as one of the major adjustment issues for international students (Mallinckrodt & Leong, 1992; Surdam & Collins, 1984).
Reporting Verbs
In academic writing, you need to comment on, evaluate, or agree/disagree with other sources. Reporting verbs help you to show the author’s viewpoint, your own viewpoint regarding the source, or the author’s stance regarding other literature.
You need to select an appropriate reporting verb to communicate these stances.
Reporting verbs are used for the following purposes:
Reporting verbs signal to the reader that the upcoming information is not the student writer's original thought but is drawn from an external source. This attribution is essential for giving credit to the original thinkers and researchers, acknowledging their contributions to the field. The proper use of reporting verbs helps to avoid ambiguity and plagiarism.
Example: Schram and Lauver (1988) studied the relationship between international students’ adaptation and social alienation.
Different reporting verbs carry different nuances and can indicate the author's attitude towards the cited material. For example, verbs like "argue," "assert," or "contend" suggest a strong and confident stance, while verbs like "suggest," "propose," or "claim" indicate a more tentative or neutral perspective.
Example: Schram and Lauver (1988) suggest that international students who have a strong social support system tend to adjust to college life in the United States more quickly and effectively than those who do not.
If you use a verb like ‘claims’, this suggests that you are unconvinced about the researchers’ arguments, as opposed to a verb like ‘proves’. In the following example, the writer indicates that they may not agree with the first group of scholars (claims).
Example: One group of scholars claims that the growing use of part-time faculty has serious detrimental effects and, therefore, urgent steps should be taken to reverse the trend. The roots of their argument stem from the belief that the predominant cause of the trend has been economic in nature. Another group of scholars, Gappa and Leslie included, has taken the view that the effects of the growing use of part-time faculty can actually be beneficial as long as part-time faculty receive the proper support and respect from their institutions.
Taken from MICUSP: Growing Trend of Part-time Faculty at Community Colleges
Types of Reporting Verbs
Using a variety of reporting verbs adds richness and precision to your writing, allowing you to convey the nuances of the authors' perspectives effectively.
Here is a list of common reporting verbs and how some of them can be used in context. Make sure you choose the correct reporting verb depending on the meaning you wish to convey.
| Type of Reporting Verb | Tentative | Neutral | Strong |
|---|---|---|---|
| Argument | posits, proposes | argues | contends, asserts |
| Assertion | claims | asserts | emphasizes, maintains, declares |
| Claim | suggests, postulates | claims | asserts, contends |
| Conclusion | infers, deduces | concludes | decisively concludes, firmly asserts |
| Demonstration | illustrates, manifests | demonstrates | convincingly demonstrates |
| Emphasize | underscores, stresses | emphasizes | strongly emphasizes |
| Highlight | spotlights, accentuates | highlights | strongly highlights |
| Illustration | exemplifies, portrays | illustrates | vividly illustrates |
| Implication | insinuates, hints | implies | strongly implies |
| Indication | signifies, denotes | indicates | clearly indicates |
| Maintaining | contends, argues | maintains | strongly maintains |
| Noting | remarks, comments | notes | emphatically notes |
| Observation | discerns, perceives | observes | keenly observes |
| Pointing Out | emphasizes, underscores | points out | strongly points out |
| Proposition | suggests, recommends | proposes | strongly proposes |
Examples of Reporting Verbs in Use
Tentative: The scholar proposed that a novel approach to solving the environmental crisis was needed.
Neutral: The scholar argued that a novel approach to solving the environmental crisis was needed.
Strong: The scholar asserted that a novel approach to solving the environmental crisis was needed.
Tentative: The psychologist posits that integrating technology into early childhood education might enhance learning outcomes.
Neutral: The psychologist argues that integrating technology into early childhood education enhances learning outcomes.
Strong: The psychologist contends that integrating technology into early childhood education is essential to enhance learning outcomes.
Tentative: The teacher remarks that incorporating group projects may potentially improve students' collaborative skills.
Neutral: The teacher notes that incorporating group projects improves students' collaborative skills.
Strong: The teacher emphatically notes that incorporating group projects is crucial for the development of students' collaborative skills.
Tentative: The educational researcher suggests that extending school hours might help increase student achievement.
Neutral: The educational researcher proposes that extending school hours would help increase student achievement.
Strong: The educational researcher strongly proposes that extending school hours is essential for significantly increasing student achievement.
Reporting Verbs: Common Issues and Solutions
Instructions: Click on the arrows below the progress bar to go to the next page or the previous page.
Use of Tenses in Reporting Verbs
You also need to pay attention to verb tenses when using reporting verbs in academic writing. This differs from discipline to discipline and often varies in different parts of research reporting (e.g. literature review, methodology, findings).
Here are some common verb tense patterns used in education (and social sciences more generally).
Past Tense
Use the past tense to refer to single studies. Here, we focus on the process or results of the research. These types of sentences are common in literature reviews, methodology, or findings sections. Possible verbs include: investigated, conducted, studied, analyzed, examined (process) / found, showed, revealed, identified, discovered (results).
Examples:
Schram & Lauver (1988) studied the relationship between international students’ adaptation and social isolation.
Fatima (2001) found that many international students experienced significant adjustment-related problems in immersion to a new culture.
Present Perfect Tense
Use the present perfect tense to refer to an area of inquiry. The focus is on general research activity among multiple studies. This is also found in literature reviews and introduction sections of a paper when we provide more background on the research.
Example:
Many researchers have sought to identify specific adjustment problems that international students have experienced (Fatima, 2001; Parr, Bradley & Bingi, 1992).
Present Tense
Use the present tense to refer to the current state of knowledge. This relates to general statements about accepted knowledge. These types of sentences are most often found in introduction sections when providing background on the state of knowledge on a topic/question.
Example:
Researchers agree that social support plays an important moderating role in protecting international students exposed to a new environment against the deleterious effects of acculturation stress (Cemalcilar, Falbo & Stapleton, 2005).
Present Tense or Past Tense?
The present tense is also generally used when expressing the claims and arguments of researchers. In addition, because texts still exist, we usually use the present tense because their statements/conclusions still exist in the present (not finished). These sentences also appear frequently in literature reviews and in the concluding sections of papers.
Example: Schram & Lauver (1998) suggest that international students who have a strong social support system tend to adjust to college life in the United States more quickly and effectively than those who do not.
In the above example, the article from 1998 still suggests the information. However, if we want to provide a historical perspective OR distance ourselves from the findings, the past tense is often used:
Example: From a historical perspective, Schram & Lauver (1998) suggested that international students who have a strong social support system tend to adjust to college life in the United States more quickly and effectively than those who do not. More recent research, however, has found that...
Here is a template paragraph that shows you how to use verb tenses correctly, as described above:
In the field of education, _____ has become a hot topic over the last 20 years. Several studies have found that ______ (citation; citation; citation). In particular, one study argues for ______ (citation). This research utilized a _____ research design and involved _____ participants. The findings suggest that _____. Ultimately, researchers now agree that _____.