Rules for writers, Tenth edition - Diana Hacker, Nancy Sommers 2021

Use signal phrases to integrate sources
Integrating sources
Writing Papers in MLA Style

When you include a paraphrase, summary, or direct quotation of another writer’s work in your paper, prepare your readers for it with introductory words called a signal phrase. A signal phrase usually names the author of the source, provides some context for the source material — such as the author’s credentials — and helps readers distinguish your ideas from those of the source.

When you write a signal phrase, choose a verb that fits with the way you are using the source. For example, are you using the source to support a claim or to refute an argument? The signal phrase you choose shows readers how you want them to think about the source.

NOTE: MLA style calls for verbs in the present tense or present perfect tense (argues, has argued) to introduce source material unless you include a date that specifies the time of the original author’s writing.

USING SIGNAL PHRASES IN MLA PAPERS

To avoid monotony, try to vary both the language and the placement of your signal phrases.

Model signal phrases

Michael Pollan, who has written extensively about Americans’ unhealthy eating habits, emphasizes “. . .”

As health policy experts Mello and others point out, “. . .”

Marion Nestle, New York University professor of nutrition and public health, notes . . .

Bioethicist David Resnik acknowledges that his argument . . .

In response to critics, Conly offers a persuasive counterargument: “. . .”

Verbs in signal phrases

Marking boundaries

Readers need to move smoothly from your words to the words of a source. Avoid dropping a quotation into the text without warning. Provide a clear signal phrase, including at least the author’s name, to indicate the boundary between your words and the source’s words. The signal phrase is highlighted in the second example.

DROPPED QUOTATION

Laws designed to prevent chronic disease by promoting healthier food and beverage consumption also have potentially enormous economic benefits. “[A] 1% reduction in intake of saturated fat across the population would prevent more than 30,000 cases of coronary heart disease annually and save more than a billion dollars in health care costs” (Nestle 7).

QUOTATION WITH SIGNAL PHRASE

Laws designed to prevent chronic disease by promoting healthier food and beverage consumption also have potentially enormous economic benefits. Marion Nestle, New York University professor of nutrition and public health, notes that “a 1% reduction in intake of saturated fat across the population would prevent more than 30,000 cases of coronary heart disease annually and save more than a billion dollars in health care costs” (7).

Establishing authority

The first time you mention a source, include in the signal phrase the author’s title, credentials, or experience to help your readers recognize the source’s authority and your own credibility (ethos) as a responsible researcher who has located reliable sources. The signal phrases are highlighted in the examples below.

SOURCE WITH NO CREDENTIALS

Michael Pollan notes that “[t]he Centers for Disease Control estimates that fully three quarters of US health care spending goes to treat chronic diseases, most of which are preventable and linked to diet: heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes, and at least a third of all cancers.”

SOURCE WITH CREDENTIALS

Journalist Michael Pollan, who has written extensively about Americans’ unhealthy eating habits, notes that “[t]he Centers for Disease Control estimates that fully three quarters of US health care spending goes to treat chronic diseases, most of which are preventable and linked to diet: heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes, and at least a third of all cancers.”

Introducing summaries and paraphrases

Introduce most summaries and paraphrases with a signal phrase that names the author and places the material in the context of your argument. Readers will then understand that everything between the signal phrase and the parenthetical citation summarizes or paraphrases the cited source. Without the signal phrase (highlighted) in the following example, readers might think that only the quotation at the end is being cited, when in fact the whole paragraph is based on the source.

To improve public health, advocates such as Bowdoin College philosophy professor Sarah Conly contend that it is the government’s duty to prevent people from making harmful choices whenever feasible and whenever public benefits outweigh the costs. In response to critics who claim that laws aimed at stopping us from eating whatever we want are an assault on our freedom of choice, Conly asserts that “laws aren’t designed for each one of us individually” (A23).

There are times when a summary or a paraphrase does not require a signal phrase naming the author. When the context makes clear where the cited material begins, you may omit the signal phrase and include the author’s last name in parentheses.

According to a nationwide poll, seventy-five percent of Americans are opposed to laws that restrict or put limitations on access to healthy foods (Neergaard and Agiesta).

Integrating statistics and other facts

When you cite a statistic or another specific fact, a signal phrase is often not necessary. Readers usually will understand that the citation refers to the statistic or fact and not the whole paragraph.

Seat belt use saved an average of more than fourteen thousand lives per year in the United States between 2000 and 2010 (United States, Department of Transportation 231).

There is nothing wrong, however, with using a signal phrase to introduce a statistic or another fact.

Putting source material in context

Readers should not have to guess why source material appears in your paper. A signal phrase can help you connect your own ideas with those of another writer by clarifying how the source will contribute to your paper (see 53a).

If you use another writer’s words, you must explain how they relate to your argument. Quotations don’t speak for themselves; you must create a context for readers. Sandwich each quotation between sentences of your own, introducing the quotation with a signal phrase and following it with comments that link the quotation to your paper’s argument.

USING SENTENCE GUIDES TO INTEGRATE SOURCES

You build your credibility (ethos) by accurately representing the views of others and by integrating these views into your paper. An important way to present the views of others before agreeing or disagreeing with them is to use sentence guides. These guides act as academic sentence starters; they show you how to use signal phrases in sentences to make clear to your reader whose ideas you’re presenting — your own or those you have encountered in a source.

Presenting others’ ideas. The following language will help you demonstrate your understanding of a source by summarizing the views or arguments of its author:

X argues that .

X and Y emphasize the need for .

Presenting direct quotations. To introduce the exact words of a source because their accuracy and authority are important for your argument, you might try phrases like these:

X describes the problem this way: “.”

Y argues in favor of the policy, pointing out that “.”

Presenting alternative views. At times you will have to synthesize the views of multiple sources before you introduce your own:

While X and Y have asked an important question, Z suggests that we should be asking a different question: ?

X has argued that Y’s research findings rest upon the questionable assumption that .

Presenting your own views by agreeing or extending. You may agree with the author of a source but want to add your own voice to extend the point or go deeper:

X’s argument is convincing because .

Y claimed that . But isn’t it also true that ?

Presenting your own views by disagreeing and questioning. College writing assignments encourage you to show your understanding of a subject but also to question or challenge ideas and conclusions about the subject:

X’s claims about are misguided.

Y insists that , but perhaps she is asking the wrong question.

Presenting and countering objections to your argument. To anticipate objections that readers might make, try the following sentence guides:

Not everyone will embrace this argument; some may argue instead that .

Some will object to this proposal on the grounds that .