How do you use outside sources in an essay?

Throughout the body of your paper (primarily the Intro and Discussion), whenever you refer to outside sources of information, you must cite the sources from which you drew information. The simplest way to do this is to parenthetically give the author’s last name and the year of publication, e.g., (Clarke 2001).

Why is it important to use sources?

Citing or documenting the sources used in your research serves three purposes: It gives proper credit to the authors of the words or ideas that you incorporated into your paper. Citing your sources consistently and accurately helps you avoid committing plagiarism in your writing.

How are outside sources helpful?

Using Outside Sources. In academic research, writers find ideas and inspiration in the work of others who have previously studied and written on a subject. When a writer uses the words and ideas of others, honesty obligates the writer to acknowledge the sources of those words and ideas.

Do you have to cite sources in an essay?

You must cite all information used in your paper, whenever and wherever you use it. When citing sources in the body of your paper, list the author’s last name only (no initials) and the year the information was published.

How do you put something in your own words?

Paraphrasing means formulating someone else’s ideas in your own words. To paraphrase a source, you have to rewrite a passage without changing the meaning of the original text. Paraphrasing is an alternative to quoting, where you copy someone’s exact words and put them in quotation marks.

How do you paraphrase a source?

When you paraphrase, you capture the information from a source by putting it into your own words instead of the author’s. This involves taking a sentence or two from the original source and reworking the sentence structure and the wording using roughly the same amount of words as the author.

How do I learn to paraphrase?

The formula for paraphrasing is:Read the sentence or passage over and over until you really understand it.Write out the meaning, either in outline form or conversational style.Locate the main ideas and arrange the order you want to present them.Write the paraphrase from your rearranged outline.

What is a benefit of paraphrasing source material?

A. You can use the words of the original author to establish credibility.