Scholarly Writing
Making appropriate references from evidence
The purpose of my Substack this week is to explore ways to make appropriate references from data and evidence.
First, I highly recommend the Grad Writing Videos (a link is provided below) which is from the University of Saskatchewan (one of my alma maters). The section on Integrating Evidence is pertinent to all scholarly writing whether as a student or professional.
Second, we often do not explicitly discuss why and when citations are needed. Here are some answers to why and when:
1. For new ideas to be discovered and acknowledged, data and evidence must be cited in a consistent and clear manner.
2. Citations facilitate giving credit and attribution to all those who contributed to the development of the data or evidence.
3. Whenever and wherever a knowledge claim is made the corresponding data or evidence should be cited.
4. The source of your data or evidence should be acknowledged every time the idea, data, or evidence you use is not your own and is substantially that of another writer. See the Creighton University Library “How to Cite” page for more information (a link is provided below).
Finally, a word of caution about where to position your citations within a sentence. I have noticed during my time teaching graduate students, that they will position citations incorrectly, especially in self-reflection sentences when the student is also citing evidence that corroborates their personal experience and observations. This can confuse readers about the origins of the claims made and ideas discussed in one’s own writing. I recommend structuring sentences using first person, active voice and using reporting verbs and signal words to attribute the claims and ideas you are citing to the appropriate sources (for examples and more see the videos from the University of Saskatchewan, 2024).
Next month I will write about how to draw appropriate conclusions from information or data provided.
Bibliography
How to Cite. (2017). Retrieved from http://culibraries.creighton.edu/howtocite
Graduate Writing Videos. (2024). University of Saskatchewan. Retrieved from https://library.usask.ca/studentlearning/workshops/writing-recordings.php#Graduatewritingworkshops
