Full Description
The sixth edition of Using Sources Effectively targets the two most prominent problems in current research-paper writing: the increase in unintentional plagiarism and the ineffective use of research source material.
Designed as a textbook for both undergraduate and graduate courses, this book will help every student who uses research in writing. It was written to give students the knowledge and tools you can use to make your research-based writing more powerful and effective. The book includes mini-Research Projects at the end of each chapter to sharpen your research and evaluation skills; a set of practical, useful rhetorical devices to help improve the clarity and impact of your writing; instruction in close reading to help you better grasp what an author is discussing or arguing; and strategies for organizing and positioning your sources to strengthen your central argument. The new edition has been thoroughly updated to cover developments in AI and ChatGPT, critical thinking, and digital developments in relation to social media.
With updated online resources including lecture PowerPoints, an instructor's guide, a quiz bank, and digital figures, as well as new 'sidebar' and learning objective features in the book, this is an essential textbook for students across a range of disciplines who need a guide to research and writing, and who are taking courses on academic writing.
Contents
Preface to the Sixth Edition
Chapter 1: The Importance of Using Sources Effectively
1.1 Why Learn to Write Well?
Writing is a Thinking Process
Writing is a Learning Process
Writing Develops Lifelong Skills
1.2 Why Learn Research-Based Writing
Research Writing Allows You to Contribute to the Great Conversation
1.3 Why Use Sources in Papers?
Provide context
Strengthen argument
Interest
New ideas
Current research
Controversies
Exposure to the development of a valid argument
1.4 Why Use Sources Effectively
Instill trust
Aid persuasion
Demonstrates engagement
1.5 Why Cite Them All?
Help reader
Knowledge workers respected
Avoids plagiarism
1.6 Are Sources the Whole Idea?
Your thinking is the star.
Sources need something to support.
Sources need interpreting
Grand Conversation
Chapter 2: Finding, Choosing, and Evaluating Sources
2.1 Understand the assignment
Purpose of the paper
Specific requirements
Audience
2.2 Select the kinds of sources you need
Choose the kind of information you need
Choose sources of appropriate scholarship
Choose appropriate primary and secondary sources
Avoid choosing a source only because you agree with it
Avoid quoting standard dictionaries
2.3Search strategies
Consider the variety of sources (Add Table 2.2 to Table 2.1)
Keep track of your searches
Evaluate sources online
Phrase the search terms effectively
Go beyond the Internet
2.4Using and abusing internet sources
Search for reliable sites
Look deeply into the results
Understand the context of individual pages
Follow the links
Use the invisible Web
2.5Evaluating sources
Expertise
Accuracy
Reliability
Chapter 3: Preparing Your Sources
3.1Collecting sources
Save your sources
Get the full, exact bibliographic information the first time.
Save the way back.
3.2 Keep sources organized
a. Start a bibliography
3.3 Use close reading to understand your sources
What is the purpose of the information?
What is the level of objectivity?
Analyze the argument
Notice analogies and images
Check word meanings for accuracy
So what?
What is each source saying?
3.4 Take careful notes
Use labeling system
Quote exactly
Keep a quotation file
Keep copies of each source with your notes
3.5 Positioning your sources
Purpose or comment indicators
Relationships of sources
3.6 Protect yourself against a false charge of plagiarism
Chapter 4: Quoting Effectively
4.1 Quoting use and abuse
Cautions about quoting
Avoid the fallacy of vicious abstraction
4.2Introductory strategies
Introduce your sources
Use a colon to introduce sentences
Use an introductory phrase
Appropriate tense
Use both set-off and built-in quotations
4.3 Quoting Strategies
Interrupt quotations
Omitting words
Quote phrases
4.3 Punctuating quotations
General conventions
American punctuation
British spelling and grammar
Ellipsis
Square brackets
Chapter 5: Paraphrasing and Summarizing
5.1Paraphrasing
What is a paraphrase?
Why and when to paraphrase
How to paraphrase
Cautions about Paraphrasing
5.2 Summarizing
What is a summary?
Why and when to summarize?
How to summarize
Cautions about paraphrasing
5.3Deciding whether to quote, paraphrase, or summarize
5.4Beware of Thesaurusitis
.
Chapter 6: Avoiding Plagiarism
6.1What is plagiarism?
Intentional plagiarism
Unintentional plagiarism
The fine print
Self-recycling
AI or chatGPT
6.2 Why you should avoid intentional plagiarism
Harms character
Golden rule
Intentional plagiarizers cheat themselves
Never know when will get caught
6.3Guidelines for Citation
What needs to be cited
Citing yourself
Common knowledge
Nothing but citations?
6.3 Myths and facts about citing
The world wide web myth
The fair use myth
The encyclopedia myth
The paraphrased paper myth
The friend's permission myth
The named source myth
The converted words myth
The tiny theft myth
The background information myth
Chapter 7: Putting It Together
7.1The simple rule: Mark the boundaries
Mark the boundaries of short quotations
Mark the boundaries of long quotations
Marking the boundaries of an unquoted source
7.2 Marking the boundaries in problem cases
Second boundary marker
Marking the boundaries for non-text information
Chapter 8: Effective Use
8.1 Introduce the source thoroughly
Establish credibility of the source
Provide needed background or context
Recommend the source
8.2 Discuss or apply the source
The purpose of a source is not always self-evident
Use interpretive lead-in to explain the source
Be reasonable about the effect of the source
Provide an example to clarify the source's point
8.3 Blend in your sources
Work your sources into the discussion
Combine quoting with summarizing
One long, many short for persuasion
8.4 Avoid ineffective use
Beware of long quotations
Avoid overusing one source
Begin and end each paragraph with your own words
Be sure citations match the references
8.5 Working with sources that disagree or conflict
Identify the source of disagreement
Criticizing opposing sources
Avoid criticizing a source unfairly
Chapter 9: Editing for Accuracy
9.1 Why cleanup is crucial
9.2Check your spelling
9.3Watch your grammar
Comma splice
Fused sentences
Sentence fragments
9.4Watch your pronouns
Pronoun agreement
Pronoun reference
Indefinite pronouns
Avoid the ambiguous you
9.5 Check for Common Errors
Possessives
Subject-verb agreement
Dangling modifier
Misplaced modifier
Word misuse
Affect and effect
Informality
Chapter 10: Jump-Starting Your Writing
10.1Synthesis writing
Definition of synthesis writing
Tapestry versus quilt writing
10.2 Steering wheels
Parataxis and hypotaxis
Transitions
Transitions of logic
Transitions of focus
Transitions of Thought
Keyword repetition
Synonyms
Pronouns and possessive pronouns
Demonstrative pronouns and adjectives
10.3Using flow patters
Patterns with because
Conditional patterns (if-then)
Concession patterns
10.4Using patterns with sources
Use scholarly phrasing
The source supports your position
You agree with the source
The source disagrees with your position
You rebut a source that opposes your view
You respond to a source that presents an incontrovertible objection
The source implies something without stating it
The source makes an unstated assumption
Introducing common knowledge
Introducing conflicting views
