Using Sources
When you use source material in technical writing, you can do so in three different ways: quotation, paraphrase, and summary. Each has certain conventions to follow in order to use the information correctly.
Quotation
A quotation is a direct reproduction of the source.
- Make sure you reproduce the original statement exactly (exact wording, sentence structure, and punctuation).
- Use ellipses (…) if you need to omit a word or phrase.
- Use brackets [ ] if you need to insert or replace a word or phrase. Only insert a word or phrase if you need to clarify the quotation for your reader. E.g., “The result of that [the new sales campaign] was shown in a 26% increase in sales of tractors and a 32% increase in sales of backhoes, according to Timior Marketing.” Only replace a word or phrase if there is an error in the original text. E.g., “Harrison and Greene state that the results of [their] sales campaign have made them one of the most sought-after advertising firms in the state.” (In this case, “their” replaced “there,” which was incorrect.)
- Make sure any omissions, insertions, or changed words do not alter the meaning of the original text. Omit, insert, or replace words only when absolutely necessary to shorten the text or to make it clear and/or grammatically correct within your sentence.
Paraphrase
- Paraphrase when you need to explain technical or complicated information to a more general audience.
- Paraphrase when the source’s exact wording is not especially memorable, so there’s no need to use a quotation.
- Make sure that your paraphrase does not simply substitute one word for another. Change both language and sentence structure to conform with the overall style of the technical document, while retaining the source’s original meaning. This usually requires doing a few drafts to get to a final paraphrase.
Summary
A summary offers a condensed re-statement of a source’s main idea and key supporting ideas. When you summarize material from a source, you both paraphrase and compress the main points of that material. A summary is very concise; it’s usually no more than a paragraph and can be as short as one sentence. Follow these conventions for summaries:
- Summarize when only the source’s main ideas are important within the context of your document.
- Follow the order of ideas in the original source.
- Make sure your own point of view is purely objective (reporting content of the source only). Opinions should not appear in a summary. If you need to use any exact words or short phrases from the original, quote them within the summary.
Summary Example
Here’s an example of how to highlight and annotate a passage that you intend to summarize. The original passage is quoted from page 23 of Caffarella, Rosemary S. and Judith M. O’Donnell. “Judging the Quality of Work-Related, Self-Directed Learning.” Adult Education Quarterly 42 (1991): 17-29. Important ideas are highlighted and [bracketed].
And here is the evolution of one writer’s summary of this original text. Note that the ideas are the same, but there is a change in structure and a significant change in wording.
First attempt – a start, but too close to the original text:
Quality learning is more than “getting it right”; it exists when others understand the results from the same perspective as the learner, when there is external accountability. It also exists when the learner themselves judge that quality learning has occurred.
Second attempt – better than the first, but still not done:
Quality learning can be judged by two criteria: 1) mutual understanding between the learner and others, as when a reader understands fully what a writer writes, and 2) identification of quality by the learner themselves.
Third and final attempt – a strong summary:
Quality learning can be judged by two criteria: 1) mutual understanding between the learner and others and, most importantly, 2) identification of quality by the learner themselves.
Note that in this third version, the writer took out the example of the writer and reader and added the phrase “most importantly” to capture the emphasis on the self in the original quote.
One more thing to do – document the summary:
Caffarella and O’Donnell state that quality learning can be judged by two criteria: 1) mutual understanding between the learner and others and, most importantly, 2) identification of quality by the learner themselves (23).
View the following short video on writing summaries. It’s written from the perspective of using a summary in a piece of academic writing, but the discussion applies to summarizing for technical writing as well.
TRY IT
Read the following quotation from Louis DeSipio’s article, “Demanding Equal Political Voice…And Accepting Nothing Less: The Quest for Latino Political Inclusion,” published in Thematic Reading Anthology. [1] Then choose the best attempt at summarizing from the two that follow.
The rapid growth in Latino migration in the contemporary era has created a new venue for political voice and activism. Immigrants have long sought the opportunity [to] remain engaged in the civic life of their communities and countries of origin. Examples of these transnational connections can be found throughout the Latino experience in the U.S. (as well as those of other émigré populations). The long-standing immigrant desire to be involved in both the U.S. and the country of origin, however, is much easier to implement in the current era. Telecommunications and air travel are much cheaper than they have been in the past. The internet reduces communication costs further. Approximately 30 percent of Latino immigrants have engaged in the civic and political worlds of their communities and countries of origin, whether through membership in transnational organizations in the U.S. or through direct participation in the civic or political worlds of the country of origin. A higher share follow the politics of the country of origin. These transnational connections diminish considerably in the second and later generations. Despite political transnationalism’s roots in the long-standing immigrant desires to maintain a foot in the country of origin and the U.S., transnationalism as a mass phenomenon is relatively new. Countries of origin are seeking to promote long-term relationships with their émigrés. To the extent that these efforts are successful, immigrant and perhaps second-generation transnational engagement will likely be a growing phenomenon in the future.
- Latino immigrants’ traditional desire to participate politically in both their original and new countries may grow among both immigrants themselves and their children because of two factors, technical ease of communication and original countries’ receptiveness to transnationalism.
- About 30% of Latino immigrants to the U.S. still participate in politics in their home countries. Although participation drops in second and third generations, it may increase because countries of origin are increasingly supporting continued engagement, which in itself is supported by accessible telecommunications and air travel.
Citing Sources
Important!
All quotations, paraphrases, and summaries need to be cited within a document, with information both at the start and end of the quotation, paraphrase, or summary.
All sources used in a document also need to be cited in a list at the end.
The following video provides information on when and why to cite.
There are many different citation styles. One of the most common for technical writing is the American Psychological Association (APA) style. APA style was developed for use in the social and behavioral sciences, but is often used in other scientific fields, including engineering and engineering education. Other citations styles that may be used in technical documents include those from The Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE), used in computer science as well as engineering, and The American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME). All styles include the same basic information—author, title of publication, date of publication, publication information – but simply arrange the details differently. As a technical writer, you may be required to use a specific citation style. If you are not required to use a certain style, either use a very standard style such as APA, or use whatever style is used in other documents from the same company. Do not mix and match styles—use your chosen style consistently.
- Paraphrases, and summaries often start and end with “markers” to distinguish that the information is from a source. They start with an attribution, a phrase such as “Smith states…” or “According to Jones…” and they end with an in-text citation. Here’s an in-text citation using APA style: Students should choose their study locations carefully for best results (Lei, 2015).
- Quotations may omit the attribution, since the quotation marks indicate the information is from another source. However, you still need to use an in-text citation at the end.
- In-text citations occur in parentheses at the end of the source information, right within the text of a document, before the period at the end of the sentence.
- You also need to include a list of sources at the end of the document, alphabetized according to author’s last name or title, if there is no author. Anything referenced in an in-text citation must have a corresponding entry on the source list at the end of the text. Here’s an example of an end-of-text citation using APA style:Lei, S. A. (2015). Variation in study patterns among college students: A review of literature. College Student Journal, 49(2), 195-198.
Here’s a fuller example of APA style, for in-text and end-of-text citations.
APA Style
| In-text citations | Sources are indicated in line with author’s name (last name only) and date of publication.
Publication date is presented only as year. If there is no known publication date (common in online sources), the date is replaced with “n.d.” NOT the retrieval date (that is provided only in the References list). Examples: |
|---|---|
| List of sources | A list titled “References” is placed after the main text of the document. Sources are presented in alphabetical order based on the start of the entry (typically the author or source name—whichever was used to identify the source in the in-text citation); use hanging indent.
Article titles are in plain text (without quotation marks); book/journal titles are in italics. Author names are given as last name followed by first initial(s) (e.g., Smith, J., or Jones, M.J.). Basic format: Examples: Journal articles retrieved from the internet Jones, M.J. (2014). Contradictions in technical documentation. Journal of Made Up Things, 4(2). Retrieved from http://[fullURL] Book (print) with multiple authors |
Although it’s useful to have the basics of APA style in writing, so that you can refer to it to know the type of information you need to note for citations, there are many free, online tools that will format both in-text and end-of-text citations in APA style – you do not have to memorize where to use a period, or how information is ordered. Some of these include the following:
[1] DeSipio, Louis. “Demanding Equal Political Voice…And Accepting Nothing Less: The Quest for Latino Political Inclusion.” in Thematic Reading Anthology, Lumen Learning. https://courses.lumenlearning.com/suny-readinganthology/chapter/demanding-equal-political-voice-and-accepting-nothing-less-the-quest-for-latino-political-inclusion-by-louis-desipio/
