Incorporating Sources In academic writing.

Types of sources Primary sources: Primary sources are texts that are “closest” to your subject. For instance, if you are assigned to write a paper in response to John Locke’s An Essay Concerning Human Understanding, the actual writings of Locke would be considered primary texts or sources. Primary sources: Primary sources are texts that are “closest” to your subject. For instance, if you are assigned to write a paper in response to John Locke’s An Essay Concerning Human Understanding, the actual writings of Locke would be considered primary texts or sources. Secondary sources: Material about your subject, but not necessarily by. For example, an article from a library database critiquing Locke’s essay is a secondary source. Secondary sources: Material about your subject, but not necessarily by. For example, an article from a library database critiquing Locke’s essay is a secondary source.

Best places to find legitimate sources Not Wikipedia. While this site may be a fine place to begin to learn about a given topic, in most cases it does not count as a scholarly source. Not Wikipedia. While this site may be a fine place to begin to learn about a given topic, in most cases it does not count as a scholarly source. Library sources: Library sources: Databases – excellent resources for contemporary and historical scholarly articles Databases – excellent resources for contemporary and historical scholarly articles Catalogues – provide a fast way to locate any item in a library’s entire collection Catalogues – provide a fast way to locate any item in a library’s entire collection Interlibrary loan – here you can get your hands on items from libraries all over Washington without having to leave the comforts of Clark’s campus. Interlibrary loan – here you can get your hands on items from libraries all over Washington without having to leave the comforts of Clark’s campus.

Finding sources, continued Online sources: Online sources: Dynamic databases – give you quick access to topical information otherwise inaccessible on the usual search engines. These are what professional researchers use. Try The Complete Planet ( for starters. Dynamic databases – give you quick access to topical information otherwise inaccessible on the usual search engines. These are what professional researchers use. Try The Complete Planet ( for starters. Government documents – provide current statistics, information about laws, etc. Check out Google’s government search page Government documents – provide current statistics, information about laws, etc. Check out Google’s government search page

Why cite sources? In essence, academic writing is a form of conversation, a discourse. By incorporating sources into your own writing, you are continuing this discourse by weaving others’ thoughts in with your own and by responding to their ideas. In western culture we tend to view one’s thoughts as a sort of property, and as you know, property can be stolen. Because of this, it’s vital to know where your sources come from, and to cite them properly when using them in your own work. To fail to do so is plagiarism, or the theft of someone else’s thoughts and writing. In essence, academic writing is a form of conversation, a discourse. By incorporating sources into your own writing, you are continuing this discourse by weaving others’ thoughts in with your own and by responding to their ideas. In western culture we tend to view one’s thoughts as a sort of property, and as you know, property can be stolen. Because of this, it’s vital to know where your sources come from, and to cite them properly when using them in your own work. To fail to do so is plagiarism, or the theft of someone else’s thoughts and writing.

Ways of integrating sources into your writing Quoting Quoting Paraphrasing Paraphrasing Summarizing Summarizing Anytime you refer to something you picked up from another source other than your own brain, you must give proper citation. Even if you are just incorporating someone else’s ideas seamlessly in with your own – without even using one word taken from the original source – guess what? It needs to be cited.