Citing Sources in Technical Writing
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Transcript of Citing Sources in Technical Writing
The Rhetorical Purpose for Citing Sources in Technical Writing
• Place research within the context of other work on the subject. Answers the question: what is your research adding to this body of knowledge?
• Acknowledge conflicts with other research findings.Answers the question: why is your research challenging the findings of others?
• Provide support for critically important claims based on the evidence of others.Answers the question: where is the evidentiary support for this claim?
• Directs reader to bibliographical information.
• Helps readers discern what weight to give the evidence.
What Do Citations DO?
Documentation styles: discipline-, company-, organization-, publication-, and can even be culturally specific.
Direct citation. Author (and/or work) is identified directly and cited by parenthetical reference or through a footnote or endnote.
Indirect citation. Author (and/or work) is not identified but cited parenthetically or through a footnote or endnote.
Direct or Indirect?
HOW TO CHOOSE…?
Example: Two Styles of Direct Citation
• APA [emphasis on date]Brie (1988) showed that the moon is made of cheese. Cheddar (1990) reached the same conclusion.
• MLA [emphasis on page number]Brie showed that the moon is made of cheese (111-19). Cheddar reached the same conclusion (40-52).
Example of Three Documentation Styles that Use Endnotes
• Chicago [superscript number placed at the end of sentence.]– Brie showed that the moon is made of cheese.¹ Cheddar reached the
same conclusion.²
• CBE [superscript number placed closed to author’s name]– Brie¹ showed the moon is made of cheese. Cheddar² reached the
same conclusion.
• IEEE [uses brackets around superscript number placed close to author’s name or reference to research]– Brie[¹] Brie showed that the moon is made of cheese. Cheddar[²]
reached the same conclusion.
All Documentation Styles…
• In-text citation information (parenthetical or superscript) must be accompanied by a corresponding entry in a Works Cited, References List, or Bibliography where information about the source is provided.
• Basic elements of a bibliography (any documentation style):
– Name of author
– Name of text
– Date of text
– Publisher of text
For Citation Help
The Writing Center at Colorado State is a useful resource for understanding documentation styles.
http://writing.colostate.edu/guides/researchsources/documentation/specific.cfm
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