Writing with Integrity
As the vehicle to communicate research and demonstrate what we have learned, academic writing is also conducted within a community of scholars. This community that you – yes, you! – are part of strives to advance our collective knowledge, whether by making an evidence-based argument for a particular viewpoint or by presenting new scientific findings.
To advance knowledge, it’s not enough to simply present your beliefs or findings. You must also enter a conversation with other scholars and engage with their work.
If you misrepresent the work of others, even unintentionally, then any judgments you make about this work rest on a shaky foundation. That’s why it’s very important – a matter of integrity – to represent the views of others accurately and respectfully!
How Can I Write with Integrity?
One way to do this is through the integration of direct quotations. While direct quotations have their place in academic writing, they are often overused. When academic writers quote too much, they run the risk of losing their own voice. From a reader’s perspective, a text that relies too much on quotation doesn’t inspire confidence that the writer has taken the time to think through the ideas under discussion.
Below you will find a more in-depth discussion of summary, paraphrase, quotation, and citation, which will help you write with integrity.
A summary captures the essence of a source, whether it’s a book, academic article, or film. While summaries are shorter than the original text, they can vary in length from a single sentence to a paragraph to multiple pages. It’s important to remember that when summarizing you are not making a judgment about the work; rather, you are describing it.
When summarizing an argumentative piece of writing, the following questions can be considered:
- What is the topic?
- What is the research question?
- What is the thesis?
- What evidence does the author use to support the thesis?
- What is the overall significance?
When summarizing scientific works, the following questions can be considered:
- What is the topic?
- What is the research gap?
- What is the objective of the study?
- What is the methodology?
- What are the results?
- What is the overall significance?
Since you’re not evaluating the work in a summary, try to suspend your beliefs about the author’s perspective. This method will help you to represent the author’s viewpoint as fairly and accurately as possible.
Writers often summarize the work of others to critically evaluate it. As a result, it’s important that your summary describes the material that you will then evaluate.
Whereas a summary captures the main idea of a source, a paraphrase focuses on a particular passage such as a paragraph. A paraphrase is therefore much more specific than a summary. The goal is not only to articulate the main idea of the passage, but to also capture the relevant details.
Paraphrasing, like summarizing, isn’t easy. The skill of articulating someone else’s ideas in your own words takes practice. Here are some strategies that can assist you when paraphrasing:
Change the Structure of the Sentences
If the original passage is full of long and complex sentences, then try using short and simple sentences. If on the other hand the original passage uses simple sentences, then try capturing the ideas using more complex sentences. Using subordination terms (such as “while”, “although”, and “despite”) can often be useful in this respect.
Change the Order of Ideas
One way to significantly reshape a passage is to articulate the author’s ideas in a different order from the original. As long as the meaning of the author’s view is maintained, this is a good paraphrasing strategy to use.
Use Synonyms Wherever Possible
While the first two strategies will change the structure of the passage, it is also important to change individual words and phrases. Try to find synonyms that you could use for common English words and phrases in the original passage.
While there is no better way to accurately represent what an author says than by direct quotation, there is a tendency for novice writers to use quotation too much.
This is a matter of integrity because over-quotation doesn’t demonstrate that the writer has taken the time to sufficiently understand the material. Over-quotation also leads to choppy writing, which can impede a reader’s comprehension.
Quotation certainly has a place in academic writing but be intentional and selective when you do it. Generally, it is preferable to paraphrase or summarize.
Whether you summarize, paraphrase, or quote an author, you need a citation to let your reader know whose work you are using. By citing your sources, you not only give credit to other authors for their work, but you help your reader to distinguish your ideas from those of others.
There are numerous citation styles each with their own guidelines, most notably APA, MLA and Chicago. We have a variety of citation resources to assist you.
Learn More – Develop Your Skills
Learning how to summarize and paraphrase the work of others are foundational skills of academic writing.
To develop these skills, you can:
- Book an appointment for writing services support.
- Refer to helpful online writing resources.
