Abstract
One of the features of academic writing is reporting what other scholars or studies say or, in other words, citation. In many academic writing courses, students are taught how to cite sources in terms of using a particular citation style (e.g. APA style vs. Chicago style) with the purposes of teaching them how to write a literature review and protecting them from plagiarism. However, what most academic English courses, books and teachers seem to neglect is how one could formulate a report on what other sources say (i.e. the wording of the citation), regardless of the citation style.
In academic writing, like in everyday speech, there are mainly two ways of reporting what other sources say, direct and indirect reports. Direct reports, which are incidentally not encouraged in the pure sciences, are relatively straightforward. They involve direct quotations, word for word. On the other hand, indirect reports, which often involve paraphrasing, tend to be more complicated. The following reporting structures try to show how the various types of citation might be worded.
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Author X says, ‘…’ (year of publication: page)
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Author X (year of publication) says that…
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Researchers (citations) say…
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It is like this (citations).
To the best of my knowledge, student academic writers are often not informed of what these reporting structures mean. Given the importance and complexity of citation in academic writing, it seems odd that the relevant research fields are virtually silent on the topic.
To address this research ‘gap’, this paper explores how academic authors in the humanities make use of the various indirect reporting structures and explicates their meanings using natural semantic metalanguage (NSM). It thus shows that citation is meaningful, and the meaning can be articulated and learned. Focus is on the APA style of citation because this style is favored by the university this author works at and many other academic institutions.
Short Abstract for ‘The Semantics of Citation’
Citation is reporting (direct and indirect). This paper argues that citation is meaningful and examines the meaning of the various ways an APA citation may be worded. It uses natural semantic metalanguage (NSM) to analyze meaning and suggests that citation can reflect the strength of a claim. This paper has implications for the learning of English academic writing.
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Acknowledgements
I would like to thank Brian Poole, Eric Whittle and Kit Mun Lee for their comments on an earlier version of this paper.
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Wong, J. (2016). The Academic Practice of Citation. In: Capone, A., Kiefer, F., Lo Piparo, F. (eds) Indirect Reports and Pragmatics. Perspectives in Pragmatics, Philosophy & Psychology, vol 5. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-21395-8_10
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