quick question about paraphrasing an author in writing a paper

[notadmblnd]

In the following paragraphs, I summarized/paraphrased the authors words. My question is; is this paragraph cited properly or should there be an acknowledgment at the end? I can't find an example?

A report published in the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry by Dorothy Lewis M.D., Dr. Lewis tells us that elements such as high temperatures, crowded living conditions, population density or even noxious odors can cause aggressive behavior in humans and suggests that the implications of these factors should be studied more in regards to poor, inner city environments.

Studies conducted in the past have shown that isolating an animal during a critical stage of development can cause aggression in that animal. Dr. Lewis also believes that isolation can be a major factor in the development of human children and suggests the need to study the effects of neglect separately because evidence has shown that neglected children may be even more susceptible to aggressive behavior and violence than children who have been abused.


The bold is my cite. but the two paragraphs are not a direct quote {I put it my own words). I just don;t know if I have to cite it again at the end? I guess I'm asking if I need to indicate that I'm done paraphrasing?

[benddem]

1. it's been a while

since I wrote a paper, but you are citing the Author of a study, you must cite the reference. If you wrote that "Psychologists are in agreement that isolation" but then be prepared to reference other works.

[notadmblnd]

2. I edit my post

The bold is my cite. But the two paragraphs are not a direct quote {I put it my own words). I just don't know if I have to cite it again at the end? Or put something to indicate that I paraphrased. example (para.) at the end?

[MaineYooper]

9. the others are right- you need to cite

As long as you are discussing or drawing from someone else's work, you need to cite the full reference in either a citation/reference list or bibliography. Paraphrasing just means that you don't need to use quotation marks that indicate direct use of the original author's exact text.

[notadmblnd]

12. so the paragraphs are pretty much correct as it stands?

[MaineYooper]

39. seems that way, though I haven't seen the original

If you use exact phrasing, then you should put quotation marks around the part that is repeated verbatim, and cite it. If you're just interpreting and reporting what was discussed in the other paper, then you just need the endnote with the citation.

[Lobster Martini]

3. From my MLA handbook...

Parenthetical reference and full reference at the end. Example:

A report published in the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry by Dorothy Lewis M.D., Dr. Lewis tells us that elements such as high temperatures, crowded living conditions, population density or even noxious odors can cause aggressive behavior in humans and suggests that the implications of these factors should be studied more in regards to poor, inner city environments (Martini, 197).

After text:

Lobster Martini, "A Lobster Martini is a Dessert," Journal of Alternate Uses for Crustaceans 9 (2007): 197.

[notadmblnd]

4. there is no page number, it is an article on a web site

did you see my edited post?

[Lobster Martini]

5. P.S. In a research paper, you have to provide a source even if it's not a direct quote.

Information and ideas also need references, even if they're paraphrased.

[notadmblnd]

7. I know, I just don;t know how to do it.

[JVS]

10. If it was published, you should try to use the paper version as a source

Internet sources are not as well-liked as the real publications

[notadmblnd]

6. so would just (Lewis) at the end be acceptable?

[JVS]

8. Even when you name the source in the text you need to give at least...

a parenthetical page number at the end

[notadmblnd]

11. ok, I think I'm getting somewhere but it is an article on a web page

and has no number. So Do I just indicate (Lewis) or would I cite the (website) or (article name) again at the end?

[JVS]

13. At least (Lewis) but try to get your hands on the real publication

[notadmblnd]

17. ok, I think I know what I need to do.

I have to go to the Journal of American Academy of Child and Adolecent Psychiatry and find the article by Dorothy Lewis and find the actual page number, right?

[JVS]

19. That would be best.

[alcibiades_mystery]

20. No, that's ridiculous

You don't have to find the physical article just for the purpose of tracking down the page number. That's silly, and pro forma to the point of inefficiency.

Cite it as a web source without page number, and make its origin clear in the works cited.

[Dora]

35. It depends....

If the journal in question is a journal that appears in print, then yes, it would be best if you tracked down the page number of the original appearance in print.

However, some journals are now online only. If that is the case with the journal in question, the MLA Handbook does have guidelines for how to cite web pages correctly.

[SoCalDem]

16. all of them. the purpose of the reference is so that someone reading YOUR

paper, can actually GO to or get the article/book/paper to cited. Just a name would not do it.:)

[alcibiades_mystery]

18. What do you mean by "at the end"?

You need a parenthetical citation at the end of EVERY SENTENCE THAT INCLUDES A PARAPHRASE.

In the works cited list, you should follow the format for citing a web page:

http://www.mla.org/style_faq4

[notadmblnd]

22. It is my summary of the article I read, so it is not a direct quote.

I summarized it but it is basically what the author states and I know I need to give credit which I did at the beginning. What I think I'm asking is there something I need to put at the end of the two paragraphs in my original post to indicate that I have concluded summarizing/paraphrasing the author?

does that make sense?

[alcibiades_mystery]

24. Yes...you need to put a citation at the end of each sentence that you paraphrased

You are paraphrasing your source's IDEAS, so you need to include a parenthetical citation at the end of each sentence in which you do that.

[alcibiades_mystery]

15. Not if it's a web source

[JVS]

21. Websources are not as good as print sources

Always get the best source possible

[alcibiades_mystery]

23. Absolutely false

With the growth of databases, you get the exact same content in the web source as you get in the physical source, as in this case. Many researchers now access databases to get scholarly journal articles, and the information is exactly the same. There is no distinction between web sources and print sources in such cases.

What you are doing is universalizing a "rule" that applies to the "web" in general; certainly, a web page put up by my cousin Joey has less "legitimacy" as an information source (depending on method) than the Journal of Child Psychology, say. But that's because the journal is peer reviewed, etc. If the same journal is accessible through a web database, then there is absolutely no distinction between them, as information sources. That is the case for the OP. There is no reason why the OP should track down the physical journal article when he or she can access the same content via the web.

[JVS]

25. The information isn't exactly the same. The print version has page numbers...

which make it easier to find the information being referenced. Thus it is better. If someone gave me a paper with a web version of a 30 page article and just referenced everything as that, I'd be pissed. Also stuff on the web disappears. If you can get the printed version, you should get it.

[alcibiades_mystery]

27. This is an issue that's being remedied

Many web databases (Project Muse, ProQuest, etc) now indicate page numbers in the web source. Many others allow you access to a PDF of the original (JSTOR, for instance, as well as numerous scientific article databases). The days of "print sources are better than web sources" are just about over.

I agree that navigating a 30 page article without page numbers is irritating beyond measure, but those days are close to over.

We should not fanatically hold to rules (print better than web) when the very reasons that established those rules no longer apply. Nor should we teach our students rules for the sake of rules. We should teach them the reasoning that led to the "rule," so that they can make good decisions as environments change.

[JVS]

28. yeah, but practice with a pdf is to act as though you have the book.

I use pdfs all the time, in fact more often than the regular journals. But when I use them, I always cite and bibliographize in a manner that looks as though I have been using the actual journals.

[alcibiades_mystery]

30. The same thing can be said about page number indicators in text

As many web-based databases now include.

The point here is that the blanket statement "print better than web" is increasingly untrue.

[Lobster Martini]

14. Thought it was a print publication. Try this:

My MLA handbook was written when documents were still on parchment. Try this:

World Wide Web site

To document a file available for viewing and downloading via the World Wide Web, provide the following information:

Author's name
Title of document, in quotation marks
Title of complete work (if relevant), in italics or underlined
Date of publication or last revisionD
URL, in angle brackets
Date of access, in parentheses
Personal site

1. Joseph Pellegrino, "Homepage," 12 May 1999, <http://www.english.eku.edu/pellegrino/default.htm> (12 June 1999).
Professional site

1. Gail Mortimer, The William Faulkner Society Home Page, 16 September 1999, <http://www.utep.edu/mortimer/faulkner/main faulkner.htm> (19 November 1997).

2. National Association of Investors Corporation, NAIC Online, 20 September 1999, <http://www.better-investing.org> (1 October 1999).
Book

An online book may be the electronic text of part or all of the printed book, or a book-length document available only on the Internet (e.g., a work of hyperfiction).

1. Peter J. Bryant, "The Age of Mammals," in Biodiversity and Conservation April 1999, < http://darwin.bio.uci.edu/~sustain/bio65/index.html> (11 May 1999).
Article in an electronic journal (ejournal)

1. Tonya Browning, "Embedded Visuals: Student Design in Web Spaces," Kairos: A Journal for Teachers of Writing in Webbed Environments 3, no. 1 (1997), <http://english.ttu.edu/kairos /2.1/features/browning/index.html> (21 October 1999).
Article in an electronic magazine (ezine)
1. Nathan Myhrvold, "Confessions of a Cybershaman," Slate, 12 June 1997, <http://www .slate.com/CriticalMass/97-06-12/CriticalMass.asp> (19 October 1997).
Newspaper article

1. Christopher Wren, "A Body on Mt. Everest, a Mystery Half-Solved," New York Times on the Web, 5 May 1999, <http://search.nytimes.com/search/daily/bin/fastweb?getdoc+site+ site+87604+0+wAAA+%22a%7Ebody%7Eon%7Emt.%7Eeverest%22> (13 May 1999).
Review

1. Michael Parfit, review of The Climb: Tragic Ambitions on Everest, by Anatoli Boukreev and G. Weston DeWalt, New York Times on the Web, 7 December 1997, <http://search.nytimes.com/ books/97/12/07/reviews/971207.07parfitt.html>
Government publication

1. George Bush, "Principles of Ethical Conduct for Government Officers and Employees," Executive Order 12674, 12 April 1989, pt. 1, <http://www.usoge.gov/exorders/eo12674.html> (30 October 1997).
To cite information appearing in a frame within a larger Web document, use the guidelines in 7b-10 for linkage data.

[dailykoff]

26. If the entire 2nd paragraph is a paraphrase,

it should start with a signal phrase. Your topic sentence is misleading.

[dailykoff]

29. p.s. it's helpful to find out which documentation style

is required. If it's a social science paper, it's probably APA. If no style is specificied, you can use MLA, which is simpler and explained in more handbooks.

In any case, decide which style you're going to follow and then get hold of a style manual or handbook (you probably already have one, but there are lots on the market) and follow the directions. Each citation will have its own wrinkles, depending on what the source is, where you found it, and how you use it.

[notadmblnd]

31. MLA

[dailykoff]

33. In that case you don't need a parenthetical citation

if the article is from an electronic database lacking page numbers and the author is already identified in the signal phrase.

However, when you document the article in your Works Cited list, you will need to provide BOTH the original print publication info and the electronic access info. I think the post just above mine (#14) gives a couple of examples of how to do this.

Good luck with your paper!

[alcibiades_mystery]

34. The difficulty, as you correctly point out

Is that the author's name is indicated in the signal phrase, and, because it is a web source without page numbers, there are no page numbers that would traditionally be placed in the parenthetical citation.

Traditionally, when the author's name appears in the signal phrase, you would only use the page number in the parenthetical citation:

According to Lewis, blah blah blah (17).

That said, I can't believe that this situation would result in NO parenthetical citation at all.

[dailykoff]

36. That is the current MLA recommendation

as per the 2003 6th edition of their "Handbook."

[alcibiades_mystery]

37. You're quite correct

Color me surprised:


"4. PAGE NUMBER UNKNOWN - You may omit the page number if a work lacks page numbers, as is the case with many Web sources. Although printouts from Web sites usually show page numbers, printers don't always provide the same page breaks; for this reason, MLA recommends treating such sources as unpaginated.

The California Highway Patrol opposes restrictions on the use of phones while driving, claiming that distracted drivers can already
be prosecuted (Jacobs).

According to Jacobs, the California Highway Patrol opposes restrictions on the use of phones while driving, claiming that distracted
drivers can already be prosecuted.


When the pages of a Web source are stable (as in PDF files), however, supply a page number in your in-text citation.

NOTE: If a Web source numbers its paragraphs or screens, give the abbreviation "par." or "pars." or the word "screen" or "screens" in the parentheses: (Smith, par. 4)."

http://www.dianahacker.com/resdoc/p04_c08_s1.html#4

[dailykoff]

38. That said, I think there's no harm in over-citing,

in this case, citing all the information in the paragraph by following the terminal punctuation of the last word with a citation, just to be on the safe side, thus:

... and such and so. (Lewis)

[Cleita]

32. I paraphrase often like in a DU post where it's not important

to have an exact quote, just the gist of it. I always say though that I'm paraphrasing. If I were writing a paper,where accuracy is important, I would take the trouble to look up the exact quote and put it in quotation marks.