Verbs for Referencing

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Verbs for referencing

To incorporate quotations / references into a literature review, you can use a varietyof verbs. These verbs are often used with prepositions, eg that, by, on. It is poor

writing to use the same ones all the time, eg says that, states that. Verbs also allow

the writer to indicate the degree to which they support the author of the research,

eg claims that versus argues that. The following verbs (and prepositions) can beused to introduce references into your literature review. lease note that they can

be used in different tenses.

!uggest (that) "ecent studies outlined by #eonard et al ($%%%)

suggest that personality and disposition play an

equally important role in motivation.

&rgue (that) #eonard et al ($%%%) argue that there are three

elements of self perception.

'ontend(s) ullens ($%%) contends that motivation to wor* well

is usually related to +ob satisfaction.

utline "ecent studies outlined by ullins ($%%) suggest that

personality and disposition play an equally important

role in motivation.

-ocus on The early theories of aslow and cregor ("obbins

et al, $%%) focused on personal needs and wants asthe basis for motivation.

0efine(s) 1unson ($%2, p. 32) defines motivation as 4what is

important to you4.

'onclude(s) (that) "eviewing the results of the case study, Taylor ($%5)

concludes that the theories of +ob enrichment and

employee motivation do wor*.

!tate 6e further states that there is an increasing

importance on the role of autonomy and self

regulation of tas*s in increasing motivation.

aintains (that) ullins ($%%) maintains that +ob enrichment camefrom 6er7ber4s two factor theory.

-ound (that) ullins ($%%) found that there is an increasing

importance on the role of autonomy and selfregulation of tas*s in improving motivation.

romote(s) This promotes the idea that tension and stress are

important e8ternal sources of motivation, which can


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be eliminated by completing certain tas*s.

1stablish(ed) (by) &s established by 'si*s7entmihalyi (9air :555, p. :)4the more students feel in command of their learning,

the more they fulfil their learning potential4.

&sserts (that) #oc*e4s oal !etting Theory asserts that settingspecific goals tends to encourage wor* motivation

("obbins et al, $%%).

!how(s) Various theories of motivation show employers that

there are many factors that influence employees wor*

performance.

'laim(s) (that) 6ac*man and ldham ($%2;) claim that people with

enriched +obs, and high scores on the


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Choice of Verb Tense when Referring to Authors


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When reading academic texts, you may notice that several tenses are used to

refer to the work of other authors. The tenses often used are simple

past, present perfectand simple present. Such a range is perfectly

acceptable and there are several reasons that influence the choice of tense.

Literature Review erb Tense! The verb tenses in the literature review will depend ontwo main factors. "irst, you need to consider the type of citation you are using.Second, you need to think about the status of the information you are providing.#n this page, we give some guidelines for the use of tenses in citations in the literaturereview.These are $ust guidelines, not %rules% so you may see other forms of verb tense in youracademic reading.Why not make a note of the patterns mentioned below& This page would certainlyserve as a useful reference when you are writing your literature review.'ere are the three primary patterns of verb tense in citations in the literature review!

These three verb tenses account for appro8imately 5= of the verb tense use in

academic writing. This handout will help you understand how present simple, past

simple, and present perfect verb tenses are used in academic writing.

PRESENT SIMPLE TENSE

The present simple tense is the basic tense of most academic writing. >se

this as your first choice unless you have a good reason to use another tense.

!pecifically, the present simple is used?

To @frameA your paper? in your introduction, the present simple tense

describes what we already knowabout the topicB in the conclusion, it says

what we nowknowabout the topic and what further research is still

needed.

To ma*e general statements, conclusions, or interpretations about previous

research or data, focusing on what is *nownnow(The data suggest The

research shows ).

To cite a previous study or finding without mentioning the researcher in the

sentence?


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The dinoflagellates TFVCs requirean unidentified substance in fresh fish

excreta(1nvironmental !cience)C$D

To introduce evidence or support in the structure?

There is evidence that

To show strong agreement with a conclusion or theory from a previous

paper (Smith suggests that ), but not specific findings or data (use the

past simple)

Present tense - erbs showing your opinion on another person(s research often occurin the present tense. 'owever, the simple past and present perfect are also possibleverb forms in this case.Look at these examples in the present tense!

)elson *+- remarks

/ones *011- stresses

2orison *0111 advocates

3hang *0114 claims

3hambhi *0115 argues

Present Tenseis often used to refer to generally accepted scientific facts.

e.g. 6xperimental observations carried out in the past showthat 7 *Smythe, +-.


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PAST SIMPLE TENSE

Past simple tense is used for two main functions in most academic fields?

To introduce other peopleEs research into your te8t when you are describing

a specific study, usually carried out by named researcher. The research

often provides an e8ample that supports a general statement or a finding in

your research. &lthough it is possible to use the past tense to distance

yourself from a studyEs findings, this appears to be rare, at least in scientific

writing.C:D

customers obviously want to be treated at least as well on fishing vessels

as they are by other recreation businesses.Ceneral claimD

e !oung "#$%&' foundthe (uality of service to be more im)ortant than

catching fish in attracting re)eat customers.C!pecific supporting evidenceD

(arine !cience)

To describe the methods and data of your completed e8periment. 6owever,

loo* at e8amples of the ethods and "esults sections in +ournals in your

fields to chec* that this is good advice for you to follow. In many fields, the

passive voice is most usual in methods sections, although the active voice

may be possible.

*e conducteda secondary data analysis "ublic 6ealth)

escri)tional statistical tests and t+student test were usedfor statistical

analysis.(edicine)


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The control grou) of students tookthe course )reviously "1ducation)

Past tense8 When you use the past tense, the reporting verb often occurs as anintegral citation. 9n other words, you give the researcher(s name as the grammaticalsub$ect of the sentence.9n the example below, the citation reports the results of a single study!:arlson and ;enton *0114 found that as they increased the participants stress levels,the results of their performance deteriorated.:ommon verbs in the past tense are! investigated, studied, compared, analy


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PRESENT PERFECT TENSE

The present perfectis mostly used for referring to previous research in the

field or to your own previous findings. !ince the present perfect is

a)resenttense, it implies that the result is still true and relevant today.

The sub+ect of active present perfect verbs is often general? ,esearchers

have found- Studies have suggested. The present simple could also be used

here, but the present perfect focuses more on what has been donethan

on what is known to be true now(present simple). In the following

e8ample, there are two opposite findings, so neither is the accepted state

of *nowledge?

Some studies have shownthat girls have significantly higher fears than

boys after trauma "fefferbaum et al.- #$$$/ ine 0/ Cohen- 1221/ Shaw-

1223'. 4therstudieshavefoundno gender differences ",ahav 0/ ,onen-

#$$5'.(sychology)

& new topic can be introduced with this structure?

There have been several investigations into

The present perfect forms a connection between the past (previous

research) and the present (your study). !o, you say whathas beenfound

and then how you will contribute to the field. This is also useful when you

want to point out a gap in the e8isting research.

6ore recently- advances have been made using com)utational

hydrodynamics to study the evolution of S7,s in multidimensions

"citation' Cprevious researchD

8owever- a similar )roblem existsin the study of S7, dynamics.CgapD

(&strophysics)

The passive voice is common in the present perfect tense to describe

previous findings without referring directly to the original paper? has

been studied/ it has been observed that 9ou should usually provide


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citations in parentheses or a footnote. The passive voice allows you to

move the sub+ect of your research into a place in the sentence where it will

have more focus.

9ou can also use the present perfect to tell the history of your idea (what

has created itF), describe the results of your research (we have develo)ed

a new ), or to draw conclusions (this has led us to conclude that ).

Present perfect -The present perfect tense can be used to state that the researchresults are recent.Look at this example!

>lthough the results of pervious studies showed that further research was warranted inthis area, recent studies have demonstrated that educational methodology is nowmoving in a new direction */ones, 0114? @arstal, 0115.Alease check our site often. We fre=uently add new tips on thesis writingB

Present Perfect Tenseis often used when the focus of the work is on several authors.

e.g.

/olly C0D and Lawrence CED have studied...> number of authors have investigatedthe strength of 7 CE, F, D


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Present Perfect Tensemay also be used when you want to refer to howmuch or how little research has been carried out on a particular topic.

e.g. ery little research has been carried outinto the effects of 7

Modal Verbsmay be used if you wish to introduce a degree of tentativenessinto your comments about the work of an author. 9n this situation the reportingverb will be in the passive voiceand the addition of amodal verbwillindicate the degree of confidence attributed to the information.

e.g. 9t has been indicated by both Wilkens *011+ and Smithson *0111 that additional parametersshouldbe added.

#ther modal verbs that can be used, ranging from rather weak in meaning to =uite

strong, are! could, ma, should, would, will

Range of Verbs to Refer to an Author!s "or#

When referring to sources, your writing style will be more effective if you vary the choice

of verb to refer to the source. The following is a list of fre=uently used verbs. When

referring to an author, select a verb that is most appropriate to the context and thatconveys the autho(s meaning accurately .

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Verbs for Referencing