Integrating and Citing Primary

Sources Effectively

Angie Garmaise, 2013

Primary Sources

Data you have collected yourself

Content can be quoted or paraphrased
All information learned from primary sources
must be clearly introduced and cited
Quotations
Quotes should never appear out of nowhere; they
should always be introduced, discussed, and
explained.
Quotes do not make points; they support/illustrate
points.
Quotes do not have to be full sentences, but they
must fit within your full sentence.
Quotes MUST be presented within quotation marks.
Using someone elses words without quotation
marks is plagiarism, even with a citation.
Source must be clearly indicated there should be
no confusion regarding who said the quote.
Paraphrases

Other peoples ideas can be expressed in

your own words, if they are cited.
Paraphrases should be clearly introduced by
indicating the source of the ideas.
Paraphrases MUST change a) the original
sentence structure, and b) at least 67% (2/3)
of the original words.
Otherwise, you are quoting with changes, and
quotation rules apply.
Formal Writing

Use full name (personal and family name)

OR last (family) name only when referring to
experts or professionals in formal writing.
Never use first (personal) name only.
Courtesy titles and last name are acceptable,
but slightly less formal. Make sure the
CORRECT courtesy title is used (e.g. job-
based if known, Ms. for women if no
applicable job-based courtesy title).
Citing Interviews
APA uses a ONE-step process to cite interviews.
The required information is: Full name of
interviewee, the words personal communication,
and the date of the interview.
See the APA guide for how these details should
appear in a parenthetical in-text citation (after the
quote/paraphrase): http://
seneca.libguides.com/c.php?g=20762&p=121156
No Reference entry is required for personal
communications (interviews, emails, etc.).
Citing Interviews, cont.
Content can be cited either in your sentence as you
introduce the source and/or in a parenthetical in-text
citation after the quotation/paraphrase.
Do not double-up on citation info. Each of the three
pieces of information should appear ONCE in the
sentence.
Try to avoid repetition, especially when summarizing
information from a limited number of sources.
Prioritize names (only) in introductions to sources in
your sentences.
If more than one source provided the same
information, cite both sources simultaneously.
Examples

Poor quote: On May 11th, Mr. Smith said that

(John Smith, personal communication,
May 11, 2017).
Good quote: John Smith indicated that
(personal communication, May 11, 2017).
OR
Good paraphrase: The formatting of the
resume needs. (John Smith, personal
communication, May 11, 2017)
Examples, cont.

Poor paraphrase: Ms. Jones said that

(Jane Jones, personal communication, May
10, 2017). Mr. Smith said the same thing
(John Smith, personal communication, May
11, 2017)
Good paraphrase: Both Ms. Jones and Mr.
Smith indicated that (personal
communications, May 10, 2017 and May 11,
2017)
Citing blocks of text
In-text citations apply only to the sentence theyre
attached to.
If your paraphrase includes more than one sentence,
you need to clearly cite the entire paraphrase using
the bracket approach:
Introduce the source in your sentence as you begin the
paraphrase, including the SAME key source identifying
information that would need to appear in an in-text citation
(e.g. interviewees last name)
Place the full APA in-text citation, with ALL required
elements, at the end of the last sentence in the paraphrase
in the SAME paragraph.
Now everything between those two points is clearly cited as
being paraphrased from the same source.
Citing blocks of text, cont.
Example:

In the resume, Mr. Smith suggested reordering the sections so

that Education appears first. He explained that this prioritizes
the most relevant aspects of knowledge, since all experience
to date has been in different fields that are less relevant to the
desired job (John Smith, personal communication, May 11,
2017).
Please note that this approach does NOT cross
paragraph breaks. You need to repeat the
introduction & citation in the next paragraph if you
continue paraphrasing from the same source.