Whenever you include a paraphrase, summary, or direct quotation of another writer’s work in your paper, prepare your readers for it with introductory words called a signal phrase. A signal phrase usually names the author of the source and often provides some context for the source material.
When you write a signal phrase, choose a verb that is appropriate for the way you are using the source (see MLA-1c). Are you providing background, explaining a concept, supporting a claim, lending authority, or refuting a belief? See the chart below for a list of verbs commonly used in signal phrases.
Note that MLA style calls for verbs in the present or present perfect tense (argues or has argued) to introduce source material unless you include a date that specifies the time of the original author’s writing.
Marking boundaries
Readers need to move from your words to the words of a source without feeling a jolt. Avoid dropping quotations into the text without warning. Instead, provide clear signal phrases, including at least the author’s name, to indicate the boundary between your words and the source’s words. (The signal phrase is highlighted in the second example.)
dropped quotation
Laws designed to prevent chronic disease by promoting healthier food and beverage consumption also have potentially enormous benefits. “[A] 1% reduction in intake of saturated fat across the population would prevent more than 30,000 cases of coronary heart disease annually and would save more than a billion dollars in health care costs” (Nestle 7).
quotation with signal phrase
Laws designed to prevent chronic disease by promoting healthier food and beverage consumption also have potentially enormous benefits. To give just one example, Marion Nestle, New York University professor of nutrition and public health, notes that “a 1% reduction in intake of saturated fat across the population would prevent more than 30,000 cases of coronary heart disease annually and would save more than a billion dollars in health care costs” (7).
Establishing authority
Good research writers use evidence from reliable sources. The first time you mention a source, include in the signal phrase the author’s title, credentials, or experience—anything that would help your readers recognize the source’s authority. (Signal phrases are highlighted in the next two examples.)
source with no credentials
Michael Pollan notes that “[t]he Centers for Disease Control estimates that fully three quarters of US health care spending goes to treat chronic diseases, most of which are preventable and linked to diet: heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes, and at least a third of all cancers.”
source with credentials
Michael Pollan, who has written extensively about Americans’ unhealthy eating habits, notes that “[t]he Centers for Disease Control estimates that fully three quarters of US health care spending goes to treat chronic diseases, most of which are preventable and linked to diet: heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes, and at least a third of all cancers.”
using sources responsibly: When you establish a source’s authority, you also signal to readers your own credibility as a responsible researcher who has located trustworthy sources.
Introducing summaries and paraphrases
Introduce most summaries and paraphrases with a signal phrase that names the author and places the material in the context of your argument. Readers will then understand that everything between the signal phrase and the parenthetical citation summarizes or paraphrases the cited source.
Without the signal phrase (highlighted) in the following example, readers might think that only the quotation at the end is being cited, when in fact the whole paragraph is based on the source.
To improve public health, advocates such as Bowdoin College philosophy professor Sarah Conly contend that it is the government’s duty to prevent people from making harmful choices whenever feasible and whenever public benefits outweigh the costs. In response to critics who claim that laws aimed at stopping us from eating whatever we want are an assault on our freedom of choice, Conly asserts that “laws aren’t designed for each one of us individually” (A23).
There are times when a summary or a paraphrase does not require a signal phrase naming the author. When the context makes clear where the cited material begins, you may omit the signal phrase and include the author’s last name in parentheses.
Using signal phrases with statistics and other facts
When you cite a statistic or another specific fact, a signal phrase is often not necessary. Readers usually will understand that the citation refers to the statistic or fact (not the whole paragraph).
Seventy-five percent of Americans are opposed to laws that restrict or put limitations on access to unhealthy foods (Neergaard and Agiesta).
There is nothing wrong, however, with using a signal phrase to introduce a statistic or another fact.
Putting source material in context
Readers should not have to guess why source material appears in your paper. A signal phrase can help you make the connection between your own ideas and those of another writer by clarifying how the source will contribute to your paper (see R3-a).
If you use another writer’s words, you must explain how they relate to your argument. Since quotations don’t speak for themselves, you must create a context (highlighted) for readers by embedding each quotation between sentences of your own: introduce the quotation with a signal phrase, and follow it with interpretive comments that link the quotation to your paper’s argument (see also MLA-3c).
quotation with effective context
In response to critics who claim that laws aimed at stopping us from eating whatever we want are an assault on our freedom of choice, Conly offers a persuasive counterargument:
[L]aws aren’t designed for each one of us individually. Some of us can drive safely at 90 miles per hour, but we’re bound by the same laws as the people who can’t, because individual speeding laws aren’t practical. Giving up a little liberty is something we agree to when we agree to live in a democratic society that is governed by laws. (A23)
As Conly suggests, we need to change our either/or thinking (either we have complete freedom of choice or we have government regulations and lose our freedom) and instead need to see health as a matter of public good, not individual liberty.
To avoid monotony, try to vary both the language and the placement of your signal phrases.
Model signal phrases
Michael Pollan, who has written extensively about Americans’ unhealthy eating habits, argues that “. . .”
As health policy experts Mello et al. point out, “. . .”
Marion Nestle, New York University professor of nutrition and public health, notes . . .
Bioethicist David Resnik acknowledges that his argument . . .
Conly offers a persuasive counterargument: “. . .”
Verbs in signal phrases
|
acknowledges |
comments |
endorses |
reasons |
|
adds |
compares |
grants |
refutes |
|
admits |
confirms |
illustrates |
rejects |
|
agrees |
contends |
implies |
reports |
|
argues |
declares |
insists |
responds |
|
asserts |
denies |
notes |
suggests |
|
believes |
disputes |
observes |
thinks |
|
claims |
emphasizes |
points out |
writes |