13 – Collaborative Writing
Collaborative Writing Processes
Suzan Last; Candice Neveu; Kalani Pattison; Nicole Hagstrom-Schmidt; and Matt McKinney
Collaborative projects are common in many fields and disciplines, as individuals with various realms of expertise work together to accomplish goals and create projects. Writing is a key part of communication that enables these projects to happen, but it also is often the deliverable—the final product that a team can pass on to another team, to executives and administrators, to consumers, or to the public. Working as a team to write a document usually means that each individual writes less content. However, to create a coherent document written in one voice, teams must plan carefully and revise thoughtfully.
The following section examines in more depth how writing in general, and collaborative writing specifically, is crucial to engineering. Engineering is a field that is often perceived as entailing a relatively small amount of writing. However, as you will see in this following section, such perceptions are often misinformed. The same misperceptions may also take place regarding other fields, so you should think about how this engineering-specific information might apply more widely to your discipline.
The engineering design process, at least in part, entails working collaboratively to gather, organize, manage, and distribute information.[1] This information is often carefully analyzed and used to make important decisions, so it is critical that team members collaborate effectively in managing these communications tasks.
Engineers report spending a considerable amount of their time writing, and they frequently engage in collaborative writing. A recent survey asked various professionals what portion of their work week was devoted to writing, collaborative writing, and international communications.[2] The results shown in Table 13.5 indicate that collaborative writing makes up a significant portion of overall writing tasks.
Table 13.5. Percentage of total work week that engineers and programmers report spending on communications tasks.
| Activity | % of Work Week for Engineers | % of Work Week for Programmers |
|---|---|---|
| Time spent writing | 35 | 25 |
| Time spent planning and writing documents collaboratively | 19 | 12 |
| Time spent communicating internationally (across national borders) | 14 | 18 |
Research has also shown that “writing in general and [collaborative writing] in particular have been recognized to be fundamental to most professional and academic practices in engineering.”[3] Figure 13.4[4] shows that engineers rate writing skills as extremely important to career advancement.[5]
Like any kind of teamwork, collaborative writing requires the entire team to be focused on a common objective. According to Lowry et al., an effective team “negotiates, coordinates, and communicates during the creation of a common document.”[6] The collaborative writing process is iterative and social, meaning the team works together and moves back and forth throughout the process.
Collaborative Writing Stages and Strategies
Successful collaborative writing is made easier when you understand the collaborative writing strategies you can apply, the best ways to manage a document undergoing revisions, and the different roles people can assume. Figure 13.5[7] outlines the various activities involved at various stages of the collaborative writing process.
Collaborative writing strategies are methods a team uses to coordinate the writing of a collaborative document. There are five main strategies: single-author, sequential, parallel writing: horizontal division, parallel writing: stratified division, and reactive writing. Each strategy has its advantages and disadvantages. Effective teams working on longer term projects tend to use a combination of collaborative writing strategies for different points of the project. When planning to switch between writing strategies, it is important to make sure the team is communicating clearly regarding which strategy will be used for which task. See Table 13.6[8] for a detailed breakdown of these strategies, their advantages, and disadvantages. Can you think of any other benefits or limitations?
Table 13.6. Collaborative writing strategies.
| Writing Strategy | When to Use | Pros | Cons |
|---|---|---|---|
| Single Author
One member writes for the entire group. |
For simple tasks; when little buy-in is needed; for small groups | Efficient; consistent style | May not clearly represent group’s intentions; less consensus produced |
| Sequential
Each member is in charge of writing a specific part and write in sequence. |
For asynchronous work with poor coordination; when it’s hard to meet often; for straightforward writing tasks; small groups | Easy to organize; simplifies planning | Can lose sense of group; subsequent writers may invalidate previous work; lack of consensus; version control issues |
| Parallel Writing: Horizontal Division
Members are in charge of writing a specific part but write in parallel. Segments are distributed randomly. |
When high volume of rapid output is needed; when software can support this strategy; for easily segmented, mildly complex writing tasks; for groups with good structure and coordination; small to large groups | Efficient; high volume of output | Redundant work can be produced; writers can be blind to each other’s work; stylistic differences; doesn’t recognize individual talents well |
| Parallel Writing: Stratified Division
Members are in charge of writing a specific part but write in parallel. Segments are distributed based on talents or skills. |
For high volume, rapid output; with supporting software; for complicated, difficult-to-segment tasks; when people have different talents/skills; for groups with good structure and coordination; small to large groups | Efficient; high volume of quality output; better use of individual talent | Redundant work can be produced; writers can be blind to each other’s work; stylistic differences; potential information overload |
| Reactive Writing
Members create a document in real time, while others review, react, and adjust to each other’s changes and additions without much preplanning or explicit coordination. |
Small groups; high levels of creativity; high levels of consensus on process and content | Can build creativity and consensus | Very hard to coordinate; version control issues |
Document management reflects the approaches used to maintain version control of the document and describe who is responsible for it. Four main control modes (centralized, relay, independent, and shared) are listed in Table 13.7, along with their pros and cons. Can you think of any more, based on your experience?
Table 13.7. Document control modes.
| Mode | Description | Pros | Cons |
|---|---|---|---|
| Centralized | When one person controls the document throughout the process | Can be useful for maintaining group focus and when working toward a strict deadline | Non-controlling members may feel a lack of ownership or control of what goes into the document |
| Relay | When one person at a time is in charge but the control changes in the group | Democratic | Less efficient |
| Independent | When one person maintains control of their assigned portion | Useful for remote teams working on distinct parts | Often requires an editor to pull it together; can reflect a group that lacks agreement |
| Shared | When everyone has simultaneous and equal privileges | Can be highly effective; non-threatening; good for groups working face to face, who meet frequently, who have high levels of trust | Can lead to conflict, especially in remote or less functional groups |
Roles refer to the different duties participants might undertake, depending on the activity. In addition to whatever roles and responsibilities that individual team members performed throughout other stages of the project, the actual stages of composing and revising the document may require writing-specific roles. Table 13.8 describes several roles within a collaborative writing team. Members of small teams must fill multiple roles when prewriting, drafting, and revising a document collaboratively. Which role(s) have you had in a group project? Are there ones you always seem to do? Ones that you prefer, dislike, or would like to try?
Table 13.8. Collaborative writing roles.
| Role | Description |
|---|---|
| Writer | A person who is responsible for writing a portion of the content |
| Consultant | A person external to the project and who has no ownership or responsibility for producing content, but who offers content and process-related feedback (peer reviewers outside the team; instructor) |
| Editor | A person who is responsible for the overall content production of the writer, and can make both style and content changes; typically has ownership of the content production |
| Reviewer | A person, internal or external, who provides specific content feedback but is not responsible for making changes |
| Project Manager | A person who is part of the team and may fully participate in authoring and reviewing the content, but who also leads the team through the processes, planning, rewarding, and motivating |
| Facilitator | A person external to the team who leads the team through processes but doesn’t give content related feedback |
This text was derived from
Last, Suzan, with contributors Candice Neveu and Monika Smith. Technical Writing Essentials: Introduction to Professional Communications in Technical Fields. Victoria, BC: University of Victoria, 2019. https://pressbooks.bccampus.ca/technicalwriting/. Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
- Susan McCahan, Phil Anderson, Mark Kortschot, Peter E. Weiss, and Kimberly A. Woodhouse, “Introduction to Teamwork,” in Designing Engineers: An Introductory Text (Hoboken, NY: Wiley, 2015), 14. ↵
- Jason Swarts, Stacey Pigg, Jamie Larsen, Julia Helo Gonzalez, Rebecca De Haas, and Elizabeth Wagner, Communication in the Workplace: What Can NC State Students Expect? (Raleigh: North Carolina State University Professional Writing Program, 2018), https://docs.google.com/document/d/1pMpVbDRWIN6HssQQQ4MeQ6U-oB-sGUrtRswD7feuRB0/edit#heading=h.n2a3udms5sd5. Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. ↵
- Julio Gimenez and Juliet Thondhlana, “Collaborative Writing in Engineering: Perspectives from Research and Implications for Undergraduate Education,” European Journal of Engineering Education 37, no. 5 (2012): 471-487, http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/03043797.2012.714356 ↵
- Adapted from Jason Swarts, Stacey Pigg, Jamie Larsen, Julia Helo Gonzalez, Rebecca De Haas, and Elizabeth Wagner, Communication in the Workplace: What Can NC State Students Expect? (Raleigh: North Carolina State University Professional Writing Program, 2018), 5, https://docs.google.com/document/d/1pMpVbDRWIN6HssQQQ4MeQ6U-oB-sGUrtRswD7feuRB0/edit#heading=h.n2a3udms5sd5. Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. ↵
- Jason Swarts, Stacey Pigg, Jamie Larsen, Julia Helo Gonzalez, Rebecca De Haas, and Elizabeth Wagner, Communication in the Workplace: What Can NC State Students Expect? (Raleigh: North Carolina State University Professional Writing Program, 2018), 5, https://docs.google.com/document/d/1pMpVbDRWIN6HssQQQ4MeQ6U-oB-sGUrtRswD7feuRB0/edit#heading=h.n2a3udms5sd5. Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. ↵
- Paul Benjamin Lowry, Aaron M. Curtis, and Michelle René Lowry, “Building a Taxonomy and Nomenclature of Collaborative Writing to Improve Interdisciplinary Research and Practice,” Journal of Business Communication 41, no. 1 (2004): 66-97, https://doi.org/10.1177/0021943603259363. ↵
- Adapted from Suzan Last and Candice Neveu, “Collaborative Writing Stages,” in “Collaborative Writing,” Technical Writing Essentials: Introduction to Professional Communications in Technical Fields. Victoria, BC: University of Victoria, 2019. https://pressbooks.bccampus.ca/technicalwriting/. Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. ↵
- Adapted from Suzan Last and Candice Neveu, “Collaborative Writing Strategies,” in “Collaborative Writing,” Technical Writing Essentials: Introduction to Professional Communications in Technical Fields. Victoria, BC: University of Victoria, 2019. https://pressbooks.bccampus.ca/technicalwriting/. Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. The original authors note that this table is adapted from Paul Benjamin Lowry, Aaron Curtis, and Michelle René Lowry, “Building a Taxonomy and Nomenclature of Collaborative Writing to Improve Interdisciplinary Research and Practice,” Journal of Business Communication 41, no.1 (2004): 66-97, https://doi.org/10.1177/0021943603259363. ↵
Final product that a team can pass on to another team, to executives and administrators, to consumers, or to the public.
Collaborative writing strategy where collaborators create, review, and revise a document in real time, without much pre planning or explicit coordination.
Method of collaborative writing where collaborators work in parallel but distribute writing assignments based on talents or skills.
Method of collaborative writing where collaborators work in parallel but distribute writing assignments randomly.
Each member is in charge of writing a specific part and write in sequence.
One member writes for the entire group.
Tables are made up of rows and columns that contain data, usually in numerical form. They permit rapid access to and relatively easy comparison of information. If the data is arranged chronologically (for example, sales figures over a ten-year period), the table can show trends (for example, patterns of rising or falling activity). Of course, tables are not necessarily the most vivid or dramatic means of showing such trends or relationships between data—that's why we have charts and graphs. These figures are discussed in greater detail later in the chapter.
Uses for Tables
Tables are used to organize detailed data and information into categories for comparison. The most typical use of tables is for large amounts of numerical data, so tables should be used when exact figures are important. Tables also have an added advantage over charts and graphs by being able to compare multiple factors, whereas a 2D chart can only compare two variables. For example, imagine that you are comparing different models of laser printers in terms of physical characteristics such as height, depth, length, weight, and so on. A table is perfect for demonstrating and allowing comparison of the exact measurements of these specific printer models.
However, tables are not only used for numerical data. They may also be used to organize multiple qualitative categories that are best expressed using words. A qualitative category could be something like color, a ranking such as “Good” or “Ineffective,” or even a definition of a concept. Imagine again that you are comparing several models of a laser printer. As part of your evaluation, you would use different categories (such as cost, print speed, cost of ink, warranty) as criteria. These criteria would be ideal content for a table that uses words rather than numbers.
Effective Table Format and Design
When formatting your tables, there are several guidelines you should follow in order to increase their usability for your audience.
Title. Traditionally, the title of a table is placed on top of the table or is the first row of the table, rather than below. This is because tables are usually read from top to bottom, so it makes sense that the title would be in the first place a reader looks. The tables in this textbook are formatted according to this principle. To provide a title for your table, first include an identifier. This identifier will usually be the label “Table” combined with a number. Tables should be numbered sequentially, with the first table appearing in your report being labeled as Table 1, the second table labeled as Table 2, and so on. Conclude the label with a period. After the label, provide a descriptive title that identifies the content of the table. This title may be formatted in “sentence case,” with only the first word and any proper nouns capitalized, or in “title case,” with all words other than non-primary articles or prepositions being capitalized. Whichever you choose, make sure it is consistent across all tables and figures. For an example of how to title a table and other figures, see “Captions (Labels, Titles, and Citations)” later in this chapter. In addition, consider how figures and tables are labeled throughout this text.
Headings. Another major formatting feature of tables is the use of headings. Headings are used at the top of each column (where they are called box heads) and on the leftmost-side of each row (where they are called stubs). These headings are used to identify the content being provided in their given row or column. When providing a heading for a column that has numerical data, include the units for that column in the header rather than in each individual cell.
When it comes to headings, formatting becomes more complicated when rows or columns must be grouped or subdivided. In such cases, you have to create row or column subheadings. Figure 8.1[1] illustrates a way to handle this challenge. In this table, there are twelve total columns. Ten of these columns are given headings in cells of the same height. The Distributor information is first identified in an eleventh column. This information is immediately sub-divided into two separate columns and given headings below. Combined, these cells make up the same height as the rest of the row with headings.
Alignment. Left-align or center-align words and phrases in table columns (including the column heading). Right-align numeric data in table columns.
Footnotes and Citation. The final item to consider when formatting a table is whether to add a note or caption below the table itself. There are three types of notes you may use for a table: general, specific, and probability. General notes refer to general information included in a table, such as an explanation of the data source or a citation. Citations are formatted as in-text citations that follow your chosen style guide. General notes appear first and include a label such as “Note:”; “Source:”; or “Data from” (without quotation marks). Specific notes are reserved for specific details about a column, row, or cell. These notes go below any general notes and are labeled with a superscript number or letter that corresponds to a specific place on the table. Finally, probability notes provide information on probability testing. These notes appear last, after any general or specific notes. They do not contain a label. When there is some special point you need to make about one or more of the items in the table, use a footnote instead of clogging up the table with the information
Effectively Integrating Tables into Your Document
In order to integrate tables into your document effectively, include text that precedes the table and explains the general significance of the data in the table. Don't expect readers to figure out the table entirely for themselves. Also, be sure that you don’t overwhelm your readers with extremely large tables; include only the amount of data needed in order to illustrate your point.
Occasionally, rough drafts of technical reports present information in regular running-text form that could be better presented in table (or tabular) form. When revising, review your rough drafts for material that can be transformed into tables. Figure 8.2[2]below shows an example of how to revise a draft by converting information into a table format. Note how the writer pulls the specific data points from the paragraphs and places them into a table for easy reference. Note also that in the revised paragraphs below, the points in the text also clearly introduce and link to the information in the table. These details help fully integrate the table into the document and make the overall text easier to quickly read and understand.
This text was derived from
Last, Suzan, with contributors Candice Neveu and Monika Smith. Technical Writing Essentials: Introduction to Professional Communications in Technical Fields. Victoria, BC: University of Victoria, 2019. https://pressbooks.bccampus.ca/technicalwriting/. Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
McMurrey, David. Online Technical Writing. n.d. https://www.prismnet.com/~hcexres/textbook/. Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
[["Communication/\nPeople Skills","Creative Skills","Management/\nLeadership Skills","Helping Skills","Organizational \nSkills"],["Collaborated ","Combined","Assigned","Aided","Arranged"],["Communicated ","Created","Coordinated","Arranged","Categorized"],["Developed ","Developed","Decided","Assisted","Distributed"],["Edited ","Drew","Improved","Contributed","Organized"],["Incorporated ","Illustrated","Led","Cooperated","Recorded"],["Proposed ","Planned","Managed","Encouraged","Responded"],["Suggested ","Revised","Oversaw","Helped","Updated"],["Synthesized","Shaped","Recommended","Motivated","Tracked"],["Translated ","Crafted","Reviewed","Supported","Monitored"],["Facilitated ","Conceived","Supervised","Prepared","Synthesized"],["Mediated","Established","Delegated","Bolstered","Adapted"]]
[["Imprecise","Precise"],["It is important to eat a healthy diet during pregnancy.","Eating a diet rich in whole grains, fruits and vegetables, lean meats, and low-fat dairy products can improve your health during pregnancy and boost your chances of having a healthy baby."],["We are making good progress on the project.","In the two weeks since inception, our four-member team has achieved three of the six objectives we identified for project completion; we are on track to complete the project in another three to four weeks."],["For the same amount spent, we expected more value added.","We have examined several proposals in the $10,000 range, and they all offer more features than what we see in the $12,500 system ABC Corp. is offering."],["Officers were called to the scene.","Responding to a 911 call, State Police Officers Arellano and Chavez sped to the intersection of County Route 53 and State Highway 21."],["The victim went down the street.","The victim ran screaming to the home of a neighbor, Mary Lee of 31 Orchard Street."],["Several different colors are available.","The silk jacquard fabric is available in ivory, moss, cinnamon, and topaz colorways."],["A woman was heckled when she spoke at a healthcare event.","On August 25, 2009, Rep. Frank Pallone (Democrat of New Jersey\u2019s 6th congressional district) hosted a \u201ctown hall\u201d meeting on health care reform where many audience members heckled and booed a woman in a wheelchair as she spoke about the need for affordable health insurance and her fears that she might lose her home."]]
The audience of technical and professional writing—or of any writing, for that matter—is the intended or potential reader(s) or listener(s). For most technical communicators, audience is the most important consideration in planning, writing, and reviewing a document. You adapt your writing to meet the needs, interests, and background of your readers. Giving attention to this aspect of the rhetorical situation will allow you to gain insight into how to craft your message before you present it.
Audience Analysis
Analysis is the process of breaking something larger down into its smaller parts. In audience analysis, you are looking for traits that your audience possesses in order to better appeal to them in your written or spoken communication. Every audience has expectations, prior knowledge, and experience. When they read your documents or listen to your speech, they have a purpose or reason for doing so, such as needing to know the schedule for next week’s lab meeting or finding sources for a research report. They also have a wide range of characteristics including social class, gender, age, race and ethnicity, cultural background, and language that make them unique and diverse. What kind of audience will you be speaking to? What do you know about their expectations, prior knowledge, or backgrounds? How do they plan to use your information?
The lack of audience analysis and the failure to adapt to audience needs and expectations are major causes of most problems you find in professional and technical documents. The sections below offer a method for analyzing your audience, step by step.
Types of Audiences
One of the first things to do when you analyze an audience is to identify its type or types. The following categories describe some of the main audiences you will encounter:
Experts. Experts know the theory, business, organization, subject, or product inside and out. They design it; they test it; they run it; they know everything about it. Often, they have advanced degrees and operate in academic settings or in research and development areas of the government and technology worlds.
Technicians. Technicians build, operate, maintain, and repair the items that the experts design and about which they theorize. Technicians possess highly technical knowledge, but of a more practical, hands-on nature than that of theoretical experts.
Executives. Executives make business, economic, administrative, legal, governmental, and political decisions about the products of the experts and technicians. Executives are likely to have as little technical knowledge about the subject as non-specialists. For many writers, this will be a primary audience.
Non-specialists. Non-specialists have the least technical knowledge of all. They want to use the new product to accomplish their tasks; they want to understand the new power technology enough to know whether to vote for or against it in an upcoming election; or they may just be curious about a specific technical matter and want to learn about it. Chances are, these readers will represent a secondary audience for you.
Important Audience Characteristics
It is important to determine which of the preceding four categories represents your potential audience(s), but that’s not the end of it. Audiences, regardless of category, must also be analyzed in terms of other characteristics such as those listed below.
Background (Knowledge, Experience, Training)
As a writer, you will want to know just how much knowledge, experience, or training you can expect in your readers. If you expect some of your readers to lack a certain background, do you automatically supply it in your document? Consider an example: imagine you are writing a guide to using a software product that runs under Microsoft Windows. How much can you expect your readers to know about Windows? If some are likely to know little about Windows, should you provide that information? If you say no, then you run the risk of customers getting frustrated with your product. If you say yes to adding background information on Windows, you increase your work effort and add to the page count of the document (and thus to the cost). Obviously, there is no easy answer to this question—part of the solution may involve just how small or large a segment of the audience needs that background information.
Needs and Interests
To plan your document, you need to know what your audience is going to expect from that document. Consider how readers will want to use your document and what they will demand from it. For example, imagine you are writing a manual on how to use a new smartphone—what are your readers going to expect to find in it? Or imagine you are under contract to write a background report on global warming for a national real estate association—what do readers want to read about, and equally important, what do they not want to read about?
Other Demographic Characteristics
And of course there are many other characteristics about your readers that might have an influence on how you should design and write your document—for example, age groups, type of residence, area of residence, gender, political preferences, and so on.
Complicating Factors in Audience Analysis
Audience analysis can be complicated by at least two other factors: multiple audiences and mixed audience types (or wide variability within the audience).
More Than One Audience
You are likely to find that your report is for more than one audience. The people whom you are directly addressing are your primary audience. Other people who are involved in the situation and who can be expected to read the document (such as technicians, experts, administrators, or people in another department) make up your secondary audience. The tertiary audience might consist of people who are somewhat removed from the situation but may have cause to read the document at some point. Depending on the context, these readers might include lawyers, accountants, journalists, shareholders, or the public.
What should you do in this case? Either you can write all the sections so that all the audiences of your document can understand them, or you can write each section strictly for the audience who would be interested in it and then use headings and section introductions to alert your audience about where to find the information most relevant to their area of interest within your report. See Chapter 20: Recommendation Reports for additional information.
Wide Variability in an Audience
You may realize that although you have an audience that fits into only one category, its background varies widely. If you write to the readers with very little or no technical knowledge, you are likely to end up with a cumbersome, tedious, book-like report that will turn off the majority of readers. However, if you do not address the needs of those readers, you will lose that segment of your audience.
What should you do? Most writers focus on the majority of readers and sacrifice that minority who needs more help. Others put the supplemental information in appendices or insert cross-references to beginners’ books.
This text was derived from
McMurrey, David. Online Technical Writing. n.d. https://www.prismnet.com/~hcexres/textbook/. Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
University of Minnesota. Business Communication for Success. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Libraries Publishing, 2015. https://open.lib.umn.edu/businesscommunication/. Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Gross, Allison, Annemarie Hamlin, Billy Merck, Chris Rubio, Jodi Naas, Megan Savage, and Michele DeSilva. Technical Writing. Open Oregon Educational Materials, n.d. https://openoregon.pressbooks.pub/technicalwriting/. Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
While this textbook primarily discusses technical communication skills in terms of written texts, genres, and discourses, it is also important to master these skills in oral communication. Professionals in all fields are often called upon to present information, such as giving reports to management or leadership in an organization, composing videos, teaching or training other professionals or more general audiences, or even giving presentations at professional events and conferences.
Many of the same qualities that characterize effective written technical communication, such as clarity, concision, and consideration for one’s audience, are also present in effective oral communication. Some of these qualities become even more important or manifest in different forms, such as clear transitions and repetition. This chapter will explore these concepts further in an in-depth analysis of oral communication contexts.
Public Speaking Anxiety
For many of us, speaking in front of a group is terrifying. In a written document, we have the opportunity to revise and edit until we are ready for readers. In a speech or presentation, however, we only have one chance to impress, and we do not have control over the situation. We may also feel embarrassed about things we cannot help, such as a stutter, an accent, or involuntary movements. We may have to switch from how we speak with our families and friends. We may be BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color) facing a room of people who are not of our race or heritage. All of these factors and more lead to anxiety over public speaking.
Note
Texas A&M University Resources
There are several useful strategies for overcoming nervousness as a speaker. Texas A&M’s University Writing Center offers an excellent handout with practical tips to address common concerns of preparation, control, and conveying authority.[3] If you need or would like further support for anxiety, we recommend contacting Texas A&M’s Counseling & Psychological Services[4] and Disability Resources.[5]
While there are many helpful practices for those dealing with the nervousness that accompanies public speaking, some of us may have deeper anxieties. In these cases, it may be worthwhile to seek out counseling and other support resources. These services, along with family, friends, and instructors, can help us identify and implement coping strategies, supports, and accommodations for living with anxiety, thus putting us on an even playing field with our peers.
As stated in Chapter 1, technical writers are often faced with the challenge of communicating and relaying information or concepts on which they may not have direct expertise. Additionally, if they are investigating an ongoing problem or gap in understanding on a research topic, technical writers also have to demonstrate that they are well versed in the current discourse and arguments surrounding the topic.
In both cases, one of the most effective strategies technical writers can employ is to integrate and cite sources into their documents and presentations. Beyond avoiding plagiarism, using sources effectively allows you to draw on the expertise of others to support your points. Using sources effectively also helps the reader understand how you are situating different findings, ideas, and arguments in conversation with one another, as well as how you yourself are participating in that conversation.
To help you master these skills, this section will review the different kinds of sources and citation forms that you are likely to encounter in technical and professional writing.
Primary Sources and Secondary Sources
Primary sources are direct, firsthand sources of information or data. These are sources that are fixed in a point in time and typically do not contain analysis or discussion. For example, if you were writing a report about the First Amendment right to freedom of speech, the text of the First Amendment in the Bill of Rights would be a primary source. Other types of primary sources include the following:
- Data sets (your own or from a published source)
- Surveys
- Interviews
- Photographs
- Social media posts
- Visuals such as schematics or plans
- Historical and some government documents
- Art & literature, including but not limited to novels, paintings, musical recordings, movies, and video games
Secondary sources discuss, interpret, analyze, consolidate, or otherwise rework information from primary sources. In researching a report about freedom of speech, you might read articles about legal cases that involved First Amendment rights, or editorials expressing commentary on the First Amendment. These sources would be considered secondary sources because they are one step removed from the primary source of information. Other examples of secondary sources include the following:
- Biographies
- Histories and historical analysis
- Journal articles
- News articles and commentaries
- Blogs
- Video essays
Your topic, audience, and purpose determine whether you must use both primary and secondary sources in your document. Ask yourself which sources are most likely to provide the information that will answer your research questions. If you are writing a research report about reality television shows, you will need to use some reality shows as a primary source, but secondary sources, such as a reviewer’s critique, are also important. If you are writing about the health effects of nicotine, you will probably want to read the published results of scientific studies, but secondary sources, such as magazine articles discussing the outcome of a recent study, may also be helpful.
Tertiary sources are defined and discussed in Chapter 11: Research. For the purposes of citation and integration, they should be treated the same as secondary sources.
Note
Classifying Primary and Secondary Sources
Whether a text (document or otherwise) is primary or secondary depends a lot on content and context. For example, you could conduct an interview with an individual about their life, and that would be a primary source. If you interviewed that person about their area of expertise, that might be considered more of a secondary source. Similarly, a journal article reporting the results of an original research study may be a primary source, while a journal article comparing and analyzing the results of several research studies may be a secondary source.
Citing Personal Primary Research
In many circumstances, you may be presenting primary research that you have conducted. In this case, the primary research can take the form of experimental data gained from lab experiments, results from surveys, or material from interviews or on-site evaluations. In all these scenarios, the research is not yet published prior to its inclusion in your report, paper, or article. Therefore, you do not cite it in the same way you would a published source using parenthetical citations or an entry in a Works Cited or References page.
For data acquired through an experiment, survey, or on-site research, indicate in your text where the information comes from. When specifically referencing data such as a measurement or results from a survey, you may use signal phrases like you would for a quotation, summary, or paraphrase. This signaling should be within the same sentence and in close proximity to the information itself. For example, when referencing the results of an online survey, you might say one of the following:
- 75% of responders to our online survey reported that they were dissatisfied with the lab’s spectrometer.
- Our online survey revealed that 75% of our respondents were dissatisfied with the lab’s spectrometer.
Notice in the example above that while the writers use a signal phrase (“our online survey”), they do not provide any citation information in parentheses. This is because non-published primary research conducted by the authors usually does not appear in a bibliography. One major exception to this rule is an interview or interpersonal communication, depending on your citation style. In MLA style, personal communication, whether in-person, over the phone or Zoom, or via an email exchange, is included both in the Works Cited list and parenthetically in the document. In APA, however, personal communication is only cited parenthetically in the document. To see how to cite personal communication in both styles, see APA Format Quick Reference and MLA Format Quick Reference later in this chapter.
The Methods section of a report or technical document serves as another major place where you discuss your primary research. In a Methods (or Method or Methodology) section, you discuss the design of your research project. This section will include a description of how you collected any information, including what tools (if any) you used, your research protocol, and any deviations from a standard protocol. See Chapter 20: Recommendation Reports for additional information.
Depending on the type of primary research you are conducting, you may want to include an appendix offering supplementary information on your research design. The two most common types of appendices you will see in recommendation reports in this class include a list of survey or interview questions (especially if they do not appear in list form in the report itself) and large tables of data from an extended period of data collection. When their data serves a supplementary purpose, these materials are placed in an appendix rather than integrated into the report itself. If the information is interesting but not necessarily relevant to the purpose and audience of the report, then that information is kept separate.
Quoting
Direct quotations are portions of a text taken word-for-word and placed inside of another document. Readers know when an author is using a direct quote because it is denoted by the use of quotation marks and an in-text citation. In this section, you will learn when to use direct quotes and the rules for direct quotation.
When Should I Use Direct Quotes?
Generally speaking, direct quotes should be used sparingly because you want to rely on your own understanding of material and avoid over-relying on another’s words. Over-quoting does not reinforce your credibility as an author; however, according to the Purdue Online Writing Lab (OWL) you should use direct quotes when “the author you are quoting has coined a term unique to her or his research and relevant within your own paper.”[6] In other words, quoting is particularly important when you’re defining and contextualizing key terms and concepts in your text.
The Basics of Direct Quotation
For each direct quotation you use, be sure to observe the following steps:
- Enclose the quoted material in quotation marks to set it off from the rest of the text. The exception to this rule is block (or long) quotes, which require different formatting.
- Provide a word-for-word reproduction from the author’s original text. If you need to alter wording or spelling, use an ellipsis or brackets.
- Precede each quotation with a clear signal phrase/attribution tag. If the signal phrase is a complete sentence, you should use a colon as the punctuation between the signal phrase and the quotation. Otherwise, a comma is usually best.
- Follow each quotation with a parenthetical citation.
- Clearly interpret or integrate the text into your own argument so that your readers know how to understand the quotation within the context of your work. Quotations can’t be left to speak for themselves (see “Integrating Quotes into Your Writing” later in this chapter).
MLA Example
In his seminal work, David Bartholomae argues, “Every time a student sits down to write for us, he has to invent the university for the occasion” (4). Bartholomae uses this strong image to emphasize how important it is to instructors to understand students’ perceptions of their audiences.
APA Example
In his seminal work, David Bartholomae (1986) argues, “Every time a student sits down to write for us, he has to invent the university for the occasion” (p. 4). Bartholomae uses this strong image to emphasize how important it is to instructors to understand students’ perceptions of their audiences.
Note that in both examples the author encloses the entire quotation with quotation marks, provides a signal phrase, and offers a page number for the quoted material. With this information, a reader can consult the document’s Works Cited (MLA) or References page (APA) to locate Bartholomae’s original article.[7] Furthermore, the second sentence in each example connects the quotation to the argument by emphasizing the aspect of the quotation most relevant to the author’s argument. In subsequent sentences, the writer may respond to Bartholomae, perhaps using his argument to further the writer’s own, offering a counter argument, or even using a combination of these two approaches.
Block Quotations
Longer quoted passages are formatted using the block quote format. In MLA, you will use this format if the typed quotation is more than three lines long. In APA, quotations longer than 40 words use this format. In both citation styles, the quoted section is indented one half inch and is not enclosed by quotation marks. A longer signal phrase (usually a full sentence) precedes the long quotation. Parenthetical citation is placed at the very end of the quotation, after any final punctuation.
Whether you are using MLA or APA style, you want to maintain the same line-spacing for block quotes and the rest of your document. For example, most technical documents are single-spaced with a blank line between paragraphs, so your block quotes will be single-spaced as well. By contrast, in the traditional academic formatting you’re likely familiar with from most of your college essays, block quotes and the rest of the document are double-spaced. Below is an example of a long quotation from Bartholomae’s article in the block format in both MLA and APA styles, which maintains single-spacing in the writer’s words and the block quotes.[8]
MLA Example
In his seminal work, David Bartholomae illustrates the thought process that college students must go through when they write for professors:
Every time a student sits down to write for us, he has to invent the university for the occasion--invent the university, that is, or a branch of it, like History or Anthropology or Economics or English. He has to learn to speak our language, to speak as we do, to try on the peculiar ways of knowing, selecting, evaluating, reporting, concluding, and arguing that define the discourse of our community. (4)
Bartholomae uses the strong language of inventing to emphasize the importance of understanding how students may find it difficult to join in with unfamiliar academic discourses.
APA Example
In his seminal work, David Bartholomae (1986) illustrates the thought process that college students must go through when they write for professors:
Every time a student sits down to write for us, he has to invent the university for the occasion--invent the university, that is, or a branch of it, like History or Anthropology or Economics or English. He has to learn to speak our language, to speak as we do, to try on the peculiar ways of knowing, selecting, evaluating, reporting, concluding, and arguing that define the discourse of our community. (p. 4)
Bartholomae uses the strong language of inventing to emphasize the importance of understanding how students may find it difficult to join in with unfamiliar academic discourses.
Modifying Direct Quotations
Sometimes, in order to smoothly integrate quoted material into your paper, you may need to remove a word or add a word to make the quote make sense. If you make any change to quoted material, it must be formatted correctly using an ellipsis (...) or brackets ( [ ] ). Be sure not to use these alterations to change the meaning of the quotation. In the following, a portion of Hamlet’s “To Be, or Not To Be” soliloquy[9] is used as the exemplar:
Original quote: “To be, or not to be, that is the question.”
- Use an ellipsis (…) to indicate omissions in the middle of a quote:
As Hamlet states, “To be, or not to be...is the question.”
- Use brackets ([]) to change or add a word to the quote:
As Hamlet states, “To be, or not to be, that is the [essential] question.”
Paraphrasing, Summarizing, and Referencing
While quoting may be the first thing that many people think of when they think about integrating sources, paraphrasing, summarizing, and referencing data are also ways to incorporate information from outside materials into your essays or projects.
Paraphrasing
Paraphrases allow you to describe specific information from a source (ideas from a paragraph or several consecutive paragraphs) in your own words. Paraphrases of the text should be expressed in your own words, with your own sentence structure, in your own way. You should not simply “word swap” or replace a few words from the original text with synonyms. If you use a few of the author’s words within your paraphrase, place quotation marks around them.
Paraphrases are more common in number-driven fields such as sciences and social sciences than in text-based fields such as the humanities or sciences focusing on human subjects. However, while there is a difference between quoting and paraphrasing, how quotes and paraphrases are cited is really not that different at all. As with a quote, you need to explain to your reader why the paraphrased material is significant to the point you are making in your paper. You might also include signal phrases (also known as attributive tags) to let your readers know where the paraphrased material begins. Finally, as with quotations, paraphrased material should be followed by a parenthetical citation. Though APA only needs page numbers with quoted material, MLA requires page numbers for paraphrases as well (if the original source is paginated).
Summarizing
Summaries allow you to describe general ideas from a source. You do not express detailed information as you would with a paraphrase. If you are unsure whether you are summarizing or paraphrasing, compare your writing to the original. Can you identify a specific sentence, paragraph, or page number that discusses that information? If you are able to locate a specific point in the original text, then you are constructing a paraphrase and should include the appropriate page number or other marker. If your writing is dealing with a larger idea or argument that your source discusses throughout, then you have a summary. Therefore, there is no need to cite a specific page number, although you will, of course, attribute the summary to the source from which you are drawing it.
Like paraphrases, any summaries of the text should not include direct wording from the original source. All text should be in your own words, though the ideas are those of the original author. You should indicate the original source by using a signal phrase that identifies the author of the original text, or the title of the text if no author is available.
Referencing
A less commonly discussed but still ubiquitous method of using sources (especially in the sciences and social sciences) is called referencing. When you provide a reference in the main body of a document, you are signaling to the reader that the citation is an example of something you have just said without taking the time to analyze the content of the source. When a source is alluded to in this manner, the author signals that while this source is important in the chain of research, its particular findings or methods are not as relevant to the current document’s purpose and audience.
Most often, you will see referencing early on as part of a literature review or introduction to the document. References are less common in analytical sections of reports and articles, but they may still appear if the author needs to make a quick point.
To employ a reference, observe the following guidelines:
- Identify what the source or sources are doing as a whole.
- Provide in-text parenthetical citations that support the claim made in part 1. These should go at the end of the claim.
- Provide full citations in a Works Cited or References page at the end of the document.
Example
Several studies on stress and engineering students focus specifically on intersectionality (Armani et al., 2003; Blackistone & Paige, 2010; Kim, 2015).
In the above example the writer offers a claim regarding the three sources provided in the in-text citation. The claim is that those three studies “focus specifically on intersectionality.” Notice that the claim alludes to the general content of the cited articles and does not offer any additional analysis or page numbers. However, the combined claim and citations allow readers who are interested in this topic to more easily locate the three recommended sources. For the writer, referencing can show credibility and content expertise.
Integrating Information from Sources
Incorporating information from sources involves more than simply inserting quotations, paraphrase, or summary and including a bibliographic entry in your document. Introducing context for the information and integrating the information into your own sentences also forms a critical aspect of using sources successfully.
Signal Phrases
Academic writing requires the use of signal phrases (or attributive tags) to properly document quoted, paraphrased, and summarized material. Signal phrases require the use of the author’s name and a strong verb. These phrases may also emphasize different types of information related to the source, such as the source’s title or publisher, in order to further contextualize and guide your reader’s response to the cited material.
When using MLA style, it is a good idea to provide a signal phrase as well as the author’s first and last name when the author is first mentioned. Any future signal phrase should refer to the author by last name only, or with a pronoun when it is clear to whom the pronoun refers. For example, look at the three consecutive sentences below:
Ellen J. Langer observes, “For us to pay attention to something for any amount of time, the image must be varied.”[10]
Langer continues, “Thus, for students who have trouble paying attention the problem may be that they are following the wrong instructions.”[11]
She then states, “To pay constant, fixed attention to a thought or an image may be a kind of oxymoron.”[12]
Notice also how each signal phrase verb is followed by a comma, which is then followed by one space before the opening quotation mark.
In contrast, APA style guidelines require no reference to a first name at any point in a document and few, if any, gender-specific pronouns. In most instances, a signal phrase should contain only the last name of the author or authors of the source text (as opposed to the author’s first and last name).
Using Strong Verbs in Signal Phrases
To avoid repetition, you will want to vary your verbs. Rather than simply using “states” throughout your entire document, offer a more specific verb that signals to the reader just how you are using the source. See Table 12.1 below for examples of strong signal-phrase verbs.
Table 12.1. Strong signal-phrase verbs.
| Strong Signal-Phrase Verbs | ||
|---|---|---|
| Acknowledges | Counters | Notes |
| Admits | Declares | Observes |
| Agrees | Denies | Points out |
| Argues | Disputes | Reasons |
| Asserts | Emphasizes | Refutes |
| Believes | Finds | Rejects |
| Claims | Illustrates | Reports |
| Compares | Implies | Responds |
| Confirms | Insists | Suggests |
| Comments | Maintains | Thinks |
| Contends | Mentions | Writes |
Signal phrases provide the audience with valuable insight into how you, the writer, intend the quoted material to be understood. In addition to setting up how you use the source and its reliability, signal phrases can also be used as meaningful transitions moving your readers between your ideas and those of your support.
While providing the author’s credentials is the most common type of signal phrase, there are others you should be aware of. Table 12.2 below offers examples of common types of signal phrases and why you might use them in a document.
Table 12.2. Common signal phrases.
| Type of Signal Phrase | Purpose | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Author’s credentials are indicated. | Builds credibility for the passage you are about to present. | Grace Chapmen, Curator of Human Health & Evolutionary Medicine at the Springfield Natural History Museum, explains… |
| Author’s lack of credentials is indicated. | Illustrates a lack of source’s authority on the subject matter and persuades the audience not to adopt the author’s ideas. Pointing to an author’s lack of credentials can be beneficial when developing your response to counter-arguments. | Matthew Smythe, whose background is in marriage counseling and not foreign policy, claims… |
| Author’s social or political stance, if necessary to the content, is explained. | Helps a reader to understand why that author expresses a particular view. This understanding can positively or negatively influence an audience.
Note: Be careful to avoid engaging in logical fallacies such as loaded language and ad hominems. See Chapter 4 for more information. |
Employing nonviolent civil disobedience, Roland Hayes, prominent civil rights activist, preaches…
Richard Spencer, who takes credit for the term “alt-right,” denies… |
| Publisher of the source is identified. | Reinforces the credibility of the information presented by utilizing the reputation and credibility of the publisher of the source material.
Note: When only referencing the publisher, make sure to include a parenthetical in-text citation identifying the author (or title, if no author is available) at the end of the cited material. |
According to a recent Gallup poll… |
| Title of the source is included. | Informs the reader where the cited passage is being pulled from. This is especially useful if the author has multiple publications or if the publication is particularly well-known. | In “Understanding Human Behavior,” Riley argues… |
| Information that establishes context is presented. | Clarifies the author’s purpose. Offers more information on the original circumstances for the quotation. | In a speech presented during the Boston Free Speech Rally, Elaine Wallace encourages… |
Integrating Quotations, Paraphrase, and Summary into Your Writing
As the author of your document, you should explain the significance of information you cite to your reader. This practice goes beyond simply including a signal phrase. Explaining the significance means indicating how the quoted, paraphrased, or summarized material supports the point you are making in that paragraph. Remember, just because you add a source does not mean that you have made your point. Raw data, whether in numbers or words, never speak for themselves. When referring to outside material, ask yourself how and why does that information make the point you think it does. Below are some helpful phrases for explaining referenced materials (“X” represents the author’s last name):
- Signal phrase + content (quoted/paraphrased/summarized material). X demonstrates that __.
- Signal phrase + content. Here, X is not simply stating _____; she is also demonstrating ______.
- Signal phrase + content. This [point/concept/idea] is an example of _____because _________.
- Signal phrase + content. This [statement/example] clearly shows _______because _________.
Allow your voice—not a quote from a source—to begin each paragraph, precede each quote, follow each quote, and end each paragraph. In other words, never start a sentence or end a paragraph in someone else’s words. Quotes that are integrated well into a document allow you to control the content. That is what a reader wants to see: your ideas and the way that you engage sources to shape and discuss your ideas.
This text was derived from
Gagich, Melanie. “Quoting,” licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. In Gagich, Melanie and Emilie Zickel. A Guide to Rhetoric, Genre, and Success in First-Year Writing. MSL Academic Endeavors. https://pressbooks.ulib.csuohio.edu/csu-fyw-rhetoric/. Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted.
Lanning, John, and Amanda Lloyd. “Signal Phrases and Attributive Tags,” licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. In Gagich, Melanie and Emilie Zickel. A Guide to Rhetoric, Genre, and Success in First-Year Writing. MSL Academic Endeavors. https://pressbooks.ulib.csuohio.edu/csu-fyw-rhetoric/. Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted.
Jeffrey, Robin. “Paraphrasing and Summarizing.” In Gagich, Melanie and Emilie Zickel. A Guide to Rhetoric, Genre, and Success in First-Year Writing. MSL Academic Endeavors. https://pressbooks.ulib.csuohio.edu/csu-fyw-rhetoric/. Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted.
Crowther, Kathryn, Lauren Curtright, Nancy Gilbert, Barbara Hall, Tracienne Ravita, and Kirk Swenson. Successful College Composition. 2nd ed. (English Open Textbooks, 2016). https://oer.galileo.usg.edu/english-textbooks/8/. Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Pantuso, Terri, and Sarah LeMire and Kathy Anders, eds. Informed Arguments: A Guide to Writing and Research. College Station, TX: Texas A&M University, 2019. Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted.
