Verbs for referencing

To incorporate quotations / references into a literature review, you can use a variety
of 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 be
used to introduce references into your literature review. Please note that they can
be used in different tenses.
Suggest (that)

Recent studies outlined by Leonard et al (1999)

suggest that personality and disposition play an
equally important role in motivation.

Argue (that)

Leonard et al (1999) argue that there are three

elements of self perception.

Contend(s)

Mullens (1994) contends that motivation to work well

is usually related to job satisfaction.

Outline

Recent studies outlined by Mullins (1994) suggest that

personality and disposition play an equally important
role in motivation.

Focus on

The early theories of Maslow and McGregor (Robbins

et al, 1998) focused on personal needs and wants as
the basis for motivation.

Define(s)

Eunson (1987, p. 67) defines motivation as 'what is

important to you'.

Conclude(s) (that) Reviewing the results of the case study, Taylor (1980)
concludes that the theories of job enrichment and
employee motivation do work.
State

He further states that there is an increasing

importance on the role of autonomy and self
regulation of tasks in increasing motivation.

Maintains (that)

Mullins (1994) maintains that job enrichment came

from Herzber's two factor theory.

Found (that)

Mullins (1994) found that there is an increasing

importance on the role of autonomy and self
regulation of tasks in improving motivation.

Promote(s)

This promotes the idea that tension and stress are

important external sources of motivation, which can

be eliminated by completing certain tasks.

Establish(ed) (by)

As established by Csikszentmihalyi (Yair 2000, p. 2)

'the more students feel in command of their learning,
the more they fulfil their learning potential'.

Asserts (that)

Locke's Goal Setting Theory asserts that setting

specific goals tends to encourage work motivation
(Robbins et al, 1998).

Show(s)

Various theories of motivation show employers that

there are many factors that influence employees work
performance.

Claim(s) (that)

Hackman and Oldham (1975) claim that people with

enriched jobs, and high scores on the Job Diagnostic
Survey, experienced more satisfaction and motivation.

Report(s)

Mullins (1994) reports on four content theories of

motivation.

Mention(s)

Mullins (1994) mentions two common general

criticisms of Herzberg's theory.

Address

Redesigning jobs so that responsibility moved from

supervisors to the workers, was an attempt to address
the issues of job satisfaction (Mullins, 1994).

Choice of Verb Tense when Referring to Authors

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 perfect and simple present. Such a range is perfectly
acceptable and there are several reasons that influence the choice of tense.
Literature Review Verb Tense: The verb tenses in the literature review will depend on
two main factors. First, 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.
On this page, we give some guidelines for the use of tenses in citations in the literature
review.
These are just guidelines, not "rules" so you may see other forms of verb tense in your
academic reading.
Why not make a note of the patterns mentioned below? This page would certainly
serve as a useful reference when you are writing your literature review.
Here are the three primary patterns of verb tense in citations in the literature review:
These three verb tenses account for approximately 80% 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. Use
this as your first choice unless you have a good reason to use another tense.
Specifically, the present simple is used:

To frame your paper: in your introduction, the present simple tense

describes what we already know about the topic; in the conclusion, it says
what we now know about the topic and what further research is still
needed.

To make general statements, conclusions, or interpretations about previous

research or data, focusing on what is known now(The data suggest The
research shows ).

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

sentence:

The dinoflagellates TFVCs require an unidentified substance in fresh fish

excreta (Environmental Science)[1]

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 - Verbs showing your opinion on another person's research often occur
in the present tense. However, the simple past and present perfect are also possible
verb forms in this case.
Look at these examples in the present tense:

Nelson (1995) remarks

Jones (2005) stresses

Morison (2000) advocates

Zhang (2007) claims

Zhambhi (2008) argues

Present Tense is often used to refer to generally accepted scientific facts.

e.g. Experimental observations carried out in the past show that (Smythe, 1995).

PAST SIMPLE TENSE

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

To introduce other peoples research into your text when you are describing
a specific study, usually carried out by named researcher. The research
often provides an example that supports a general statement or a finding in
your research. Although it is possible to use the past tense to distance
yourself from a studys findings, this appears to be rare, at least in scientific
writing.[2]

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

as they are by other recreation businesses.[General claim]
De Young (1987) found the quality of service to be more important than
catching fish in attracting repeat customers. [Specific supporting evidence]
(Marine Science)

To describe the methods and data of your completed experiment. However,

look at examples of the Methods and Results sections in journals in your
fields to check 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.

We conducted a secondary data analysis (Public Health)

Descriptional statistical tests and t-student test were used for statistical
analysis. (Medicine)

The control group of students took the course previously (Education)

Past tense - When you use the past tense, the reporting verb often occurs as an
integral citation. In other words, you give the researcher's name as the grammatical
subject of the sentence.
In the example below, the citation reports the results of a single study:
Carlson and Benton (2007) found that as they increased the participants stress levels,
the results of their performance deteriorated.
Common verbs in the past tense are: investigated, studied, compared, analyzed, found,
and examined.

Simple Past Tense tends to be the most frequently used tense to refer to the
findings of another author's research. The past tense is also most commonly
used when the writer uses the 'author prominent' style.

e.g. Walker (1998) simulated the speed needed to

PRESENT PERFECT TENSE

The present perfect is mostly used for referring to previous research in the
field or to your own previous findings. Since the present perfect is
a present tense, it implies that the result is still true and relevant today.

The subject of active present perfect verbs is often general: Researchers

have found, Studies have suggested. The present simple could also be used
here, but the present perfect focuses more on what has been done than
on what is known to be true now (present simple). In the following
example, there are two opposite findings, so neither is the accepted state
of knowledge:

Some studies have shown that girls have significantly higher fears than
boys after trauma (Pfefferbaum et al., 1999; Pine &; Cohen, 2002; Shaw,
2003). Other studies have found no gender differences (Rahav &; Ronen,
1994). (Psychology)

A 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). So, you say whathas been found
and then how you will contribute to the field. This is also useful when you
want to point out a gap in the existing research.

More recently, advances have been made using computational

hydrodynamics to study the evolution of SNRs in multidimensions
(citation) [previous research]
However, a similar problem exists in the study of SNR dynamics. [gap]
(Astrophysics)

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 You should usually provide

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

move the subject of your research into a place in the sentence where it will
have more focus.

You can also use the present perfect to tell the history of your idea (what
has created it?), describe the results of your research (we have developed
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 research
results are recent.
Look at this example:
Although the results of pervious studies showed that further research was warranted in
this area, recent studies have demonstrated that educational methodology is now
moving in a new direction (Jones, 2007; Karstal, 2008).
Please check our site often. We frequently add new tips on thesis writing!

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

e.g.
Jolly [2] and Lawrence [3] have studied ...
A number of authors have investigated the strength of [3, 6, 9]

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

e.g. Very little research has been carried out into the effects of

Modal Verbs may be used if you wish to introduce a degree of tentativeness

into your comments about the work of an author. In this situation the reporting
verb will be in the passive voice and the addition of a modal verb will
indicate the degree of confidence attributed to the information.

e.g. It has been indicated by both Wilkens (2001) and Smithson (2000) that additional parameters should
be added.

Other modal verbs that can be used, ranging from rather weak in meaning to quite
strong, are: could, may, should, would, will

Range of Verbs to Refer to an Author's Work

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 frequently used verbs. When
referring to an author, select a verb that is most appropriate to the context and that
conveys the autho's meaning accurately .