Citation or Reporting Words

Neutral Citation Verbs

• states
• notes
• reports
• describes
• explains
• observes
• mentions
• identifies
• indicates
• points out
• suggests

Examples:

• Smith (2020) states that social media influences learning outcomes...
• Ahmad and Lee (2021) report a positive relationship between motivation and performance...

Verbs for Interpretation

• interprets
• argues
• contends
• maintains
• claims
• proposes
• asserts
• emphasizes
• highlights
• infers

Examples:

• Johnson (2019) argues that leadership styles affect employee engagement...
• Brown (2022) interprets the findings as evidence of organizational change...

Verbs for Supporting Evidence

• demonstrates
• shows
• reveals
• confirms
• establishes
• validates
• illustrates
• supports

Examples:

• the study demonstrates a significant increase in productivity...
• prior research supports this conclusion...

Verbs for Critical Analysis

• criticizes
• challenges
• questions
• disputes
• refutes
• contradicts
• evaluates
• examines

Examples:

• Garcia (2020) questions the reliability of previous findings...
• the author challenges traditional perspectives on learning...

Useful Citation Phrases

• according to Smith (2020), ...
• Smith (2020) found that ...
• Smith (2020) concluded that ...
• Smith (2020) suggested that ...
• Smith (2020) highlighted the importance of ...
• previous studies have indicated that ...
• research by Smith (2020) demonstrated that ...
• the findings of Smith (2020) imply that ...

Academic Verbs for Literature Reviews

• examines
• investigates
• explores
• analyzes
• compares
• discusses
• reviews
• synthesizes
• evaluates
• assesses

these reporting verbs help vary your writing and show different levels of certainty, agreement, interpretation, and critique in research papers, theses, and journal articles...