When incorporating information into your text, it is also important that you use an effective rhetorical marker (also called reporting verbs), some signal verbs or signal phrases, that faithfully reflect the author's intentions or the source's tone. The nature of your source, the intension of the author you are using, and your decision as to how you will use your source, all these factors will determine what signal verbs or signal phrases you will use. Here is a list of some of the signal verbs and phrases commonly used by researchers:
| 1 | acknowledges | interprets |
| 2 | adds | investigates (the impacts of) |
| 3 | advises | leaves us with |
| 4 | advocates | lists |
| 5 | allows | maintains |
| 6 | analyzes | notes |
| 7 | answers | objects |
| 8 | appreciates | observes |
| 9 | argues | offers |
| 10 | asserts | opposes |
| 11 | believes | points out |
| 12 | calls | points to |
| 13 | charges | presents |
| 14 | cites | presents - aimed at |
| 15 | claims | proposes |
| 16 | clarifies | puts forward (the idea/work…) |
| 17 | concludes | recalls |
| 18 | considers |
recognizes |
| 19 | criticizes |
recommends |
| 20 | declares |
regards |
| 21 | defines |
remarks |
| 22 | demonstrates |
replies |
| 23 | describes |
responds |
| 24 | disagrees |
reveals |
| 25 | discuses |
reverberated by |
| 26 | embraces |
says |
| 27 | emphasizes |
seems to |
| 28 | examines |
sees the use of |
| 29 | explains |
states |
| 30 | explores |
studied the - of |
| 31 | expresses |
submits |
| 32 | finds |
suggests |
| 33 | holds ( the view) |
supports |
| 34 | identifies |
- traces - to/from |
| 35 | implies |
tells us |
| 36 | includes |
thinks |
| 37 | indicates |
uses |
| 38 | worked with/on | |
Mkwende (19888) asserts that…
As Khan reports… (Ref details including page number)
According to Aqueel (2004)…
I agree with Oluga's viewpoint… (Ref details including page number)
In Shah's report…(Ref details including page number)
But as Ahsan (2004) informs us, …
Ahsan (2004) calls such methods…
Further, Saleem (2004) reports that…In addition, Saleem's findings indicate that…
Oluga (2003) supports this view by saying…
Mobin (2003) suggests, in the light of her research findings, that…
Jehan charges that “…” (Ref details including page number)
Ahmed (2001) insists that…
Variations
Although Oluga (2003) argues that…
Mwalango (2003) contends that….
Note: Adapted from hand out prepared by Azra Ahmed, Tutor, English Language Support program, AKU-IED, for the M.Ed class of 2004.