INSTRUCTOR: The Bethel Online Library and Learning Services presents the Basics of Signal Phrases. What is a signal phrase? A signal phrase is a narrative style citation that incorporates research. It helps elevate your writing and adds variation and interest to your writing style. It can help distinguish your thoughts from the thoughts of the sources you're using throughout your research. Using a signal phrase is a relatively easy. Here are the steps. 

Start with the author. Just like in any normal in-text citation, we'll need to know their surname. And the year in parentheses after the author's surname. Add a verb. In APA, we use past tense verbs to tell us what the author thinks. And then finish up. Complete your sentence on the author and what they thought. If you use a direct quote, be sure to include the page number at the end of the sentence. 

When to use? Use a signal phrase when you want to introduce a new source, when you want to be clear that a source is not your own, when you want to incorporate a direct quote, and when you want to create an easy and interesting reading experience. Here's an example of a signal phrase using a direct quote. 

Marek in 2017 stated that bioluminescence in the animal kingdom is "particularly remarkable amongst the polydesmid species of millipedes." Notice how we started with the author's surname and added the year of publication after in parentheses. "Stated" acts as our past-tense verb to tell us what Marek thought. And finally, because we used a direct quotation, we put the page number at the end of the sentence. 

Here's another example of a signal phrase using a paraphrase. Adcock, 2019, argued that philosophy is a crucial part of any well-rounded education. Again, we have Adcock as the surname of our source. We've put the year 2019 in parentheses, and we added the past-tense verb "argued" to show what it was. Adcock was writing about. 

There are lots of past tense verbs you can use to incorporate signal phrases. If you just want a plain, non-biased introduction, try things like "wrote," "thought," "noted," "identified." If you would like to incorporate a signal phrase positively, try words like "agreed." "affirmed," "believed," and "endorsed." And if your signal phrase might have a negative connotation, try words like "argued," "rejected," "disagreed," "countered." But these aren't the only past-tense verbs to try. Check out a thesaurus if you want to add even more variety to your writing. 

Any questions? Let's talk. Chat with us online on our website or on VCamp. Give us a call at 615-202-1344, or email us at librarian@bethelu.edu. Thanks for watching.