Citation Function Analysis in Two or More Discourses (360)

Leslie Bruce
Different disciplines cite sources for different reasons, and they use different
methods and styles as they attribute information to those sources. In this exercise,
you will analyze two excerpts from journal articles to analyze these variations.
Student Instructions:
With your group, read the two articles posted on Titanium, noting how each citation
is functioning (see the non-exhaustive list of possible functions below for ideas). Fill
in the chart below (add rows as necessary). Feel free to simply cut and paste your
examples into the chart. Afterwards, discuss your findings with the class.

Source (Title)
Bittman

Citation Function
Referral to more info

Bittman

Establish credibility

Bittman

Establish statistics

Sills

Referral to more info

numerically

Sills

Establish visual

Sills

Establish facts

Example from Article

This drought may or may
not
Doug Obegi, a staff
attorney
500,000 of those acres
will lay fallow
1. A. I. Dijk et al., Water
Resources Res. 49, 1040
(2013)
Exceptional Drought (see
red and dark red areas on
map).
The Millennium Drought
lasted from 1997 until late
2009 (2)

Examples of Citation Functions:

o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o

Establishing facts
Attribution (e.g., give credit for an idea or data)
Exemplification (e.g., providing an example to illustrate an idea or argument)
Further reference (e.g., if someone wants to read more about an idea or field)
Statement of use
Application
Evaluation
Establishing links between sources (e.g., a relationship to previous work or
current project/document)
Summarizing
Comparing one's own work with others.
Orienting the known, (e.g., providing a review of the literature)

o
o
o
o

Extending an argument,
Establishing the authority of a particular argument or method (e.g., of
interpretation of experimentation)
Establishing newness, difference, or gap, etc. in previous knowledge (often to
justify current work)
Establishing past, present, or future contribution to the knowledge in the
field.