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Reporting verbs: What are reporting verbs and when should I use them? Academic writing requires you to use citations to refer to the original source when you have used someone else’s ideas or concepts in your writing. One of the most common ways to incorporate these citations into your writing is to use ‘reporting’ verbs to present the information. In addition to helping you to avoid plagiarizing others’ work, reporting verbs help you to strengthen your argument and to help the reader understand the relevance of the sources you are using in your writing. There is a wide variety of reporting verbs in the English language, such as those in the list below of common ‘reporting’ verbs:

argue analyse believe claim compare comment concede conclude criticize define demonstrate describe discuss dispute estimate evaluate illustrate

indicate investigate observe point out predict recognize report show state stipulate suggest validate verify write

* If you would like a list of even more ‘reporting’ verbs, follow this link: http://www.edufind.com/english/grammar/rep7.cfm What verb tense should I use with reporting verbs? When you use reporting verbs with the citations in your paper you should consistently follow one referencing style. The MLA and APA are two of the most commonly used referencing styles, but each uses tenses for these reporting verb slightly differently. The MLA style emphasizes the use of the simple present tense or present perfect tense when you are discussing an author’s ideas or writing. For example, Harrison (2010) evaluates… White (1992) demonstrates… Lee (1998) has suggested…

The APA style requires the use of the past tense or present perfect tense when you are discussing an author’s ideas or writing. For example, Jones (2005) investigated... Meadows (2000) evaluated... Johns (2008) has estimated... The meaning behind reporting verbs Reporting verbs are also a way for you, the writer, to show your ‘attitude’ towards the source of information...