11.4 Signal Phrases

A signal phrase, also known as an attributive tag, is a device used to smoothly integrate quotations, paraphrases, and summarized content into an essay. It is important to use signal phrases to clearly attribute supporting evidence to its author or authors and to avoid interrupting the flow of an essay. Signal phrases can also be used as meaningful transitions, moving your readers between your ideas and those of your sources.

A signal phrase consists of:

• an author’s name and,
• an active verb indicating how the author is presenting the material.
• a signal phrase may also include information explaining an author’s credentials and/or affiliations as well as the title and/or publisher of the source text.

Referring to the Author within a Signal Phrase

In many instances,  signal phrases will contain only the last name of the author of the source text (as opposed to the author’s first and last name).

• MLA style guidelines: 
  • if you are referring to an author for the first time in your essay, you should include that author’s first name as well as the author’s relevant credentials or affiliations in your signal phrase (you might also want to include the title of the source text).
  • After the initial introduction of the author, any subsequent signal phrase referencing that same author should contain the author’s last name only.
  • Last name + quoted, paraphrased, or summarized material + citation.

• APA style guidelines:
  • no reference to author first names at any point in an essay – only last names
  • Last name + (date) + quoted, paraphrased, or summarized material + (citation).

In essays written according to MLA and APA guidelines, it is acceptable to refer to an author as “the author” as long as it is perfectly clear to whom you are referring. In APA, it is common to see references to “the researchers.”

Signal Phrase Verb Tense

MLA style guidelines: signal phrase verb is in present tense

• Pollan observes that “Americans today are having a national conversation about food and agriculture that would have been impossible to imagine even a few short years ago” (29).

APA style guidelines: signal phrase verb should be written in past tense.

• Pollan (2009) observed that “Americans today are having a national conversation about food and agriculture that would have been impossible to imagine even a few short years ago” (p. 29).

See section 12.6 for more information on APA in-text citations and section 12.2 for MLA citations.

Varying Your Verbs

You should also vary your signal phrase verbs (rather than simply using “states” throughout your entire essay) in order to maintain your readers’ interest and to indicate the author’s intended use of the excerpted material. See below for examples of strong signal phrase verbs.

Types of MLA Signal Phrases

In most instances, the first time the author is mentioned in an MLA-style essay, as well as including the author’s first and last name in a signal phrase, it is also a good idea to include the author’s credentials and the title of the source.

While providing the author’s credentials and title of the source are the most common types of signal phrases, there are others we should be aware of. In the examples below, the information relevant to the type of signal phrase is underlined.

Type: Author’s credentials are indicated.

Presenting an author’s credentials should help build credibility for the passage you are about to present. Including the author’s credentials gives your readers a reason to consider your sources.

• Example: Grace Chapmen, Curator of Human Health & Evolutionary Medicine at the Springfield Natural History Museum, explains…

Type: Author’s lack of credentials is indicated.

Identifying an author’s lack of credentials in a given area can help illustrate a lack of authority on the subject matter and persuade the audience not to adopt the author’s ideas. Pointing to an author’s lack of credentials can be beneficial when developing your response to counter-arguments.

• Example: Matthew Spencer, whose background is in marriage counseling, not foreign policy, claims…

Type: Author’s social or political stance, if necessary to the content, is explained.

Explaining the author’s social or political stance can help a reader to understand why that author expresses a particular view. This understanding can positively or negatively influence an audience. Be careful to avoid engaging in logical fallacies such as loaded language.

• Example:  Employing nonviolent civil disobedience, Roland Hayes, prominent civil rights activist, preaches…

Ralph Spencer, who has ties to the White Nationalist movement, denies…

Type: Publisher of the source is identified.

Identifying the publisher of the passage can help reinforce the credibility of the information presented and you can capitalize on the reputation/ credibility of the publisher of the source material.

• Example: According to a recent CNN poll…

Type: Title of the Source is included.

Informs the reader where the cited passage is being pulled from.

• Example: In “Understanding Human Behavior,” Riley argues …

Type: Information that establishes context is presented.

Presenting the context that the original information was presented can help the audience understand the author’s purpose more clearly.

• Example: In a speech presented during a Free Speech rally, Elaine Wallace encourages …