Signal Phrases

What are signal phrases?

Signal phrases (also known as reporting phrases) introduce the ideas you want to use from external sources. These ideas can be the actual words which you take from the original text (a quotation) or a restatement of these ideas in your own words (a paraphrase). Signal words can be very simple (states that …, writes that …).

Signal phrases are very important because they allow you to hint at your own stance or interpretation of what another writer stated. It is important to understand that it is you who are indicating this when you are quoting or paraphrasing; the original author didn't write "I declare that", "I imply that", etc. It is you who are quoting or paraphrasing and it is you who are saying that this is a declaration, a hypothesis, an implication an acknowledgement, a denial and so on. They can also indicate more explicitly your opinion about the writer’s ideas (argues convincingly that …). You, at least, were convinced by the writer; other readers might be less persuaded.

Here is an example:

Freebody and Anderson suggest that "cohesion, in the specific sense of linguistic ties, simply is not very important in reading" (1983 p91).

"suggest that" is a typical signal phrase. A signal phrase introduces an idea (or a proposition, argument, rebuttal etc.) which the writer found during her research. In this case we have a quotation. These are the exact words found in that particular article in that journal indicated in the citation and which you can find in the bibliography.

The word "suggest" was chosen by the writer who found this quotation during her research. She could have used other words (claim, state, argue ....). But you should choose your signal words carefully; they can give clues about the information presented in the quotation, information about the writer's stance, and clues to your attitude to the information in the quotation.

We could also rewrite this in the form of a paraphrase. For example: Freebody and Anderson (1983 p91) suggest that, as far as linguistic ties are concerned, cohesion is not of much importance in reading.

The signal phrase makes it clear that the comment about cohesion in reading belongs to the writers Freebody and Anderson.

There are many verbs which can be used in signal phrases but there is a limited set in common use. These are the ones you are most likely to see (or need to use):

• Acknowledge : to accept the truth or value of something. "A survey we conducted with Ohio residents [ ] demonstrated that more than 82% of Ohioans acknowledged the intrinsic value of wildlife." (Bruskotter, Vucetich, and Nelson 2015);
• Add: to give further support or evidence to something already mentioned. "This report added that the trade threatened South Africa’s global standing as a leader in the conservation of wildlife and as a country and destination with iconic wild lions." (Elwin, Green, and D’Cruze 2024);
• Admit: to concede (perhaps unwillingly) that something is true. "Writer Jennifer Lepp admits that as she increasingly relied on Sudowrite, the resulting text “didn’t feel like mine anymore. It was very uncomfortable to look back over what I wrote and not really feel connected to the words or ideas.”" (Baron 2023);
• Affirm: to make a strong statement about the truth of something. "In late November 2018, the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC) affirmed that all these wildlife species are at risk of disappearing from Canada." (Mooers and Reynolds 2019) ;
• Agree: to give a similar opinion. "Most astronomers already agreed that galaxies were the main force in reionising the universe, but it wasn’t clear how they did it." (Nanayakkara 2024);
• Argue: to give reasons and evidence to support a point of view. "Aristarchus of Samos (310BC to 230BC) argued that the Sun was the “central fire” of the cosmos and he placed all of the then known planets in their correct order of distance around it." (Dorrian and Whittaker 2020);
• Assert: to strongly state that something is true. "In her book, “Living Oil: Petroleum Culture in the American Century,” literature scholar Stephanie LeMenager asserts that 20th-century culture – novels, poetry, films, photography and television – generated a mythology of “petro-utopia.”" (Allison and Miller 2019);
• Claim: to make a statement of belief (possibly without evidence) which others might refute. "In an innovative paper published in 1938, he claimed there was an “increase in mean temperature, due to the artificial production of carbon dioxide.”" (Dee 2022);
• Comment: to give an opinion or extra information about a topic or claim. "Many people have quoted author Flannery O’Connor’s comment that “I write because I don’t know what I think until I read what I say.”" (Baron 2023) [Here, 'comment' is used as a noun.];
• Concede: to agree that a statement expressed by someone else is true, or give up a previously held belief. "Rollier conceded that one could sunbathe anywhere and obtain some benefit." (Scaglia 2020);
• Conclude: to give a final statement or remark based on the results of an investigation. "A 2008 meta-analysis concluded periodontitis had an effect on general health but issues of both the criteria for periodontal disease and confounding (diseases having the same risk factors as periodontal disease) need to be resolved." (Roberts-Thomson 2012);
• Confirm: to give an additional or final statement about the truth of something. "Epidemiological studies have confirmed that patients with diabetes (both type 1 and type 2) are more susceptible to periodontal disease." (Roberts-Thomson 2012);
• Declare: to publicly state a position. "As a result, some scholars have declared that online shaming is a “moral wrong and social ill (Forestal 2024);
• Demonstrate: to show through argument or evidence. "The association between pregnant women with periodontal disease and adverse pregnancy outcomes has been demonstrated in a number of studies." (Roberts-Thomson 2012);
• Deny: to state disagreement. "For years, Lucian Freud denied that a portrait attributed to him was his. Now, five years after the painter’s death, his judgement has been finally overridden." (Vellodi 2016);
• Emphasize: to give extra force to an argument to show its importance. "Philosopher John Rawls, for one, emphasized that societies can persist only if their citizens accept a moral duty to preserve and uphold the institutions of that society." (Blake 2024);
• Explain: to make something clear and easy to understand. "Research shows that other mechanisms – such as impaired kidney function and toxins in packaging – may also explain why ultra-processed foods cause so many dangerous health problems." (Hoffman 2022);
• Find: to show the results of an experiment, survey or inquiry. "A recent survey found that 62% of university students were listening to music while studying or doing homework." (Vasilev 2019);
• Hold: to state a considered opinion or theory. "The Copernican principle (named after the astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus, who realised Earth goes around the Sun) holds that humans are not special observers of the universe compared to any other beings who may exist elsewhere." (Ellis 2023);
• Highlight: to point out, bring into view. "A recent report has highlighted that about a quarter of assessed species are threatened with extinction." (Evans 2020);
• Hypothesize: to give a possible explanation for something. "We and other researchers have hypothesized that viral activity in the human gut microbiome might be altered when you’re sick." (Kelly 2024);
• Imply: to suggest something without stating it explicitly. "The chart implies that, on average, Korean firms produce six times more output with the same capital and labour as Ghanaian ones."(Teal 2016) ;
• Indicate: to show, point out some particular detail. "But more importantly, the discovery indicates that these fossils may be much more common than we previously thought." (McDonald and McNamara 2020);
• Maintain: to continue to hold a particular opinion or stance. "He maintains that “listening stops with the ear”, that we should “hide the world in the world”, and that a person on the right path is “walking two roads”." (Davis 2023);
• Mention: to state briefly. "The most recent report mentions that French is the fifth most widely spoken language in the world." (Stein-Smith 2022);
• Note: to draw attention to. "This was something that had already been noted in previous research." (Rosell-Aguilar 2018);
• Observe: to make a comment. "Another observed that “Spellcheck and AI software … can … be used by people who want to take an easier way out.”" (Baron 2023);
• Point out: to to draw attention to something in particular. "Several authors, including Australian climate scientist Matthew England, point out that nations made rapid socio-economic changes during wartime and that such an approach could be relevant to rapid climate mitigation." (Diesendorf 2016);
• Predict: to make a statement about a possible future event. "And in 2018, a report predicted that without major reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, all 29 World Heritage coral reefs, including the Great Barrier Reef, will cease to be “functioning ecosystems by the end of the century”." (Day, Heron, and Hughes 2021);
• Propose: to suggest some thing (an idea, solution to a problem, topic for discussion, etc.). "This idea that individuals prioritise where information is located has led some researchers to propose that digital devices and the internet have become a form of transactive memory." (Noreen 2015);
• Reason: to give an explanation supported by reasoned argument. "Also, at the instant when the Moon is at first or third quarter, Aristarchus reasoned that the Sun, Earth, and Moon would form a right-angled triangle." (Dorrian and Whittaker 2020);
• Reflect: to explore ideas about a particular issue, or report a result or consequence. "The most recent update in 2021 reflects some pandemic-related spending changes, such as a lower weight for food (15.75 per cent) and transportation (16.16 per cent), but a higher weight for shelter (29.67 per cent)." (Li 2022);
• Refute: to reject a proposition, hypothesis or theory "The masking hypothesis, however, has been refuted in a recent meta-analysis of nine studies." (Krishna, Chandon, and Cornil 2017) [Note that the verb refute does not take a complement that-clause];
• Remark: to say, state. "Famed primatologist Dr Jane Goodall remarked at the event that human population growth is responsible, and that most environmental problems wouldn’t exist if our numbers were at the levels they were 500 years ago." (Alberro 2020);
• Report: to give an account of an event (an experiment, a process, a survey, etc.). "The research reports the discovery of a female body, buried alongside hunting tools, in the Americas some 9,000 years ago." (Milks 2020);
• Reveal: to give information which was not previously available. "The experiment revealed that the participants recalled significantly more information from the second file if they had saved the previous file." (Noreen 2015);
• Say: To report information. "The report said Australia’s progress on the Reef 2050 Plan “has been insufficient in meeting key targets”." (Day, Heron, and Hughes 2021);
• Show: to provide proof or a visual demonstration. "Experiments in human beings have shown that sleep disruption and turning on lights lowers leptin levels which makes people hungry in the middle of the night." (Stevens 2015);
• State: to formally declare an opinion, fact, reason, cause, etc. "In interviews and in their research paper, the scientists stated that this is “the first systematically documented case of active wound treatment by a wild animal” with a biologically active plant." (Mayor 2024);
• Suggest: mention a possible course of action, solution, hypothesis, etc. "But, again, recent eye-tracking evidence suggests that listening to music also reduces reading efficiency in a similar way to irrelevant speech." (Vasilev 2019);
• Theorise: to explain a particular theory. "Some researchers have theorised that ultra-processed foods increase inflammation because they are recognised by the body as foreign – much like an invading bacteria." (Hoffman 2022) ;
• Write: to provide textual information. "Over 45 years ago, the American evolutionary ecologist and conservationist Dan Janzen wrote: “There is a much more insidious kind of extinction: the extinction of ecological interactions.”" (Evans 2020)

Other ways of signalling a quote or paraphrase

The list above shows common verbs used in signal phrases but there are other ways of signalling that you are quoting information from another source. A favourite among students is "according to". It can be used almost anywhere and its tone is neutral. But, unfortunately, that means you can't signal your anything about the type of information contained in the quote (whether it is a claim, denial, refutation, etc.), and you can't (without adding a dependent clause) hint at your own stance. Also, a student paper peppered with this signal phrase indicates that writer has limited flexibility in the use of these structures.

Furthermore, in real texts it is mainly used to point to information from a report, rather than a named author. It is most often found in phrases such as:

• according to the report, ...
• according to a [new, recent] study, ...
• according to a [study, report] [by, in], ...
• according to an article in, ...
• according to a recent survey, ...
• according to a [study, report] published in, ...
• according to data from, ...

Here are a few examples from real texts

• "According to this account, individuals can collectively store and distribute information using a shared store of knowledge." ("this account" refers to a link in the previous paragraph) (Noreen 2015)
• "In Australia, it’s also now five days shorter than the 1950–1969 period, according to Australia Institute research." (clicking the 'research' link takes you to the original article. This is a common way of crediting sources in journalistic texts.) (Noreen 2015)
• "According to its discoverers, Danuvius guggenmosi combines some human-like features with others that look like those of living chimpanzees." (This is a paraphrase and we can only find the discoverers by following a previous link in the text) (Winder and Shaw 2019)
• "But according to culinary scientists, they contain flavor compounds that taste even better when eaten together." (We don't know who these culinary scientists are without clicking the link to the article. This is a common way of crediting sources in journalistic texts.) (Miller 2019)

You can see how signal phrases are used in real texts, do a practice exercise, and test your understanding of the terminology of citing.

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