Cite only what the source proves
Match a citation to the exact proposition it supports.
The move: test the sentence against the source. A citation has three jobs: identify authority, show the relationship to the proposition, and let the reader verify the point. If those jobs are blurry, the writing sounds confident while the support is weak. Proposition Underline the claim the citation is supposed to prove. If the sentence has three claims, one citation may not support all three. Authority weight Ask whether the source is binding, persuasive, secondary, or only background. Weight affects wording. Signal and parenthetical Use a signal or explanatory parenthetical when the source is not direct. The parenthetical is a…
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