The purposes of academic citation are
to show that you know what's been done in your field 
regarding the research question you're asking,
that you know whose shoulders you're standing on,
that you know who the relevant players are in your field,
that you know how to find and give credit to those players
and
that you know how to properly organize those sources cited 
to support your argument.

An often unmentioned purpose is your courtesy to the 
reader, that you are providing sources for the reader to 
use to follow up on what you've said that the reader might 
find interesting (just as you probably tracked down 
sources cited in articles/books you read).

The purpose of citation isn't...
I agree with Eszter...it isn't to just show off or 
intimidate by overwhelming the reader with sheer quantity 
of sources that aren't pertinent to your thesis/argument.

Rebel Palm, PhD, Director
Graduate Student Writing Studio
College of Education
Univ of New Mexico


On Sat, 13 Feb 2010 12:41:13 -0000
  "Fairbairn, Gavin" <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> Dear colleagues,
> I am currently completing work on the third edition of 
>my book with Chris Winch, Reading, Writing and Reasoning: 
>a guide for students, and working on the section about 
>academic citation. Thinking about how one can best state, 
>as simply as possible, the purpose of academic citation, 
>I have been asking colleagues from a range of academic 
>disciplines, for their views, which are surprisingly 
>diverse. Then it occurred to me that it would be 
>interesting to gather some views from EATAW members, to 
>see whether their views are also varied. I would 
>therefore, be grateful if you would tell me what you 
>think.
> 
> 
> 
> If you are willing to help me in this way, please 
>complete the following two statements:
> 
> 
> 
> ·        The purpose of academic citation is...
> 
> 
> 
> ·        The purpose of academic citation isn't...
> 
> 
> 
> Having done so, please send them back to me at 
>[log in to unmask], rather than circulating your 
>view to everyone on the list. It would be interesting, at 
>the same time, if you also shared your disciplinary 
>background, because it would be helpful in reflecting on 
>whether this makes a difference to views of the place of 
>citation in academic writing. 
> 
> 
> 
>      My expectation is that most people will complete 
>these statements in the space of one sentence, but if you 
>want to write more, please feel free to do so.
> 
> 
> 
>      After a couple of weeks I shall collate the 
>responses I receive (if I receive any) and mail them 
>round to everyone who has been willing to help me in this 
>way, and has managed to find a few minutes to do so. Of 
>course, I shan't be identifying who said what, either in 
>the collated list, or if I decide to use what you say, in 
>anything else I write.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
>      With grateful thanks, in anticipation.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
>      Best wishes,
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
>                        Gavin J. Fairbairn
> 
> 
> Gavin J. Fairbairn 
> Professor of Ethics and Language 
> Leeds Metropolitan University 
> The Grange 
> Headingley Campus 
> Beckett Park 
> Leeds Met University 
> LS6 3QS 
> 
> ________________________________
> 
>From: European Association for the Teaching of Academic 
>Writing - discussions on behalf of Zulfiqar Ahmed Qureshi
> Sent: Tue 09/02/2010 00:11
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: Writing conferences as a method of feedback 
>on academic writing
> 
> 
> Thx for this Fiona - great to here from Australia - I 
>didn't realise that EATAW reached that far!
> 
> May I ask - what's the no. 1/2 journal out there for 
>EFL/EAP research by the way?
> 
> Z
> 
> 
> 
> Mr Zulfi Qureshi
> Senior Lecturer in English Language
> Course Leader for International Foundation Programme
> Tel: +44 (0) 1772 89 3677
> E-mail: [log in to unmask]
> 
> 
>>>> Fiona Henderson 07/02/10 2:59 AM >>>
> 
> Dear Zulfi,
> 
> I'll start this to see if it creates an Australian 
>conversation for you.  
> 
> I would say many of us here use spoken feedback as well 
>as written commentary in one to one writing conferences. 
> For me, it would mostly be doing one or more of three 
>things.  Often I will commence a f2f by asking the 
>student to outline his/her overall document plan, often I 
>will ask a student to explain orally a particular 
>paragraph and the point that is being made (as I cannot 
>understand the written version) and often as part of the 
>paraphrasing process, I will ask them to orally give me 
>the writer's idea.  
> 
> Of course there is also spoken interaction as part of 
>the process of clarifying any written commentary.
> 
> Regards,
> 
>Fiona
> 
>Fiona Henderson
> Lecturer
> Language and Learning Portfolio
> Victoria University
> Australia
> ph 61 3 9919 4972
> http://vuoffshoresotlresearch.wikispaces.com/ 
> http://tls.vu.edu.au/altc/studentresources.cfm 
> 
> 
> ________________________________
> 
>From: European Association for the Teaching of Academic 
>Writing - discussions [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On 
>Behalf Of Zulfiqar Ahmed Qureshi
> Sent: Sunday, 7 February 2010 12:44 PM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Writing conferences as a method of feedback on 
>academic writing
> 
> 
> Dear colleagues,
> 
> I am currently investigating the use of spoken feedback 
>with international students in one to one writing 
>conferences on their academic essay drafts (on a 
>foundation/pre-UG course) and wish to ask the following 
>of you all:
> 
> 1) How many of you use such conferences with your EFL 
>sts to discuss essay writing drafts? Is it a common 
>feature of feedback methods employed by UK/European 
>universities on such courses (in addition to the default 
>'written commentary')?
> 
> 2) Does anyone know of any studies conducted at 
>UK/European universities on this area as most are US 
>based.
> 
> Many thanks for any help/responses you may be able to 
>offer.
> 
> Zulfi
> 
> Mr Zulfi Qureshi
> Senior Lecturer in English Language
> Course Leader for International Foundation Programme
> Tel: +44 (0) 1772 89 3677
> E-mail: [log in to unmask]
> 
> 
> 
> 
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Bring to the act of writing all of your craft, care, 
devotion, lack of humbug, and honesty of sentiment. And 
then write without looking over your shoulder for the 
literary police. Write as if your life depended on saying 
what you felt as clearly as you could, while never losing 
sight of the phenomenon to be described.
Norman Mailer, The Spooky Art