writing in the disciplines

integrating source material

Almost all types of biological writing employ support from outside sources. Biologists support their claims either with their own evidence or with evidence from other scientific articles. Common places where biologists cite the literature include scientific reviews and essays, the introduction and discussion sections of research or lab reports, and grant proposals, where they might cite literature to lay the background for the study they are proposing. Source material can be integrated either parenthetically (which is more common in research reports) or directly into the text, with an explicit reference to the author(s) and their claims (a practice that is more common in essays and reviews).

example of integrating source material parenthetically