In-text citations have three important functions:
- (metaphorically) building the credibility of the writer,
- (metaphorically) giving credit to the individual(s) whose information the writer is borrowing, and
- (metaphorically) providing investigative information the target audience can use:
- to judge the credibility of information (presented by the writer) by judging the source (of that information), and
- to do further research (on the topic of a particular instance of writing).
Since the writer chooses which information (recorded by others) to include in a particular text,
As a result, writers are well-advised to use information from people and publications (audience forums) the target audience (of a particular instance of writing) will deem credible.
Providing an in-text citation is an act of disclosure (performed by the writer).
The disclosure of which information the writer has borrowed serves (metaphorically) to:
- make the writer seem a fair person (by giving credit to whom it is due), and to
- deflect most of the blame away from the writer (if the information originally recorded by others is discredited at some point in time).
An in-text citation (metaphorically) provides investigative information to the target audience.
This investigative information (along with the information in the end-of-text list of citation sources), enables (metaphorically) the target audience (of a particular instance of writing) to make informed judgments regarding:
- the credibility of the information (chosen by the writer), and
- whether or not the information (chosen by the writer) is presented fairly (i.e., not presented out of context).
Through enabling the target audience to double-check the writer's decisions, writers build trust with their target audiences.
The appropriate format of in-text citations (for a particular instance of writing) is usually governed by the discourse conventions of:
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