AP Seminar Performace Task 2: Citations, Writing Style and Peer Review

Summary

This instructional video focuses on the essentials of academic writing, emphasizing the importance of consistent and accurate citations to establish credibility. It reviews different citation styles, such as APA and MLA, and stresses the need for citing while writing to avoid inconsistencies. The video also addresses grammar and style, advising on maintaining an academic tone without being overly wordy. Peer review is highlighted as a crucial strategy for refining the paper, with tips on providing actionable feedback. The speaker encourages viewers to reflect on their writing, ensuring clarity of communication and adherence to the rubric.

Takeaways

• 📚 Good writers attribute sources consistently throughout their academic work to establish credibility.
• 🤔 Reflect on your essay to ensure it communicates your ideas and those of others effectively.
• 🔍 For detailed help with citations, quoting, paraphrasing, and academic voice, refer to AP Daily videos on AP Classroom.
• 📝 Cite as you go to avoid producing sloppy scholarship and maintain consistency in citations.
• 📊 Understand the scoring criteria for citations, which range from no bibliography or in-text citations (0 points) to very few flaws and consistent citations (5 points).
• 📈 Consistency in citation style is key; do not change your reference style midway through your academic year.
• 🔑 In-text citations should clearly indicate the source and allow readers to find the full citation in the bibliography.
• 📖 Cite when directly quoting, summarizing, or paraphrasing to give credit to the original source of ideas.
• ✍️ Refrain from neglecting grammar and style; it can affect the credibility of your work.
• 🎯 High-scoring papers not only have few grammar and style errors but also exhibit an elevated writing style that enhances the message.
• 👀 Peer review is a valuable strategy for getting feedback and improving your paper; avoid generic praise and seek actionable commentary.

Q & A

What is the main focus of the video?

The main focus of the video is on citations, transitions, and modeling peer review in academic writing.

Why is it important for writers to attribute sources consistently?

It is important for writers to attribute sources consistently to establish their credibility as a writer and to ensure that they are using trustworthy sources.

What does the video suggest about reflecting on one's writing?

The video suggests that reflecting on one's writing is important to ensure that the essay clearly communicates the writer's ideas as well as the ideas of others.

What is the purpose of peer review in the context of this video?

The purpose of peer review in this context is to use it as a strategy to ensure that the message of the essay is being communicated effectively.

What does the video recommend for citing sources in academic writing?

The video recommends citing sources as you go while writing, rather than adding them afterwards, to avoid producing sloppy scholarship and inconsistencies.

What are the different scoring criteria for citations mentioned in the video?

The different scoring criteria for citations mentioned in the video are a score of zero points for missing a bibliography or in-text citations, three points for some uniformity but occasional unclear references or errors, and five points for very few flaws and consistent citations.

Why should one not change their citation style midway through the school year?

One should not change their citation style midway through the school year because consistency is key; it is important to maintain the same style throughout the year.

What are the two popular citation styles shown in the video?

The two popular citation styles shown in the video are APA and MLA.

What is the importance of grammar and style in academic writing according to the video?

According to the video, grammar and style are important in academic writing as they contribute to the credibility of the writer and the effectiveness of the communication.

What does the video suggest about the use of elevated language in academic writing?

The video suggests that while an academic tone is encouraged, it is possible to overdo it by being too wordy or using words that don't fit the tone of the argument, which can complicate communication.

What are some common pitfalls to avoid in peer review according to the video?

Some common pitfalls to avoid in peer review according to the video are complimenting without specificity and responding defensively to criticism.

What type of feedback is considered effective in peer review as per the video?

Effective peer review provides actionable commentary that offers suggestions leading to an improved paper.

What should one focus on when reviewing a paper for peer review?

When reviewing a paper for peer review, one should focus on following the rubric, making sure the paper aligns with the task requirements, and checking for consistent citations, among other things.

What are some final steps suggested in the video for revising an academic paper?

The final steps suggested in the video for revising an academic paper include checking for consistent citations, sharing the paper with a classmate for peer review, and revising and improving the paper based on the feedback received.

Outlines

00:00

📚 Importance of Citations and Peer Review

The video emphasizes the significance of proper citations in academic writing, stressing that good writers consistently attribute sources to establish credibility. It encourages viewers to reflect on their own work and ensure that it communicates both their ideas and those of others effectively. The speaker suggests using peer review as a strategy for this purpose. The video also serves as a review for those preparing their final submissions, advising viewers to watch other videos on AP Classroom for detailed guidance on citations, quoting, paraphrasing, and academic voice. It is noted that citations should be done as one goes, not as an afterthought, to avoid errors and inconsistencies.

05:03

🔍 Understanding Citation Styles and Grammar

This paragraph delves into the specifics of citation styles, using APA and MLA as examples, and highlights the importance of consistency in citation practices. It explains the differences between these styles, such as APA's emphasis on the year of publication, and clarifies that both aim to guide the reader to the full citation. The speaker advises on when to cite, including direct quotes, summaries, and paraphrases, and touches on alternative citation methods like attributing phrases and using 'et al.' for multiple authors. Additionally, the importance of grammar and style is underscored, with a reminder to avoid common mistakes that could undermine the writer's credibility. Resources for further learning on paragraph structure and punctuation are mentioned.

10:04

⚖️ Balancing Academic Tone and Peer Review

The speaker discusses the fine line between maintaining an academic tone and being overly wordy or jargony, which can complicate communication. They caution against overusing complex language, which might detract from clarity. Peer review is presented as a valuable tool for receiving feedback and improving the paper. The paragraph outlines the pitfalls to avoid in peer review, such as non-specific compliments or defensive reactions, and instead promotes actionable commentary. An example of ineffective peer review is contrasted with a more effective approach that asks questions and provides specific, actionable feedback tied to the rubric and task requirements.

15:04

✍️ Final Revision and Submission Tips

The final paragraph offers advice for the final stages of paper revision. It suggests checking for consistent citations, following citation conventions, and seeking peer review, especially for the connection to and use of stimulus sources. The speaker encourages viewers to revise and improve their papers before submission and hints at future videos that will cover final touches in more detail. The focus is on ensuring that the paper meets the rubric requirements and is ready for the upcoming submission deadline.

Keywords

💡Citations

Citations are references to the sources from which information is drawn in academic writing. They are essential for avoiding plagiarism and for establishing the credibility of the writer by demonstrating the use of trustworthy sources. In the video, the speaker emphasizes the importance of consistent and accurate citations throughout the academic work, using examples of different citation styles such as APA and MLA.

💡Peer Review

Peer review is a process where writers exchange their work with others to receive feedback and critique. It serves as a strategy to ensure that the message of the essay is effectively communicated. The video discusses how peer review can provide a second set of eyes to identify issues that the writer might have overlooked and how it can lead to actionable improvements in the paper.

💡Academic Voice

Academic voice refers to the style and tone used in scholarly writing, which is formal, objective, and impersonal. The video script mentions the need for understanding how to write in an academic voice, suggesting that it is a key component of effective communication in academic work.

💡Consistency

Consistency in academic writing refers to the uniform application of citation styles, grammar, and style throughout a document. The video script highlights the importance of consistent citations and the use of a consistent academic voice to maintain the integrity and professionalism of the work.

💡In-Text Citations

In-text citations are brief references within the body of the text that indicate the source of a quote, paraphrase, or summary. The video emphasizes the necessity of including in-text citations as you write, rather than adding them as an afterthought, to avoid errors and maintain scholarly integrity.

💡Bibliography

A bibliography is a list of all the sources cited in an academic paper. The script mentions the importance of including a bibliography to provide a complete reference for all the cited works, which is essential for earning higher scores in academic assessments.

💡Rubric

A rubric is a set of criteria used to evaluate the quality of students' work, often including different levels of scoring. The video script discusses the rubric in relation to grammar, style, and citations, and how it guides the peer review process and the final assessment of the paper.

💡Summarize and Paraphrase

Summarizing and paraphrasing are two techniques used to incorporate the ideas of others into academic writing. Summarizing involves condensing the original text, while paraphrasing involves rewording the original text in one's own words. The video script indicates that both techniques require in-text citations to give credit to the original source.

💡Attribution Phrases

Attribution phrases are used to introduce a quote or paraphrase and attribute it to its source. The video script provides examples of attribution phrases from APA style, such as 'According to Smith,' followed by the year, which serves as an in-text citation.

💡Generic Praise

Generic praise refers to non-specific compliments that do not provide actionable feedback. The video script contrasts generic praise with effective peer review, where specific and actionable feedback is given to help improve the paper, rather than just making the writer feel good.

💡Elevated Writing Style

An elevated writing style refers to the use of sophisticated language and precise word choice to enhance the message of the writing. The video script mentions that while an academic tone is encouraged, writers must avoid being overly wordy or using jargon that complicates communication.

Highlights

Good writers ensure they attribute and cite sources consistently throughout their academic work.

Credibility as a writer is established through the use of trustworthy sources.

Reflect on the idea that your essay should communicate both your ideas and those of others.

Peer review can be used as a strategy to ensure effective communication of your message.

Citations are a tedious but incredibly important aspect of writing.

Cite as you go to avoid producing sloppy scholarship and poor citations.

Scoring criteria for citations include consistency and accuracy.

A score of zero points indicates a missing bibliography or largely missing in-text citations.

Consistency in citation style is crucial for higher scoring.

Different citation styles like APA and MLA emphasize different components.

In-text citations should clearly indicate the source and allow easy reference to the bibliography.

Cite any time you directly quote, summarize, or paraphrase a source.

Attributing phrases can be used as in-text citations without parentheses.

Grammar and style are important for maintaining credibility in academic writing.

High-scoring papers have few errors in grammar and style and an elevated writing style.

Avoid being overly wordy or using jargon that doesn't fit the tone of your argument.

Peer review provides a second set of eyes to identify and improve smaller issues in your paper.

Effective peer review offers actionable commentary leading to an improved paper.

When doing peer review, focus on providing specific feedback rather than generic praise.

Examples of ineffective peer review include generic praise without specific feedback.

Examples of effective peer review include asking questions and providing specific suggestions for improvement.

During the final revision process, check for consistent citations and seek peer review for feedback.

Revise and improve your paper based on feedback and the rubric requirements.

Transcripts

hey and welcome to another pt2 video

in this video we'll be taking a look at

citations transitions

and modeling peer review so

what i want you to know today is that

good writers

ensure that they attribute incite

sources consistently throughout their

academic work

and that your credibility as a writer is

established through your use

of trustworthy sources in the big

picture

i want to have you to start reflecting

on that iwa

to make sure that your essay is clearly

communicating your ideas

in addition to the ideas of others

and that peer review can be used as a

strategy to ensure that that message is

being communicated effectively

so this is going to be more of a general

overview

it's meant to sort of serve as a review

that's happening closer to that final

submission if you need help with

citations or if you need help

generally with understanding how to

quote

or when to paraphrase or writing in an

academic voice

please check out some of the videos on

ap daily

on ap classroom where they are covered

in great detail

okay so these are just some of the

samples that you can watch there

i'm going to pause here to make sure

that you have finished that first draft

of your paper

if you haven't if you haven't done so

yet this video isn't really going to

serve you much purpose

so come back and watch once you're done

with that first draft

i'm going to be assuming that you're

ready to go here

so much of work what we're covering

today deals with

um what is generally a pretty

tedious but incredibly important aspect

in writing

citations it's applying those

conventions

if you're anything like my students you

might tend to write your paragraphs

first

and then try to go back and cite them

after the fact

and as much as i try to get my students

to sort of cite as they go

many of them are deciding to put it off

until

the last moment and so that can end up

producing some sloppy scholarship some

poor citations

some inconsistency in what they're

citing and when they're citing

so please i want to make sure that

you're understanding that you should be

citing as you go

so before i move on there i want to talk

about this scoring criteria

okay and talking about like how are you

going to be

assessed in terms of your citations

so in this case we have a three

columns three different scoring

criterias right so if we think about

this as sort of like

low medium and high and what i want to

focus on

is the difference between the three

and the five here because very quickly

with the zero points

a score of zero points is going to be a

response that is

either completely missing a bibliography

or a response that is largely missing

in-text citations or footnotes so

i'm going to assume that you're going to

remember and this does require that you

remember to include

those works cited or those references on

the back end

but the differences between the three

and the five

deals with the degree to which you are

doing

you are citing things consistently

and accurately so for three points

in that middle column there is pretty

generally going to be some uniformity in

the citation style that you use

but you might occasionally have unclear

references or errors in your citations

or it just may be inconsistent in the

way that you are citing or when you're

citing

and for five points your response

is going to contain very few flaws

in your citations and it's going to be

consistent

in providing evidence and linking of

those internal citations

to the bibliographic references and i'll

show you a couple of

examples of that as we go along now of

course

i want to talk about

how you should be citing at this point

in the school year

you have probably gotten used to working

within a

particular style so you can totally

continue using whatever citation or

whatever reference style

you've been using throughout the year

now is not the time to

to change it up the major thing that

we're looking for is consistency

so whatever style you decide to employ

in your writing

make sure that you're being consistent

in the way that you're using it

so different styles are going to

emphasize different components

and in this so on your screen right here

you have two different examples

you have apa mla which are two of the

more

um popular options for citing in ap

seminar

you're going to see that apa and mla

while they have some similarities there

are going to be some differences in what

they're emphasizing

so on the left hand side for example for

the apa

you're going to see that they are

consistently referencing the

year of publication the year that the

source was

written within their in-text citations

which is not something that mla is

emphasizing right

one way is not necessarily better than

the other and in reality they are really

serving two different purposes they're

emphasizing two different things but at

the end of the day

both of these citation styles are

achieving the same goal

they are indicating to the reader where

your source came from

and it is allowing the reader to go to

the back to the end of the paper

to see what is the complete citation

so if you ask yourself how should i be

citing

we want your in-text citations to make a

clear

to make it clear to us to the reader

what source was used in the bibliography

okay so i should be able to see and find

easily

the bibliograph bibliographic entry

by looking at the in-text citation

source

so let's focus on when you should be

citing

because this is something that can be

pretty tricky

in terms of when you should be citing

you should be citing

any time that you're directly quoting a

source so if you ever quote

just know that it should be there should

be an

in-text citation pretty close by either

at the beginning or at the end of that

sentence you should be citing

when you summarize when you paraphrase

and again just to sort of reiterate

summarizing is shortening a version of

what another source says

versus paraphrasing which is putting

someone else's ideas into your own words

both of those strategies will require an

in-text citation

and you don't always have to do it with

parentheses you should consider using uh

attributing phrases which there are some

examples here

in apa so for example if you incorporate

the name of the author

as seen in the in the first in the three

examples here the name of the author in

the source

according to smith and then you would

have the year immediately following

right that counts as an in-text citation

even if they're not

if the name itself is not bracketed

within

parentheses and you should also consider

depending on the rules of your style

using at

all when you have more than two authors

here

so instead of listing all of the

individual

authors of a source smith johnson james

and garcia

you can use at all in order to save some

words

right so if we do that enough throughout

the course of the paper

we might earn back 10 words right and

those 10 words could be more effectively

used

somewhere else in the paper instead of

being eaten up

within the citations

now that we've reviewed transitions a

bit

let's move on to reviewing grammar and

style

so it's important to refrain from

neglecting this aspect of your paper

by this point in your in the writing

process you've probably looked at your

paper

a couple dozen times and you feel like

you've memorized what's on it already

but this is re this is often times where

the little mistakes can begin to occur

so don't neglect this remember that that

credibility that you've been working so

hard to establish

can be made or lost based on the way

that you're presenting the information

and there are a couple of different um

ap daily videos

on specifically

on how to do this so i would take a look

at those

applying convention videos on paragraph

structure and semicolon and comma usage

apc videos five and six if you need a

little bit more help with that

now in the rubric here we have again

sort of a low medium highs how you can

take a look at this

now i want you to notice again the

differences between the middle column

and the high scoring column

now while both of the scoring columns

may have few errors in grammar and style

the high score column adds an additional

sort of element here

in terms of elevated writing style that

enhances the message so it's making it

better through the you through word

choice through that precision in writing

now take a second look at that

highlighted phrase

while students are encouraged to use a

style that's consistent

with an academic audience it's also

possible

to overdo it right it's also possible to

be too wordy

or to use words that don't fit the

general tone

of the argument that you're making so

being

too wordy can also lead to

a paper that is scoring in the middle

so there are a lot of students who might

think that using like a ton of big words

lots of elevated language improve

improves that clarity

but in reality it might over complicate

your communication

so you have to find that fine balance in

between using an academic

uh academic tone academic language

and being overly jargony okay

so that's a delicate balance that you

need to be on the lookout for

and one of the strategies that you can

implement to sort of

identify whether you're doing too much

is to

work on that peer review so i mentioned

earlier how it may be easy to overlook

some of those smaller issues that might

be present

this is where peer review for getting a

little bit of feedback

can be used to provide your paper with

the second set of eyes if you've done

peer review

you know that there are a couple of

different types of feedback that you can

get

effective peer review is going to

provide you with actionable commentary

that will provide suggestions that lead

you to an improved paper

you should avoid the common pitfalls of

peer review complimenting without

specificity

or defensive response to criticism so

you have to

be able to reflect on that feedback that

you get from whoever is taking the time

to

look at your paper let's take a look at

an example of that

so here are a couple of things that you

should be on the lookout when doing peer

review

now you'll notice that there are seven

bullet points that are largely

uh mirroring the components of the

actual rubric

so at a minimum these are the things

that you should be on the lookout for

these are the things that you should be

having a conversation about

with the person who is reviewing your

paper now i asked mrs malloy

to take a look at my paper and i wanted

to talk to you guys about

an example of how peer review can sort

of

be ineffective so mrs malloy here

gave me some generic praise okay generic

praise where she was telling me that

everything looked good

i had good evidence good job with the

claim

mrs malloy is making me feel good about

myself

but none of this feedback is really

giving me

any type of information about what i can

do to make my paper better

so you'll notice that she said looks

good but she didn't exactly tell me

what looks good she didn't tell me why

the evidence was good

she didn't tell me what i was doing with

the claim that made it

good so these types of comments don't

really provide the writer with any type

of feedback that's going to allow us to

improve the paper

so as part of that she gave me a little

bit of better

feedback so feedback in this case

is going to allow me to work on some

improvements

so you'll notice in this example of more

effective peer review

that she started asking me some

questions so she asked me where my

connection is to the

stimulus and you'll notice that she's

tying it back to the rubric you'll

notice that she's saying that the rubric

and task direction

says explicit connections shouldn't be

inferred

so now i can work with that now as as

the writer i can revise

my paper to try to make it more explicit

and you also notice that she's telling

me what i'm doing with my context

that makes it good right so it's using

outside evidence to provide context

and then you'll notice at the end that

she's asking me a couple more questions

looks like you're arguing for a solution

the use of virtual cadavers in

educating medical student is that

accurate

and if that's not accurate if that's not

my actual intention

that can be a point of conversation as

well so consider as part of that peer

review process

instead of offering generic praise

making sure that you are offering some

actionable feedback

and here are some things that you can

take a look at when doing peer review

and i'm not going to go i'm not going to

go over all of these so feel free to

pause your video and read over these

just going to talk very generally in

thinking about

from all of these videos that we've been

writing about that we've been

making are you following

the rubric stay tied to the rubric

making sure that you are understanding

the requirements of the task

and making sure that your paper is

aligning to that task

remember you're assessed on that rubric

and that's what we want to take a look

at when we're doing peer review

so here's some suggestions on context

and introduction

some suggestions on the body paragraphs

and then some suggestions on that

conclusion and final

those final touches as well we'll be

taking a look at some of that

those final touches in future videos but

at this point

i want to work on these next steps

so as part of the final revision process

you're going to want to take a look at

your paper for consistent citations

making sure that you're following the

conventions

and taking the steps to share with your

paper for a classmate for that peer

review

if nothing else if you don't have that

much time

focus on focus your review on that

connection to

and the use of the stimulus sources

and after you've gotten done with that

revise and improve your paper

because you're going to be working on

submitting that paper soon

thanks for watching