Hi Bilal, I thought I might have a go at this. It would be normal to look at a paragraph as a single entity. In other words you make a point in a paragraph finish the point and move onto a new one in the next paragraph. Need to think of the reader here. They get to the end of the paragraph and wonder which article you are referring to and only find out when they get to the end of the next one or even the one after that. It's safer to refer to the article once in each paragraph. In any case this should flow normally if each paragraph is a self contained unit. Hope this helps. Matt.

Personally - no this is not ok. If you try and publish it, the journal will also think this is not ok.

Firstly, if you take "paragraphs" from another paper, even if you cited it once at the end, it is plagiarism. No doubt about it. Your thesis should be your work, and if your reviews know the field, they will likely pick up on the fact that it isn't.

Secondly, best practice is to only use review papers to quickly and broadly understand the field, and help you to find the primary research articles that they cite. THEN, you should go read the original primary articles and cite those. It is not uncommon for ideas to change slightly (sometimes grossly) when they have been cited, and so you will only be able to find the actual correct context of the research from the original published work.

Just my two cents, but I would not risk it.

Steve

You'd better write your introduction after you have written the chapters of your thesis. This is just one way to go, but for me this is the best option since you will have re-read a lot of material and written the main part of your work, therefore feeling more confident about introducing your work (the main theories, ideas, context, importance, etc.). Even if you have started with the introduction, once you've written the whole thesis you will see that you will have new ideas for the introduction.

Otherwise, it is not very common to include quotations in introductions and conclusions although some styles may permit it (I am not sure). Personally, I would quote someone if their words match the purpose of the introduction (i.e. something topical yet abstract, generic or really original rather than a particular narrow idea which should appear later in the thesis). I agree that you should refer to the source each time you include a quotation or when you paraphrase. However, sometimes it is difficult to know whether you should refer to particular sources (one, many or none) since many scientists and/or writers will independently share the same (general or specific) thoughts or come to similar or same conclusions the readers might have even before having read their works.

Here are some useful sites which may help you with (academic) writing guidelines: the Purdue Online Writing Lab: https://owl.english.purdue.edu/; writers resources by the Online Directory Project: http://www.dmoz.org/Arts/Writers_Resources/; Writing Spaces: http://writingspaces.org/; Writing Commons: http://writingcommons.org/; Author Aid resource library: http://www.authoraid.info/resource-library; MERLOT Repository (search learning materials by typing "writing"): http://www.merlot.org/merlot/index.htm; Lib Guides community - various library guides (perform a search query): http://libguides.com/community.php; see previous RG discussions on academic writing: https://www.researchgate.net/topic/academic_writing/

Thanks Mr. Matt

Thanks Doyle, Petrova

Hi Bilal, Sorry, I miss read the question. although my point is good for general writing, I think you are saying that you have taken 2-3 paragraphs as they were written by another author. If that is the case, this is not a good idea even when referenced correctly. Hristina, makes some very good points here.

My suggestions, you need to focus on the point of view from that paragraphs, then cite only the keywords

You have to make your own conclusions based on original papers, it is not ok to take somebody's conclusions (even if you rewrite them somewhat; e.g. delete something) and cite in the end: in this way you mislead the readers by making them believe that most of these conclusions are yours and, in a way, you steal (plagiarize) the work of the person whom you cite in the end. If you get caught on this, you can lose a chance to ever defend your thesis. In some cases, it is allowed to cite indirectly (if the original source is unavailable or if it was published in the language you do not understand): e.g. According to A (2010), B (1995) stated that... Then it is clear that it is A's conclusion about B's work, not your conclusion.

Thanks Tiia

I would go with not citing work in the introduction. I don't think you actually intend to plagiarise (it was just the way you expressed your problem). With a lengthy work such as a thesis, I would write the introduction very loosely to begin with & see how the main body of writing takes shape. That way, the introduction can keep you from wandering off your intended path as you build the work. Once every thing is written, then go back to your intro & make sure it represents the final work (& adjust accordingly).

Perhaps say something like: 'Issues of ... have been raised, regarding X. Literature reveals that although the topic of X has been thoroughly researched, aspects of Y are still relatively unexplored. In the context of [your field], this implies that ...... This work therefore looks to ....'

In your literature review/ background section(s) (which are different from the introduction), I would adopt the standard academic practices of citation, which you are probably familiar with. In terms of construction within a paragraph: you can say that 'the area of X has been reviewed by Smith et al. (2010). They raise issues of .... They say .... etc., without citing every clause. If it is clear that each point refers to their findings in the cited work, then this makes for less onerous reading. If there may be any doubt that you are still referring to their work, you should re-cite. Once you start a new paragraph (which may cover a different aspect), you should always re-cite.

I think that this covers what you meant in your initial question ;-)