在撰寫論文時，時常需要引述其他人的研究結果，尤其在「文獻回顧」部分更是常見，你還是只會用 “According to …” 或 “say” 嗎？
英文其實有許多引述動詞(reporting verbs)，可以用來發表、引用他人的說法及研究等等，不過這些動詞的用法皆有一些些微的差異，現在就來馬上瞭解一些常見的引述動詞吧！
✍語氣較弱的引述動詞
- suggest: to mention an idea, possible plan
建議、意味著
- believe: to think that something is true, correct or real
相信、認為
- think: to believe something or have an opinion or idea
認為
- hypothesize: to give a possible but not yet proved explanation for something
假設
- infer: to form an opinion or guess that something is true
推斷
這些動詞表達，帶有一些些不確定性及主觀想法，用於證據較少、缺乏實證力道的表示。在學術論文中，我們大多引述已被發表過的、證據確鑿的文章，因此這些動詞較少使用。
Ex.
✍語氣較客觀中立
- describe: to say or write what someone or something is like
描述；形容
- report: to give a description or information of something
報告；記述
- note: to give your attention to something by discussing it or making a written record of it
提到；提出
- indicate: to show, point, or make clear in another way
表明；顯示；暗示
- state: to say or write something, especially clearly and carefully
陳述；說明；聲明
- mention: to refer to something or someone
談及；提到
以上這些動詞語氣較客觀，多半是單純陳述、引述等等，不加入強烈情緒及主觀意識。
舉例：
Lancaster (2013) mentioned that he had found a new treatment for AIDS.
To demonstrate the idea that opinion is the only thing that a person can actually “prove,” Virginia Woolf (1929) fictionalizes her lecture, claiming, “Fiction is likely to contain more truth than fact.” Reality is not objective: rather, it is contingent upon the circumstances of one’s world.
✍語氣較強烈
- assert: to say that something is certainly true
斷言；肯定地說
- argue: to show that something is true or exists
- emphasize: to show that something is very important or worth giving attention to
強調；重視
- maintain: to express firmly your belief that something is true
堅稱；斷言
- proclaim: to announce something publicly or officially
宣布；聲明
Ex.
Tsai and Chesney (2014) proclaimed that the secret to a happy marriage lies in…
