According to Margaret Charles' 2006 analysis of reporting clauses in academic discourse, most phrases of this type include a human or inanimate subject, followed by a verb, usually from one of four semantic families: "argue," "show," "think" or "find." The reporting clause itself is introduced by "that," as in "Salazar argues that ..." or "Vucic (2002) demonstrated that ..." Verb tenses can be either present, as in most humanities writing following the Modern Language Association, or MLA, style guide, or in the past, as used in the sciences, which generally follow the guidelines of the American Psychological Association, or APA.
As Charles points out, verbs that introduce reporting clauses typically fall into one of four groups. The "argue" family includes verbs such as "claims," "suggests" and "proposes." Verbs of the "show" group include "demonstrate," "reveal" and synonyms, and the "think" family contains verbs such as "believes," "assumes" and "reflects." Finally, the "find" group includes verbs like "learn" and "conclude." Verb choice depends partially on whether the subject is human or inanimate, as in "A 1998 study demonstrated ..."
Verbs in citation forms may be in either present or past tense. MLA style guidelines for the humanities require that verbs be in the present: "Mason claims that ...." However, according to APA guidelines, the past tense is preferred. Verbs in the complement clause following "that" may be in either present or past tense, depending on the time frame in the reference.
Understanding the patterns in citation reporting clauses has implications for student writers across the disciplines. Analyzing the structure of these patterns and mastering them improves student awareness of formal English and leads to greater success in their chosen disciplines. For students of English as a foreign language, or those studying English for special purposes such as business or academics, working with the patterns of reporting clauses also improves mastery of more sophisticated structures in English.