Which reporting verbs and phrases are most useful?

What do you notice about these three very similar sentences? Hopefully you can quickly see that the choice of reporting verb – whether ‘report’, ‘question’ or ‘argue’ is used – has an effect on how the source voice presents the information, and therefore how the reader understands and interprets that information.

For example, in (a), we can see that the verb ‘report’ is quite neutral. Neutral verbs such as ‘report’ avoid including any opinion from the source author and are instead used to present facts or explain methodology and research findings. However, in example (b) the reporting verb ‘question’ clearly indicates a weak authorial opinion. Here, the writer is indicating that the source author, Jones (2014), is uncertain about whether or not air pollution is harmful. Weak reporting verbs such as ‘question’ are therefore used to demonstrate cautious opinion. Finally, the reporting verb ‘argue’ used in (c) clearly shows Lee’s (2017) strong opinion about this subject. Such reporting verbs as ‘argue’ are used in this way to indicate that the source author has a good degree of confidence about this topic.

Because of the variation in whether reporting verbs differ in their neutrality or argumentative strength, such verbs should always be considered and used carefully by the writer. We’ve therefore provided a comprehensive list of reporting verbs within these three categories to assist you in deciding which to use.