ICE: Introduce, Cite, and Explain Your Evidence

Body paragraphs in academic essays contain evidence that supports debatable main ideas that appear in topic sentences, and responsible writers make sure to introduce, cite, and explain quotes and paraphrases used as evidence.

1. INTRODUCE

Introduce all your quotes using introductory phrases. Here are some examples:

• According to Michael Smith, “you should use the author’s first and last name when you cite that author for the first time in your paper” (1).
• As Smith explains, “you can introduce your quotes with a number of different phrases” (1).
• Smith suggests that “if the introduction to your quote isn’t a dependent clause, it doesn’t need to be followed by a comma” (1).
• Smith observes the following in his article: “When you use a colon to introduce a quote, you need a complete sentence preceding the colon” (1).

2. CITE

Provide appropriate parenthetical citations for all quotes and paraphrases (but not summaries). Check the appropriate style guide for guidelines, e.g. MLA, APA, and Chicago. Here are some guidelines for MLA style citation:

• If the author’s name appears in the introduction to the quote or in the paraphrase, it doesn’t have to appear in the parenthetical reference, as the citations above illustrate.
• If the author’s name does not appear in the introduction to the quote, the name must appear in the parenthetical reference. See the following example of a cited paraphrase:
  

Some professors at U-M take points off of your final paper grade if you don’t cite paraphrased or quoted material correctly (Smith 1).

3. EXPLAIN

Make sure to explain your quotes. Provide analysis that ties them back to your main idea / topic sentence. In other words, comment on the evidence in order to incorporate it into the argument you’re making.

Here’s an example of a whole academic body paragraph that illustrates ICE: introduction, citation, and
explanation:

Despite their competence as readers and writers, these young teachers have just begun to understand and participate in the changing ecology of literacy described above, particularly in adopting a view that digital writing is worthy of attention in schools. Grabill and Hicks argue that “[u]sing ICTs (Information Communication Technologies) isn’t enough; critically understanding how these writing technologies enable new literacies and meaningful communication should also be a core curricular and pedagogical function of English education” (307). While our experience as teacher educators, especially in the context of Kristen’s course, shows us that adopting this perspective is difficult, we feel that there are compelling social reasons to do so.

(Sample paragraph taken from page 62 of Turner, Kristen Hawley, and Troy Hicks. “‘That’s not Writing’: Exploring the Intersection of Digital Writing, Community Literacy, and Social Justice.” Community Literacy Journal 6.1 (2011): 55-78. Print.)