Academic Writer
academic writer: argument: reviewing other authors' work
Reviewing other authors'
work
This section contains the sorts of useful phrases skilled writers use to put forward to
review other authors' work. Some of their tactics are quite subtle (conceding points),
others pretty familiar and simple (citing) - except that here we give you a wider range of
options than you will find in most textbooks.
Citing
Comparing
Conceding a
point to an opposing argument (and then criticizing it)
Criticizing
Referring to other authors
Reviewing other arguments
According to x…
As has often been pointed out (e.g. cite authors) …
As x has argued…
As x has observed…
As x has pointed out…
As x has put it…
As x has said…
As x has shown…
As x memorably put it…
As x put it…
Consider the following description of... (quotation)
Few share x's view that…
In (x book) y author suggested that…
In his article (cite article) he astutely argued that…
In support of his argument x is able to quote…
In x's words:
It is usually asserted that…
Some authorities have implied that…
This is not an isolated view.
X contended/ suggested that…
X convincingly argues that…
X has called it…
X has concluded that…
X has gone so far as to speak of…
X has put it simply/bluntly…
X once defined the objective of y as…
X points to…
X was quite right when he said that…
In x by contrast…
This comparison however is misleading because...
To say that x is the same as y would be to exaggerate. But the resemblances are very close
Conceding a point to an opposing argument (and then criticizing it)
Admittedly, simply doing x is a simple method of… Yet it is not easy to see how else to assess y.
Although this argument has some merit, a number of qualifications need to be made.
In fairness to x … yet…
In one respect x's thesis that (give details) was quite wrong. However (mention plus points)…
Indeed, it is plausible to argue that… Yet, other evidence suggests…
It is certainly hard to see a plausible alternative to… Still if we look at…
It is often assumed that… However,…
It is quite true that… Yet in reality the most important factor was that…
It is true that (give details of opposing view)… However (affirm own argument)…
More credible is the argument that… However…
Moreover it is at least arguable that… Yet the extent to which x happened should not be exaggerated. What is more… In reality…
Nothing can detract from the central fact that… However what is even more surprising is that…
Some have argued that… The reality is that…
Some would say that this by itself is sufficient explanation. However…
Such explanations are too simplistic. They tend to overlook the fact that… It is also sometimes forgotten that…
Superficially there is reason to think that… However…
There is no doubt that x is true. However it is too much to claim that… Nor should it be assumed that…
There is, of course, a natural temptation to conclude that… But this was not the case. In fact… Indeed it has even been suggested by one writer that…
To be sure… (x is true), but…
A more fundamental objection to this argument is that...
But the evidence seems too strong to suggest that…
But there is a need for qualification…
Disproportionate attention has been paid to…
However it is not true to claim that…
Similarly, the arguments against x ignore the fact that…
Such evidence does not constitute adequate support for the theory that…
The obverse of this argument is that…
The possible flaw in this argument is…
There is a degree of truth to the view that...
There is another possibility which has received too little attention, namely that...
There are however a number of difficulties with this critique.
This, so it is argued, was the reason why…
Under the influence of x (author) I came to think of this view as mistaken.
Unfortunately for such theories, x was not common.
x author's arguments need to be qualified and updated in several respects. The most important caveat/change/development/objection/qualification is that...
Yet there are limits to how far the idea of/concept of x can be taken.
Yet there is a need not to overstate the importance of…
In a seminal artical written in...
This thesis was extended by...
x may be regarded as the founder of empiricism.
A familiar objection to this argument is that…
Apologists for this line of argument remind us that…
Despite these criticisms few, however, would deny that...
For all these reasons, what x has to say needs to be treated with caution.
In defence of this view, a number of explanations have been offered.
It has also been persuasively argued that…
Observers of x have noted that...
One study conducted in (year) found that... (cite author)
So far as x is concerned...
Some parts of this theory are surprising.
Such views continue to be influential.
The essence of the argument is that...
The most common critique made by authors is that...
The most modern research has provided ample support for these arguments. In particular the claim that…
The principal criticism has been that…
There is indeed some evidence to support the latter thesis.
There is some evidence to support x's thesis.
This argument can be pursued in more detail.
This line of argument has been further developed by…
This point has been overlooked by many authors.
This problem has been dealt with by various authors...
Those who agree with this view include…
Those who fall into this camp include…
Typical of this approach is…
What are the arguments on the other side?
Whereas earlier accounts emphasized x, it is now commonly argued that…
x's arguments in favour of y are twofold/threefold/fourfold.
X deals with y and is concerned to show that
X is not content with (making a modest claim); She also insists that (making a larger claim)
X has been among the supporters of the view that…
x's original thesis has been vastly elaborated into the theory that...
X repeatedly refers to… Though it is now fashionable to criticize x, there is something to be said for…
Find out more about writing Arguments
Academic Writer 2000