Source use in research articles in second language writing: A state-of-the-art review

This review aims to outline topics of interest and methodological approaches of empirical studies on source-use research from 2000 to 2020. The following research foci are identified: (1) the source misuse from the perspective of concept dimension; (2) the rhetorical strategy; (3) the source-use skill; and (4) the assessment from the perspective of the sentence and discourse dimension, indicating that studies on source use are from the rhetorical perspective of texts to interpersonal functions of texts and then cognitive processes of writers. Then, the frequently used research methodologies were the qualitative approach and mixed methods. Our review further discussed three central themes for future research: (1) the comparative and longitudinal study; (2) the assessment; and (3) the local development of source use, e.g. the continuation task in China. Methodological directions were also pointed out for future source-use studies.