Silly question- statement of purpose

[smelltheroses]

Hi everyone,

I would love your input on this question. When writing your statement of purpose, do you actually quote research or researchers when describing your research interests? I am definitely in research-paper-mode and would find it difficult to mention an author's name whose research I would like to build on but not properly cite him or her (in APA style or what have you). In addition, the statement does not flow as well when it has citations.

Are you citing in your statements of purpose or is this one place where it is ok to leave citations out? If it matters, I am applying to a doctoral program in the social sciences.

Many thanks!!

[Joel418]

I didn't list them in annotated form in my SOP, though I had the opportunity to give a full listing in my CV. Will you have an opportunity to present a resume/CV in addition to your SOP?

[smelltheroses]

Yes, I will include my CV with my application materials. Can I ask the format in which you presented them on your CV? Thanks for the feedback.

[Joel418]

No worries I used the Chicago Manual (humanities) format, leaving off my name since it's listed at the top of the CV. Here's the citation I used for an article of mine:

[rising_star]

I didn't specifically cite or quote any research in either of my SOPs (MA apps then PhD apps). Instead, I focused on explaining what I wanted to do in my research and who some of the influences in my past and current research have been.

[jasper.milvain]

There are a couple of short quotes in my SOP-- an epigraph from the author I will be studying and a nice, concise definition of the methodology I use-- and I definitely cited them in the normal style for my discipline. Seems pretty standard. For brevity's sake, though, try not to go into too much detail about who you're building on to save the space for talking about your novel ideas. You can name drop in parentheses. For example "Many critics have explored the impact of Darwinism on Victorian literature (Jones, Smith, Black), but none have yet applied this concept to (massively exciting text)." I've seen this format again and again on sample grant apps, and had many professors encourage it. I also attached a one-page bibliography to my SOP, sketching out key critical works. They may throw it out, but it can't hurt.

[socialpsych]

I didn't specifically cite or quote any research in either of my SOPs (MA apps then PhD apps). Instead, I focused on explaining what I wanted to do in my research and who some of the influences in my past and current research have been.

Ditto. Probably differs dramatically by field. (Mine is psychology.)