Help?
In a "statement of research" essay for a grad school, fellowship, etc. application, is it appropriate to have a short lit cited? For example: "we are becoming more aware that x is important in understanding y (Doe et al. 2010), so I will include an examination of x in my research on y and z" or "collaborators and I have used new technologies in novel ways to further conservation research (Labmate et al. 2011)."