examples of paraphrasing summarizing and quoting

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Quoting, Paraphrasing, and Summarizing

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This handout is intended to help you become more comfortable with the uses of and distinctions among quotations, paraphrases, and summaries. This handout compares and contrasts the three terms, gives some pointers, and includes a short excerpt that you can use to practice these skills.

What are the differences among quoting, paraphrasing, and summarizing?

These three ways of incorporating other writers' work into your own writing differ according to the closeness of your writing to the source writing.

Quotations must be identical to the original, using a narrow segment of the source. They must match the source document word for word and must be attributed to the original author.

Paraphrasing involves putting a passage from source material into your own words. A paraphrase must also be attributed to the original source. Paraphrased material is usually shorter than the original passage, taking a somewhat broader segment of the source and condensing it slightly.

Summarizing involves putting the main idea(s) into your own words, including only the main point(s). Once again, it is necessary to attribute summarized ideas to the original source. Summaries are significantly shorter than the original and take a broad overview of the source material.

Why use quotations, paraphrases, and summaries?

Quotations, paraphrases, and summaries serve many purposes. You might use them to:

• Provide support for claims or add credibility to your writing
• Refer to work that leads up to the work you are now doing
• Give examples of several points of view on a subject
• Call attention to a position that you wish to agree or disagree with
• Highlight a particularly striking phrase, sentence, or passage by quoting the original
• Distance yourself from the original by quoting it in order to cue readers that the words are not your own
• Expand the breadth or depth of your writing

Writers frequently intertwine summaries, paraphrases, and quotations. As part of a summary of an article, a chapter, or a book, a writer might include paraphrases of various key points blended with quotations of striking or suggestive phrases as in the following example:

In his famous and influential work The Interpretation of Dreams , Sigmund Freud argues that dreams are the "royal road to the unconscious" (page #), expressing in coded imagery the dreamer's unfulfilled wishes through a process known as the "dream-work" (page #). According to Freud, actual but unacceptable desires are censored internally and subjected to coding through layers of condensation and displacement before emerging in a kind of rebus puzzle in the dream itself (page #).

How to use quotations, paraphrases, and summaries

Practice summarizing the essay found here , using paraphrases and quotations as you go. It might be helpful to follow these steps:

• Read the entire text, noting the key points and main ideas.
• Summarize in your own words what the single main idea of the essay is.
• Paraphrase important supporting points that come up in the essay.
• Consider any words, phrases, or brief passages that you believe should be quoted directly.

There are several ways to integrate quotations into your text. Often, a short quotation works well when integrated into a sentence. Longer quotations can stand alone. Remember that quoting should be done only sparingly; be sure that you have a good reason to include a direct quotation when you decide to do so. You'll find guidelines for citing sources and punctuating citations at our documentation guide pages.

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Summarizing, Paraphrasing, and Quoting

Depending on the conventions of your discipline, you may have to decide whether to summarize a source, paraphrase a source, or quote from a source.

Scholars in the humanities tend to summarize, paraphrase, and quote texts; social scientists and natural scientists rely primarily on summary and paraphrase.

When and how to summarize

When you summarize, you provide your readers with a condensed version of an author's key points. A summary can be as short as a few sentences or much longer, depending on the complexity of the text and the level of detail you wish to provide to your readers. You will need to summarize a source in your paper when you are going to refer to that source and you want your readers to understand the source's argument, main ideas, or plot (if the source is a novel, film, or play) before you lay out your own argument about it, analysis of it, or response to it.

Before you summarize a source in your paper, you should decide what your reader needs to know about that source in order to understand your argument. For example, if you are making an argument about a novel, you should avoid filling pages of your paper with details from the book that will distract or confuse your reader. Instead, you should add details sparingly, going only into the depth that is necessary for your reader to understand and appreciate your argument. Similarly, if you are writing a paper about a journal article, you will need to highlight the most relevant parts of the argument for your reader, but you should not include all of the background information and examples. When you have to decide how much summary to put in a paper, it's a good idea to consult your instructor about whether you are supposed to assume your reader's knowledge of the sources.

Guidelines for summarizing a source in your paper

• Identify the author and the source.
• Represent the original source accurately.
• Present the source’s central claim clearly.
• Don’t summarize each point in the same order as the original source; focus on giving your reader the most important parts of the source
• Use your own words. Don’t provide a long quotation in the summary unless the actual language from the source is going to be important for your reader to see.

Stanley Milgram (1974) reports that ordinarily compassionate people will be cruel to each other if they are commanded to be by an authority figure. In his experiment, a group of participants were asked to administer electric shocks to people who made errors on a simple test. In spite of signs that those receiving shock were experiencing great physical pain, 25 of 40 subjects continued to administer electric shocks. These results held up for each group of people tested, no matter the demographic. The transcripts of conversations from the experiment reveal that although many of the participants felt increasingly uncomfortable, they continued to obey the experimenter, often showing great deference for the experimenter. Milgram suggests that when people feel responsible for carrying out the wishes of an authority figure, they do not feel responsible for the actual actions they are performing. He concludes that the increasing division of labor in society encourages people to focus on a small task and eschew responsibility for anything they do not directly control.

This summary of Stanley Milgram's 1974 essay, "The Perils of Obedience," provides a brief overview of Milgram's 12-page essay, along with an APA style parenthetical citation. You would write this type of summary if you were discussing Milgram's experiment in a paper in which you were not supposed to assume your reader's knowledge of the sources. Depending on your assignment, your summary might be even shorter.

When you include a summary of a paper in your essay, you must cite the source. If you were using APA style in your paper, you would include a parenthetical citation in the summary, and you would also include a full citation in your reference list at the end of your paper. For the essay by Stanley Milgram, your citation in your references list would include the following information:

Milgram, S. (1974). The perils of obedience. In L.G. Kirszner & S.R. Mandell (Eds.), The Blair reader (pp.725-737).

When and how to paraphrase

When you paraphrase from a source, you restate the source's ideas in your own words. Whereas a summary provides your readers with a condensed overview of a source (or part of a source), a paraphrase of a source offers your readers the same level of detail provided in the original source. Therefore, while a summary will be shorter than the original source material, a paraphrase will generally be about the same length as the original source material.

When you use any part of a source in your paper—as background information, as evidence, as a counterargument to which you plan to respond, or in any other form—you will always need to decide whether to quote directly from the source or to paraphrase it. Unless you have a good reason to quote directly from the source , you should paraphrase the source. Any time you paraphrase an author's words and ideas in your paper, you should make it clear to your reader why you are presenting this particular material from a source at this point in your paper. You should also make sure you have represented the author accurately, that you have used your own words consistently, and that you have cited the source.

This paraphrase below restates one of Milgram's points in the author's own words. When you paraphrase, you should always cite the source. This paraphrase uses the APA in-text citation style. Every source you paraphrase should also be included in your list of references at the end of your paper. For citation format information go to the Citing Sources section of this guide.

Source material

The problem of obedience is not wholly psychological. The form and shape of society and the way it is developing have much to do with it. There was a time, perhaps, when people were able to give a fully human response to any situation because they were fully absorbed in it as human beings. But as soon as there was a division of labor things changed.

--Stanley Milgram, "The Perils of Obedience," p.737.

Milgram, S. (1974). The perils of obedience. In L.G. Kirszner & S.R. Mandell (Eds.), The Blair reader (pp.725-737). Prentice Hall.

Milgram (1974) claims that people's willingness to obey authority figures cannot be explained by psychological factors alone. In an earlier era, people may have had the ability to invest in social situations to a greater extent. However, as society has become increasingly structured by a division of labor, people have become more alienated from situations over which they do not have control (p.737).

When and how much to quote

The basic rule in all disciplines is that you should only quote directly from a text when it's important for your reader to see the actual language used by the author of the source. While paraphrase and summary are effective ways to introduce your reader to someone's ideas, quoting directly from a text allows you to introduce your reader to the way those ideas are expressed by showing such details as language, syntax, and cadence.

So, for example, it may be important for a reader to see a passage of text quoted directly from Tim O'Brien's The Things They Carried if you plan to analyze the language of that passage in order to support your thesis about the book. On the other hand, if you're writing a paper in which you're making a claim about the reading habits of American elementary school students or reviewing the current research on Wilson's disease, the information you’re providing from sources will often be more important than the exact words. In those cases, you should paraphrase rather than quoting directly. Whether you quote from your source or paraphrase it, be sure to provide a citation for your source, using the correct format. (see Citing Sources section)

You should use quotations in the following situations:

• When you plan to discuss the actual language of a text.
• When you are discussing an author's position or theory, and you plan to discuss the wording of a core assertion or kernel of the argument in your paper.
• When you risk losing the essence of the author's ideas in the translation from their words to your own.
• When you want to appeal to the authority of the author and using their words will emphasize that authority.

Once you have decided to quote part of a text, you'll need to decide whether you are going to quote a long passage (a block quotation) or a short passage (a sentence or two within the text of your essay). Unless you are planning to do something substantive with a long quotation—to analyze the language in detail or otherwise break it down—you should not use block quotations in your essay. While long quotations will stretch your page limit, they don't add anything to your argument unless you also spend time discussing them in a way that illuminates a point you're making. Unless you are giving your readers something they need to appreciate your argument, you should use quotations sparingly.

When you quote from a source, you should make sure to cite the source either with an in-text citation or a note, depending on which citation style you are using.  The passage below, drawn from O’Brien’s  The Things They Carried , uses an MLA-style citation.

On the morning after Ted Lavender died, First Lieutenant Jimmy Cross crouched at the bottom of his foxhole and burned Martha's letters. Then he burned the two photographs. There was a steady rain falling, which made it difficult, but he used heat tabs and Sterno to build a small fire, screening it with his body holding the photographs over the tight blue flame with the tip of his fingers.

He realized it was only a gesture. Stupid, he thought. Sentimental, too, but mostly just stupid. (23)

O'Brien, Tim. The Things They Carried . New York: Broadway Books, 1990.

Even as Jimmy Cross burns Martha's letters, he realizes that "it was only a gesture. Stupid, he thought. Sentimental too, but mostly just stupid" (23).

If you were writing a paper about O'Brien's The Things They Carried in which you analyzed Cross's decision to burn Martha's letters and stop thinking about her, you might want your reader to see the language O'Brien uses to illustrate Cross's inner conflict. If you were planning to analyze the passage in which O'Brien calls Cross's realization stupid, sentimental, and then stupid again, you would want your reader to see the original language.

Home / Guides / Citation Guides / Citation Basics / Quoting vs. Paraphrasing vs. Summarizing

Quoting vs. Paraphrasing vs. Summarizing

If you’ve ever written a research essay, you know the struggle is real. Should you use a direct quote? Should you put it in your own words? And how is summarizing different from paraphrasing—aren’t they kind of the same thing?

Knowing how you should include your source takes some finesse, and knowing when to quote directly, paraphrase, or summarize can make or break your argument. Let’s take a look at the nuances among these three ways  of using an outside source in an essay.

What is quoting?

The concept of quoting is pretty straightforward. If you use quotation marks, you must use precisely the same words as the original , even if the language is vulgar or the grammar is incorrect. In fact, when scholars quote writers with bad grammar, they may correct it by using typographical notes [like this] to show readers they have made a change.

“I never like[d] peas as a child.”

Conversely, if a passage with odd or incorrect language is quoted as is, the note [sic] may be used to show that no changes were made to the original language despite any errors.

“I never like [sic] peas as a child.”

The professional world looks very seriously on quotations. You cannot change a single comma or letter without documentation when you quote a source. Not only that, but the quote must be accompanied by an attribution, commonly called a citation. A misquote or failure to cite can be considered plagiarism.

When writing an academic paper, scholars must use in-text citations in parentheses followed by a complete entry on a references page. When you quote someone using MLA format , for example, it might look like this:

“The orphan is above all a character out of place, forced to make his or her own home in the world. The novel itself grew up as a genre representing the efforts of an ordinary individual to navigate his or her way through the trials of life. The orphan is therefore an essentially novelistic character, set loose from established conventions to face a world of endless possibilities (and dangers)” (Mullan).

This quote is from www.bl.uk/romantics-and-victorians/articles/orphans-in-fiction , which discusses the portrayal of orphans in Victorian English literature. The citation as it would look on the references page (called Works Cited in MLA) is available at the end of this guide.

What is paraphrasing?

Paraphrasing means taking a quote and putting it in your own words.

You translate what another writer has said into terms both you and your reader can more easily understand. Unlike summarizing, which focuses on the big picture, paraphrasing is involved with single lines or passages. Paraphrasing means you should focus only on segments of a text.

Paraphrasing is a way for you to start processing the information from your source . When you take a quote and put it into your own words, you are already working to better understand, and better explain, the information.

The more you can change the quote without changing the original meaning , the better. How can you make significant changes to a text without changing the meaning?

Here are a few paraphrasing techniques:

• Use synonyms of words
• Change the order of words
• Change the order of clauses in the sentences
• Move sentences around in a section
• Active – passive
• Positive – negative
• Statement-question

Let’s look at an example. Here is a direct quote from the article on orphans in Victorian literature:

“It is no accident that the most famous character in recent fiction – Harry Potter – is an orphan. The child wizard’s adventures are premised on the death of his parents and the responsibilities that he must therefore assume. If we look to classic children’s fiction we find a host of orphans” (Mullan).

Here is a possible paraphrase:

It’s not a mistake that a well-known protagonist in current fiction is an orphan: Harry Potter. His quests are due to his parents dying and tasks that he is now obligated to complete. You will see that orphans are common protagonists if you look at other classic fiction (Mullan).

What differences do you spot? There are synonyms. A few words were moved around. A few clauses were moved around. But do you see that the basic structure is very similar?

This kind of paraphrase might be flagged by a plagiarism checker. Don’t paraphrase like that.

Here is a better example:

What is the most well-known fact about beloved character, Harry Potter? That he’s an orphan – “the boy who lived”. In fact, it is only because his parents died that he was thrust into his hero’s journey. Throughout classic children’s literature, you’ll find many orphans as protagonists (Mullan).

Do you see that this paraphrase has more differences? The basic information is there, but the structure is quite different.

When you paraphrase, you are making choices: of how to restructure information, of how to organize and prioritize it.  These choices reflect your voice in a way a direct quote cannot, since a direct quote is, by definition, someone else’s voice.

Which is better: Quoting or paraphrasing?

Although the purpose of both quoting and paraphrasing is to introduce the ideas of an external source, they are used for different reasons. It’s not that one is better than the other, but rather that quoting suits some purposes better, while paraphrasing is more suitable for others.

A direct quote is better when you feel the writer made the point perfectly and there is no reason to change a thing. If the writer has a strong voice and you want to preserve that, use a direct quote.

For example, no one should ever try to paraphrase John. F. Kenney’s famous line: “Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country.”

However, think of direct quotes like a hot pepper: go ahead and sprinkle them around to add some spice to your paper, but… you might not want to overdo it.

Conversely, paraphrasing is useful when you want to bring in a longer section of a source into your piece, but you don’t have room for the full passage . A paraphrase doesn’t simplify the passage to an extreme level, like a summary would. Rather, it condenses the section of text into something more useful for your essay. It’s also appropriate to paraphrase when there are sentences within a passage that you want to leave out.

If you were to paraphrase the section of the article about Victorian orphans mentioned earlier, you might write something like this:

Considering the development of the novel, which portrayed everyday people making their way through life, using an orphan as a protagonist was effective. Orphans are characters that, by definition, need to find their way alone. The author can let the protagonist venture out into the world where the anything, good or bad, might happen (Mullan).

You’ll notice a couple of things here. One, there are no quotation marks, but there is still an in-text citation (the name in parentheses). A paraphrase lacks quotation marks because you aren’t directly quoting, but it still needs a citation because you are using a specific segment of the text. It is still someone else’s original idea and must be cited.

Secondly, if you look at the original quote, you’ll see that five lines of text are condensed into four and a half lines. Everything the author used has been changed.

A single paragraph of text has been explained in different words—which is the heart of paraphrasing.

What is summarizing?

Next, we come to summarizing. Summarizing is on a much larger scale than quoting or paraphrasing. While similar to paraphrasing in that you use your own words, a summary’s primary focus is on translating the main idea of an entire document or long section.

Summaries are useful because they allow you to mention entire chapters or articles—or longer works—in only a few sentences. However, summaries can be longer and more in-depth. They can actually include quotes and paraphrases. Keep in mind, though, that since a summary condenses information, look for the main points. Don’t include a lot of details in a summary.

In literary analysis essays, it is useful to include one body paragraph that summarizes the work you’re writing about. It might be helpful to quote or paraphrase specific lines that contribute to the main themes of such a work. Here is an example summarizing the article on orphans in Victorian literature:

In John Mullan’s article “Orphans in Fiction” on bl.uk.com, he reviews the use of orphans as protagonists in 19 th century Victorian literature. Mullan argues that orphans, without family attachments, are effective characters that can be “unleashed to discover the world.” This discovery process often leads orphans to expose dangerous aspects of society, while maintaining their innocence. As an example, Mullan examines how many female orphans wind up as governesses, demonstrating the usefulness of a main character that is obligated to find their own way.

This summary includes the main ideas of the article, one paraphrase, and one direct quote. A ten-paragraph article is summarized into one single paragraph.

As for giving source credit, since the author’s name and title of the source are stated at the beginning of the summary paragraph, you don’t need an in-text citation.

How do I know which one to use?

The fact is that writers use these three reference types (quoting, paraphrasing, summarizing) interchangeably. The key is to pay attention to your argument development. At some points, you will want concrete, firm evidence. Quotes are perfect for this.

At other times, you will want general support for an argument, but the text that includes such support is long-winded. A paraphrase is appropriate in this case.

Finally, sometimes you may need to mention an entire book or article because it is so full of evidence to support your points. In these cases, it is wise to take a few sentences or even a full paragraph to summarize the source.

No matter which type you use, you always need to cite your source on a References or Works Cited page at the end of the document. The MLA works cited entry for the text we’ve been using today looks like this:

Mullan, John. Orphans in Fiction” www.bl.uk/romantics-and-victorians/articles/orphans-in-fiction.  Accessed 20. Oct. 2020

————–

See our related lesson with video:  How to Quote and Paraphrase Evidence

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• Citation Styles

Quoting, paraphrasing, and summarizing: what’s the difference?

When you write a research paper, you’re required to include evidence from scholarly sources in order to prove your thesis. In this post, we discuss the three most common ways to include source material in your research paper: quoting, paraphrasing, and summarizing.

What is quoting?

When you quote, you use exact words from a source in between quotation marks. You may want to quote directly from a source when the information is particularly complex or when the quote expresses an idea or point in a way that perfectly captures the situation, concept, or thought.

If you’re using a quote that is more than four lines, you should include the material as a block quote. To learn more about how to quote, take a look at our tips for integrating quotes into a research paper. Always include an in-text citation after the quoted material.

What is paraphrasing?

When you paraphrase, you re-write borrowed material in your own words. Paraphrasing requires you to change the words of the quote without changing their meaning.

Paraphrases are typically shorter than the quotes that they restate and always require an in-text citation that credits the original source material.

What is summarizing?

A summary provides an overview of an idea or topic. You might wish to summarize parts of a source if you’re writing a literature review as part of a longer research paper.

Summarizing requires you to sum up the key points of a text, argument, or idea. A summary will be shorter than the original material. Even if you’re not using any of the source’s exact words in your summary, you still need to include an in-text citation.

How do you know when to quote, paraphrase, or summarize material?

Quotes, paraphrases, and summaries are simply different ways of presenting borrowed information. However, there are definitely situations in which one mode may be better than another.

When to use quotes

While it’s a myth that you should avoid using quotes as much as possible in a research paper, you do need to ensure that you are using them effectively. Turning in a paper full quotes is certainly not a good idea, but quotes can be useful if:

• you are trying to make a particularly complex point
• you intend to analyze or interpret a quote’s language
• you need to provide a definition of something
• a quote perfectly encapsulates an idea that is important to your argument

When to paraphrase

Paraphrasing allows you to confirm that you fully understand a quote’s meaning and to explain that content in your own words. There may be several reasons why you would choose to paraphrase a passage, rather than quote it. You might use paraphrase if:

• the material is relatively easy to describe
• you don’t wish to break up the flow of your writing with quotes
• you don’t intend to provide analysis of the information
• you want to combine material from several sources

When to summarize

Summary allows you to synthesize a larger amount of information from a single source or multiple sources. An effective summary will highlight the key points of a text in a concise manner. In a research paper, you’ll primarily use summary in the literature review or state-of-the-field section.

Examples of quoting, paraphrasing, and summarizing

Quoting example.

When you quote, you should always try to “sandwich” the quote in your own words. You can also break up longer quotes with ellipses, or with snippets like “Smith explains.” For instance, in the example below, the writer uses her own words to lead into, and out of, the quotes.

Jenna Lay claims that “Catholic women resisted any easy demarcation between a Catholic medieval past and a Protestant, reformed present in both their religious practices and their print and manuscript books,” an argument that can be extended to include entire Catholic families (16). However, despite the fact that scholars such as Patton, Lay, and Jennifer Summit have argued that “we stand to learn much when we determine […] whether the early modern collector of a medieval devotional book was a Catholic or Protestant,” few studies have explored in any depth how Catholics used their books in the post-Reformation period.

Paraphrasing example

In the example below, the writer succinctly paraphrases one of the main points of a book chapter. Even though there are no direct quotes, she still includes an in-text, parenthetical citation at the end of the paraphrase.

Elizabeth Patton, in her research on Catholic women’s bookscapes, contends that the staunchest Catholic families maintained textual networks in which they circulated books that were banned in Protestant England, including copies of medieval devotional manuscripts (117).

Summarizing example

In the following summary, the writer uses her own words to provide a concise, yet thorough, summary of an article’s purpose and use of evidence. Again, although no direct quotes are included, the writer adds an in-text citation at the end of the example.

To establish the importance of this main point, Raghavan and Pargman firstly explore two related paradigms in sustainable HCI research: sustainable computing and computing for sustainability. The latter, they argue, has been simultaneously under- and overdeveloped and offers little in the way of practical solutions for how computing can lessen humans’ ecological impact. As a result, they focus on computing for sustainability and explore how disintermediation can catalyze solutions across several key categories, including value, class, labor, and social control. Importantly, they note that policy solutions have failed to fully address the relationship between computing and sustainability (1-2).

In-text citations for quotes, paraphrases, and summaries

Whether you’re quoting exact words from a text, paraphrasing a quote in your own words, or summarizing someone else’s work, you’ll need to include in-text citations for any borrowed material.

You can use BibGuru to create in-text citations in MLA , APA , or any major citation style . Most in-text citations are in the form of parenthetical citations . It’s always a good idea to consult your assignment guidelines, or your instructor, to find out which citation style is required for your paper.

Frequently Asked Questions about quoting, paraphrasing, and summarizing

When you quote, you use exact words from a source in between quotation marks. When you paraphrase, you re-write borrowed material in your own words.

Paraphrasing requires you to change the words of the quote without changing their meaning.

Summarizing requires you to sum up the key points of a text, argument, or idea. A summary will be shorter than the original material. Even if you’re not using any of the author’s exact words in your summary, you still need to include an in-text citation.

When you quote, you should always try to “sandwich” the quote in your own words. You can also break up longer quotes with ellipses or with snippets like “Smith explains.” For instance, in the example below, the writer uses her owd words to lead into, and out of, the quote.

Paraphrasing allows you to confirm that you fully understand a quote’s meaning and to explain that content in your own words.

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Summarizing, paraphrasing, and quoting.

This handout is available for download in DOCX format and PDF format .

This handout is intended to help you become more comfortable with the uses of and distinctions among summaries, paraphrases, and quotations.

What are the differences among summarizing, paraphrasing, and quoting?

These three ways of incorporating other writers' work into your own writing differ according to the closeness of your writing to the source writing.

Summarizing

• Summarizing involves putting the main idea(s) into your own words, including only the main point(s). Although you are using your own words, it is still necessary to attribute the summarized ideas to the original source. Summaries are significantly shorter than the original and take a broad overview of the source material.

Paraphrasing

• Paraphrasing involves putting a passage from the source into your own words. A paraphrase must also be attributed to the original source. Paraphrased material is usually shorter than the original passage, taking a somewhat broader segment of the source and condensing it slightly.
• Quotations must be identical to the original, using a narrow segment of the source. They must match the source document word for word and must also be attributed to the original author.

Why use quotations, paraphrases, and summaries?

Quotations, paraphrases, and summaries serve many purposes. You might use them to:

• Provide support for claims or add credibility to your writing
• Refer to work that leads up to the work you are now doing
• Give examples of several points of view on a subject
• Call attention to a position that you wish to agree or disagree with
• Highlight a particularly striking phrase, sentence, or passage by quoting the original
• Distance yourself from the original by quoting it to show that the words are not your own
• Expand the breadth or depth of your writing

Writers frequently intertwine summaries, paraphrases, and quotations, including paraphrases of key points blended with quotations of striking or suggestive phrases as in the following example:

In his famous and influential work The Interpretation of Dreams , Sigmund Freud argues that dreams are the "royal road to the unconscious" (page #), expressing in coded imagery the dreamer's unfulfilled wishes through a process known as the "dream-work" (page #). According to Freud, actual but unacceptable desires are censored internally and subjected to coding through layers of condensation and displacement before emerging in a kind of rebus puzzle in the dream itself (page #).

How and when should I summarize, paraphrase, or quote?

Before you summarize a source in your paper, decide what your reader needs to know about that source in order to understand your argument. For example, if you are making an argument about a novel, avoid filling pages of your paper with details from the book that will distract or confuse your reader. Instead, add details sparingly, going only into the depth that is necessary for your reader to understand and appreciate your argument. Similarly, if you are writing a paper about a non-fiction article, highlight the most relevant parts of the argument for your reader, but do not include all of the background information and examples.

When you use any part of a source in your paper, you will always need to decide whether to quote directly from the source or to paraphrase it. Unless you have a good reason to quote directly from the source, you should paraphrase the source. Make it clear to your reader why you are presenting this particular material from a source, and be sure that you have represented the author accurately, that you have used your own words consistently, and that you have cited the source.

As a basic rule of thumb, you should only quote directly from a text when it is important for your reader to see the actual language used by the author of the source. While paraphrase and summary are effective ways to introduce your reader to someone's ideas, quoting directly from a text allows you to introduce your reader to the way those ideas are expressed by showing such details as language, syntax, and cadence. There are several ways to integrate quotations into your text; often a short quotation works well when integrated into a sentence, while longer quotations can stand alone. Whatever their length, be sure you have a good reason to include a direct quotation when you decide to do so.

You can become more comfortable using these three techniques by summarizing an essay of your choice, using paraphrases and quotations as you go. It might be helpful to follow these steps:

• Read the entire text, noting the key points and main ideas.
• Summarize in your own words what the single main idea of the essay is.
• Paraphrase important supporting points that come up in the essay.
• Consider any words, phrases, or brief passages that you believe should be quoted directly.

Credit: Adapted from the “Harvard Guide to Using Sources,” https://usingsources.fas.harvard.edu/summarizing-paraphrasing-and-quoting , and the Purdue OWL Guide, https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/using_research/quoting_paraphrasing_and_summarizing/index.html , 2020.

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SUMMARIZING, PARAPHRASING, AND QUOTING: PARAPHRASING

• SUMMARIZING
• PARAPHRASING

INTRODUCTION

Welcome to the Kendall Paraphrasing LibGuide! You will find some examples, tips, and ways to practice paraphrasing to incorporate into your writing.

If you would like a quick rundown of summarizing, please visit  this page .

WHAT IS A PARAPHRASE?

WHAT IS A PARAPHRASE?                                                                                             

A paraphrase focuses on a specific idea or details in your own words. 

CHARACTERISTICS OF A SUMMARY                                                                           

• Must be about the same length of the original source
• Only focuses on a main idea
• It provides the same amount of detail as the original source

WHY SUMMARIZE?                                                                                                        

Paraphrasing is helpful for two reasons:

• The original source is not the best way to explain how its information fits your argument
• Certain parts of a source are too long to be quoted.

PARAPHRASING VS. QUOTING

PARAPHRASE EXAMPLE

ORIGINAL SOURCE                                                                                                        

1. “I think the very idea of character, of developing not just grit, but empathy and curiosity, emotional intelligence.”

2. “Grit is typically about an overarching, generally abstract goal that motivates everything that you do.”

PARAPHASING EXAMPLE                                                                                               

1.  Duckworth suggests to view grit as a charactersitics that evolves over time.

2. Grit is not a characteristic that one exhibits once, but an overall way of acting when faced with situations in general.

COMPLETE CITATION                                                                                                    

Martin, R. (Host). (2016, May 1). Forget Talent, Success Comes From ‘Grit’

[Radio broadcast episode]. In Sunday Edition . Washington DC: National Public Radio.

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CITING A PARAPHRASE

There are two ways to cite a summary:

• Begin by using a signal phrase or the name of the author.
• Include a parenthetical citation with the year next to the author’s name.
• Include a page or page numbers if possible.
• Include your source in the reference list.
• Include a parenthetical citation with the author’s last name, year at the end of the summary.

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An Introduction to Paraphrasing, Summarizing, and Quoting

by jleemcga | Sep 6, 2023 | Resources for Students , Writing Resources

Whenever we’re assigned an essay or writing project that asks us to reference others’ ideas, it can be difficult to determine when to use our own words, the author’s words, or an overview of the text instead. These are all ways of integrating external source material into our own writing. It is important to feel comfortable paraphrasing, summarizing, and directly quoting within our writing in order to effectively and meaningfully reference our research and enhance our own credibility as writers.

Why Should I Paraphrase, Summarize, and Quote in My Writing?

The purpose for referencing external source material is to strengthen the evidence and reasoning within our own writing. If we’re writing an essay, reflection, discussion board post, or any written assignment that responds to other texts or a course topic, it is important that we know how to integrate credible and relevant information from other authors and sources on the same topic.

Doing so allows us to enter the scholarly conversation, which consists of the existing publications, discussions, and work surrounding a particular topic within a discipline. Think of it as pulling your chair up to the table where others are already seated and having a conversation; there is a topic laid out on the table, and several folks are already offering their perspectives and thoughts on the topic. You pull up your chair, listen to what others have to say first to help inform your own understanding of the topic (even though you may have an opinion already!), and then thoughtfully and carefully offer up your own point of view on the same topic for others to listen to. Just like with any conversation, we listen and respond to what others have to say before us in order to show respect, understanding, and objectivity. This is where paraphrasing, summarizing, and quoting directly comes in handy— we can reference what others have said before us and respond. Being able to reference other source material allows us to:

• Provide credible support for our ideas
• Give a variety of examples and different perspectives on our topic
• Emphasize significant and interesting ideas from our research
• Acknowledge the ongoing scholarly conversation surrounding our topic

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Quoting, Paraphrasing and Summarizing - NMU Writing Center

Quoting, Paraphrasing and Summarizing

This page is designed to aid you in quoting, paraphrasing and summarizing in order to help you avoid plagiarism. These three writing techniques are often used to provide support to your writing in ways that support an argument or call attention to something. 

What are the differences between the three?

Quoting, paraphrasing and summarizing are similar in that they allow a writer to incorporate another writer's work into his or her own work. However, they are different in the methods of application.

Quotation s are identical in every way to the original. To quote a source, write out the exact words in the original document and put those words in quotation marks (" "). After the quotation, there will always be an in-text citation attributing it to the original source. Quotations are at their most effective when you use them to comment on the specific wording of the original text. For example:

“ But while both the new and the native Americans were substantially dependent on corn, the plant’s dependence on the Americans had become total. Had maize failed to find favor among the conquerors, it would have risked extinction, because without humans to plant it every spring, corn would have disappeared from the earth in a matter of a few years. The novel cob-and-husk arrangement that makes corn such a convenient grain for us renders the plant utterly dependent for its survival on an animal in possession of the opposable thumb needed to remove the husk, separate the seeds, and plant them” (Pollan 26-27).

Paraphrasing is when you put a passage from the original source material into your own words. As with a quotation, you must do an in-text citation attributing the information back to the original source at the end of the paraphrased section. Paraphrasing usually means the section is shorter than the original passage because it is condensed. For example:

The largest factor contributing to corn’s continued existence is North American society (both pre- and post-colonial); corn needs humans far more than humans need corn. In fact, the crop would likely go extinct in a few years if it weren’t for the fact that we like it so much and work to keep it around. A corncob’s unusual shape, with all the seeds packed close together and wrapped in a husk, makes it so the plant would be unable to grow without the help of human hands (Pollan 26-27).

Summarizing is when the main ideas are put into your own words. This means that the main points of the information you are using are reworked into your own words, but the rest of it is left out. As the other two, this information also needs to be cited at the end. For example:

In The Omnivore’s Dilemma, Pollan states that the shape of a corn cob makes it almost impossible for corn to grow in the wild, because none of the individual kernels will grow as long as they are still attached to each other. He suggests that, without human intervention, corn would quickly go extinct (Pollan 26-27).

How do I use them?

To use paraphrasing, quoting and summaries, make sure that you always cite the information in-text. You can find information on this in MLA , APA, or Chicago Style pages depending on the citation style you're using. If you're using a quotation, keep it short and sweet, and always explain why you used it afterwards. Quoting should only be done sparingly in order to show your professor and audience that you have your own ideas.

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Integrating Sources Into Your Paper

Integrating sources into a paper can be challenging. How much of a source do you use? When should you use quotation marks? It is important to remember that you are the author of a paper, so sources are properly used to back up your own arguments, not state an argument in themselves, so how you use them depends on the structure of your paper and your argument.

Let's use this paragraph from a scholarly article to illustrate examples of quoting, paraphrasing, and summarizing a source

• Use quotations when you are repeating something from a source exactly word for word .
• You should use quotation marks even if you are only taking just a few words from a source .
• Quotes can help lend authority to an initial argument, but should not be relied upon too heavily in a paper. If you find yourself quoting an entire paragraph, a paraphrasing or summary of that content may often be more appropriate.
• Quotes can and should be used when the original author’s wording is unusual, unique, or memorably states a point.

Examples using the paragraph above: Randler (2009) states that late risers have “a high misalignment of social and biological time” which results in a mismatch between their natural schedules and the normal workday (p. 2793). or “People with a high misalignment of social and biological time may be less able to act in a proactive manner, probably because of sleep delay” (Randler, 2009, p. 2793).

Note that there are two ways to incorporate the source:

• Single phrase – using the author’s name in your own narrative, and then incorporating their idea or words into a sentence (first example)
• Direct quotation – Using the words or ideas of the source independently and adding the author’s name in the in-text citation (second example)

Paraphrasing

• Paraphrasing is taking the idea of a sentence or passage, and putting it into your own words .
• Paraphrasing is NOT copying the sentence and replacing or changing a few words to be different from the original. (This is called “patchwriting” and may trigger plagiarism-detecting programs.)
• You should paraphrase when the idea or point is more important than the actual words used.
• You should paraphrase when the words are complex but the point is simple.
• Paraphrasing should remain faithful to the original meaning of the material.

Examples using the paragraph above: Randler (2009) states that people who are naturally morning people often also display traits that are considered proactive. He also suggests that late risers may not show as many proactive traits because they naturally operate on a different sleep schedule (p. 2793). or People who are naturally morning people have been shown to also display traits that are considered proactive, and late risers display fewer of these traits because they don’t get enough sleep on days when they have to go to work or school. (Randler, 2009, p. 2793).

Summarizing

• As with paraphrasing, summarize when the idea or point is more important than the actual words used.
• Summarizing can condense much more material than paraphrasing – even an entire book or article.
• Summarizing can often lead into your own points on the material.

Examples using the paragraph above: Recent research shows that people who are not naturally early risers often have persistent issues adjusting themselves to the morning-oriented schedule of most schools and workplaces, and because of this may be less proactive in their behaviors (Randler, 2009). or The natural alignment of sleep schedules to work and school schedules allows early risers to have more energy and display proactive traits, while people who are natural late risers, and thus often combating sleep delay in adhering to regular schedules, display fewer of these traits (Randler, 2009).

Note that when summarizing, you do not always have to include the page number as you are summarizing the findings from the whole study, rather than just a small part of it.

Used with permission from Amelia V. Gallucci-Cirio Library, Fitchburg State University

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Paraphrasing : How to Avoid Plagiarism

In general, it is best to use a quote when: 

• The exact words of your source are important for the point you are trying to make.  This is especially true if you are quoting technical language, terms, or very specific word choices.  
• You want to highlight your agreement with the author’s words. If you agree with the point the author of the evidence makes and you like their exact words, use them as a quote. 
• You want to highlight your disagreement with the author’s words. In other words, you may sometimes want to use a direct quote to indicate exactly what it is you disagree about. This might be particularly true when you are considering the antithetical positions in your research writing projects.

In general, it is best to paraphrase when: 

• There is no good reason to use a quote to refer to your evidence. If the author’s exact words are not especially important to the point you are trying to make, you are usually better off paraphrasing the evidence.
• You are trying to explain a particular a piece of evidence in order to explain or interpret it in more detail. This might be particularly true in writing projects like critiques.  
• You need to balance a direct quote in your writing. You need to be careful about directly quoting your research too much because it can sometimes make for awkward and difficult to read prose. So, one of the reasons to use a paraphrase instead of a quote is to create balance within your writing.

Adapted from The Process of Research Writing Chapter 3: Quoting, Paraphrasing, and Avoiding Plagiarism. Steven D. Krause

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2b. Reading Analysis: Summarizing, Paraphrasing, and Quoting

Summarizing sources, writing with other voices.

In most of your college writing, which is evidence-based writing, you’ll need to incorporate sources. In some writing assignments, you’ll be asked to interpret and analyze a text or texts. The text is the subject of your writing, and your interpretation of the text will need to be supported with evidence from the text. In other writing assignments, you’ll need to support a thesis with evidence from texts and sources. When you incorporate a text or source should generally be performing one of four functions:

• Helping to provide context for your inquiry or argument
• Supporting a claim you are making
• Illustrating a claim you are making
• Providing a different perspective or counterargument to a claim you are making

When you incorporate other voices–texts and sources–into your writing, you will either summarize, paraphrase, or quote them in order to distinguish them for your voice and ideas.

Overview of Summarizing, Paraphrasing, and Quoting Texts and Sources

Quotations  must be identical to the original, using a narrow segment of the source. They must match the source document word for word and must be attributed to the original author.

Paraphrasing  involves putting a passage from source material into your own words. A paraphrase must also be attributed to the original source. Paraphrased material is usually shorter than the original passage, taking a somewhat broader segment of the source and condensing it slightly.

Summarizing  involves putting the main idea(s) into your own words, including only the main point(s). Once again, it is necessary to attribute summarized ideas to the original source. Summaries are significantly shorter than the original and take a broad overview of the source material.

Writers frequently intertwine summaries, paraphrases, and quotations. As part of a summary of an article, a chapter, or a book, a writer might include paraphrases of various key points blended with quotations of striking or suggestive phrases as in the following example:

In his article “What’s The Matter With College?,” Rick Perlstein argues that college, in American society and individual lives, is not as significant as it was in the 1960s, because colleges are no longer sites of radical protest, heated intellectual debate, or freedom from parental authority for students. Perlstein waxes nostalgic over the 1966 California gubernatorial race between Ronald Reagan and Pat Brown when the University of California’s Berkeley campus—a locus for “building takeovers, antiwar demonstrations and sexual orgies”—became a key campaign issue. These days, “[c]ollege campuses seem to have lost their centrality,” according to Perlstein, and do not offer a “democratic and diverse culture” that stood apart from the rest of society and constituted “the most liberating moment” in a student’s life (par. 1).

Use the following pro tips as you read texts and sources so when it comes time to write you have quotations, paraphrases, and summaries ready!

• Read the entire text, noting the key points and main ideas.
• Summarize in your own words what the single main idea of the text is.
• Paraphrase important supporting points that come up in the text.
• Consider any words, phrases, or brief passages that you believe should be quoted directly.

Summarizing Texts and Sources in Your Writing

Generally speaking, a summary must at once be true to what the original author says while also emphasizing those aspects of what the author says that interest you, the writer. You need to summarize the work of other authors in light of your own topic and argument. Writers who summarize without regard to their own interests often create “list summaries” that simply inventory the original author’s main points (signaled by words like “first,” “second,” “and then,” “also,” and “in addition”), but fail to focus those points around any larger overall claim. Writing a good summary means not just representing an author’s view accurately but doing so in a way that fits the larger agenda of your own piece of writing.

The following is a two-sentence template* for a summary adapted from the work of writing scholar Katherine Woodworth that captures 1) info on the author/text and the text’s main point; and 2) the point or example that relates to the point you’re making:

[ Author’s credentials ] [ author’s first and last name ]  in his/her  [ type of text ] [ title of text ],  published in  [ publishing info ]  addresses the topic of  [ topic of text ]   and argues/reports that  [ argument/general point ]. [Author’s surname]  claims/asserts/makes the point/suggests/describes/explains  that _____.

See the two-sentence summary template in action:

Example . English professor and textbook author Sheridan Baker, in his essay “Attitudes” (1966), asserts that   writers’ attitudes toward their subjects, audiences, and themselves determine to a large extent the quality of their prose. Baker gives examples of how negative attitudes can make writing unclear, pompous, or boring, concluding that a good writer “will be respectful toward his audience, considerate toward his readers, and somehow amiable toward human failings” (58).

NOTE that the  first  sentence identifies the author (Baker), the genre (essay), the title and date, and uses an active verb (asserts) and the relative pronoun  that  to explain what exactly Baker asserts. The  second  sentence gives more specific detail on a relevant point Baker makes.

More examples!

Example . In his essay “On Nature” (1850), British philosopher John Stuart Mill argues that using nature as a standard for ethical behavior is illogical. He defines nature as “all that exists or all that exists without the intervention of man.”

Example . In his essay “Panopticism,” French philosopher Michel Foucault argues that the “panopticon” is how institutions enforce discipline and conformity by making every subject feel like they are being watched by a central authority with the capability of punishing wrongdoing. He concludes that it should not be “surprising that prisons resemble factories, schools, barracks, hospitals, which all resemble prisons” (249).

Example . Independent scholar Indur M. Goklancy, in a policy analysis for the Cato Institute, argues that globalization has created benefits in overall “human well-being.” He provides statistics that show how factors such as mortality rates, child labor, lack of education, and hunger have all decreased under globalization.

NOTE that the above examples prompt the writer to develop a more detailed interpretation and explanation of the point/example made in the second sentence. That’s the work of developing a paragraph with a text or source! You can see what that looks like more fully in  Integrating Quotes and Paraphrases into Your Writing .

Acknowledgments:

The summary template is adapted from Woodworth, Margaret K. “The Rhetorical Précis.”  Rhetoric Review  7 (1988): 156-164.

Integrating Quotes and Paraphrases into Writing

Image: Sculpting from raw material; Piqsels

“Integrating” means to combine two or more separate elements or things into a cohesive whole. Obviously, as you bring other perspectives (readings and texts) into your writing, you’re combining the work and words of others with your own original ideas. However, you should be strategic in the choices that you make–not every author needs to be quoted directly, not every passage of text needs to have every word or phrase quoted directly, and not every source will contribute multiple quotes or paraphrases to your essay. That’s why we like the analogy of a sculptor at this point in the writing process. Now that you’ve collected the raw material you need to support your argument through thorough research, it’s time to shape it carefully and deliberately so that it combines with your own writing to create an appealing experience for your reader. On to the sculpting!

When to Paraphrase:

• When you need to communicate the main idea of a source, but the details are not relevant/important
• When the source isn’t important enough to take up significant space
• Any time you feel like you can state what the source claims more concisely or clearly
• Any time you think you can state what the source claims in a way that’s more appealing to the reader

When to quote directly:

• When incorporating an influential or significant voice into your essay
• The words themselves clearly back up your claims, and come from a good authority
• The words are unique/original, and already clearly express your key concepts in a compelling or interesting way
• There’s no better way to present those main ideas to the reader than how the original author has stated them
• When engaging with a source that disagrees with you, so you can state the argument fairly

A note on “cherry-picking” :   Cherry-picking is a pejorative term that refers to writers using quotes or paraphrases to support their own argument, even though the source would likely disagree with how their words or ideas are being used. Responsible academic writing means presenting evidence in a context that’s consistent and appropriate with the source’s original use of the quote or paraphrase.

Placing Direct Quotes in Your Essay

Here’s a helpful acronym that will remind you of the steps to take to most effectively incorporate direct quotations into your argument: I.C.E  (Introduce, Cite, Explain). I’ll use it as a verb to remind myself when constructing a paragraph: “Did I make sure to ICE my quotes?” 

Image: Ice, Ice, baby; Pexels , CC0

I ntroduce:

Introduce the quote before providing it. Sometimes this is as simple as “Author X states” or some variation of that phrase. If it’s the first time you’re quoting an author, it’s a good idea to give the author’s full name, but you can rely on the surname in subsequent quotations. If there is context you’d like the reader to know about source, it’s generally wise to provide that before the quote, as part of its introduction. Avoid using “says” when introducing quotations unless you are citing a speech, interview, or other spoken text; “writes,” “states,” “explains,” “argues,” etc. are better options.

C ite: 

Every style (MLA, APA, Chicago) has different formats for citations, but anything that isn’t common knowledge–whether you’re directly quoting or paraphrasing, must come with a citation. We’re using MLA format in this class, so make sure you understand the rules of MLA Citations and Formatting.

Example: In the “Higher Laws” chapter of Walden , Henry David Thoreau seems to become despondent over his inability to overcome what he calls “this slimy beastly life” (148).

(For reference, the introduction of the quote is underlined, while the citation is bolded; you won’t do this when you actually cite. If you introduce a quote by using the author’s name, you only need to provide the page number where the quote can be found. Otherwise, their last name will also need to appear in the citation.)

You should always take time to explain quotations, paraphrases, and other types of evidence that you include. Readers look for your analysis of evidence in academic writing, and without it, a reader may draw different conclusions about the relationship between evidence and claim than you do. This is why the basic format for making an argument in academic writing is claim –> evidence to support claim –> reasons why you think the evidence supports the claim.

The Explanation of a quote or paraphrase is where you’re showing the reader your critical thinking, analytical skills, and ability to present your original ideas clearly and concisely. It is the part of the essay where you’re really presenting your original ideas and perspectives on a topic–that makes it very important!

Template for a Paragraph with Direct Quotes

As you read the following example, note where we are introducing, citing, and explaining the quote. .

Example : As I argue above, Thoreau is burdened by the implications of his animal appetites, of the intrinsic sensuality of living in the material world. However, Thoreau’s own language may be creating a heavier burden than he realizes. In Philosophy of Literary Form , Kenneth Burke writes: “. . .if you look for a man’s burden , you will find the principle that reveals the structure of his unburdening; or, in attenuated form, if you look for his problem, you find the lead that explains the structure of his solution” (92, emphasis in original). As this quote suggests, Burke believes that the answer to the problem often lies in the way that the problem is presented by the author or poet. His description of life as “beastly” and “slimy” is an ironic reframing of similar natural elements as those that brought him to Walden Pond in the first place. Thoreau’s choice of terminology to describe something results in the shifting of his attention and priorities.

To think about how I’m structuring this body paragraph, let’s break it down into its constituent parts:

• Topic sentence : As I argued above, Thoreau is burdened by the implications of his animal appetites, of the intrinsic sensuality of living in the material world. This is what the paragraph will be about–Thoreau’s burdens–and I’m telling the reader in one quick phrase how this connects to another part of the essay.
• Paragraph’s Main Claim: However, Thoreau’s own language may be creating a heavier burden than he realizes.  This is the main claim I’m making to my reader and is what the rest of the paragraph needs to focus on supporting with evidence and my own analysis. Each paragraph should generally only have one main claim so the reader can stay focused on the argument at hand.
• The Evidence: In  Philosophy of Literary Form , Kenneth Burke writes: “. . .if you look for a man’s burden , you will find the principle that reveals the structure of his unburdening; or, in attenuated form, if you look for his problem, you find the lead that explains the structure of his solution” (92, emphasis his). Whether a direct quote or a paraphrase or both, there should be evidence of some sort in all of your body paragraphs (and sometimes in your intro and conclusion, too). It should clearly support the main claim and be cited, whether a quote or a paraphrase. Note that this evidence has the “I” and the “C” of ICE. The next step has the “E.”
• The Explanation: As this quote suggests, Burke believes that the answer to the problem often lies in the way that the problem is presented by the author or poet. His description of life as “beastly” and “slimy” is an ironic reframing of similar natural elements as those that brought him to Walden Pond in the first place.  As mentioned above, this is arguably the most critical part of the paragraph. Depending on the evidence and your audience, your explanation might need to summarize the quote in your own words (if it’s complex), but it absolutely needs to analyze the evidence (quote or paraphrase) and explain its relevance or connection to the main claim of the paragraph. It may take one sentence, it may take several. 
• The Concluding Sentence: Thoreau’s choice of terminology to describe something results in the shifting of his attention and priorities. Like a conclusion paragraph, this final sentence summarizes the main take-away for the reader of that paragraph its located within.

These parts of the paragraph should be present in any standard body paragraph, but besides the topic and concluding sentences, the other elements can actually be re-ordered (evidence can come before the main claim, if it’s clear which is which!). Use signal phrases and transitions to help guide the reader so they know the purpose of each of your sentences.

A Note on Direct Quotes and Syntax

Quotes (and this can be tricky!) have to be integrated into the correct syntax of your sentences , which may occasionally mean adding a word or clarifying a pronoun. Syntax refers to the ordering of words and expressions within a sentence.  Brackets [ ] are useful for maintaining a smooth flow in the syntax of a sentence while integrating a quotation. Brackets are a signal to the reader that you are inserting a word or phrase into into a quotation for the purposes of clarity and correct syntax.

Example : Buell claims that “[Thoreau’s] point was not that we should turn our backs on nature but that we must imagine the ulterior benefits of the original turn to nature in the spirit of economy, both fiscal and ethical” (392).

Pro Tip : Here is what happens to your reader’s attention and understanding of your argument when you don’t match a direct quote’s syntax with the rest of the sentence that you’re placing it into:

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Quotations must be identical to the original, using a narrow segment of the source. They must match the source document word for word and must be attributed to the original author.

Paraphrasing involves putting a passage from source material into your own words. A paraphrase must also be attributed to the original source. Paraphrased material is usually shorter than the original passage, taking a somewhat broader segment of the source and condensing it slightly.

Summarizing involves putting the main idea(s) into your own words, including only the main point(s). Once again, it is necessary to attribute summarized ideas to the original source. Summaries are significantly shorter than the original and take a broad overview of the source material

Why use quotations, paraphrases, and summaries?

Quotations, paraphrases, and summaries serve many purposes. You might use them to:

• Provide support for claims or add credibility to your writing
• Refer to work that leads up to the work you are now doing
• Give examples of several points of view on a subject
• Call attention to a position that you wish to agree or disagree with
• Highlight a particularly striking phrase, sentence, or passage by quoting the original
• Distance yourself from the original by quoting it in order to cue readers that the words are not your own
• Expand the breadth or depth of your writing

When Do I Give Credit to a Source?

Give credit to your source in all of the following situations:

• You directly quote a source. 
• You borrow an idea from a source.
• You paraphrase or summarize a source.
• If you gain information from interviewing a person or from a class lecture.
• When you use diagrams, illustrations, or other images that you did not create yourself.
• Radio broadcasts, movies, podcasts.
• Things that are not common knowledge. Always err on the safe side                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        

Is there anything I don't need to cite?

You do not need to cite any of the following types of information:

• Your own ideas and experiences.
• Common knowledge. Be careful here. If you're in doubt, cite it.
• Results of lab experiments that you gathered yourself.
• Your own artwork, illustrations, diagrams, etc.
• Generally accepted facts: eating too much will make you gain weight, sugar causes cavities

Adapted from Purdue OWL    https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/

from EasyBib (http://content.easybib.com/students/research-guide/what-is-plagiarism/)

© Copyright 2014. Scholar Space is a division of  Imagine Easy Solutions.

Take a look at how each form might be used to include information from an original passage:

Oppression in the lives of mothers who are homeless with mental illness perpetuates barriers to health, and serves as a source of emotional distress and social exclusion.  from Benbow S and C. Forchuk (2011) Mothers with Mental Illness Experiencing Homelessness: a Critical Analysis. Journal of Psychiatric and Mental Health Nursing 18, 687– 695

Quotation with proper citation:

Researcher S. Benbow says, “Oppression in the lives of mothers who are homeless with mental illness perpetuates barriers to health, and serves as a source of emotional distress and social exclusion,” (689).

Using a Thesaurus?

Selecting a key word and substituting a word from the thesaurus does not mean you haven’t plagiarized.   Using a thesaurus effectively comes down to how well you know the nuance of language and how well you really understand the original quote.  

Without proper attribution, the example below is still plagiarism and unclear plagiarism at that…

Oppression in the lives of mothers who are homeless with insanity continues barriers to health, and serves as a source of emotional pain and social segregation.

Paraphrase with proper citation:

A cycle of “emotional distress”, isolation and a lack of access to health services is too often the result for mentally ill mothers who are also homeless, according to researchers Benbow and Forchuk (689).

Summary with proper citation:

Mothers who are both homeless and mentally ill often face a multitude of oppressive consequences according to researchers Benbow and Forchuk. (689).

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Paraphrasing, quoting and summarising: Paraphrasing example

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Example of paraphrasing

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Identifying & Using Scholarly Sources

• Scholarly vs Web Resources
• Source Exercise
• Putting Your Sources to Work
• Quoting, Paraphrasing & Summarizing
• Citation Help
• Paper Formatting Tips

Integrating Sources into Your Paper

Integrating sources into a paper can be challenging. How much of a source do you use? When should you use quotation marks? It is important to remember that you are the author of a paper, so sources are properly used to back up your own arguments, not state an argument in themselves, so how you use them depends on the structure of your paper and your argument.

Here is a paragraph from a scholarly article:

These results suggest that morning people, or early chronotypes—as measured on the morningness–eveningness continuum are more proactive than are evening types. Additionally, the misalignment of social and biological time, as assessed by the difference between rise times on weekdays and on free days, correlated with proactivity, suggesting that people with a high misalignment of social and biological time may be less able to act in a proactive manner, probably because of sleep delay. Their biological schedules seem not to fit neatly into social demands (e.g., school, university, work schedules) as do those of less misaligned people.

Randler, Christoph. "Proactive People are Morning People."  Journal of Applied Social Psychology  39, no. 12 (December 2009): 2787-2797. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1559-1816.2009.00549.x.

See examples of how to quote, paraphrase and summarize this paragraph below:

• Paraphrasing
• Summarizing
• Use Quotation when you are repeating something from a source exactly  word for word .
• You should use quotation marks  even if you are only taking just a few words from a source .
• Quotes can help lend authority to an initial argument, but should not be relied upon too heavily in a paper. If you find yourself quoting an entire paragraph, a paraphrase or summary of that content may often be more appropriate.
• Quotes can and should be used when the original author’s wording is unusual, unique, or memorably states a point.

Examples using the paragraph above:

Randler states that late risers have “a high misalignment of social and biological time” which results in a mismatch between their natural schedules and the normal workday. 1

1. Christoph Randler, "Proactive People are Morning People,"  Journal of Applied Social Psychology  39, no. 12 (December 2009): 2793.

“People with a high misalignment of social and biological time may be less able to act in a proactive manner, probably because of sleep delay.” 2

2.   Randler, "Proactive People are Morning People," 2793.

Notice that there are two ways to incorporate a source:

• Single phrase  – using the author’s name in your own narrative, and then incorporating their idea or words into a sentence, like the first example above.
• Direct quotation  – Using the words or ideas of the source independently, like in the second example.
• Paraphrasing is taking the idea of a sentence or passage, and  putting it into your own words .
• Paraphrasing is NOT copying the sentence and replacing or changing a few words to be different from the original. (This is called “patchwriting” and may trigger plagiarism-detecting programs.)
• You should paraphrase when the idea or point is more important than the actual words used.
• You should paraphrase when the words are complex but the point is simple.
• Paraphrasing should remain faithful to the original meaning of the material.

Randler states that people who are naturally morning people often also display traits that are considered proactive. He also suggests that late risers may not show as many proactive traits because they naturally operate on a different sleep schedule. 1

People who are naturally morning people have been shown to also display traits that are considered proactive, and late risers display fewer of these traits because they don’t get enough sleep on days when they have to go to work or school. 2

• As with paraphrasing, summarize when the idea or point is more important than the actual words used.
• However, summary can also condense much more material – even an entire book or article.
• Summary can often lead into your own points on the material.

Recent research shows that people who are not naturally early risers often have persistent issues adjusting themselves to the morning-oriented schedule of most schools and workplaces, and because of this may be less proactive in their behaviors. 1

1. Christoph Randler, "Proactive People are Morning People,"  Journal of Applied Social Psychology  39, no. 12 (December 2009).

The natural alignment of sleep schedules to work and school schedules allows early risers to have more energy and display proactive traits, while people who are natural late risers, and thus often combating sleep delay in adhering to regular schedules, display fewer of these traits. 2

2.   Randler, "Proactive People are Morning People."

Notice that with a Summary we do not always have to include the page number as we are summarizing the findings from the whole study, rather than just a small part of it.

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Quoting, Paraphrasing, and Summarizing

Quoting means using exact words taken from another author/source. 

Paraphrasing means restating ideas from an outside source in precise detail , using your own words .

Summarizing means restating major ideas or conclusions from an outside source as concisely as possible in your own words .

Guidelines for Quoting Sources

Quoting a source means taking exact words from that source and using them in your own writing . 

Any time you quote another author, you need to format the quote in a way that makes it absolutely clear where the words taken from your source begin and end. This is usually accomplished by putting quotation marks around the other author’s words, as in this example:

The opening words of Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address, “Four score and seven years ago,” are so famous that Google Docs is programmed to autofill them as soon as one types the phrase “four score.”

It’s essential to use quotation marks any time you include words from an author in your own writing, even if the quotation is just a word or two long. There’s only one significant exception to this rule: with longer quotations, it’s sometimes appropriate to set the author’s words off in a block quote. For example:

In the opening of the Gettysburg Address, Lincoln places the end of the Civil War into the broader context of American History,

Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal. Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure.

Some documentation systems still require writers to use quotation marks for block quotes, but others, such as MLA Style, do not require this.

Most formal documentation systems require writers to include some kind of indicator at the end of each quotation, usually a parenthetical note or a footnote, that tells readers exactly where those words came from. We haven’t included such an indicator in the examples above because the source is clearly identified before the quote, and we consulted an online version of the Gettysburg Address, so there are no page numbers to cite. In such situations, MLA Style does not require a parenthetical note, but this might change in a formal class setting, depending on your instructor’s preferences and the documentation system they wish you to use.

Guidelines for Paraphrasing Sources

Paraphrasing a source means restating ideas from that source fully, in precise detail, using your own words . Paraphrasing is useful when you want to explore or engage the content of your source at length, but for some reason the original language would be difficult for your readers to understand. This might happen, for example, if your source includes a great deal of discipline-specific terminology and you’re writing to a general audience, or if the grammar of the original makes it difficult to integrate the author’s words coherently into your writing.

As with quotations, it’s important to let your readers know exactly when you begin and end a paraphrase. This can usually be accomplished by including a clear transition at the beginning of the paraphrase and a parenthetical note at the end. (See Example 2a below)

A good paraphrase will usually take roughly the same number of words as the original author did to express the same points. However, since a paraphrase is technically your writing, you cannot use words or phrases that come directly from your source. Thus, to write a paraphrase, you need to find a way to capture the complete meaning of your original source, using exclusively your own words.  

There are only two significant exceptions to this rule, and both relate to the use of terminology: 

Exception 1: When, in the passage you’re paraphrasing, an author uses specific terminology that is common and easily recognizable to your readers , and rephrasing it would alter the meaning of a passage (e.g. referring to a correlation as “statistically significant”), then it’s generally acceptable to use the author’s terminology in your paraphrase without placing it in quotation marks.

Exception 2: When, in the passage you’re paraphrasing, an author uses specific terminology of their own invention that it’s important for your readers to know or that it would be difficult to paraphrase without using, you can use the original author’s term in your paraphrase. Depending on the citation system you’re using and the preferences of your instructor, you may or may not need to put quotation marks around these terms the first time you use them. Either way, though, it should be absolutely clear from the context of your writing when you introduce a term from another author’s writing. (See Example 2b below)

Guidelines for Summarizing Sources

Summarizing means concisely restating the major ideas from a source in your own words . A good summary will convey the ideas from the source in as few words as possible without distorting those ideas or leaving out crucial information from the original context. Summaries are useful when you want to introduce substantial ideas or conclusions from another author into your own writing, but you don’t intend to engage those ideas or conclusions in depth.

Summaries generally present less of a challenge for writers than paraphrases, because they do not require you to restate the details and nuances of the original author’s ideas. However, writing summaries does create a certain amount of responsibility, as you’ll need to decide which ideas from your source should be included in your summary and which ideas can be left out. To be effective, a summary needs to present the source’s ideas in a way that serves the piece you are writing. To be ethical , though, a summary also needs to present these ideas without distorting or altering the original’s author’s meaning or leaving out essential pieces of context. 

Once again, it’s essential for a writer to indicate when a summary begins and ends, as well as to clearly identify the source being summarized. The methods for this are the same as with a paraphrase: include a clear transition at the beginning of the summary and either a notation or another clear transition at the end. (See Example 3a below.)

The rules for using terminology in a summary are the same as with a paraphrase: Whenever possible, a summary should be written entirely with your own words. However, if an author uses common terminology that is integral to the ideas you’re summarizing and that you anticipate your readers will be familiar with, it’s okay to use those terms in your summary without quotation marks . Conversely, when an author uses terms of their own invention that are integral to the ideas you’re summarizing, then you may use those terms as well, as long as you clearly indicate with your language (and, if your instructor requires it, with quotation marks) which terms come directly from your author.  

Examples and Common Mistakes

Quotation examples.

Note: We’ve alternated between MLA and APA styles in the examples below because these are two of the most common documentation systems used in academic writing and also the easiest to reproduce on a webpage.  They are far from the only systems, though, so make sure to follow the rules for the citation system assigned by your instructor for a given assignment.

Original Text:

“As efforts are focused on curbing the spread of COVID-19, essential services such as access to sexual and reproductive health services have been disrupted. According to preliminary data, in Zimbabwe, the number of caesarean sections performed decreased by 42% between January and April 2020 compared with the same period in 2019. The number of live births in health facilities fell by 21%, while new clients on combined birth control pills dropped by 90%. In Burundi, initial statistics show that births with skilled attendants fell to 4749 in April 2020 from 30, 826 in April 2019.” From the article “ WHO Concerned Over COVID-19 Impact on Women, Girls in Africa ,” published by the World Health Organization on June 18, 2020.

Example 1a: Appropriate Quotation (MLA Style)

The COVID-19 pandemic significantly affected reproductive health care in parts of Africa. For example, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), “in Zimbabwe, the number of caesarean sections performed decreased by 42% between January and April 2020 compared with the same period in 2019. The number of live births in health facilities fell by 21%, while new clients on combined birth control pills dropped by 90%.”

In the paragraph above, the author clearly indicates when their ideas end and the quote begins. Note that, since they identify the source of the quote beforehand and this is an online source with no page numbers, MLA style does not require any kind of parenthetical note at the end of the quotation.

Example 1b: Appropriate Quotation (APA Style)

In Africa, the COVID-19 pandemic made it more difficult for many women to access basic medical care. The World Health Organization noted on their website in June of 2020, “As efforts are focused on curbing the spread of COVID, essential services such as access to sexual and reproductive health services have been disrupted” (WHO, 2020).

Once again, the author clearly indicates where their words and and the words from their source begin. Since they’re using APA style, they also include a parenthetical note at the end, indicating the author of their source and the year it was published.

Example 1c: Inappropriate Quotation (Distorts Original Meaning)

In June of 2020, the World Health Organization called the world’s attention to a crisis in Africa, arguing that, “essential services… have been disrupted.”

In the quotation above, the author uses a handful of words taken out of context to imply conclusions that are not in the original article. The WHO article never calls the health care situation in Africa a “crisis” or anything similar, but the author’s introduction to the quote suggests that it does. Furthermore, the article focuses exclusively on services related to reproductive health care, but the author has deliberately cut out any words indicating this, which makes it appear that all essential services have been disrupted. This may or may not be true, but either way it’s not a conclusion this article supports.

Example 1d: Inappropriate Quotation (Text Not Fully in Quotation Marks)

In June of 2020, the World Health Organization reported that access to sexual and reproductive health services had been disrupted in parts of Africa. “According to preliminary data, in Zimbabwe, the number of caesarean sections performed decreased by 42% between January and April 2020 compared with the same period in 2019” (WHO, 2020).

In the quotation above the author uses language directly from the original article (“access to sexual and reproductive health services have been disrupted”) without putting these words in quotation marks. This means that the author has not fully documented the WHO article’s contribution to their essay.

Example 1e: Inappropriate Quotation (Source Not Clearly Identified)

In June of 2020, it was reported that “access to sexual and reproductive health services have been disrupted” in parts of Africa.

In this case, the author puts all words from the original in quotation marks, but does not clearly identify the source. Readers therefore know that these words come from another author, but do not know who the author is (no pun intended).

Paraphrase Examples

Original Text: 

From “ A Modest Proposal… ” by Jonathan Swift (1729), reprinted by Project Gutenberg

“It is a melancholy object to those, who walk through this great town, or travel in the country, when they see the streets, the roads, and cabbin-doors crowded with beggars of the female sex, followed by three, four, or six children, all in rags, and importuning every passenger for an alms. These mothers, instead of being able to work for their honest livelihood, are forced to employ all their time in stroling to beg sustenance for their helpless infants who, as they grow up, either turn thieves for want of work, or leave their dear native country, to fight for the Pretender in Spain, or sell themselves to the Barbadoes.” From “ A Modest Proposal… ” by Jonathan Swift (1729), reprinted by Project Gutenberg

Example 2a: Appropriate Paraphrase (MLA Format)

In the first paragraph of his satirical essay, “A Modest Proposal…,” Jonathan Swift seems to affirm the sensibilities of his upper-class London readers: Swift’s narrator notes how sad it is for people to walk through London or journey through rural areas to see women who are surrounded by multiple children and begging every passerby for money. The narrator goes on to lament that these women are forced to spend their time begging, rather than getting more respectable employment, in order to feed their children. The narrator speculates that this same lack of jobs will affect the children as they get older, forcing them to become thieves or to leave England all together, possibly joining the rebel forces of King James or emigrating to the Americas. By engaging his readers on their own terms in this way, Swift accomplishes several things…

In this example, the author clearly identifies the source they’ll be paraphrasing in the opening clause, and they use a colon to indicate exactly where the paraphrase begins. The paraphrase itself rephrases Swift’s opening paragraph in close detail, using almost as many words as the original passage. However, by expressing Swift’s ideas in more modern language, the reader makes the passage more accessible to readers who might have trouble understanding Swift’s dense eighteenth-century writing style.

Once again, note that since the author identifies their source fully before the paraphrase, and the text they’re using is an online version with no page numbers, MLA Style does not require any kind of parenthetical note at the end of the paraphrase. However, the author’s transitional phrase (“By engaging his readers on their own terms…”) serves as a clear signal that the paraphrase is over and the author has moved on to their own analysis of Swift’s writing.

Example 2b: Appropriate Paraphrase (APA Style)

Swift opens his satirical essay, “A Modest Proposal…” by seeming to affirm the sensibilities of his upper-class London readers: Swift’s narrator notes how sad it is for people to walk through London or journey through rural areas to see “beggars of the female sex” who are surrounded by multiple children and begging every passesby for money. The narrator goes on to lament that these women are forced to spend their time begging, rather than pursuing an “honest livelihood,” to feed their children. The narrator speculates that this same lack of jobs will affect the children as they get older, forcing them to become thieves or to leave England all together, possibly joining the rebel forces of King James or or emigrating to the Americas (Swift, 1729).

This paraphrase is almost identical to Example 2a, but in this case the author has used a few of Swift’s own phrases in their paraphrase, using quotation marks to indicate which words come straight from the original source. This gives modern readers some sense of Swift’s distinct writing style and the way he engages the sensibilities of the readers in his time, while still making the passage accessible to modern readers. Also, note that in this case, the author has used an APA Style parenthetical note to indicate where the paraphrase ends.

Example 2c: Inappropriate Paraphrase (Mosaic Plagiarism)

At the beginning of “A Modest Proposal,” Jonathan Swift’s narrator describes the melancholy sight of seeing women begging throughout London and the surrounding countryside, sometimes surrounded by three, four, or six children, all in rags. The narrator goes on to say that these women are begging because widespread poverty has deprived them of an honest livelihood, and that their children will most likely grow up to be thieves or be forced to leave England forever (Swift, 1729).

This paraphrase suffers from “mosaic plagiarism,” which is when an author mixes their own words with occasional words or phrases from an outside source and offers no clear indication of this. In this case, the author uses some individual words (“melancholy”) and some longer phrases (“three, four, or six children, all in rags”) from Swift’s passage, but doesn’t place this borrowed language in quotation marks. The opening phrase and the citation at the end at least make it clear that the author is paraphrasing, but the lack of quotation marks still mean that the author has used Swift’s language in place of their own without giving Swift proper credit.

Example 2d: Inappropriate Paraphrase (Unclear Transitions)

At first, Swift panders to his readers in “A Modest Proposal…”. He suggests that it’s a sad experience to walk through London or the English countryside and see women begging, surrounded by children. All this begging must be the result of systemic property, because these women can’t get a reputable job and have no choice but to beg. Perhaps their children will grow up to be thieves, rebels, or emigrants. Surely a solution must be found, one that can remove all these poor people from upper-class eyes and make them useful members of society.

In this paraphrase, it’s difficult to tell when the author is paraphrasing ideas directly from Swift and when they’re commenting on Swift’s ideas or mixing them with their own. So, for instance, if you didn’t have access to Swift’s text you might wonder if Swift speculated that children of poor people might become “thieves, rebels, or emigrants,” or if that’s the essay author’s speculation. Conversely, you might assume that Swift suggests that something needs to be done to “remove all these poor people from upper-class eyes” in his opening paragraph, when in fact that’s not part of the original passage.

Summary Examples

The article “Your coping and resilience strategies might need to shift as the COVID-19 crisis continues” by Craig Polizzi and Steven Jay Lynn. Published on the website The Conversation in 2020.

Note: Since summaries, by definition, condense large amounts of text via concise phrasing, it’s not practical to copy the original text here. You can follow the link article, though, if it helps you to understand the examples below.

Example 3a: Appropriate Summary (APA Style)

Psychologists Craig Polizzi and Steven Jay Lynn note that individuals might need to change their coping strategies as the COVID-19 pandemic continues. Three particular strategies they recommend are “cognitive reappraisal,” “problem-focused coping,” and “cultivating compassion and lovingkindness” (Polizzi and Lynn, 2020).

In this example, the author concisely summarizes the overall argument of Polizzi and Lynn’s article. They put the names for Polizzi and Lynn’s three coping strategies in quotation marks–it’s entirely possible that Polizzi and Lynn did not invent these terms, but even so, they’re not commonly recognized terms, so it’s appropriate to note that they came straight from the article. On the other hand, the term “coping strategies” is also used by Polizzi and Lynn throughout their article (including the title), but this is an extremely common psychological term, and thus it’s not necessary for the author to place it in quotation marks.

Example 3b: Inappropriate Summary (Distorts Original Meaning)

Psychologists Craig Polizzi and Steven Jay Lynn argue that if everyone simply practiced “cognitive reappraisal,” “problem-focused coping,” and “cultivating compassion and lovingkindness,” the psychological effects of the pandemic would be minimal (Polizzi and Lynn, 2020).

The wording of this summary significantly distorts Polizzi and Lynn’s argument. Though they do suggest that these three strategies can help people cope, they never suggest that the strategies will work for everyone, nor do they suggest that these strategies alone can minimize the effects of a global pandemic. Presumably, this author is trying to emphasize Polizzi and Lynn’s claims in order to support a point of their own, but summarizing a source in a way that changes its original meaning is unethical and, if readers discover the distortion, makes the author’s argument appear weaker rather than stronger.

Example 3c: Inappropriate Summary (Unclear Transitions)

Psychologists have argued that, as the global pandemic stretches on, individuals will face new types of stress. In light of these new stresses, it’s prudent for everyone to employ a variety of coping strategies to maintain self-care and build resilience. Three potentially useful strategies are “cognitive reappraisal,” “problem-focused coping,” and “cultivating compassion and lovingkindness.” (Polizzi and Lynn, 2020).

This summary does not clearly signal where their ideas end and the summary of Polizzi and Lynn begins. Did Polizzi and Lynn suggest that the ongoing pandemic will require people to adopt new coping strategies, or did they just describe the practices of “cognitive reappraisal,” “problem-focused coping,” and “cultivating compassion and lovingkindness,” and the author connected these ideas to the pandemic themselves? The citation at the end indicates where the summary stops, but without a clear beginning point, it’s impossible to tell for certain how Polizzi and Lynn contributed to this paragraph.