Quoting, Paraphrasing and Summarizing: An Overview

When conducting research and generating a research paper, students must be able to use and attribute source material properly. Only ideas that are their own do students not have to worry about attributing; otherwise they must use the skills of quoting, paraphrasing and summarizing in order to avoid plagiarism.

These are the three ways to incorporate other writers’ work into your own writing…

Adapted from: The Purdue OWL Reference Guide

What are the differences? Quoting

Must be identical to the original; must match the source document word for word

Paraphrasing Putting a passage from source material into your

own words. Usually shorter than original passage Summarizing

Putting the main idea(s) of a passage or source into your own words. Are significantly shorter than original material

All must attribute original source.

Why use quotations, paraphrases and summaries?

They provide support for claims Add credibility to writing Provides examples of points of view

on a subject Expand the breadth and depth of

writing Highlight striking information or

passage by quoting original material Writers often intertwine these skills

Steps to follow: Read the entire text

Note key points and main ideas Summarize in your own words what

the single main idea is Paraphrase important supporting

points that come up Consider any words, phrases, or brief

passages that you feel should be quoted directly

Some Examples to Compare: Original Passage:

Students frequently overuse direct quotations in taking notes, and as a result they overuse quotations in the final [research] paper. Probably only about 10% of your final manuscript should appear as quoted matter. Therefore, you should strive to limit the amount of exact transcribing of source materials while taking notes. Lester, James D. Writing Research Papers. 2nd ed. (1976): 46-47.

Acceptable Summary: Students should just take a

few notes in direct quotation from sources to help minimize the amount of quoted material in a research paper (Lester 46-47).

Legitimate Paraphrase:

In research papers students often quote excessively, failing to keep quoted material down to a desirable level. Since the problem usually originates during note-taking, it is essential to minimize the material recorded verbatim. (Lester 46-47).

A Plagiarized Version:

Students often use too many direct quotations when they take notes, resulting in too many of them in the final research paper. In fact, probably only about 10% of the final copy should consist of directly quoted material. So it is important to limit the amount of source material copied while taking notes.

Source Cards For each

source you have (5 minimum), you must have a source card that follows this format.

Use green cards

Note Cards: Once you have

completed your source cards, you may begin to take notes from your sources

15 total cards Use direct

quotations, paraphrases, and summaries

Use this format: