Quoting, Summarizing, & Paraphrasing

When writing a research paper, you will be asked to include support for
your arguments using sources such as books or journal articles. In order to refer
to information from these sources you can (1) quote exact words, (2) paraphrase
specific ideas, or (3) summarize the entire work. Deciding which of these three
options for referencing a source should be applied depends on the information
being used, its length and clarity, and your purpose for including it.

Direct Quoting

Quoting a source means using a source’s exact words to convey its point.
Quotations are most useful in situations when the author’s exact wording is
important, or when you feel that the author’s wording is clear and concise; that
is, it does not need to be significantly shortened/summarized or
clarified/paraphrased by rewording.

How to avoid plagiarism when quoting

• Be sure to consider the context of the quotation; choosing only to quote a

sentence fragment may distort the meaning of the passage quoted. Be true
to the author’s intent; any other approach is dishonest.
• Always indicate a quotation by using quotation marks around the
borrowed passage. This indicates the words are not your own. If you are
quoting a longer passage, you will generally use a block quotation format
rather than quotation marks. Check the formatting guidelines for the style
that you are using.
• Ensure that the passage that you quote corresponds exactly with the
wording, spelling, and punctuation of the original; any changes that you

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 make to the quotation must be signaled by using ellipsis dots or square
brackets.
• Always follow a direct quotation with a parenthetical reference or a
footnote that shows its source. Most documentation styles require that
you include a page number in a reference to a direct quotation.

Making Changes to Quotations

At times you may want to shorten a quotation by removing words from it

or change part of a quotation to clarify it or to make it fit into your sentence
grammatically. Ellipses and square brackets allow you to make these changes.

Ellipses

Use ellipses dots wherever you take words out of the middle of a
quotation. If you omit words within the same sentences use three ellipses dots
and put spaces between each.

For example: “Previous fossil discoveries there…include trilobites of

middle Cambrian age” (Smith, 2010, p.12).

If you omit words that occur between two different sentences, use four
ellipses dots. The fourth dot stands in for the period you have removed.

For example: Bedford was well known and appreciated for his ability to
engage his audiences. . . . Michael Sindell’s review of The School for Wives
describes the energy and flair of Bedford’s work” (Mankad, 2010, p.18).

You do not need to use ellipses to remove words at the beginning or end
of a quotation.

Square Brackets
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 Use square brackets if you wish to insert a word or explanation into a
direct quotation.

For example: “The task [of the commission] is to investigate the alleged
illegal activities of the RCMP” (Jones, 2009, p.301).

Use square brackets to make a change to a quotation that allows it to fit

into your sentence grammatically. This could be changing the tense of a verb or
changing the first letter of a quotation to lower case.

For example: She stresses that "[i]n modern Western culture, much
emphasis is placed on body image” (Walcott, 2011, p.12).

Documenting Sources

When to Cite and What to Cite

No matter what your essay topic, you are not necessarily expected to
uncover previously unknown information about it, but instead to contemplate
knowledge already available and write about it in a way that gives it new
meaning.

Because essays do synthesize knowledge and viewpoints of others,

documentation; that's, acknowledging the source of information obtained,
performs an important function in essay writing. The need to avoid plagiarism is
only one of several reasons for documenting the sources of your evidence and
ideas. The others are the desire to establish the reliability of the evidence you
present and to provide the interested reader with the references needed to read
more on the subject.

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 Most geographers, for example, know that water temperature differs
among the five Great Lakes, but only a few might be familiar with the causes of
these differences. If facts about the causes were included in an essay, other
geographers would want to know who determined these causes in order to judge
the reliability of the information provided and to inspect the research for
themselves. Furthermore, particular sources must be given credit for concepts
and opinions. When in doubt, provide a reference: you will never be penalized
for providing too many (although you might be advised to avoid over-citing in
future papers).

Paraphrasing & Summarizing

Summarizing – means rewriting something in your own words but

shortening it by stating only the main idea and the supporting points you need
for your purposes. A summary can be just one sentence or it can be much
longer, depending on whether you are presenting a broad overview or a more
thorough outline. Its length also depends on how detailed the original text is.

Paraphrasing – means rewriting something in your own words, giving

the same level of detail as the source and at roughly the same length as the
original. You may choose to include details, descriptive accounts, or
explanations in order to clarify and simplify the ideas of the original text.

Why paraphrasing or summarizing

• To provide support to your own ideas

• To give reasons for why you agree or disagree with something
• To give depth to your writing
• To refer to something that led to your ideas
• To give a point of view that is different from yours
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 • To give an example of different points of view on a subject
• To call attention to a position that you wish to agree or disagree with

These same reasons for paraphrasing and summarizing are the cause of
the confusion between them. So what is the difference then? A summary is
always shorter than the original since the idea is to include only the main points
of the original work and to leave out the irrelevant. A summary is usually one-
third the size of the original. On the other hand, a paraphrase can be

• longer than the original passage if the words are abstract and need to be
explained, or the ideas are complex and need to be elaborated.
• shorter than the original passage if the original is full of details and
explanations which don not need to be mentioned or repeated in the
paraphrase.
• of the same size like the original passage.

Paraphrase when

• You want to use another writer's words without plagiarizing

• You want to use another writer's words without the use of quotes
• The ideas of the other writer are more important than his/her own style
• The words of the writer are abstract; his style, language, or structures are
too difficult for your reader to understand and need to be explained and
elaborated in more simple, clearer words.

Summarize when

• You want to use another writer's words without plagiarizing

• You want to use another writer's words without the use of quotes
• The ideas of the other writer are more important than his/her own style
• You want to identify only the main ideas of the writer
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 • You want to give an overview of the topic from several sources
• You want to simplify a complex argument by putting what is said in so
many words in few ones.
• You want to condense the matter to suit the space required in your
research.

Paraphrasing or summarizing may include

• Replacing difficult words or phrases with words the student

understands
• Rewriting lengthy or complex sentences into simpler sentences, or
combining simple sentences into more interesting complex sentences
• Explaining concepts and abstract ideas used in the original passage
with clearer and more concise words.
• Translating ideas and information into students own words

To make your paraphrase or summary meaningful and purposeful, make sure

that you

• Simplify what is complicated

• Exemplify what is abstract
• Explain what is difficult
• Clarify what is ambiguous
• Reduce so many unnecessary details into few ones
• Avoid plagiarism by
1. Using your own language, structure, and style
2. Crediting the ideas to the originator

How do I write a summary & paraphrase?

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 The choice between summarizing and paraphrasing depends on how
much detail from the source you need for your paper. When you need the
source’s main argument and/or supporting points, summarize. Or, you may
summarize a section or part of a source, by identifying the section’s main point
or idea. When you want all the details from a particular passage or section of a
source, paraphrase. (Don’t try to paraphrase an entire source.)

Whether you decide to summarize or paraphrase a source, the process is

similar. You just can’t cut and paste a chunk of text into your essay draft and
then change a few words here and there. You will remain too close to the
source’s organization, sentence structure and phrasing. Instead follow these
steps:

Step One: Skim the Source

Read and understand the text carefully. Think about the purpose of the
text. Skim it to determine what you need from it: its argument, a specific
supporting point, and/or particular evidence. Identify exactly what information
you want to include into your paper. This decision will help you decide how
detailed your notes about this source should be. The following notes may be
useful:

• Read and understand the text carefully.

• Think about the purpose of the text.
• Find the main ideas. They may be found in the topic sentence.
• In case of a summary distinguish between main and subsidiary
information. Delete most details and examples, unimportant
information, anecdotes, examples, illustrations, data etc.

Step Two: Take Point-Form Notes

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 For a summary, the notes will focus on the main points of a reading. For a
paraphrase, the notes will be more detailed and extensive. Either way, taking
notes is an acquired skill and takes practice.

The note-taker first identifies the main point of the passage. The notes are
in point-form: the reason for not writing out full sentences is to break the
connection with the original’s sentence structure. The note-taker also
occasionally inserts questions for further analysis or follow-up. Doing all of
these things filters the information and ideas of the source through the note-
taker’s own understanding.

If, instead of paraphrasing, you make the decision to summarize the

passage, the notes would include only the major points of the passage.

Step Three: Close or Put Away the Source

This is a fairly self-explanatory step, but the point is that when you try to
write about the information you have learned from this source, you do so
without the source in front of you.

Step Four: Turn Your Point-Form Notes into Sentences

How to do this? Keep in mind that both paraphrasing and summarizing

are about showing that you have internalized what you have read to the point
where you can say it yourself. So, read over your notes two or three times, put
those out of sight too, and, perhaps pretending you are explaining what you
have just read to a fellow student or your instructor, write either your
paraphrase/summary. Remember that, for a summary all you have to do is
convey the main point and key supporting points of the passage, not the details.
The following notes may be helpful:

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 • You need to make clear where the information and arguments
come from, so it can be a good idea to start off with the author’s or
authors’ name(s).
• Find alternative words/phrases for those of the original text. Do not
change specialized words or common ones.
• Change the structure of the original text by identifying the meaning
relationships between words/ideas. Express these relationships in a
different way.
• Change the grammar of the text: rearrange words and sentences.
Change nouns to verbs, adjectives to adverbs, etc., break up long
sentences, or combine short sentences.
• Simplify the text. In case of writing a paraphrase, explain abstract
ideas and elaborate complex concepts. In case of writing a
summary, reduce complex sentences to simple sentences, simple
sentences to phrases, and phrases to single words.
• Rewrite the main ideas into complete sentences. Combine your
notes into a piece of continuous writing. Use conjunctions and
transition signals to show the connections between the ideas.

Step Five: Check Your Work

• Make sure your purpose is clear.

• Make sure the meaning is the same.
• Make sure the style is your own.
• Remember to acknowledge other people's work.

Let's look at examples of legitimate and illegitimate paraphrasing and

summarizing. The original passage is from Oliver Sacks' essay "An
Anthropologist on Mars":
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 The cause of autism has also been a matter of dispute. Its incidence is
about one in a thousand, and it occurs throughout the world, its features
remarkably consistent even in extremely different cultures. It is often not
recognized in the first year of life but tends to become obvious in the second or
third year. Though Asperger regards it as a biological defect of affective
contact-innate, inborn, and analogous to a physical or intellectual defect-Kanner
tended to view it as a psychogenic disorder, a reflection of bad parenting, and
most especially of a chillingly remote, often professional "refrigerator mother".
At this time, autism was often regarded as defensive in nature, or confused with
childhood schizophrenia, a whole generation of parents, mothers particularly,
were made to feel guilty for the autism of their children.

What follows is an example of an illegitimate paraphrase:

The cause of the condition autism has been disputed. It occurs in

approximately one in a thousand children, and it exists in all parts of the world,
its characteristics strikingly similar in vastly differing cultures. The condition is
often not noticeable in the child's first year, yet it becomes more apparent as the
child reaches the age of two or three. Although Asperger saw the condition as a
biological defect of the emotions that was inborn and therefore similar to a
physical defect, Kanner saw it as psychological in origin, reflecting poor
parenting and particularly a frigidly, distant mother. During this period, autism
was often seen as a defense mechanism, or it was misdiagnosed as childhood
schizophrenia. An entire generation of mothers and fathers (but especially
mothers) were made to feel responsible for their offspring's autism (Sacks 247-
48).

Most of these sentences do little more than substitute one phrase for
another. An additional problem with this passage is that the only citation occurs

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at the very end of the last sentence in the paragraph. The reader might be misled
into thinking that the earlier sentences were not also indebted to Sacks' essay.

The following represents a legitimate paraphrase of the original passage:

In "An Anthropologist on Mars", Oliver Sacks lists some of the known

facts about autism. It is well-known, for example, that this condition occurs in
roughly one out of every thousand children. Moreover, the characteristics of
autism do not vary from one culture to another. It is similarly known that the
condition is difficult to diagnose until the child enters his second or third year.
As Sacks points out, often a child who goes on to develop autism will still
appear perfectly normal at the age of one (247).

Sacks observes, however, that researchers differed with regard to the

causes of autism. He sketches the diametrically opposed positions of Asperger
and Kanner. On the one hand, Asperger saw the condition as representing a
constitutional defect in the child's ability to make meaningful, emotional contact
with the external world. On the other hand, Kanner regarded autism as a
consequence of harmful childrearing practices. For many years, confusion about
this condition reigned. One unfortunate consequence of this confusion, Sacks
suggests, was the burden of guilt imposed on so many parents for their child's
condition (247-48).

Notice that this passage makes explicit right from the beginning that the
ideas belong to Sacks, and the passage's indebtedness to him is signaled in more
than one place. The single parenthetical note at the end of the paragraph is
therefore all the citation that is needed. The passage further adds an analytical
dimension to the paragraph: the passage does not just rewrite the points in
Sacks' passage but lays out the structure of his argument. Finally, you may have
noticed that not all the details from the original passage are included in the
paraphrase.
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The following represents a legitimate summary of the original passage:

In "An Anthropologist on Mars", Oliver Sacks notes that although there is

an agreement on the chief characteristics of autism, researchers have differed
considerably on its causes. As he points out, Asperger saw the condition as an
innate defect in the child's ability to connect with the external world, whereas
Kanner regarded it as a consequence of harmful childrearing practices (247-48).

More examples to compare:

• The original passage

Students frequently overuse direct quotation in taking notes; as a result,

they overuse quotations in the final research paper. Probably only about 10% of
your final manuscript should appear as directly 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.

• A plagiarized paraphrase:

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.

• A legitimate paraphrase

According to James Lester, students when writing research papers 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 (46-7).

• A legitimate summary
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 Students should take just a few notes in direct quotation from sources to
help minimize the amount of quoted material in a research paper (Lester 46-7).

Another example

The original passage

Below is a passage taken from Raymond S. Nickerson's "How We Know-and

Sometimes Misjudge-What Others Know: One's Own Knowledge to Others".
Psychological Bulletin, vol. 125. No. 6 (1999): p. 737.

In order to communicate effectively with other people, one must have a

reasonably accurate idea of what they know and do not know that is pertinent to
the communication. Treating people as though they have knowledge that they
do not have can result in miscommunication and perhaps embarrassment. On
the other hand, a fundamental rule of conversation is that one generally does not
convey to others information that one can assume they already have.

• A plagiarized summary

For effective communication, it is necessary to have a fairly accurate idea

of what our listeners know or do not know that is pertinent to the
communication. If we assume that people know something they do not, then
misconception and perhaps embarrassment my result (Nickerson, 1999).

The writer in this example has used too many of Nickerson's original
words and phrases such as "effective communication", "accurate idea", "know
or do not know", "pertinent", "misconception", and "embarrassment" . Also,
note that passage does not have an opening tag to indicate where the use of
Nickerson's material begins. A citation at the end of a paragraph is not sufficient
to indicate what is being credited to Nickerson.

• A legitimate summary

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 Raymond Nickerson (1999) suggests that effective communication
depends on a generally accurate knowledge of what the audience knows. If a
speaker assumes too much knowledge about the subject, the audience will either
misunderstand or be wildered (737).

Another example

The original text

"So That Nobody Has to Go to School If They Do not Want To" by Roger
Sipher

A decline in test scores is but the most recent indicator that American
education is in trouble. One reason for the crisis is that present mandatory-
attendance laws force many to attend school that have no wish to be there. Such
children have little desire to learn and are so antagonistic to school that neither
they nor more highly motivated students receive the quality education that is the
birthright of every American. The solution to this problem is simple: abolish
compulsory-attendance laws and allow only those who are committed to getting
an education to attend. Schools should be for education; at present, they are
only tangentially so. They have attempted to serve an all-encompassing social
function, trying to be all things to all people. In the process, they have failed
miserably at what they were originally formed to accomplish.

• A legitimate paraphrase

Roger Sipher discusses the problems American education faces due to the
insistence on compulsory attendance laws. He states that education is for those
who want to learn and by including those that do not want to learn, everyone
suffers.By getting rid of such laws, Sipher concludes, schools will be able to
fulfill their primary duty of education instead of trying uselessly to fulfill
multiple social functions.
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What about attempting to write a legitimate summary of the previous text?

• Simple examples of summarizing

1. People whose professional activity lies in the field of politics are not,
on the whole, conspicuous for their respect for factual accuracy.
(Politicians often lie).
2. Failure to assimilate an adequate quantity of solid food over an
extended period of time is absolutely certain to lead, in due course, to
a fatal conclusion. (Lack of food causes death).
3. The climatic conditions prevailing in the british Isles show a pattern of
alternating and unpredictable periods of dry and wet weather,
accompanied by a similarly irregular cycle of temperature changes.
(British weather is changeable)
4. It is undeniable that the large majority of non-native learners of
English experience a number of problems in attempting to master the
phonetic patterns of a language. (Many learners find English
pronunciation difficult).
5. Tea, whether of the China or Indian variety, is well known to be high
on the list of those beverages which are most frequently drunk by the
inhabitants of the British Isles. (The British drink a large amount of
tea).
6. It is common to encounter sentences which, though they contain aa
great number of words and are constructed in a highly complex way,
they turn out on inspection to convey very little meaning of any kind.
(Some long and complicated sentences mean very little).
7. One of the most noticeable phenomena in any big city, such as
London or Paris, is the steadily increasing number of petrol-driven
vehicles, some in private ownership, others belonging to the public

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transport system, which congest the roads and render rapid movement
more difficult year by year. (Big cities have growing traffic problems).

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 General Exercises

Attempt paraphrasing and summarizing the following passages:

• 1- From Joyce William's A Case Book of Family and Crime in the 1890s.

The rise of industry, the growth of cities, and the expansion of the
population were the three great developments of late nineteenth century
American History. As new, larger, steam-powered factories became a feature of
the American landscape in the East, they transformed farm hands into industrial
laborers, and provided jobs for a rising tide of immigrants. With industry came
urbanization and the growth of large cities like Fall River and Massachusetts
which became the centers of production as well as of commerce and trade.

• 2- From The Journey Home by Edward Abbey

Anyway—why go into the desert? Really, why do it? That sun, roaring at
you all day long. The little water holes slowly evaporating full of cannibal
beetles, toads, and worms. Those pink rattlesnakes down in The Canyon, those
crickets that scurry on dirty claws across your face at night. Why? . . . The rain
that comes down like lead shot, those sudden rock falls of obscure origin that
crash like thunder ten feet behind you in the heart of a dead-still afternoon. . .
.The ragweed, the tumbleweed, the Jimson weed, the snakeweed. The scorpion
in your shoe at dawn. The dreary wind that blows all spring. The last tin of tuna,
two flat tires, and not enough water.salt in the drinking water, salt, selenium,
arsenic, radon and radium in the water. …Why go there? Those places with the
hard names: Starvation Creek, Poverty Knoll, Hungry Valley, Bitter Springs,
Last Chance Canyon, Dungeon Canyon, dead Horse Point, Scorpion Flat, Dead
Man Draw, Stinking Spring, ...Death Valley. Well, then, why indeed go walking
into the desert, that grim ground, that bleak and lonesome land where, as
Genghis Khan said of India, “the heat is bad and the water makes men sick”?...
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Why the desert, when you could be strolling along the golden beaches of
California? Camping by a stream in colorful Colorado or North Carolina? Why
the desert, given a world of such splendor. "But there was nothing out there.
Nothing at all. Nothing but the desert. Nothing but the silent world. That's all".

• 3- From "World War II Battles: The Globe Afire" by Kennedy

Hickman

The battles of the Second World War were fought across the globe from the
fields of Western Europe and the Russian plains to the china and the waters of
the Pacific. Beginning in 1939, these battles caused massive destruction and
loss of life and elevated to prominence places that had previously been
unknown. As a result, names like Stalingrad, Bastogne, Guadalcanal, and Iwo
Jima became eternally entwined with images of sacrifice, bloodshed, and
heroism. The battles of WWII are largely divided into the European Theater
(Western Europe), Eastern Front, Mediterranean/North Africa Theatre, and the
Pacific Theatre. During WWII, between 22 and 26 million men were killed in
battles as each side fought for their chosen cause.

• 4- Adapted from The Social Function of Science by John D. Bernal

(1939).

The chief claim for the use of science in education is that it teaches a
child something about the actual universe in which he is living, in making him
acquainted with the results of scientific discovery, and at the same time teaches
him how to think logically and inductively by studying scientific method.

A certain limited success has been reached in the first of these aims, but
practically none at all in the second. . . . As to the learning of scientific method,
the whole thing is palpably a farce. Actually, for the convenience of teachers
and the requirements of the examination system, it is necessary that the pupils

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not only do not learn scientific method but learn precisely the reverse, that is, to
believe exactly what they are told and to reproduce it when asked, whether it
seems nonsense to them or not. . . . The only way of learning the method of
science is the long and bitter way of personal experience, and, until the
educational or social systems are altered to make this possible, the best we can
expect is the production of a minority of people who are able to acquire some of
the techniques of science and a still smaller minority who are able to use and
develop them.

• 5- The excerpt is taken from a novel. Mr. Harding, now an old man,
has lost his position as the Warden of a hospital for old men. He has
just come from an unsuccessful interview with Mr. Slope concerning
his reappointment to the position.

Mr. Harding was not a happy man as he walked down

the palace pathway, and stepped out into the close. His
position and pleasant house were a second time
gone from him; but that he could endure. He had been
5 schooled and insulted by a man young enough to be
his son; but that he could put up with. He could even
draw from the very injuries which had been inflicted
on him some of that consolation which, we may
believe, martyrs always receive from the injustice of
10 their own sufferings. He had admitted to his daughter
that he wanted the comfort of his old home, and yet he
could have returned to his lodgings in the High Street,
if not with exultation, at least with satisfaction, had
that been all. But the venom of the chaplain's

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15 harangue had worked into his blood, and sapped the
life of his sweet contentment.

'New men are carrying out new measures, and

are carting away the useless rubbish of past centuries!'
What cruel words these had been- and how often are
20 they now used with all the heartless cruelty of a
Slope! A man is sufficiently condemned if it can only
be shown that either in politics or religion he does not
belong to some new school established within the last
score of years. He may then regard himself as rubbish
25 and expect to be carted away. A man is nothing now
unless he has within him a full appreciation of the
new era; an era in which it would seem that neither
honesty nor truth is very desirable, but in which
success is the only touchstone of merit. We must
30 laugh at everything that is established. Let the joke be
ever so bad, ever so untrue to the real principles of
joking; nevertheless we must laugh - or else beware
the cart. We must talk, think, and live up to the spirit
of the times, or else we are nought. New men and new
35 measures, long credit and few scruples, great success
or wonderful ruin, such are now the tastes of
Englishmen who know how to live! Alas, alas! Under
such circumstances Mr. Harding could not but feel
that he was an Englishman who did not know how to
40 live. This new doctrine of Mr. Slope and the rubbish
cart sadly disturbed his equanimity.

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'The same thing is going on throughout the
whole country!' 'Work is now required from every
man who receives wages!' And had he been living all
45 his life receiving wages, and doing no work? Had he
in truth so lived as to be now in his old age justly
reckoned as rubbish fit only to be hidden away in
some huge dust-hole? The school of men to whom he
professes to belong, the Grantlys, the Gwynnes, are
50 afflicted with no such self-accusations as these which
troubled Mr. Harding. They, as a rule, are as satisfied
with the wisdom and propriety of their own conduct
as can be any Mr. Slope, or any Bishop with his own.
But, unfortunately for himself, Mr. Harding had little
55 of this self-reliance. When he heard himself
designated as rubbish by the Slopes of the world, he
had no other resource than to make inquiry within his
own bosom as to the truth of the designation. Alas,
alas! The evidence seemed generally to go against him.

Adapted from: The Warden, Anthony Trollope (1855)

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