Quotation, Paraphrase, Summary

Learning Objectives

Recognize the difference between quotation, paraphrase, and summary

In research-based academic writing, you should plan to use a variety of sources. Sources help to establish your ethos, or credibility as a writer. While you might use prior knowledge in the drafting stage, it is important to use external sources to back up your claims when writing a research paper. There are three common strategies to display sources in your writing: quotation, paraphrase, and summary.

  • Quoting text: copying the source’s exact words and marking them off with quotation marks or in a block quote
  • Paraphrasing text: representing the source’s ideas in your own words (without quotation marks)
  • Summarizing text: representing the source’s main ideas in your own words (without quotation marks)

Let’s review quotation, paraphrase, and summary by considering this chart:

What’s the difference between quotation, paraphrase, and summary?
Quotation Paraphrase Summary
Uses the same words as the original source. Uses your original wording; reflects the same details of the original source. Uses your wording; reflects only the main idea and major details of the original source.
Length (and wording) is the same as the original source selection. Length is similar to the original source selection. Length will vary, but is shorter than the original source selection.
Maintains the author’s original voice. Rephrases the author’s ideas in your own voice. Provides your synopsis of the author’s ideas.
Enclosed by quotation marks or in a block quote (see next page). Does not use quotation marks, unless words or phrases of the original are quoted directly. Does not use quotation marks.
All three styles (quotation, paraphrase, summary) still need to cite the original source (see section on citation for more details).
Particularly useful for making a point about the way something was said originally. Provides evidence while maintaining accuracy of the original writer’s ideas. Particularly useful for incorporating ideas from other authors in your own voice. Doesn’t disrupt the flow of your writing like quotations can. Particularly useful for working with longer texts, multi-part arguments, or ideas that need some explanation and interpretation to be incorporated effectively.

From this chart, we can conclude that:

  •         Writers employ quotations when the original wording is particularly telling or important.
  •         Writers paraphrase to maintain their own voice while integrating source content.
  •         Writers summarize when needing to explain the main idea or major details of a long source.

Choose a direct quote when it is more likely to be accurate than would summarizing or paraphrasing, when what you’re quoting is the text you’re analyzing, when a direct quote is more concise that a summary or paraphrase would be and conciseness matters, when the author is a particular authority whose exact words would lend credence to your argument, and when the author has used particularly effective language that is just too good to pass up.

Choose to paraphrase or summarize rather than to quote directly when the meaning is more important than the particular language the author used.

Choose to paraphrase instead of summarizing when you need details and specificity. Paraphrasing lets you emphasize the ideas in source materials that are most related to your term paper or essay instead of the exact language the author used. It also lets you simplify complex material, sometimes rewording to use language that is more understandable to your reader.

Choose to summarize instead of paraphrasing when you need to provide a brief overview of a larger text. Summaries let you condense the resource material to draw out particular points, omit unrelated or unimportant points, and simplify how the author conveyed his or her message.

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