difference between 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.

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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What’s the Difference? Summarizing, Paraphrasing, & Quoting

• Posted on November 29, 2023 November 29, 2023

What’s the Difference? Summarizing , Paraphrasing , & Quoting

Quoting, paraphrasing , and summarizing are three methods for including the ideas or research of other writers in your own work. In academic writing , such as essay writing or research papers , it is often necessary to utilize other people’s writing.

Outside sources are helpful in providing evidence or support written claims when arguing a point or persuading an audience. Being able to link the content of a piece to similar points made by other authors illustrates that one’s writing is not based entirely off personal thoughts or opinions and has support found from other credible individuals. In scientific work such as reports or experiment related writing, being able to point to another published or peer-reviewed writer can strengthen your personal research and even aid in explaining surprising or unusual findings. In all situations, referencing outside sources also elevates the integrity and quality of your work.

When pulling information from an outside source it is critical to properly use quotations, paraphrasing , or summarizing to avoid plagiarizing from the original passage . Plagiarism is portraying another’s work, ideas, and research as one’s own, and is an extremely serious disciplinary offense. Without using proper quotations, paraphrasing and summarizing , it can be easy to unintentionally plagiarize from the original source . Including citations that reference the author also helps ensure proper credit is given, and no accidental plagiarism occurs. Regardless of if APA , MLA or Chicago style are used, a citation must accompany the work of another author.

This article will compare these three concepts, to help users become more comfortable with each of them and the differing scenarios to utilize each. The article will also provide examples and give pointers to further increase familiarity with these essential techniques and prevent the happening of plagiarism .

What is Quoting?

Quoting is the restatement of a phrase, sentence, thought, or fact that was previously written by another author. A proper direct quotation includes the identical text without any words or punctuation adjusted.

One might use a quotation when they want to use the exact words from the original author , or when the author has introduced a new concept or idea that was of their conception. Oftentimes, the author already used concise, well-thought-out wording for an idea and it may be difficult to restate without using a direct quote .

However when repeating content from someone else’s work, one must use quotation marks with a corresponding citation or it will be considered plagiarism . The proper citation may also vary based on the citation style being used.

Examples of Quoting

In order to further the understanding of how to utilize quotes, some examples of incorrect and correct quotation are provided below.

Original Text: As natural selection acts solely by accumulating slight, successive, favorable variations, it can produce no great or sudden modification; it can act only by very short and slow steps

Incorrect Quotation Example: “Because natural selection acts only by accumulating slight, successive favorable variations. It can produce no greater or sudden modification and can only act by very short and slow steps

Correct Quotation Example: “As natural selection acts solely by accumulating slight, successive, favorable variations, it can produce no great or sudden modification; it can act only by very short and slow steps,” (Darwin 510).

The bad example provided does not include the identical text or identical grammar and punctuation to that of the original source . The quote is also lacking one quotation mark and a citation to attribute the initial author. Meanwhile, the good example i s completely identical to the original text and features a correct citation, making it a great example of a quote in use.

What is Paraphrasing ?

Paraphrasing is taking the written work, thoughts, or research of another author and putting it in one’s own words . Correct paraphrasing is done through the restatement of key ideas from another person’s work, but utilizing different words to avoid copying them. Oftentimes, finding synonyms to the words used by the original author helps to paraphrase .

One would use paraphrasing when they hope to capture the key points of a written work in their own writing . Paraphrasing should also be employed when the content of the original source is more important than the wording used. This writing technique is a good strategy to maintain one’s personal writing style throughout a written work.

Similar to quoting, even paraphrased material should be accompanied by the proper citation to avoid plagiarizing the initial author.

Examples of Paraphrasing

Original Content: The Statue of Liberty, one of the most recognizable symbols of freedom and democracy across the world, was a gift of friendship to America from France. Inaugurated in 1886, the statue is 305 feet tall and represents Libertas, the Roman liberty goddess, bearing a torch in her right hand and a tablet in her left hand with the date of the US Declaration of Independence. Broken shackles lay underneath the statue’s drapery, to symbolize the end of all types of servitude and oppression.

Incorrect Paraphrasing Example: The Statue of Liberty is an evident display of freedom and democracy for the whole world, and was created by France for America to represent their friendship. The 305 foot statue of the Roman liberty goddess Libertas was installed in 1886. The Statue of Liberty has a tablet with the US Declaration of Independence date in one hand and a torch in her other. She also has broken shackles on the ground to represent an end to enslavement and oppression.

Correct Paraphrasing Example: France presented the United States with the Statue of Liberty in 1886 to commemorate the two countries friendship. The Roman goddess of liberty, Libertas, stands 305 feet tall as a well-known tribute to freedom and democracy. The statue commemorates the US Declaration of Independence though the tablet in her left hand that accompanies a torch in her right. The Statue of Liberty also celebrates an end to oppression and servitude, indicated by broken chains by her feet ( Diaz, 2019 ).

The incorrect example provided featured a sentence structure that followed too closely to that of the original text. Additionally, the writer only swapped out a few words for very common synonyms  so the paraphrased content is ultimately too similar to the original text. An academic work that used this  paraphrase  would be cited for  plagiarism .

On the other hand, the correct example featured paraphrased content that is properly cited, with variety to the sentence structure and text that includes words beyond just synonyms to words in the original content. This example also contains the main ideas, but is ultimately slightly condensed from the original text.

What Is Summarizing ?

Summarizing is providing a brief description of the key ideas from a written work. This description should be in one’s own writing , and is typically significantly shorter than the source material because it only touches on the main points .

Summaries are commonly used when a writer hopes to capture the central idea of a work, without relying on the specific wording that the original author used to explain the idea. They also can provide a background or overview of content needed to understand a topic being discussed. This strategy still captures the meaning of the original text without straying from one’s personal tone and writing style.

Unlike paraphrasing and quoting, a summary does not require an in- text citation and only occasionally needs accreditation to the original writer’s work .

Examples of Summarizing

In order to further the understanding of how to summarize content in your writing, some examples of incorrect and correct summaries for the short children’s story Goldilocks and The Three Bears are provided below.

Incorrect Summary Example: Once upon a time, Goldilocks went for a walk on the beach when she saw a house and went in it. In the house she found three bowls of soup and decided to try them all, but one was too hot, one was too cold and one was just right. Next, Goldilocks tried to sit in three different chairs but only found one that fit her perfectly. Lastly, she went to the back of the house and found three beds. Just like the soup and chairs she tested all of them before picking one that she liked the best and taking a nice long nap. The End.

Correct Summary Example: In Goldilocks and the Three Bears by Robert Southy, a young girl wanders into the house of three bears where she tastes three different porridges; sits in three different chairs; and naps in three different beds before finding one of each that fits her. Goldilocks is eventually found by the bears who are upset about her intrusion and usage of their personal belongings.

The incorrect example provided would not be considered a good summary for a few reasons. Primarily, this summary does not summarize well, as provides too much unnecessary detail and an individual would still be able to comprehend the main point of the story without it. The summary also ends without touching on the most important point , which is the lesson of the story. This summary also provides inaccurate information, and lacks a citation.

Meanwhile, the correct example is a good summary because it does not spend too much time on any certain aspect of the story. The reader is still able to understand exactly what happens to Goldilocks without consuming any non-essential details. This summary also provides completely accurate information and touches on the main point or lesson from the story.

Differences and Similarities

There are a few major differences and similarities between the three writing techniques discussed.

Quoting, paraphrasing , and summarizing are similar in that they are all writing techniques that can be used to include the work of other authors in one’s own writing . It is common for writers to use these strategies collectively in one piece to provide variety in their references and across their work. These three strategies also share the similarity of helping to prevent plagiarizing the content from the original source . All three of these methods require some form of citation and attribution to the original author to completely avoid plagiarizing.

Oppositely, the main difference between quoting, paraphrasing , and summarizing is that quoting is done word for word from the original work . Both paraphrasing and summarizing only touch on the key points and are written with some variation from the initial author’s work , usually in the style and tone of the new author. When comparing just the latter two, paraphrased material tends to be closer in length to the actual material, because it only slightly condenses the original passage . On the other hand, a summary is most likely significantly shorter than the original author’s work since this method only pulls from the most important points .

Final Thoughts

It is extremely common to utilize the previous writing of others, especially in academic writing . These original works enhance the quality and honesty of one’s work while also providing backing and emphasis to the points made.

Quoting, paraphrasing , and summarizing are all strategies for incorporating the thoughts, ideas, research, and writing from another author in one’s own work. The three methods explained are also safe strategies to employ to avoid accidental plagiarism of the original passage .

Another strategy to ensure one’s writing is properly quoted, paraphrased, and summarized is by using a plagiarism checker. Quetext provides an easy-to-use plagiarism checker that verifies the originality of work and can create citations for any sources cited throughout the paper.

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• / What is the difference between quotation, paraphrase, and summary?

Writing in college often means using ideas from other sources. There are times when it may be best to quote the sources directly, while other times may be better served by paraphrasing or summary. In order to decide which technique to use, it is helpful to think about how you are using the information in your paper.

Definitions

• Quotation reproduces a statement word-for-word as it appears in its original source
• Paraphrase explains a statement by using your own words and sentence structure
• Summary explains a statement using your words, but typically condenses a larger statement into a shorter explanation

How to decide which approach to use

Direct quotations can be useful when the exact wording of a statement is important. The exact wording of a quotation may be significant to your claim. In example 1 below, the contrast between adjectives are important to the claim. Also, direct quotation may be important when you want to make sure you are being precise in representing the author’s position. Finally, you might choose to use a direct quotation when the original statement is particularly well written or structurally persuasive. If a statement uses elements such as parallelism or alliteration, you might not be able to recreate that same effect. An important element of the quotation in example 1 is the parallel structure between "lowest and vilest alleys" and "smiling and beautiful countryside."

When Sherlock tells Watson "the lowest and vilest alleys in London do not present a more dreadful record of sin than does the smiling and beautiful countryside,” he intensifies suspense by equating innocence with evil ("The Adventure of the Copper Beeches" 502).

Paraphrasing is usually expected in research and argumentative essays. These type of papers benefit from paraphrasing because it shows that you understand the source and are therefore a reliable voice on that source. Paraphrasing can make the evidence more straightforward. Another reason to paraphrase is to adjust your tone for your audience. If the assignment asks you to write a presentation for your classmates, you do not want to quote scientific jargon. Your source is only persuasive and supportive if your readers understand it. The paraphrase of the quotation below is shorter, and more direct.

Original quotation:  “In the case of Facebook, it has changed its format multiple times, and merged other literacy practices – email, instant messaging, games – into its structure in an attempt to keep users on the site” (Keller 2014, 74).

Paraphrase: Facebook has tried to hold on to its users by incorporating new functions like games and email (Keller 2014).

Summaries can also be used in reviews, research papers, and argumentative essays. They have a similar purpose as paraphrasing, but they condense a large work (i.e. an entire chapter, article, or book) into a shorter text such as a paragraph or a short essay. Summaries allow you to focus your description on  the parts that are relevant to your discussion. Example 3 briefly summarizes Anne of Green Gables, focusing on Anne as a strong female character and could lead into a discussion of how the series teaches girls self-respect while also cherishing romance.

Anne of Green Gables is a book series that follows the life of an unruly red-headed orphan as she grows from an romantic adolescent into an independent young woman.

What can the Writing Center do to help?

Writing Center consultants can help you if you aren't sure what style of source integration works best for an assignment. Some essays require a mix of methods. Consultants can help you determine if your writing needs a better balance of integration methods. If you are less familiar with one of the three uses of sources, the Writing Center can give you additional pointers.

See our section on how to incorporate sources for more on punctuating and introducing quotations. Also see our section on avoiding plagiarism to learn how to paraphrase and summarize.

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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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For students and teachers.

Paraphrasing, Summarizing, and Quoting: What’s the Difference?

Paraphrasing, Summarizing and Quoting Paraphrasing is when you take someone else’s ideas or words and rephrase them as your own . Summarizing is to give the reader an overview of the key points of a text . Quoting is when you write exactly what someone else has said, word for word .

Anyone who has written a paper, especially an academic paper, has struggled to answer the question: what is the difference between paraphrasing, summarizing, and quoting, and which one should I do? Do I need to use all three? Do I need to provide a citation?

Every writer needs to know how to distinguish these three tasks to write well and avoid committing plagiarism, whether accidental or intentional. Let’s take a look at the differences between paraphrasing, summarizing, and quoting so that your writing will be polished and professional every time.

Table of Content:

What is quoting, what is paraphrasing, what is summarizing, don’t commit accidental plagiarism.

Quoting is when you write exactly what someone else has said, word for word. Even if the original text contains punctuation , grammatical , or spelling errors , if you are quoting, you must include these errors!

A quote is indicated using double quotation marks, and the author and source should be cite d in either the text directly or in a footnote depending upon the citation format you are following .

There are two ways to handle a quote with incorrect spelling or grammar. The first is by correcting it using square brackets like so.

Guinea pig[s] make wonderful pets for small children.

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The second is to write the Latin word sic in square brackets after the error to indicate that the error is in the original text. Sic is usually italicized. For example:

Guinea pig [ sic ] make wonderful pets for small children.

Quotes are great to use in academic writing when you want to discuss a particular author’s idea or phrasing. However, quotes should be used sparingly, and should be on the shorter side (less than a paragraph) in order to maximize the space for your own analysis and ideas. Think of quotes like salt- they add essential flavor to a dish, but should not be the main ingredient.

Unlike a quote, paraphrasing is when you take someone else’s ideas or words and rephrase them as your own. Paraphrasing is a vital skill for any writer, as much of academic writing is synthesizing information from different sources in your own words and adding your thoughts.

Many people who try to paraphrase accidentally end up committing plagiarism. Why? There are two reasons. The first reason is that people often just change a couple of words in the original writing and call it a paraphrase.

The second reason is that people fail to add the proper citation after paraphrasing. In fact, paraphrases should include the source just like a quote.

So how can you paraphrase properly? In addition to changing the specific words used, a good paraphrase changes the structure and even order of the original phrasing . Let’s take a brief example.

Original text: The pandemic as well as the war in Ukraine have stifled supply of commodities and goods and upended efficient distribution through global supply chains, forcing up prices of everyday goods such as fuel and food.

But, while higher prices will cause pain for households, growth in many parts of the world, while slow, is still ticking over and job markets have not collapsed (CNBC, May 30, 2022).

Paraphrase 1: The war in Ukraine and the pandemic have blocked the supply of commodities and goods and overturned efficient distribution through global supply chains, increasing prices of everyday goods such as fuel and food.

While higher prices will cause pain for households, growth in many parts of the world is still happening and job markets have not collapsed.

This paraphrase changes a few words around, but it is easy to see the resemblance to the original text. It is also missing a citation. This paraphrase is likely to be flagged by a plagiarism checker.

Paraphrase 2: The supply of goods and commodities has faltered due to the war in Ukraine and the pandemic as global supply chains struggle to maintain efficient distribution. This has resulted in higher prices of everyday goods like fuel and food.

Despite these difficulties, the majority of economies continue to see growth, albeit slow growth, and job markets remain solid. Households can expect short term pain from higher prices, but it seems unlikely that collapse is on the horizon (CNBC, May 30, 2022).

This paraphrase breaks up longer sentences into shorter ones, adding some of the author’s own commentary towards the end and artfully rephrasing the original ideas.  A proper in-text citation is included. The second paraphrase is acceptable.

Summarizing is similar to paraphrasing, but there are a few key differences. First, the purpose of summarizing is to give the reader an overview of the key points of a text. A paraphrase re-words information from the original text, but it does not remove any of the original ideas.

Because of this difference, summarizing deletes sections, sometimes large sections, of the original text to leave only the most critical concepts and ideas. Paraphrasing is usually around the same length as the original writing, while summarizing is much shorter than the original.

Second, summarizing can include a quote or a paraphrase from the original text. However, a paraphrase will never contain additional paraphrasing. It may contain a quote, but only in rare circumstances.

If you use a quote in your summary, don’t forget to still cite the source. This can be as simple as mentioning the author’s name and then citing it in the references section. We could summarize the above text as follows:

CNBC notes that while events including the pandemic and war in Ukraine are upending the global supply chain leading to short-term fiscal pain for households, the global economy remains in a steady, if slow, state of growth overall.

Knowing the difference between quoting, paraphrasing, and summarizing is the key to avoiding accidental plagiarism. Forgetting to properly indicate a quote with quotation marks, paraphrasing incorrectly by just changing a few words, or summarizing without giving proper credit are all ways that authors can commit accidental plagiarism.

Fortunately, in addition to learning about the important differences between these three writing techniques, students, academics, and writers of all kinds can take advantage of AI writing tools as well. Tools like Trinka can help academic writers especially ensure that their writing is clear, accurate, and uses technical terminology properly.

It also reviews your references to make sure they are accurate. Enago’s plagiarism checker is another great tool to ensure that you haven’t failed to clearly paraphrase or forgotten to indicate a quote.

As you progress in your writing career, these tools can make your life easier and prevent you from making any critical errors. Give them a try today.

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Writing Resources

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

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.

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Paraphrasing, Summarising and Quoting

Much of the work you produce at university will involve the important ideas, writings and discoveries of experts in your field of study. Quoting, paraphrasing and summarising are all different ways of including the works of others in your assignments.

Paraphrasing and summarising allow you to develop and demonstrate your understanding and interpretation of the major ideas/concepts of your discipline, and to  avoid plagiarism.

Paraphrasing and summarising require analytical and writing skills which are crucial to success at university.

What are the differences?

Paraphrasing.

• does not match the source word for word
• involves putting a passage from a source into your own words
• changes the words or phrasing of a passage, but retains and fully communicates the original meaning
• must be attributed to the original source.

Summarising

• involves putting the main idea(s) into your own words, but including only the main point(s)
• presents a broad overview, so is usually much shorter than the original text
• match the source word for word
• are usually a brief segment of the text
• appear between quotation marks

What is a quotation?  

A quotation is an exact reproduction of spoken or written words. Quotes can provide strong evidence, act as an authoritative voice, or support a writer's statements. For example:

Bell and Bell (1993) point out in their study of Australian-American cultural relations: "culture is never simply imposed 'from above' but is negotiated through existing patterns and traditions." (Bell & Bell 1993, p. 9)

Use a quote:

• when the author's words convey a powerful meaning
• when the exact words are important
• when you want to use the author as an authoritative voice in your own writing
• to introduce an author's position you may wish to discuss
• to support claims in, or provide evidence for, your writing.

How to quote

Quoting should be done sparingly and support your own work, not replace it. For example, make a point in your own words, then support it with an authoritative quote.

• appear between quotation marks (" ")
• exactly reproduce text, including punctuation and capital letters.
• A short quotation often works well when integrated into a sentence.
• If any words need to be omitted for clarity, show the omission with an ellipsis ( ... ).
• If any words need to be added to the quotation, put them between square brackets ([ ]).
• Longer quotations (more than 3 lines of text) should start on a new line and be indented on both sides. 

What is paraphrasing?

Paraphrasing is a way of using different words and phrasing to present the same ideas. Paraphrasing is used with short sections of text, such as phrases and sentences.

A paraphrase offers an alternative to using direct quotations and allows you to integrate evidence/source material into assignments. Paraphrasing can also be used for note-taking and explaining information in tables, charts and diagrams.

When to paraphrase

Paraphrase short sections of work only i.e. a sentence or two or a short paragraph:

• as an alternative to a direct quotation
• to rewrite someone else's ideas without changing the meaning
• to express someone else's ideas in your own words

How to paraphrase

• Read the original source carefully. It is essential that you understand it fully.
• Identify the main point(s) and key words.
• Cover the original text and rewrite it in your own words. Check that you have included the main points and essential information.
• Ensure that you keep the original meaning and maintain the same relationship between main ideas and supporting points.
• Use synonyms (words or expression which have a similar meaning) where appropriate. Key words that are specialised subject vocabulary do not need to be changed.
• If you want to retain unique or specialist phrases, use quotation marks (“ “).
• Change the grammar and sentence structure. Break up a long sentence into two shorter ones or combine two short sentences into one. Change the voice (active/passive) or change word forms (e.g. nouns, adjectives).
• Change the order in which information/ideas are presented, as long as they still make sense in a different order.
• Identify the attitude of the authors to their subject (i.e. certain, uncertain, critical etc.) and make sure your paraphrase reflects this. Use the appropriate reporting word or phrase.
• Review your paraphrase to check it accurately reflects the original text but is in your words and style.
• Record the original source, including the page number, so that you can provide a reference.

What is a summary?

A summary is an overview of a text. The main aim of summarising is to reduce or condense a text to its most important ideas. Leave out details, examples and formalities. Summarising is a useful skill for making notes, writing an abstract/synopsis, and incorporating material in assignments.

When to summarise

Summarise long sections of work, like a long paragraph, page or chapter. 

• To outline the main points of someone else's work in your own words, without the details or examples.
• To include an author's ideas using fewer words than the original text.
• To briefly give examples of several differing points of view on a topic.
• To support claims in, or provide evidence for, your writing.

How to summarise

The amount of detail you include in a summary will vary according to the length of the original text, how much information you need, and how selective you are.

• Start by reading a short text and highlighting the main points.
• Reread the text and make notes of the main points, leaving out examples, evidence, etc.
• Rewrite your notes in your own words; restate the main idea at the beginning plus all major points.
• Transition signals in writing
• Quotations and paraphrases
• Punctuation
• Paraphrasing, summarising, quoting
• ^ More support

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SUMMARIZING, PARAPHRASING, AND QUOTING: QUOTING

• SUMMARIZING
• PARAPHRASING

INTRODUCTION

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

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

WHAT IS A QUOTE?

WHAT IS A QUOTE?                                                                                                        

You are quoting when you use your source’s words directly to support your writing.

CHARACTERISTICS OF A QUOTE                                                                                

• It is the author’s exact words enclosed in quotation marks
• The citing style changes with the length of the quote.
• You must clarify whose words you are using
• If altered, it clearly shows the changes you made

WHY QUOTE?                                                                                                                

Reasons why you might want to use your source’s words are:

• The author adds credibility to your writing
• The author’s words will knock out your reader (the quote is the K.O. punch)
• The words are perfect, and paraphrasing might change the meaning

HOW TO INCORPORATE QUOTES WHEN WRITING

USING QUOTATIONS: THE BIG PICTURE

Every time you use a quote you must have:

• A signal phrase
• A quotation
• An in-text citation
• An explanation of the quote

CHECK FOR SKILLS

Rate this guide, making changes to a quote.

• Always use quotation marks at the beginning and the end of your quote.
• When adding words to the quote to clarify, use brackets to show these words are yours.
• Use ellipsis marks if you are cutting the quote short to show that you omitted some words.

ORIGINAL QUOTE                                                                                                        

“I think the very idea of character, of developing not just grit, but empathy and curiosity, emotional intelligence - you know, the things that I want my own daughters to develop, the idea that we're going to get there through rewards and punishments seems completely at odds with the idea of character itself.” – Angela Duckworth

EDITED QUOTE                                                                                                          

“I think the very idea [developing] of character… [and] the idea that we're going to get there through rewards and punishments seems completely at odds with the idea of character itself” (as mentioned in Martin, 2016).

COMPLETE REFERENCE                                                                                         

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

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

THE RULE OF 40

THE RULE OF 40                                                                                                         

Depending on the number of words in your quote, your format may change.

If your quote is shorter than 40 words, you can integrate your quote within your paragraphs.

If your quote is 40 words or longer, you will have to start your quote in a new line and indent it. Essentially, the quote is no longer part of your paragraph and it stands out on its own.

ORIGINAL QUOTE                                                                                                         

“Grit, in a word, is stamina. But it's not just stamina in your effort. It's also stamina in your direction, stamina in your interests. If you are working on different things but all of them very hard, you're not really going to get anywhere. You'll never become an expert.” – Angela Dukworth

SHORT QUOTATION WITH IN-TEXT CITATION                                                            

In an interview about her new book, Duckworth defined grit as “… stamina. But it's not just stamina in your effort. It's also stamina in your direction, stamina in your interests” (as cited in Martin, 2016).

LONG QUOTATION WITH IN-TEXT CITATION                                                               

In an interview with Martin (2016), Duckworth explained:

Grit, in a word, is stamina. But it's not just stamina in your effort. It's also stamina in your direction, stamina in your interests. If you are working on different things but all of them very hard, you're not really going to get anywhere. You'll never become an expert.

                                                      (49 words)

COMPLETE CITATION                                                                                                    

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

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HELPFUL SITES

• Short Quotations and Long Quotations using APA by OWL Purdue
• Using Quotation Marks by OWL Purdue
• When and How Much to Quote by the Harvard Writing Program
• Page 3: Quotation/Documentation Checklist by the University of Huston – Clear Lake
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Differences Between Paraphrasing, Quoting And Summarizing

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• 20 Dec, 2022
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Paraphrasing, Quoting, and Summarizing – all three play significant roles in writing. By understanding their roles and differences, you can efficiently use them in your academic or blog writing.

First, let’s define Paraphrasing, Quoting and Summarizing.

Paraphrasing

Paraphrasing is the act of restating someone’s speech or written words in your own words. The aim of paraphrasing is to express the same idea in a unique voice.

Paraphrasing is very important in academic writing as well as in blogging and other professional content writing.

Original text: Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don’t matter and those who matter don’t mind.

    – Bernard M. Baruch

Paraphrased text: Be yourself and express yourself, since those who mind don’t matter, and those who matter don’t mind.

Quoting refers to stating someone’s partial or entire speech or written words word by word.

Quoting plays a significant role in writing or speaking. Quoting supports your content with an authoritative and strong statement from the original source.

You must not copy others and lie about your feelings. The only thing that matters is being truthful about your feelings, as the American statesman Bernard M. Baruch has famously said “ be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don’t matter and those who matter don’t mind. ”

Summarizing

Summarizing means making an overview of a text. The goal of summarizing is to minimize or reduce a text to its main idea and drop the less important parts.

Difference between paraphrasing, quoting and summarizing

Attributes of paraphrasing.

• Refers to rewritin g a statement in your own words.
• Doesn’t match the source word by word but matches the main idea.
• You can paraphrase by either changing the words, or phrases with their suitable synonyms or abstractly changing the whole passage while keeping the main idea intact.
• Paraphrasing is also known as rewriting, restating, and rephrasing.

Attributes of Quoting

• Involves taking the source text word by word.
• The quoted text must be written inside quotation marks or in italic font to set it apart from the rest of the text.
• Should mention the original source along with the quote if available.
• Quotes are also known as excerpts, and figments.

Attributes of Summarizing

• Reduces the entire text into a short version that only includes the main idea.
• Does not involve using the source text word for word.
• Should be attributed to the original origin.
• A summary is also known as an overview, synopsis, outline, or abstract.

Paraphrasing, quoting and summarizing – when to use them

When to paraphrase –

• When you don’t want to or don’t have the option to use a direct quotation.
• Writing that demands creativity and uniqueness.
• To avoid plagiarism/copyright claims.
• To express someone else’s ideas or words in your own way.

When to quote –

• To make a text powerful and credible by using the author’s original words.
• When exact words are better suited than your own words.
• When you want to create the same vibe in your text as the original author’s text did.
• To discuss or showcase the author’s position or stand on a topic.
• To support your own text.

When to summarize –

• To express an idea by only including the main points and leaving out the details.
• To support your idea by inserting the original author’s statement but in brief words.

You can improve your academic or content writing greatly by wisely incorporating paraphrasing, quoting and summarizing in your text as needed. Whether you want to succeed in your university work or other professional writing field, these three powerful writing components can be your best friends.

• academic writing , Paraphrasing , paraphrasing definition , Quoting , quoting definition , rephrasing , rewriting , Summarizing , summarizing definition , text summarizing , unique content , writing

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Know the Difference: Quoting, Paraphrasing and Summarizing 

An important part of any academic discussion is citations. It highlights the existing works on a particular topic, enabling readers to track relevant research 1 to develop their arguments. Though the function of citation is simple, the learning process of correctly citing other articles can be challenging. There is an increased possibility of plagiarism if you incorporate others’ work or ideas without full or correct acknowledgment. As a research student or early researcher, you will come across rules for paraphrasing, summarizing, and quoting in your research articles. These are essential strategies for citing existing research work to support or challenge your writings or arguments. You’ll use a combination of these in your assignments, dissertation, or research papers, so understanding their differences is important.  

In simple terms, the difference between these three terms lies in the proximity of your writing to the source writing, but their use could be hindered for the following reasons. 2   

• Low linguistic ability: limit the power to define, summarize, evaluate, and contrast existing literature.  
• Unfamiliarity with the language of citations: repeat citation patterns, integrate references incorrectly, or misplace reporting verbs. 
• Lack of awareness of the importance of referencing: Under referencing 

This article compares and discusses paraphrasing, summarizing, and quoting to help you become more comfortable with their usage. 

Quoting involves using a direct quotation , where you quote the author verbatim to define or describe specific concepts. Use double quotation marks at the beginning and end of the quote, and use the exact words from the original text. It is important to cite the original source and name the author, or else your work could be considered plagiarized as there is software that easily detects this. Also, it is better to avoid long passages as direct quotes; limit them to one or two sentences. Another point to remember is to limit their instances in your paper. Use words/phrases such as stated , in the words of , etc., to indicate that you are using the author’s exact words. Discuss its meaning or add more information as needed so that the quotes fit logically in your writing.  

Paraphrasing

Unlike quoting, paraphrasing involves rewriting the text; the aim is to explain the original and relevant idea in one’s own words as a basis to build an argument. You can avoid words such as mentioned or stated for paraphrased text, but cite the source to ensure the reader knows that you are borrowing ideas. Paraphrasing can be challenging to most ESL students as it requires a good command of paraphrasing and considerable time and effort in choosing the right active or passive verbs to introduce a paraphrase. 3 A common mistake to avoid is swapping words in the original sentence with their synonyms.  

In academic writing, the preference is towards paraphrasing because it shows your understanding of the literature and allows you to present relevant evidence to your readers. Also, as it incorporates your own academic voice, you can avoid getting flagged by plagiarism detection tools, such as Turnitin. 

Tips for effective paraphrasing

• Reformulate the sentence by changing the voice from active to passive or starting from a different point. 
• Use quality sources to support your ideas.  
• Remove irrelevant information from the source text. 
• Combine information from multiple sentences. 
• Use synonyms where they don’t distort the meaning. 

Summarizing

When summarizing, you describe the original text without analyzing it. Your aim is to give your readers a broad overview of a subject. It involves placing the main ideas or points in your own words. Since your focus is on providing a general overview of the topic, summaries are often provided in the introductory paragraph. But remember to cite the summarized ideas. 

How to use quotations, paraphrases, and summaries

• Place all exact source words in quotation marks immediately. 
• When summarizing or paraphrasing, the following strategies can be adopted to avoid looking at the source material and reduce the influence of the source text in your version: 
• Read the text multiple times. This will help you understand the author’s main ideas and explain them to others. 
• Write down the main phrases and ideas. This should be done without looking at the original sentence. 
• Write in sentence form. Develop the summary or paraphrase based on your understanding of the source text. 
• Compare with the original work. Rewrite your work if words/phrases are the same as in the original work or if the structure is very similar. 

The following is an example of a good paraphrase. It has the same ideas as the source text (quoted on the left) but with different wording and sentence structure. 

Ways to avoid accidental plagiarism

• Use citations: Give credit where it is due.  
• Organize and develop your own idea: Work out a balance between the ideas from other sources and your original ideas. Your writing should have originality and be concise. 
• Use plagiarism checkers: There are a number of good plagiarism checker tools available online. Many online check tools also correct grammar errors, sentence structures, word choices, and subject-specific phrasing.  

Developing your paraphrasing and summarizing skills will take time. So, it is important that you set aside a lot of time to practice these skills to perfect your writing. 

• Hunter, J. (2006). The importance of citation.  URL: http://web grinnell edu/Dean/Tutorial/EUS/IC pdf (1204 2007) . 
• Elizalde Esain, A. (2017). English for Academic Purposes: The Challenge of Paraphrasing. 
• McKeown, K. (1983). Paraphrasing questions using given and new information.  American Journal of Computational Linguistics ,  9 (1), 1-10. 
• Bachman, L. F. (1990).  Fundamental considerations in language testing . Oxford University Press. 

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• 7 Common Writing Mistakes to Avoid in Your Research Paper 

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Paraphrasing vs. Quoting: What’s the Difference?

When you write your next research paper, you may ask, “when should I use paraphrasing vs. quoting?” This guide will help you know. 

The question of paraphrasing vs. quoting is important for writers. You must get this right in your writing to avoid plagiarism, create ethical written works, and make clear points.

Both paraphrasing and quoting are tools you can use to do this, but many writers do not know the difference between these two words. If you do not use them correctly and cite them appropriately, you could be guilty of plagiarism, which puts your academic or professional career at risk.  

Quoting and paraphrasing are fairly similar, and they even require similar citations. Yet there are subtle differences you must understand, so you give the proper credit to the source. This guide will help you understand the difference between paraphrasing and quoting, so you can use both of these tools correctly in your next written piece.

When editing for grammar, we also recommend taking the time to improve the readability score of a piece of writing before publishing or submitting.

Paraphrasing vs. Quoting: When to Use Which

When to use paraphrases, how to indicate a paraphrase, tips for paraphrasing, when to use quoting, how to format quotes, apa style citation, mla style citations, chicago/turabian style citations, summarizing and paraphrasing, how to decide if something is common knowledge, a final word on paraphrasing vs. quoting, what is the difference between paraphrasing and quoting, are summarizing and paraphrasing the same.

Paraphrasing and quoting are both processes to use another author’s work in your writing. They are confusing because they have different best-case uses. After you understand their differences, you will be able to decide how to use them in your writing.

What Is a Paraphrase?

A paraphrase is a restatement of an original author’s idea in your own words. It would help if you completely changed the wording from the source material to count it as a paraphrase. You may do so by changing the:

• Sentence structure

However, you must keep the main points the same and properly attribute the source material’s author in your writing based on the style guide assigned to your projects, such as MLA or APA. Check out our allegory vs. symbolism explainer.

Paraphrases are used when you want to restate a source and do not need to use the exact words to do so. It works well when you merge multiple sources into one written piece to

Paraphrases should make up the majority of your academic writing because you need to be able to convey the author’s ideas in your own words. Simply quoting many sources word-for-word does not show that you have truly understood the material and reached your conclusions.

Even though paraphrases are written in your own words, you will need to cite them when writing research papers and other types of academic writing. Failing to cite an idea from someone else and claiming it as your own violate copyright laws and is a form of plagiarism.

To cite a paraphrase, check the style guide or publication manual assigned to your project and add the citation appropriately. You might also be interested in our analogy vs. metaphor guide.

Paraphrasing can be a challenging skill to learn. To do it, you must be able to take someone else’s work and make it your own without changing the main ideas.

One tip that can make paraphrasing easier is reading the original text fully and closing it. Without opening it again, write your paraphrase. Then, look at the original text again to make sure the paraphrase seems unique but still conveys the right original thought.

What Is a Quote?

Quoting happens when you use the other author’s exact words. You change nothing of what they said, and you put the words in quotation marks or set them off with special indentation, depending on the length of the quote.

Quoting works best when using your ideas or restating an original idea would weaken the key points. It also works well when you need to create a sense of authority in your statement and lack that authority as the author. Some times when a quote is the best choice over a paraphrase include:

• When using statistics and data from an authoritative source
• When quoting a piece of literature in a literary analysis paper
• When defining a word from a trusted dictionary
• When including a court decision in a piece of writing

Over-quoting is a common mistake in academic writing, especially with inexperienced writers. It shows little academic prowess to string together a bunch of quotes with attribution and call it your work. Use quotation sparingly and in those instances when it is necessary to make the point you need to make.

Keep in mind that not all written works require a quote. For most papers, one to two quotes are all that is necessary, if any are necessary at all. The rest of the work should be your ideas or paraphrases.

Citing quotes is similar to citing paraphrases. You will use the APA, Chicago/Turabian, or MLA style citations. The main difference is that you must show that the piece is a quote.

Often, you will include in-text citations to introduce the quote. For example, you may say:

An example of simile can be seen in Alcott’s Little Women when the author writes, “. . . she tried to get rid of the kitten which had scrambled up her back and stuck like a burr just out of reach.” (Alcott, 183)

In this quote, the author’s name and the resource both show up in the dialogue, but the writer still uses proper parenthetical citations at the end of the quote. The quote itself has quotation marks, indicating it is a quote, and ellipses that show it starts in the middle of the author’s sentence.

If your quote is 40 words or longer, you will use a block quotation. Each style guide has its formatting for block quotations, but this style sets off the quote by indenting it and changing the spacing, which is visually different from the rest of the paper. Block quotations do not use quotation marks.

Citations for Quotes, Paraphrases, and Summaries

Whether you quote, paraphrase, or summarize a work, you will cite it in the same way. The citation style is based on the style guide for your work. The works you cite in the text also get included in the works cited or bibliography page at the end of the paper.

If you are writing a paper that requires APA style, then you will use in-text citations in the following format:

(Author’s last name, year of publication, page number)

If you put the author’s name in the actual text in APA style, you can omit it in the parenthesis. If the publication has no date, you put n.d. instead of the date. If there is not a page number, you can put some other identifier, such as paragraph number, chapter, section, or timestamp. However, this is only necessary for direct quotes. The page number or its substitutes are not necessary for paraphrases.

MLA style in-text citations follow this format:

(Author’s last name, page number)

Omit the page number for this format if it is unavailable in the source.

Chicago style requires a more complex citation format. It uses footnotes for both paraphrases and quotes. The first time you use a resource, you use this format for the footnote:

The author’s first and last name, title (publication city: Publisher, date), and the page number.

For additional citations using a previously listed resource, use this format:

Author last name, abbreviated title, page number.

Another consideration in this discussion is the idea of summarizing. Summarizing a work means condensing it to its main points. Typically, a summary is much shorter than the original work, while a paraphrase is fairly similar in length.

Like quotes and paraphrases, summaries require in-text citations in the expected format. You will choose to summarize if you are taking a large work, like a full book, report, or speech, and using most of its key points in your report.

The Issue of Common Knowledge

With quotes, paraphrases and summaries, you must cite the source any time you use someone’s ideas in your writing or quote someone directly. However, you do not have to cite something if it is considered common knowledge, even if you found the information in another work. As long as you are not taking a direct quote, if the fact is common knowledge does not require citation. 

According to MIT , something is common knowledge if it is “information that the average, educated reader would accept as reliable without looking it up.” For example, if you said that the sky is blue, you would not have to cite this because most people know and accept this as fact.

The idea of common knowledge becomes tricky when you are doing academic writing. Sometimes, a fact is a common knowledge to the chosen audience for your work. For example, laws of physics may not be something the average person knows, but a physicist or scientist would, and you may not have to cite the place you found the law if you are writing for an academic group.

Some questions that can help you decide if something is common knowledge include:

• Who is my intended audience?
• What does my intended audience know?
• Is this an accepted fact in my field or niche?
• Is there a specific fact or statistic being cited, or just general knowledge they already know?

After answering these questions, you might have a better idea of whether or not your information is common knowledge. If it is, then you don’t have to cite it. If you are not sure, go ahead and cite it. Better to cite too often than to end up being guilty of plagiarism.

Paraphrasing and quoting both have a place in academic writing. However, quoting, which refers to using another writer’s exact words, needs to be sparse in your work. Writing a work primarily of quotes is not really writing; it’s just taking other people’s work and putting it together in a new format.

Paraphrasing is far more common. Paraphrasing keeps the original meaning of the work but changes the wording into your own words. This strategy shows that you have understood the meaning of the works you cite but have pulled that out and used it to support your ideas and thesis statement. Most of your academic writing should be paraphrased, supporting your thoughts, ideas, and conclusions.

Regardless of whether you are quoting or paraphrasing, you will need to cite your sources for any idea you use that is not common knowledge or your idea. If in doubt, cite your source to avoid falling victim to plagiarism, leading to academic dismissal or a failing grade on your project.

FAQs about Paraphrasing vs. Quoting

When paraphrasing something, you reword it but keep the main idea in place. The structure of the sentences and the words themselves must be different. When you quote something, you use the writer’s actual words word-for-word, placing the quote within quotation marks or blocking text.

No, but summarizing and paraphrasing are similar. You are condensing the original work into its main points when you summarize. When paraphrasing, you restate the work in your own words without condensing. Both require citations, and both are good strategies to use in an academic or research paper.

Grammarly is one of our top grammar checkers. Find out why in this Grammarly review .

Nicole Harms has been writing professionally since 2006. She specializes in education content and real estate writing but enjoys a wide gamut of topics. Her goal is to connect with the reader in an engaging, but informative way. Her work has been featured on USA Today, and she ghostwrites for many high-profile companies. As a former teacher, she is passionate about both research and grammar, giving her clients the quality they demand in today's online marketing world.

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Paraphrasing vs. Summarizing (Differences, Examples, How To)

It can be confusing to know when to paraphrase and when to summarize. Many people use the terms interchangeably even though the two have different meanings and uses.

Today, let’s understand the basic differences between paraphrasing vs. summarizing and when to use which . We’ll also look at types and examples of paraphrasing and summarizing, as well as how to do both effectively.

Let’s look at paraphrasing first.

What is paraphrasing?

It refers to rewriting someone else’s ideas in your own words. 

It’s important to rewrite the whole idea in your words rather than just replacing a few words with their synonyms. That way, you present an idea in a way that your audience will understand easily and also avoid plagiarism. 

It’s also important to cite your sources when paraphrasing so that the original author of the work gets due credit.

When should you paraphrase?

The main purpose of paraphrasing is often to clarify an existing passage. You should use paraphrasing when you want to show that you understand the concept, like while writing an essay about a specific topic. 

You may also use it when you’re quoting someone but can’t remember their exact words. 

Finally, paraphrasing is a very effective way to rewrite outdated content in a way that’s relevant to your current audience.

How to paraphrase effectively

Follow these steps to paraphrase any piece of text effectively:

• Read the full text and ensure that you understand it completely. It helps to look up words you don’t fully understand in an online or offline dictionary.
• Once you understand the text, rewrite it in your own words. Remember to rewrite it instead of just substituting words with their synonyms.
• Edit the text to ensure it’s easy to understand for your audience.
• Mix in your own insights while rewriting the text to make it more relevant.
• Run the text through a plagiarism checker to ensure that it does not have any of the original content.

Example of paraphrasing

Here’s an example of paraphrasing:

• Original:  The national park is full of trees, water bodies, and various species of flora and fauna.
• Paraphrased:  Many animal species thrive in the verdant national park that is served by lakes and rivers flowing through it.

What is summarizing?

Summarizing is also based on someone else’s text but rather than presenting their ideas in your words, you only sum up their main ideas in a smaller piece of text.

It’s important to not use their exact words or phrases when summarizing to avoid plagiarism. It’s best to make your own notes while reading through the text and writing a summary based on your notes.

You must only summarize the most important ideas from a piece of text as summaries are essentially very short compared to the original work. And just like paraphrasing, you should cite the original text as a reference.

When should you summarize?

The main purpose of summarizing is to reduce a passage or other text to fewer words while ensuring that everything important is covered.

Summaries are useful when you want to cut to the chase and lay down the most important points from a piece of text or convey the entire message in fewer words. You should summarize when you have to write a short essay about a larger piece of text, such as writing a book review.

You can also summarize when you want to provide background information about something without taking up too much space.

How to summarize effectively

Follow these steps to summarize any prose effectively:

• Read the text to fully understand it. It helps to read it a few times instead of just going through it once.
• Pay attention to the larger theme of the text rather than trying to rewrite it sentence for sentence.
• Understand how all the main ideas are linked and piece them together to form an overview.
• Remove all the information that’s not crucial to the main ideas or theme. Remember, summaries must only include the most essential points and information.
• Edit your overview to ensure that the information is organized logically and follows the correct chronology where applicable.
• Review and edit the summary again to make it clearer, ensure that it’s accurate, and make it even more concise where you can.
• Ensure that you cite the original text.

Example of summarization

You can summarize any text into a shorter version. For example, this entire article can be summarized in just a few sentences as follows:

• Summary:  The article discusses paraphrasing vs. summarizing by explaining the two concepts. It specifies when you should use paraphrasing and when you should summarize a piece of text and describes the process of each. It ends with examples of both paraphrasing and summarizing to provide a better understanding to the reader.

Paraphrasing vs. summarizing has been a long-standing point of confusion for writers of all levels, whether you’re writing a college essay or reviewing a research paper or book. The above tips and examples can help you identify when to use paraphrasing or summarizing and how to go about them effectively.

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Dalia Y.: Dalia is an English Major and linguistics expert with an additional degree in Psychology. Dalia has featured articles on Forbes, Inc, Fast Company, Grammarly, and many more. She covers English, ESL, and all things grammar on GrammarBrain.

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Home » Language » What is the Difference Between Quoting and Paraphrasing

What is the Difference Between Quoting and Paraphrasing

The main difference between quoting and paraphrasing is that quoting refers to the extraction of more than four words directly from the original source without changing the word order, while paraphrasing refers to describing or conveying the information in the original source in your own words.

Generally, when we quote something, we place the quotation inside quotation marks. Furthermore, the original source or the author of that particular quotation is usually mentioned directly as an in-text citation . When it comes to paraphrasing, we do not use quotation marks; however,  they do come with citations.

Key Areas Covered

1.  What is Quoting         – Definition, Features  2.  What is Paraphrasing      – Definition, Features, Examples 3.  Similarities – Quoting and Paraphrasing      – Outline of Common Features 4.  Difference Between Quoting and Paraphrasing      – Comparison of Key Differences

Citation, Quoting, Paraphrasing

What is Quoting

Quoting is a way of extracting phrases, sentences, or even passages directly from the original reading and incorporating them into your own work. However, whenever you are quoting directly from another writer, it is necessary to provide a reference in order to avoid plagiarism . Generally, it is necessary to put the quote in between quotation marks in order to depict where the quote starts and ends.

Generally, a short quote that contains not more than 30 words comes in between inverted commas. For instance,

Patients who prayed had “less congestive heart failure, required less diuretic and antibiotic therapy, had fewer episodes of pneumonia, had fewer cardiac arrests and were less frequently intubated and ventilated” (Byrd, 1988, p. 829).

On the other hand, longer quotes that have more than 30 words have to be indented from your individual writing. Longer quotations can be single or double-spaced. Moreover, we do not write them inside quotation marks, unlike short quotes. However, it is necessary to add the parenthetical citation after the longer quote’s punctuation.

What is Paraphrasing

Paraphrasing is another way to include the information from an original source in your answer. Here, you have to present the original source ideas in your own words. Furthermore, you have to acknowledge the original source and the author when you paraphrase. Describing the information from the original source in your own words enables you to demonstrate your comprehension of the work and your capacity to convey that information.

In order to paraphrase a text, first, you need to go through the original text thoroughly until you comprehend it well. As the next step,  you have to note down all the required concepts and ideas that the original author discusses inside his or her work. Then you have to put aside the original text and write down your version of the selected ideas without looking at the original text. Finally, it is necessary to go through the paraphrased text in order to make the required adjustments. The words should be edited to ensure that they communicate the required point in an academic manner without disturbing the flow of the rest of your work. Most importantly, you should not forget to include citations.

Similarities Between Quoting and Paraphrasing

• Quoting and paraphrasing both refer to methods of obtaining and incorporating the original source information into your own work.
• Whatever the mode we use, whether it’s paraphrasing or quoting, we always need to include the citations, which lead the reader to the original source and the author.

Difference Between Quoting and Paraphrasing

Quoting refers to the extraction of more than four words directly from the original source without changing the word order, while paraphrasing refers to describing or conveying the information in the original source in your own words.

In quoting, you use the words of another writer, but in paraphrasing, you use your own words to describe what someone else has written.

Punctuation

Usually, a short quote comes inside quotation marks, whereas a paraphrase does not.

The main difference between quoting and paraphrasing is that a quote is usually identical to its original source and matches the source text word to word, while paraphrasing includes producing a  source idea or a material in your own words. However, whether it is paraphrasing or quoting, you have to attribute to the original source and credit the original author in order to avoid plagiarism. 

1. “ APA Citation Guide: (Previous/6th Edition): In-Text Citations .” LibGuides. 2. Trach, Elizabeth. “ Examples of Paraphrasing without Plagiarizing .” Examples – Your Dictionary.

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1. “ Quotation: We do not inherit the land from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children .” By Ken Whytock (CC BY-NC 2.0) via Flickr 2. “ Notebook, writing, watch, work, hand, finger, close up, brand, design ” (CC0) via Pxhere

About the Author: Anuradha

Anuradha has a BA degree in English, French, and Translation studies. She is currently reading for a Master's degree in Teaching English Literature in a Second Language Context. Her areas of interests include Arts and Literature, Language and Education, Nature and Animals, Cultures and Civilizations, Food, and Fashion.

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Microsoft 365 Life Hacks > Writing > The Difference Between Summarizing & Paraphrasing

The Difference Between Summarizing & Paraphrasing

Summarizing and paraphrasing are helpful ways to include source material in your work without piling on direct quotes. Understand the differences between these approaches and when to use each.

Summarizing vs. Paraphrasing: The Biggest Differences

Though summarizing and paraphrasing are both tools for conveying information clearly and concisely, they help you achieve this in different ways. In general, the difference is rooted in the scale of the source material: To share an entire source at once, you summarize; to share a specific portion of a source (without quoting directly, of course), you paraphrase.

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What is Summarizing?

Summarizing is simplifying the content of a source to its main points in your own words. You literally sum up something, distill it down to its most essential parts. Summaries cover whole sources rather than a piece or pieces of a source and don’t include direct quotes or extraneous detail.

How to Summarize

• Understand the original thoroughly. You may start by scanning the original material, paying close attention to headers and any in-text summaries, but once you’re sure that this source is something you’re going to use in your research paper , review it more thoroughly to gain appropriate understanding and comprehension.
• Take notes of the main points. A bulleted list is appropriate here-note the main idea of each portion of the source material. Take note of key words or phrases around which you can build your summary list and deepen your understanding.
• Build your summary. Don’t just use the list you’ve already created—this was a first draft . Craft complete sentences and logical progression from item to item. Double check the source material to ensure you’ve not left out any relevant points and trim anything extraneous. You can use a bulleted or numbered list here or write your summary as a paragraph if that’s more appropriate for your use. Make sure to follow the rules of parallelism if you choose to stay in list form.

What is Paraphrasing?

Paraphrasing is rephrasing something in your own words; the word comes from the Greek para -, meaning “beside” or “closely resembling”, 1 combined with “phrase,” which we know can mean a string of words or sentences. 2 Paraphrasing isn’t practical for entire sources—just for when you want to highlight a portion of a source.

How to Paraphrase

• Read actively . Take notes, highlight or underline passages, or both if you please-whatever makes it easiest for you to organize the sections of the source you want to include in your work.
• Rewrite and revise. For each area you’d like to paraphrase, take the time to rewrite it in your own words. Retain the meaning of the original text, but don’t copy it too closely; take advantage of a thesaurus to ensure you’re not relying too heavily on the source material.
• Check your work and revise again as needed . Did you retain the meaning of the source material? Did you simplify the language of the source material? Did you differentiate your version enough? If not, try again.

Summarizing and paraphrasing are often used in tandem; you’ll likely find it appropriate to summarize an entire source and then paraphrase specific portions to support your summary. Using either approach for including sources requires appropriate citing, though, so ensure that you follow the correct style guide for your project and cite correctly.

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