When using borrowed material, use these
guidelines to decide when to directly quote, when to paraphrase, and
when to summarize. The ability to use all three of these techniques
is essential to a writer in order to smoothly and logically incorporate
borrowed material into his or her writing.
Direct Quotation
When you record borrowed material word for word as it
was found in the original, you are directly quoting. A direct
quotation may appear in two forms in your paper depending on the length
of the quotation: If the direct quotation will be less than four
typewritten lines in your paper, put the direct quotation inside quotation
marks. If the quotation will be longer than four typewritten lines
in your paper, indent one inch from the left margin when the quotation
starts and continue indention until the quotation ends. Do not
put the indented quotation in quotation marks. The indention is
used in lieu of quotation marks to signal to the reader that the material
is borrowed.
Use a direct quotation when these circumstances
apply:
Quote directly when the passage is clear and does not
need alteration.
Quote directly when the author is well-known and his
exact words can add credibility to your paper.
Quote directly when the author's words are particularly
memorable or striking.
Paraphrase
When you decide to paraphrase, you put the sentence you
are borrowing in your words. Usually the paraphrase is a word
for word replacement of your words for those in the original passage.
Extensive paraphrase often leads to plagiarism, so usually you will
only want to paraphrase briefly, not more than a sentence or two.
A paraphrase does not begin with quotation marks because these are your
own words, so it is extremely important to begin all paraphrase with
a quotation transition so that the reader will know where the borrowed
material begins and ends. The parenthetical in-text note at the
end of the paraphrase will signal to your reader where borrowing has
ended.
Use a paraphrase when these circumstances
apply:
Paraphrase when the language is hard to understand.
Paraphrase when the language is highly technical.
Paraphrase to blend borrowed material more smoothly
into your paper.
Summary
A summary, unlike the direct quotation and the paraphrase,
is not a direct presentation of someone else's words or a word for word
replacement of someone else's words. It is a condensation of someone
else's words. Summary takes a much longer piece of writing and
makes it much shorter.
Use summary when these circumstances apply:
Summarize when you have a long study and only the findings
of the study are important.
Summarize when a number of people hold the same view
on a topic.
Summarize when your original source provided a long
story or example.
