Whose Words Are These?

By Kyle Cushman, Vermont College of Union Institute and University

When writing academic papers, students can find it challenging to share the ideas of others (such as researchers, authors, or speakers) because they are unsure how to quote, paraphrase or summarize information from outside sources properly, or they are unclear about the differences between each. Students also don't always understand that they must include citations even when they have put information from outside sources in their own words. Unintentional plagiarism can result when students don't know how to share outside information or know when they should cite their sources.

This article is intended to be a resource for learning center professionals who are helping students learn how to quote, paraphrase and summarize information from outside sources.

The overall rule of thumb: If you are sharing an idea from an outside source that is not common knowledge, you need to include a citation, even if you have put the idea in your own words.

What is considered common knowledge? Common knowledge is anything that just about everyone knows, ideas that have circulated in the culture for a substantial period of time and are generally understood. An example is that "the earth is round." This idea has been around for a long while, everyone knows it, and it can be supported by a variety of sources.

What ideas should be cited? Any ideas that come from a specific outside source, are relatively new, and are not yet generally known in the public sphere. For example, back when the first person put forth the idea that the earth is round, this was not yet common knowledge; therefore at that time this information would have required a citation to credit the source of the idea. Another example is information about how the common cold is transmitted. When it was first discovered that colds are transmitted through human contact and coughs and sneezes, that information would have needed a citation. However, now that information is common knowledge-almost everyone knows it-so it no longer needs a citation.

Using quotations

What is a quotation? A quotation is when you include the exact words of an outside source. Quotations can be as short as a phrase consisting of a few words or as long as a few paragraphs.

When should you use quotations? Quotations are best when exact wording is necessary to fully understand a concept or idea, or when the outside source said it so brilliantly that you couldn't possibly say it any better, or when you need the authority of the author's words to back up your opinion.

What is the proper way to use quotations?

• Copy the text precisely - use the exact same words and punctuation as the source.
• Use a signal phrase to indicate the author: "In his book on college writing, Toby Fulwiler says…"
• At the end of the quote (in MLA style), include the page number from which the quote came in parentheses: (142).
• Enclose quotes shorter than four lines in quotation marks.
• Indent quotes longer than four lines 5 spaces and single space lines. Omit quotation marks.
• You must cite the author's name and the page number to avoid plagiarism.

Paraphrasing

What is paraphrasing? With paraphrasing, the writer expresses ideas from an outside source in his or her own words, but keeps roughly the same meaning and approximately the same amount of detail. Paraphrased material is about the same length as original material.

When is paraphrasing appropriate? When it is not important to keep the original wording or when the original wording is difficult to understand, but you wish to share the depth and details of an idea.

What is the proper way to paraphrase?

• Original text from an outside source is put entirely into the writer's own words.
• It is not okay to simply substitute your own words here and there, or to change the order of phrases and sentences.
• The best way to ensure that you are not plagiarizing when paraphrasing is to read over the text you wish to paraphrase, then put it down and write without looking at it.
• After writing the ideas down, go back to the original text to be sure you captured the level of detail, but did not copy any phrases or words.
• Include the author's name in a signal phrase before the paraphrased section.
• Include the page number at the end of the paraphrased section.
• You must cite the author's name and page number to avoid plagiarism.

Summarizing

What is summarizing? Summarizing is to distill information from an outside source down to it's essential points; thus, a summary is usually shorter than the original text and does not go into as much detail. Summaries are always in your own words.

When is it best to summarize? When you only need a brief overview of information from an outside source, summarizing is quite handy. Summarize when you only need your reader to understand the main idea but not the details or when you are sharing subject matter that is not pertain as closely to your topic as other information.

How does one summarize correctly?

• Review the information you'd like to summarize.
• Highlight, circle or underline the main ideas or essential points from the passage.
• Then, without looking at the outside source, capture the essential points in your own words.
• Check the original to see that you are not "borrowing" words or phrases and to be sure you've captured all of the important ideas you wanted to share.
• Be sure to include author's name in a signal phrase at the beginning and include the page number at the end of the summary.

If a student is plagiarizing in their writing, or if they are sharing little information from outside sources as support for their opinions, it can help to check to be sure they understand how to quote, paraphrase and summarize correctly. It's also important to be sure they know that they must include citations for any ideas that are not common knowledge.

Questions or comments? Contact the author at kyle.cushman@tui.edu.