Welcome to the Senior School Library Learning Centre at Malvern College Hong Kong: Paraphrasing Summarising and Quotations

From the Purdue OWL Writing Lab:

WHAT ARE THE DIFFERENCES AMONG QUOTING, PARAPHRASING, AND SUMMARISING?

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.

Summarising 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

OTHER HELPFUL WEBSITES FOR QUOTING, PARAPHRASING, AND SUMMARISING

The University of Arizona Global Campus - Quoting, Paraphrasing, & Summarizing: Explore 3 ways of including the ideas of others into your academic writing

UNSW Sydney - Paraphrasing, Summarising and Quoting - Quoting, paraphrasing and summarising are all different ways of including the works of others in your assignments.