Using Your Sources

There are three methods for referencing a source in your writing: quoting, paraphrasing, and summarizing.

quoting

Direct quotations are words and phrases that are taken directly from another source and then used word-for-word in your text.

If you incorporate a direct quotation from another author’s text, you must put that quotation or phrase in quotation marks to indicate that it is not your language.

When writing direct quotations, you can use the author’s name in the same sentence as the quotation to introduce the quoted text and to indicate the source in which you found the text. You should also include all relevant information in a complete citation to give credit to the author. The exact format will depend on the formatting style of your essay. Your organization will likely have a preferred style that you should follow.

paraphrasing

Paraphrasing is when you say something in your own words that someone else has said or written.

When paraphrasing, you may put any part of a source (such as a phrase, sentence, paragraph, or chapter) into your own words.

If the original source uses language that is more clear, concise, or specific than your own language, you should use a direct quotation, putting quotation marks around those unique words or phrases you don’t change. However, it is common to use a mixture of paraphrased text and quoted words or phrases. You must still cite the source even if you rephrase their idea in your own words.

summarizing

Summarizing is when you briefly tell the main points of something, leaving out the details.

A summary outlines a source’s most important points and general position. When summarizing a source, it is still necessary to use a citation to give credit to the original author. You must reference the author or source in the appropriate citation at the end of the summary.

Integrating Material from Sources

Incorporating sources into your writing uses a general pattern.

• You make a claim or point: “The Human Fund helps >25% of the downtown Chicago homeless population.”
• You cite evidence: use an MLA citation or APA citation, by embedding a hyperlink in a digital document, by paraphrasing, or by using a direct quote.
• You transition to another claim or new point.

The relationship between claim and evidence is key. For your writing to be effective, you must back up claims or conclusions with quality evidence from credible sources. Citation is the standard that scholarly and business professionals use as a formal way to provide supporting evidence. 

When you’re discussing a topic in person with one or more people, you will find yourself referring to outside sources: “When I was watching the news, I heard them say that . . . I read in the newspaper that . . . John told me that . . .” These kinds of phrases show instances of using a source in conversation. We automatically shape our sentences to work references to the sources into the flow of conversation.

Think about this next time you try to work a source into a piece of writing: if you were speaking this aloud in conversation, how would you introduce the material to your listeners? What information would you give them to help them understand who the author was, and why their view is worth referencing? After giving the information, how would you then link it back to the point you were trying to make? Just as you would do this in a conversation if you found it necessary to reference a newspaper article or television show you saw, you also need to do this in your essays.