Mindflower Consulting

Quoting, summarizing, paraphrasing – what’s the difference? Quotes, paraphrases and summaries are all expressions of someone else’s idea(s). A quote uses their words; summary or paraphrase uses your words.

Quotes: use them if you must

A quote can be direct or indirect. Direct quotes are word-for-word with no changes whatsoever. Always put quote marks around a direct quote.

Example:

“A quote can be direct or indirect” according to Cochrane (2010).

Indirect quotes are dangerous in an essay, because the marker’s idea of indirect quoting may be different from yours, and no-one likes a big fat 0 – or, worse, disciplinary action – for plagiarism. Avoid!

Example (avoid!):

Cochrane (2010) states that summaries are your expression of someone else’s idea.

Best practice: summarise or paraphrase

What’s the difference?

A summary	A paraphrase
Gives a thumbnail outline of someone’s thinking.	Puts one or more of someone else’s ideas into your own words
Generally covers more than one idea, fact, factor or issue – the whole treatment of a concept	May cover just one idea, fact, factor or issue – or may cover more than one.
Should be a true, contextualized reflection of someone else’s thinking	May only touch on one aspect of someone else’s thinking
Requires you to read, think, understand and rephrase	Requires you to read, think, understand and rephrase
Must credit the original author	Must credit the original author

How to paraphrase

1. Read the bit you intend to paraphrase. Read it three or four times. Make sure you understand it.
2. Close the book or article and put down the main points of the idea.
3. If you have used the same words as the original author, get a thesaurus and find one or two words that come closest to the idea.
4. Change the sentence structure around (you might need your thesaurus again).
5. Check that what you wrote makes sense.
6. Credit the original author.

Example:

Cochrane (2010) describes paraphrasing as a reading comprehension process followed by one’s own re-wording of a given concept or result.

How to summarise

1. Read the bit you intend to summarise. Read it three or four times. Make sure you understand it.

2. Close the book or article and jot down the main points of the ideas.

3. Drawing a mind map can be helpful.
4. If you have used the same words as the original author, get a thesaurus and find one or two words that come closest to the idea.
5. Imagine that you are explaining the concept to someone else (actually you are, to the marker of the essay!) Are your points in logical order? Why? Why not?
6. Write down the points in order.
7. Credit the original author.

Example:

Cochrane (2010) mentions three ways of referring to another author’s work. She describes the distinction between quotes, summaries and paraphrases (including the difference between direct and indirect quotes), then gives a brief method for producing each, with a few suggestions for use and examples.

Tips:

o One helpful way of summarizing or paraphrasing is to try and explain the concept(s) to someone else. But BEWARE … figures of speech and analogies are best used when explaining something technical or clinical to a lay person. Avoid explaining by analogy in your essays, as the marker usually knows the topic better than you do.
o The thesaurus is your friend! Just make sure you know the meaning of the words you use.
o Always credit other people for their work. Like gravity, it’s not just a good idea, it’s the law.