LibGuides: Writing Resources: How to Avoiding Plagiarism

Summarizing

Summarizing is taking the original piece and giving a concise description of what it states. You need to provide an explanation of what the author has stated, without using the same wording that they used. You will not need quotation marks so long as you avoid using the exact phrases in the original piece. If you use the same terminology and it is new or very specific to the piece, such as a new term that is coined by the writer, then you must use quotation marks around the phrase.

You can mix a quotation in the middle of your summary if you are using an exact phrase.

Use quotation marks only around the exact phrasing and cite the source using the proper Citation Style.

Paraphrasing and Summarizing from Writer's Reference Center
"The standard method for making a summary involves identifying the main points in a passage, writing them down in note form, then making a plan and drafting a brief text on the basis of those notes. In some respects, therefore, it constitutes a condensed version of several aspects of the writing process as a whole, particularly those we have been dealing with in the present section. To illustrate the technique, let us take the passage below, currently consisting of 284 words, and reduce it to a summary of not more than 100 words."
Quoting, Paraphrasing, and Summarizing from Purdue OWL
This handout is intended to help you become more comfortable with the uses of and distinctions among quotations, paraphrases, and summaries. This handout compares and contrasts the three terms, gives some pointers, and includes a short excerpt that you can use to practice these skills.

Quoting

Quoting is using the same wording from the original piece.

Do not quote the entire piece. Only rarely would you quote entire sentences. You need to put most of what you are saying into your own words and quote only a small section or a specific phrase of the original piece.

You need to work in multiple ideas and quotes from various sources into your paper. Most of what you are writing should be your own words.

You will need to put the words into quotation marks and cite the source using the proper Citation Style.

Quoting from Writer's Reference Center
"We may be inclined to think of quotations as belonging primarily to academic writing, particularly literary essays. There is a virtual obligation to quote if you are discussing a play, a novel, or the work of other scholars, but a well-chosen quotation can enhance any type of writing. Words taken directly from a source document can be used to support your own arguments and to give them greater authority by showing that others think the same way that you do (or, alternatively, to give you something to argue against) or to illustrate a point you are making. In the preparatory stages of writing, too, you will frequently find that the easiest way of writing a note is to put down exactly what is said in the source material rather than putting the idea into your own words."

Paraphrasing

You should take much of what you read and use in your paper and place it into your own words. If you want to use an idea from the original piece, but not the entire piece, then you can paraphrase the ideas that you want to present in your paper.

You will not use the exact terminology or wording. You will not use quotation marks.

You will provide a brief description of the original idea and cite the source in the proper Citation Style.

Paraphrasing and Summarizing from Writer's Reference Center
"Paraphrasing is distinct from quoting insofar as you do not use the source author's own words. Nonetheless, paraphrased material needs to be attributed to the person who first produced it, otherwise, even though you are using your own words, you are effectively plagiarizing someone else's work."
Purdue OWL: Paraphrase
Learn to borrow from a source without plagiarizing.

Writing Resources

Librarian

Avoiding Plagiarism Handout

Summarizing

Quoting

Paraphrasing