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There is more detail for this present in the links below, as well as guidelines. Some general rules to abide by:

- Any time you use the exact words from a text, it must be "quoted".
- In general, quotes show the ability to research, but not necessarily the ability to understand. Use them when the words express something in a way that cannot be changed.
- Try to limit quotes to about 10 words.
- Don't use a whole sentence as a quote. "It shouldn't look like this (reference)".
- You can still use a paraphrase as evidence, when it is referenced correctly (refer to the Referencing section).
- Select evidence that is directly related to your point, and explain it (refer to the Paragraph Structure and Analysis not Description sections)

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Description is when something is outlined, or details are given. Let's take this graph for example (link). I can describe the graph by saying that it shows that print media is the least common form of news acquisition among all age groups, and the most popular being the smartphone. I can even describe by saying that young people appear to prefer smart phones more than pre-millennial generations.
To analyse, I would need to connect it to some further concept. For example, I may say that the preference for news source correlates to the news sources that were considered modern during those people's youth, hence the preference for televisions still present amongst pre-millennial generations. Or, I might point out that the largest difference between millennials and Gen Z is 6%, which is not statistically significant, and therefore shows little difference between the two.
To evaluate however, I might point out that the data seems skewed by the lack of differentiation between older generations clouds any reliable inter-generational analysis, or that the "smartphone" category is inadequate because it doesn't specify whether that means reading a newspaper online or social media.

Do you see the difference? You describe the what, analyse the what does it mean, and evaluate the how.

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If your paragraphs are too long or too short.

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If your paragraphs are too long or too short.

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The purpose of this handout is to give some basic instruction and advice regarding the creation of understandable and coherent paragraphs. A paragraph is a collection of related sentences dealing with a single topic. Learning to write good paragraphs will help you as a writer stay on track during your drafting and revision stages.

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If your evidence is copied from the source, or you're missing evidence.

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If your evidence is copied from the source, or you're missing evidence.

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When you're on this site, look through the links to help you.

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Suggested Resources
Style Guide Overview MLA Guide APA Guide Chicago Guide OWL Exercises

This page is brought to you by the OWL at Purdue University. When printing this page, you must include the entire legal notice.

Copyright ©1995-2018 by The Writing Lab & The OWL at Purdue and Purdue University. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, reproduced, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed without permission. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our terms and conditions of fair use.

Summary:
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.

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.

What are the differences among quoting, paraphrasing, and summarizing?

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.

Summarizing 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

Writers frequently intertwine summaries, paraphrases, and quotations. As part of a summary of an article, a chapter, or a book, a writer might include paraphrases of various key points blended with quotations of striking or suggestive phrases as in the following example:

In his famous and influential work The Interpretation of Dreams, Sigmund Freud argues that dreams are the "royal road to the unconscious" (page #), expressing in coded imagery the dreamer's unfulfilled wishes through a process known as the "dream-work" (page #). According to Freud, actual but unacceptable desires are censored internally and subjected to coding through layers of condensation and displacement before emerging in a kind of rebus puzzle in the dream itself (page #).

How to use quotations, paraphrases, and summaries

Practice summarizing the essay found here, using paraphrases and quotations as you go. It might be helpful to follow these steps:

Read the entire text, noting the key points and main ideas.

Summarize in your own words what the single main idea of the essay is.

Paraphrase important supporting points that come up in the essay.

Consider any words, phrases, or brief passages that you believe should be quoted directly.

There are several ways to integrate quotations into your text. Often, a short quotation works well when integrated into a sentence. Longer quotations can stand alone. Remember that quoting should be done only sparingly; be sure that you have a good reason to include a direct quotation when you decide to do so. You'll find guidelines for citing sources and punctuating citations at our documentation guide pages.

This page is brought to you by the OWL at Purdue University. When printing this page, you must include the entire legal notice.

Copyright ©1995-2018 by The Writing Lab & The OWL at Purdue and Purdue University. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, reproduced, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed without permission. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our terms and conditions of fair use.

Summary:
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.

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.

What are the differences among quoting, paraphrasing, and summarizing?

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.

Summarizing 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

Writers frequently intertwine summaries, paraphrases, and quotations. As part of a summary of an article, a chapter, or a book, a writer might include paraphrases of various key points blended with quotations of striking or suggestive phrases as in the following example:

In his famous and influential work The Interpretation of Dreams, Sigmund Freud argues that dreams are the "royal road to the unconscious" (page #), expressing in coded imagery the dreamer's unfulfilled wishes through a process known as the "dream-work" (page #). According to Freud, actual but unacceptable desires are censored internally and subjected to coding through layers of condensation and displacement before emerging in a kind of rebus puzzle in the dream itself (page #).

How to use quotations, paraphrases, and summaries

Practice summarizing the essay found here, using paraphrases and quotations as you go. It might be helpful to follow these steps:

Read the entire text, noting the key points and main ideas.

Summarize in your own words what the single main idea of the essay is.

Paraphrase important supporting points that come up in the essay.

Consider any words, phrases, or brief passages that you believe should be quoted directly.

There are several ways to integrate quotations into your text. Often, a short quotation works well when integrated into a sentence. Longer quotations can stand alone. Remember that quoting should be done only sparingly; be sure that you have a good reason to include a direct quotation when you decide to do so. You'll find guidelines for citing sources and punctuating citations at our documentation guide pages.

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Style Guide Overview MLA Guide APA Guide Chicago Guide OWL Exercises This page is brought to you by the OWL at Purdue University. When printing this page, you must include the entire legal notice. Copyright ©1995-2018 by The Writing Lab & The OWL at Purdue and Purdue University. All rights reserved.

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General advice about good practice in referencing and avoiding plagiarism.

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General advice about good practice in referencing and avoiding plagiarism.

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Best Practices for Writers - Purdue OWL® - Purdue University

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An academic paragraph needs to contain:

The topic sentence (Point)

This should appear early in the paragraph and is often, but not always, the first sentence. It should clearly state the main point that you are making in the paragraph. When you are planning essays, writing down a list of your topic sentences is an excellent way to check that your argument flows well from one point to the next.

Evidence

This is the evidence that backs up your topic sentence. Why do you believe what you have written in your topic sentence? The evidence is usually paraphrased or quoted material from your reading. Depending on the nature of the assignment, it could also include:

Your own data (in a research project for example).

Personal experiences from practice (especially for Social Care, Health Sciences and Education).

Personal experiences from learning (in a reflective essay for example).

Any evidence from external sources should, of course, be referenced.

Explanation (analysis)

This is the part of your paragraph where you explain to your reader why the evidence supports the point and why that point is relevant to your overall argument. It is where you answer the question 'So what?'. Tell the reader how the information in the paragraph helps you answer the question and how it leads to your conclusion. Your analysis should attempt to persuade the reader that your conclusion is the correct one.

These are the parts of your paragraphs that will get you the higher marks in any marking scheme.

Link

Links are optional but it will help your argument flow if you include them. They are sentences that help the reader understand how the parts of your argument are connected. Most commonly they come at the end of the paragraph but they can be equally effective at the beginning of the next one. Sometimes a link is split between the end of one paragraph and the beginning of the next (see the example paragraph below).

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Library: Grammar resource: Paragraph structure

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Library: Grammar resource: Paragraph structure

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How often should I use the language directly of the source? (Quote from the University of Wollongong)

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How often should I use the language directly of the source? (Quote from the University of Wollongong)

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Beginning student writers often rely too heavily on quotes to introduce ideas and theories. It is important to try and avoid this because your argument may be lost amongst the quotes and your argument will not be clear. Quotes should be used only when you want to provide extra support in the actual words of an established authority or a primary source for the point you are making in your topic sentence. Follow this link for more information on finding your voice in academic writing.

https://unilearning.uow.edu.au/essay/4bv.html

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A whole essay-writing booklet - P9-10 has specific examples of topic sentences and other parts of paragraphing.

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A whole essay-writing booklet - P9-10 has specific examples of topic sentences and other parts of paragraphing.

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If your quotes are too long, this guide shows you how to shorten them.

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If your quotes are too long, this guide shows you how to shorten them.

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CUNY School of Professional Studies Writing Fellows

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Writing assignments are primarily about your thoughts, but quotes can help support your argument. Once you have chosen appropriate quotes to include in your writing assignment, you will need to think about how to most effectively use them. To get started, try this exercise:

1. Take out all the quotes you chose from your Double Entry Notebook and/or Quotation-Comment-Question Worksheet

2. Open up the Quote Generating Worksheet, and fill in the fields like this:

Matt Richtel (no page)

Scientists say juggling e-mail, phone calls and other incoming information can change how people think and behave. They say our ability to focus is being undermined by bursts of information.

Working on multiple tasks at the same time can compromise our ability to focus on just one.

It provides evidence that seemingly inborn traits like the ability to focus might in fact be produced by technology. Technology doesn't just define the era - it defines the people living in that era.

You now have all the elements you need to use this quote as evidence supporting your argument!

Remember, every quote needs to be surrounded by your interpretation-that's how you make the quote work for you. You can rearrange the information in your Quote Generating Worksheet in any number of ways, but one good technique is to start with What It Means (usually a summary or paraphrase of the quoted material), then insert the Quote followed by the Author and Page in the correct citation style for your paper, then interpret the quote by telling your reader How It Relates to your own argument. So the quote used in the model worksheet might look like this:

Working on multiple tasks at the same time can compromise our ability to focus on just one. According to journalist Matt Richtel, "Scientists say juggling e-mail, phone calls and other incoming information can change how people think and behave. They say our ability to focus is being undermined by bursts of information" (n.p.). This implies that seemingly inborn traits like the ability to focus might in fact be produced by technology. Technology doesn't just define our era-it defines the people living in our era.

Notice how I surrounded the quote with my own interpretation. I introduced the quoted material with the name of the author, separated the quote from the rest of the sentence with a comma, retained the capitalization in the original quote, used double quotation marks to indicate quoted material, included the in-text citation in parentheses after the closing quotation mark (in this case, because it's an online source, there isn't any page-"n.p." stands for "no page," and it's what we use in place of a page number if none is available), and I placed the final punctuation mark (the period) after the in-text citation.

If you only want to use part of the quote, you can integrate it into the grammatical structure of your sentence, like this:

Working on multiple tasks at the same time can compromise our ability to focus on just one. Richtel reports that scientists now say "our ability to focus is being undermined by bursts of information" from new technologies of communication (n.p.). This implies that seemingly inborn traits like the ability to focus might in fact be produced by technology.

Notice the differences between the separated quotation format and the integrated quotation format. I did not separate the quote with a comma, the first letter of the quoted material is lowercase (if I had used the beginning of the sentence, I would have changed the initial letter to lowercase and indicated the change with brackets, like this: "[s]cientists say"), and I included the in-text citation before the period at the end of the sentence. Because this is the second time I've mentioned Matt Richtel, I refer to him by his last name only.

Want more info? Try these resources:

Learn about proper MLA formatting or APA formatting through the Purdue Online Writing Lab.

Learn about signal phrases-the words you use to transition into and out of quoted material-in a handout created by the 2009-2010 writing fellows.

Another helpful resource is this handout about "The Quote Sandwich" created by Amy Leonard at De Anza College.

Also, remember that there are three ways to incorporate source material into your writing: quotes, paraphrases, and summaries.

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Writing assignments are primarily about your thoughts, but quotes can help support your argument. Once you have chosen appropriate quotes to include in your writing assignment, you will need to think about how to most effectively use them. To get started, try this exercise: 1.

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A quick checklist of analysis vs description

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A quick checklist of analysis vs description

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You may have received feedback from your lecturers saying your essay writing is too descriptive, and doesn't contain enough analysis.

But what does this mean?

Analytical writing:

evaluates strengths and weaknesses

makes reasoned judgments

draws conclusions.

On the other hand, descriptive writing:

evokes a particular person, place, thing

recounts what happened

only explains a theory.

Essays need to be analytical rather than descriptive.

Activity

Below are two paragraphs. One of them is descriptive while the other is analytical. Read both paragraphs, then answer the questions that follow.
Example A

According to the trait theory of leadership, some people are better suited to leadership because they are born with particular qualities and characteristics. This theory is likely to have stemmed from the work of Galton (1869) who argued that the qualities necessary for effective leadership are naturally endowed, and therefore only passed on through genetics. This idea was popular until the 1950s when it was thought to be too limited in its explanation of what makes a good leader (Zaccaro, 2007). The theory regained popularity in the 1980s, after new research highlighted the importance of personality traits in successful leadership. A five-factor model of personality has been developed to outline what these favourable personality traits are. They include: neuroticism, extraversion, openness to experience, agreeableness, and conscientiousness (Digman, 1990). The degree to which these five factors are present in an individual can be used to predict whether someone will emerge to be a leader, and how effective their leadership will be (Judge et al., 2002).

Example B

The trait theory of leadership indicates that some people are better suited to leadership because they are born with particular personality traits. Although it is unlikely that genetic factors alone influence leadership ability, this theory is nonetheless a useful tool for predicting whether someone will emerge to be a leader, and how effective their leadership will be (Judge et al., 2002). A five-factor model of personality has been developed to outline what these favourable personality traits are. They include: neuroticism, extraversion, openness to experience, agreeableness, and conscientiousness (Digman, 1990). While application of the theory is useful for assessing the relationship between personality and leadership, it does have limitations. Firstly, to determine the degree to which these traits are present to an individual, a self-evaluation of personality is carried out. To make the assessment more objective, observer ratings should also be included (Colbert et al., 2012). The main limitation, however, is that trait theory does not consider the extent to which developing and honing one's natural abilities make a person a good leader. Innate personality characteristics are undoubtedly necessary for successful leadership, as trait theory suggests, but a leader must be able to take advantage of and develop their natural traits.

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You may have received feedback from your lecturers saying your essay writing is too descriptive, and doesn't contain enough analysis. But what does this mean? Analytical writing: evaluates strengths and weaknesses makes reasoned judgments draws conclusions. On the other hand, descriptive writing: evokes a particular person, place, thing recounts what happened only explains a theory.

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Also a general overview guide. Useful!

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Referencing is an important part of academic work. It puts your work in context, demonstrates the breadth and depth of your research, and acknowledges other people's work. You should reference whenever you use someone else's idea.

These webpages explain what referencing is, why it is important and give an overview of the main elements of how to reference. Our Referencing made simple tutorial opens in a new window and covers how to identify your source and create a reference with interactive examples.

Why reference?

Referencing correctly:

helps you to avoid plagiarism by making it clear which ideas are your own and which are someone else's

shows your understanding of the topic

gives supporting evidence for your ideas, arguments and opinions

allows others to identify the sources you have used.

When to reference

Whenever you use an idea from someone else's work, for example from a journal article, textbook or website, you should cite the original author to make it clear where that idea came from. This is the case regardless of whether you have paraphrased, summarised or directly quoted their work. This is a key part of good practice in academic writing.

Read more on:

University and school policies

The University referencing policy (PDF) sets out the referencing requirements that all taught students and tutors are expected to follow.

Each school in the University requires students to use a specific style of referencing. Check the referencing style used in your school before you begin.

All your citations and references should match the style you are using exactly, including any punctuation, capitalisation, italics and bold, and you should use the same referencing style throughout your assignment.

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Referencing is an important part of academic work. It puts your work in context, demonstrates the breadth and depth of your research, and acknowledges other people's work. You should reference whenever you use someone else's idea. These webpages explain what referencing is, why it is important and give an overview of the main elements of how to reference.

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Helpful exercises (with answers) to practice the principles that you need to apply in your work. The answers will help you check whether you understand the principles or not.