Direct Quotations, Paraphrasing and Summarising
Paraphrasing
Usually, when you include another persons ideas or work in your assignment you will not use a direct (word-for- word copy) quotation. You will usually use your own words and sentence structures to present the ideas. This is known as paraphrasing.
It is important to remember that when you include information that you have paraphrased, you must still provide a proper reference to your source information because you are still using the ideas that you have obtained from others.
If the ideas that you are using have come from a specific page, (or range of pages) of a publication, then, your in-text citation should also include the page numbers so that you reader may more easily be able to check the source of your information.
Direct Quotations
There may be an occasion when you wish to include within your work, an exact copy of the words that have been written or spoken by another person. This is known as a direct quotation.
Direct quotations are perfectly acceptable providing they are used appropriately, but please remember that it is considered bad practice to make excessive use of them. When used in excess, direct quotations can interrupt the flow of your own words, and, in any case, your tutor will expect the major part of your assignment to be in your own words.
The way in which you include a direct quotation in your text depends on whether it is considered a ‘short quotation' or ‘long quotation’. Please refer to the relevant LibGuide (Harvard or APA Referencing) for further details.
Summarising
It is possible, that when you produce your assignment, you may wish to include a very brief statement that summarizes the very main points about something that you have read. For example; a book, a web page or a report. Summarising is unlike paraphrasing because it does not provide specific detailed information for your reader.
Example
In-text citation (a summary)
| A recent report by the World Meteorological Organization (2019) provides statistical evidence regarding the way in which world climate is changing, and it claims that that these changes are likely to have a negative impact for life on the planet. |
