Summarizing, Paraphrasing and Quoting in
Academic Writing
Dr. Nancy Agnes, Head, Technical Operations, Tutorsindia info@ tutorsindia.com
INTRODUCTION
According to Plato, art is mimetic in nature.
Writing is an art, and all forms of Writing
involve thorough research. When we indulge
in writing, we get inspired by other’s idea.
We incorporate and assimilate them in our
writing through ways such as paraphrasing,
summarizing, and quoting. This should
reflect our understanding and interpretation
of those ideas.
While summarizing and paraphrasing reflect
broader sections of the main text, quotations
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are brief divisions of a source. Further,
summarizing involves choosing an extensive
part of a source such a chapter from a book
or an act from a play and stating their key
points. On the other hand, paraphrasing
involves stating the ideas presented in a
specific part of a source such as a passage in
a condensed manner. In spite of their subtle
variations
in
representation,
when
summarizing, paraphrasing and quoting are
employed, they must be attributed to the
source to avoid plagiarism.
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SUMMARIZING
Summarizing refers to presenting an
overview of a source by omitting unessential
or redundant details and retaining only the
significant essence of the ideas conveyed.
While summarizing, it is better to make
notes as you go through a source text. A
consolidated view of the source text is
presented without any departure from the
subject. These two stated strategies are vital
for a concrete and comprehensive summary
of a source. Additionally, when relevant
examples from a source are provided, it
substantiates the argument being presented.
Summarizing: an Example
Interesting blog: How To Solve The Biggest
Problems With Dissertation Editing
Example: Original
How do you go about identify your strengths
and weaknesses, and analyze the
opportunities and threats that tide from
them? SWOT Analysis is a valuable
technique that helps you to do this. What
makes SWOT particularly powerful is that,
with hardly a thought, it can help you to
discover opportunities that you would not
otherwise have realized. And by having a
clear understanding of your weaknesses, you
can bring about changes and do away with
threats that might otherwise hurt your
capability to advance in your role. If you
look at yourself using the SWOT
framework, you can start to separate
yourself from your competitors, and
additionally develop the specialized talents
and abilities that you need in order to
improve your career and help you achieve
your individual goals.
Summary
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SWOT Analysis is a technique that helps
you
identify
strengths,
weakness,
opportunities, and threats. Accepting and
managing these factors helps one to develop
the abilities needed to achieve their goals
and progress in their career.
PARAPHRASING
Paraphrasing is the way by which a text is
presented by altering certain words and
phrases of a source. However, the
paraphrase
should
reflect
proper
understanding of the source. Paraphrasing
proves useful for personal understanding of
complex concepts and it helps in explaining
information present in charts, figures, and
tables.
When using synonyms of certain words and
phrase, it should be ensured that the author’s
intention is not changed and that it does not
express an incorrect interpretation of the
source ideas. When key concepts or phrases
are taken from the source, they need to be
put within quotation marks. Paraphrasing is
the best alternative when there is an
abundant usage of direct quotes in writing.
Example: Original
Albert Einstein is one of the most prominent
scientific personalities. His theory of black
holes was confirmed when the first picture
of a black hole was photographed. It is
inconceivable how such an important figure
once had to refuse something much more
important than him. In 1952 Einstein was
offered the role of the Israeli President since
he had been considered as the best Jew in
the world. The satirical aspect of this was
that Einstein did not belong to Israel.
PARAPHRASED
Scientist Albert Einstein is one of the most
historic figures. His theories have enabled us
to know more about space than ever. Even
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without having adequate resources Einstein
theorized the existence of black holes which
have been photographed by space
researchers. He was once offered the job of
leading the nation of Israel in 1952 which he
did not accept. Even though Einstein was
not Israeli, he still had positive ratings in the
country as he was considered one of the best
Jewish men in the world.
QUOTING
Quotations are exact representations of a
source. The source of quotations can either
be spoken words or a written one. Quotes
permeate an authoritative tone to academic
writing and they present strong and reliable
evidence to the topic or claims made.
However, quotations should only be
sparingly used to support your writing and
they should not form a large junk of it.
In-text Quotation: Very short quotes are
usually integrated within a sentence and this
enhances the flow better.
Example:
According to John Pascoe
Fawkner, 'all men have equal political
rights,' whether they had once been convicts
or not.
In conclusion, research flourishes on
inspiration and assimilation of unusual
concepts. However, when developing your
research, do give proper credit to the origin.
REFERENCE:
Source:
https://student.unsw.edu.au/paraphrasingsummarising-and-quoting
Quotations are inserted into academic
writing in different ways as follows:


Direct Quotes: They are provided
within quotation marks and are properly
cited.
Example:
“Madame
Leval
was
connected with Duer,” Alexander Baring
wrote.
Block Quotes: A quote of three or more
lines is often put as a block quote
without quotation marks.
Example: In The Hound of the
Baskervilles the hound is actually seen
only in the end:
Never in the delirious
dream of a disordered brain could
anything more savage,
more appalling, more
hellish be conceived than that dark
form and savage face
which broke upon us out of
the wall of fog. (Doyle 82)
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