PARAPHRASING/CITING RESEARCH
AND CHOOSING CREDIBLE
SOURCES
HOW TO CREATE A PRESENTATION
BASED ON RESEARCH
When you are creating any kind of presentation or
essay based on research, there are three ways to
convey that research to your audience:
1. Direct quote
2. Paraphrase
3. Summary
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.
*Directly quoted from Owl Purdue Online Writing Lab.
https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/563/01/
EXAMPLES IN 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 #).
*Directly quoted from Owl Purdue Online Writing Lab.
https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/563/01/
HOW TO USE QUOTATIONS,
PARAPHRASES, AND SUMMARIES
• 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.
*Directly quoted from Owl Purdue Online Writing Lab.
https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/563/01/
HOW TO PARAPHRASE
• A paraphrase does not mean just changing up a
few words here and there. A paraphrase should be
a complete rephrasing of the information,
excepting common or proper nouns that you
cannot come up with a synonym for.
• Strategies to ensure a correct paraphrase:
- Change the order of the content as written in the
original text
- Come up with synonyms for everything you can
- Change up phrasing and syntax
EXAMPLES OF PARAPHRASING
• Here is a direct quote from Ernest Hemingway’s
Biography.com profile:
In high school, Hemingway worked on his school newspaper,
Trapeze and Tabula, writing primarily about sports. Immediately
after graduation, the budding journalist went to work for the
Kansas City Star, gaining experience that would later influence
his distinctively stripped-down prose style.
Here is a bad example of a paraphrase for this information:
Hemingway worked on his school paper, Trapeze and Tabula in
high school. He wrote mostly about sports. Soon after
graduation, the journalist started working for Kansas City Star,
and got experience that would later influence his unique
stripped-down prose style.
What’s wrong with this paraphrase?
EXAMPLES OF PARAPHRASING
In high school, Hemingway worked on his school newspaper,
Trapeze and Tabula, writing primarily about sports. Immediately
after graduation, the budding journalist went to work for the
Kansas City Star, gaining experience that would later influence
his distinctively stripped-down prose style.
Strong paraphrase example:
• Hemingway’s writing career began in high school where he
worked on the student newspaper, Trapeze and Tabula. One
of the things from Hemingway’s past that had a huge impact
on his writing career, specifically his simplistic style, was
working for a newspaper after high school at the Kansas City
Star (Ernest Hemingway Biography).
What do you notice about this paraphrase compared to the
original text?
CITING YOUR PARAPHRASES
• If citing a book, use this format: (author’s last name and page #).
Ex: Human beings have been described as "symbol-using animals"
(Burke 3).
• If citing a website, use this format: (name of author (if available),
name of website article as listed on your works cited page).
Ex: One online film critic stated that Fitzcarraldo is "...a beautiful and
terrifying critique of obsession and colonialism" (Garcia, “Herzog: a
Life”).
*Examples from OWL Purdue Writing Lab; visit this link for more
details on parenthetical citation:
https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/02/
CHOOSING CREDIBLE SOURCES
• Do not use Wikipedia, blogs, or personal websites
• .edu, .org, and .gov sites are typically credible
• Most books in the library under “nonfiction” are
credible
• Most large newspapers are credible
• Information from reputable organizations are
typically credible
• Credible websites contain easily verifiable
information, no errors, and appear professional