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Quoting & Paraphrasing

How to quote and paraphrase sources. How to support a claim with evidence.

Quoting & Paraphrasing

Information provided by pages 371-440 (MLA) and 445-497 (APA) in the seventh edition of A Writer’s Reference by Diana Hacker.

Quoting a source is a good technique when using someone else’s exact words to help support your claim.

Here are the steps:

  1. Reproduce the words exactly as they are written in the text.
  • "At last, he got a seat in the car, and with a considerable creaking of cables they were on their way."
  1. Use in-text citation
  • “At last, he got a seat in the car, and with a considerable creaking of cables they were on their way” (Clarke 77).
  1. Do not change the wording. If words are omitted use ellipses (...) to note that something is missing. If you add your own words to clarify meaning use brackets ([ ])
  • “At last, he got a seat in the car, and with a...creaking of cables they were on their way [to the space station]” (Clarke 77).

NOTE: If there is a spelling or grammar error in the direct quote, follow it with [sic] to indicate that the error was not your own.

 

Paraphrasing is a good way of integrating a lot of information from a source in your own words.

Here are the steps:

  1. Restate the information using your own words.
  • Original quote: “In earlier times, surveillance was limited to the information that a supervisor could observe and record firsthand and to primitive devices. In the computer age surveillance can be instantaneous, unblinking, cheap, and, maybe most importantly, easy” (Botan and Corcoreanu 126).
  • Paraphrased quote: Scholars Carl Botan and Michaela Vorvoreanu claim that the nature of surveillance has changed over time. Before the arrival of computers, managers could collect only small amounts of information about their employees based on what they saw or heard. Now, because computers are standard workplace technology, employers can monitor employees efficiently (126).
  1. Use in-text citation unless the information is common knowledge to your audience
  • The sacred Black Hills are located in western South Dakota (requires no in- text citation)

NOTE: It is important to note that you should not use the author’s language when paraphrasing. A helpful tool is to not look at the source while you are paraphrasing those ideas from it. Focus on restating the main points.