Both paraphrasing and quoting are ways to include other people's research or ideas into your work.
You might want to show that someone else's research agrees with your ideas; you might want to analyze something that someone else has said; or you might even want to contradict or critique someone else's work.
You have two choices:
- Quoting uses the exact words of your source. This is also called direct quotation. You will put their words in "quotation marks" or follow other instructions from your style guide. You must include a citation.
- Paraphrasing uses information or ideas from a source, but uses your own words. You don't use quotation marks, but you must also include a citation.
If you are replacing a few words with a thesaurus or just rearranging the words, you're not paraphrasing, you're plagiarizing. This is an academic integrity violation at UPEI.
Good paraphrases often summarize, explain, or change the focus of information from the original source. They can also connect information from multiple sources.
If you aren't doing any of those things, it may be better to include a direct quotation.
Reading the literature review sections in published articles is a good way to get used to the conventions of quoting and paraphrasing in scholarly writing.
For more help:
The tutors at the Writing Centre can help you with paraphrasing and quoting.
The University of Nevada, Reno's Library gives some specific examples of when you might choose to quote or to paraphase.
Douglas College's Learning Centre has a page on "paraphrasing without plagiarizing" that has some examples of improper and proper paraphasing, as well as some techniques you can use to practice your paraphrasing skills.
Here at UPEI, our Academic Integrity Portal also has a section on paraphrasing.