Remember that never-ending party where people came and went, and the conversation continued? As new people joined the conversation, you brought them up to speed on conversations that they missed. Chances are you will have quoted, paraphrased or summarized parts of that earlier conversation.
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"... and then Caro said "You know it, honey!" and we all laughed."
"Desmond thinks the game was fantastic, but Edu says it was a disgrace."
"Basically, Fatima solved the entire problem with a paperclip."
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Academic writing is a balance between your own thoughts and ideas and the words and ideas of others. When you incorporate the work of others into your own work, you must alert your audience so they can distinguish between the two.
You can alert your audience by using one of these options:
- Quote directly: put quotation marks around the words and identify the source.
- Paraphrase: put the information into your own words and identify the source.
- Summarize: take the main points, paraphrase them, and identify the source.