{"id":107,"date":"2022-07-13T16:54:31","date_gmt":"2022-07-13T20:54:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/communicating\/chapter\/integrating-sources-into-your-report\/"},"modified":"2026-02-21T16:17:15","modified_gmt":"2026-02-21T21:17:15","slug":"chapter-29","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/communicating\/chapter\/chapter-29\/","title":{"raw":"Quoting, Paraphrasing, and Summarizing Sources","rendered":"Quoting, Paraphrasing, and Summarizing Sources"},"content":{"raw":"
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When writing a report, you want your own analytical voice to shine through the work so that the reader hears your consistent voice throughout the document.<\/p>\r\n

However, you also want to draw in evidence from sources and give credit to the reasoning developed by others, too. When you find a great quote, you want to use it. How do you balance this?<\/p>\r\n

When quoting, paraphrasing, and summarizing sources, academic integrity plays a huge role. You obviously don't want to copy a source's research word for word and claim it as your own. That would be [pb_glossary id=\"204\"]plagiarism[\/pb_glossary]. However, you also can't simply copy huge chunks of text, put quotation marks around it, add a citation, and call it a job well done. That's not writing a report; that's copying and pasting and putting quotation marks and a citation around somebody else's writing. There's no post-secondary credential to be earned through copying and pasting. Instead, you want to include a combination of original writing, paraphrasing, and quotes. This chapter will walk you through how to do this.<\/span><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n

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Integrating materials into your report<\/h2>\r\nSimply presenting information from your sources in your reports is not the end of the process. You must also build clear, persuasive arguments and draw your own conclusions. <\/strong>Otherwise you are simply restating someone else's work and you are not furthering your argument. Many students forget this crucial step in writing reports. Thankfully, it's a relatively easy fix once you know what to do. We will first walk you through the structure you need to follow, and then show you how to use it to incorporate [pb_glossary id=\"202\"]direct quotes[\/pb_glossary]<\/strong>, [pb_glossary id=\"200\"]paraphrasing[\/pb_glossary],<\/strong> and [pb_glossary id=\"197\"]summaries<\/strong>[\/pb_glossary] in your report.\r\n

The source integration structure<\/h2>\r\nRead the example paragraph below. What is wrong with it?\r\n
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People often have an inaccurate definition of communication. MacLennan (2009) explains that people tend to define communication incorrectly. \"Most people, when asked to define communication, would produce something like the following definition: 'the transmission of information by speaking, writing, and other means'\" (p. 5). She goes on to say that this definition is not comprehensive enough. \"While it may be easy to visualize and understand, this model of communication is ultimately inadequate, since it implies that communication is little more than an exchange of information\" (MacLennan, 2009, p. 5).\u00a0 Instead, she defines communication as \"less like a process of information exchange than it is like a process of negotiation, which almost always involves the interplay of assumptions, values, ethics, public or professional status, self-definition, personal feelings, and social needs\" (MacLennan, 2009, p. 5). As we can see, the concept of communication is much more deep and involved than most people think.<\/div>\r\nA couple of issues should stand out. The most obvious is that the paragraph is almost exclusively direct quotes<\/strong>. We have a little bit of the student's input at the start and end of the paragraph, but there isn't really anything substantial between the quotes.\r\n\r\nUltimately, the student didn't incorporate all three elements for integrating sources that are recommended.\r\n\r\n\"\"\r\n\r\nLet's look at the same paragraph again, but highlight the three elements we have discussed. This will show you visually how the paragraph is arranged. We will use the following colors:\r\n\r\nLead-in<\/span>\r\n\r\nIdea from a Source<\/span>\r\n\r\nAnalysis<\/span>\r\n
People often have an inaccurate definition of communication. MacLennan (2009) explains that people tend to define communication incorrectly<\/span>. \"Most people, when asked to define communication, would produce something like the following definition: 'the transmission of information by speaking, writing, and other means'\" (p. 5).<\/span> She goes on to say that this definition is not comprehensive enough.<\/span> \"While it may be easy to visualize and understand, this model of communication is ultimately inadequate, since it implies that communication is little more than an exchange of information\" (MacLennan, 2009, p. 5).<\/span>\u00a0 Instead, she defines communication as<\/span> \"less like a process of information exchange than it is like a process of negotiation, which almost always involves the interplay of assumptions, values, ethics, public or professional status, self-definition, personal feelings, and social needs\" (MacLennan, 2009, p. 5).<\/span> As we can see, the concept of communication is much more deep and involved than most people think.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\r\nWe do have some lead-in for the quotes, but almost no analysis is given. Yes, the quoted information may be relevant, but it is not immediately clear how it's relevant to the writer's main point because there is not enough analysis.\r\n\r\nStudents often mistakenly assume that their readers will figure out the relevance on their own, but that is not the case.<\/em> The reader shouldn't need to interpret your writing for you. Your writing should be as explicit as possible by connecting your sources to your argument.\r\n\r\nLet's look at a revised version of the above paragraph that does a better job incorporating a lead-in<\/strong>, a source<\/strong>, and analysis<\/strong>. We have colour coded the three elements again so you can better see where they are in the paragraph:\r\n
Communication is a much more complex concept than people realize. Typically, the idea will be defined as<\/span> \"the transmission of information by speaking, writing, and other means\" (MacLennan, 2009, p. 5)<\/span>. While this interpretation works at a basic level, it does not account for the larger complexities at play in communication<\/span>. This is because<\/span> communication is more than an exchange of information: it is a negotiation (MacLennan, 2009, p. 5)<\/span>.\u00a0 A negotiation is always far more complex than an exchange<\/span>, because, as MacLennan (2009) explains,<\/span> \"[it] always involves interplay of assumptions, values, ethics, public or professional status, self-definition, personal feelings, and social needs\"<\/span> (MacLennan, 2009, p. 5)<\/span>. As a result, when people communicate with each other, they must consider all the different elements that can both negatively and positively affect their message; otherwise, they risk being misunderstood and having their message corrupted.<\/span><\/div>\r\n
See the difference? Applying this structure when you use direct quotes<\/strong>, paraphrase<\/strong>, or summary<\/strong> will greatly improve the quality of your writing. Now let's look at each method for incorporating sources in detail.<\/div>\r\n\r\n
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Direct quotes, paraphrasing, and summary<\/h2>\r\nWhen writing in academic and professional contexts, you are required to engage with the words and ideas of other authors. Therefore, being able to correctly and fluently incorporate other writers' words and ideas in your own writing is a critical writing skill. As you now know, there are three main ways to integrate evidence from sources into your writing:\r\n
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  1. [pb_glossary id=\"202\"]Direct quotes[\/pb_glossary]<\/li>\r\n \t
  2. [pb_glossary id=\"200\"]Paraphrasing[\/pb_glossary]<\/li>\r\n \t
  3. [pb_glossary id=\"197\"]Summaries[\/pb_glossary]<\/li>\r\n<\/ol>\r\nOne important note that we haven't mentioned is that you are required to include a citation anytime you are using another person's words and\/or ideas. This means that, even if you do not quote directly, but paraphrase or summarize source content and express it in your own words, you still must give credit to the original authors for their ideas. Your instructors will be checking that you do this when they read your work.\u00a0<\/span>\r\n\r\nYou have already seen the use of citations in action throughout this textbook. Anytime we have integrated content from another source, you will have seen a citation that looks something like this: <\/span>\r\n

    (Smith, 2020) <\/span><\/p>\r\nThese citations are done using the American Psychology Association (APA) style<\/a>. You will be expected to use this citation style in your many college and university assignments (some disciplines use other citation styles). However, if you are not sure how to do APA citations correctly, don't worry. We will go into the specific mechanics of how to cite sources in the next chapter<\/a>.<\/span>\r\n\r\nWe will now walk you through each source integration method, giving you opportunities to practice each one. If at any point you're confused, or unclear, don't hesitate to ask your instructor for help. Your college or university learning center is also a great resource.\r\n

    Direct quotes<\/h2>\r\nA [pb_glossary id=\"202\"]direct quote[\/pb_glossary]<\/strong> is the word-for-word copy of someone else's writing or spoken words. This is noted by quotation marks (\" \") around those words. Using quotations to support your argument has several benefits over [pb_glossary id=\"200\"]paraphrasing[\/pb_glossary]<\/strong> and [pb_glossary id=\"197\"]summarizing[\/pb_glossary]<\/strong>:\r\n