Quoting sources in an essay is a bit like cutting your toenails: useful to do now and then, but you can definitely go too far. However, rather than leading to sore toes, excessive quoting can mean you lose marks on your work (which is arguably far worse). This is why paraphrasing is a crucial skill.
Paraphrasing and quoting are two ways of referring to someone else’s ideas in your writing. When we quote someone, we use their exact words and place them within quotation marks.
When we paraphrase something, on the other hand, we try to express the same idea in our own words. This offers a few advantages over quoting:
As such, paraphrasing is usually a better choice than quoting a source at length. The only times you ever truly need to quote a source are when:
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This is not to say that you can’t quote sources in other situations, but most of the document should be your own words. Whether you quote or paraphrase, though, you still need to give a citation.
Hopefully, you’re now keen to start paraphrasing sources. But how should you do this? Check out the five tips below for some handy advice!
Keep all of this in mind and you should be paraphrasing like a pro in no time!
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