Adding Evidence from Your Research to Your Writing

1. Quoting, Summarizing, or Paraphrasing

By now, we have covered summary, paraphrase, and quotation a few times because they are key building blocks of academic writing, and also you can use these strategies in different ways. In this section, we’ll talk about how to choose an approach when you need to illustrate what others have said in order to make your original claim stand out. Your research paper will need to have resources in most of its paragraphs. This section will provide you with some additional models for incorporating that research that you can try as you draft. You could have your draft open in one tab and go back and forth to try out these new strategies.

When you use someone else’s words or ideas in your own paper, you need to give them credit and be sure that the ideas you are including are there to support your original argument. There are three main ways to add sources from your research in your essay: You can quote, you can summarize, and you can paraphrase.

• Direct quotations are words and phrases that are taken directly from another source and then used word for word in your paper. Quotation marks (“ ”) set off this group of words from the rest of the text.
• Summarizing involves condensing the main idea of a source into a much shorter overview. A summary outlines a source’s most important points and general position.
• When paraphrasing, you may put any part of a source (such as a phrase, sentence, paragraph, or chapter) into your own words. You may find that the original source uses language that is more clear, concise, or specific than your own language, in which case you should use a direct quotation.

When writing papers that require the use of outside source material, it is often tempting to cite only direct quotations from your sources. But only quoting in a paper makes it seem like a collection of others’ thoughts. To avoid falling into this trap, follow a few simple guidelines:

• Avoid using long quotations when possible. The overuse of long quotations gives the reader the impression you cannot think for yourself.
• Don’t use only direct quotations. Try using paraphrases in addition to your direct quotations. To the reader, the effective use of paraphrases indicates that you took the time to think about the meaning behind the quote’s words.
• When introducing direct quotations, try to use a variety of verbs in your signal phrases. Don’t always rely on stock verbs such as “states” or “says.” Think for a little while about the purpose of your quotation and then choose a context-appropriate verb like “argues” or “avoids.” Review the section on paragraph frames and analytical strategies for more suggestions about signal words and phrases.

2. When to Use Direct Quotations

Direct quotes should be used sparingly, but when they are used, they can be a powerful rhetorical tool. Remember to avoid using long quotes, especially those longer than three lines. Let’s look at some of the reasons to use direct quotations.

2a. Provide Indisputable Evidence of an Incredible Claim

EXAMPLE

"As of 2021, 90% of the world’s data has been generated in just the last two years, highlighting the exponential growth of information in our digital age" (Smith, 2021, p. 45).

This quote serves as indisputable evidence to support the claim about the rapid increase in data generation. By using the exact words from the source, the author avoids any potential misinterpretation and clearly presents the significance of the claim.

2b. Communicate an Idea Stated in a Striking or Unique Way

EXAMPLE

"Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world" (Mandela, 1990).

This quote is particularly striking due to its powerful imagery and concise delivery of a profound idea. Nelson Mandela’s unique phrasing encapsulates the transformative power of education, making it difficult to paraphrase without losing its emotional weight and clarity.

2c. Serve as a Passage for Analysis

EXAMPLE

"What I must do is all that concerns me, not what the people think." (Emerson, 1841).

This quote could then be analyzed for its implications regarding selfhood and society. Including Emerson's exact words would then allow you to delve into a discussion about self-identity and the challenges of conforming to societal expectations.

3. When to Use Summary and Paraphrase

Quoting borrows exact wording, but paraphrase and summary rely on your own words. Paraphrase is about the same length and summary is much smaller than the original. Both require a citation, in the paragraph, of the source which is then listed in your reference page.

Paraphrasing or summary should be used to:

• Further explain or simplify a passage that may be difficult to understand. It could be that the topic, such as the process of extracting stem cells, is particularly difficult to follow, or that the author has used language that further complicates the topic. In such situations, paraphrasing allows an author to clarify or simplify a passage so the audience can better understand the idea.
• Eliminate less relevant information. Since paraphrasing is written using the author’s own words, he or she can be more selective in what information from a passage should be included or omitted. While an author should not manipulate a passage unnecessarily, paraphrasing allows an author to leave out unrelated details that would have been part of a direct quote.
• Communicate relevant statistics and numerical data. A lot of times, sources offer statistical information about a topic that an author may find necessary to developing his or her own argument. You always cite when you include statistics from a source.

4. Connecting Source Material With Your Own Words

When you are writing your essay, you will bring research into your writing process on a regular basis. Whether you are quoting, paraphrasing, summarizing, analyzing, or synthesizing your research, it will be something you will need to manage. Working with a single source at a time, like you did in the annotated bibliography, is a great way to get used to this skill. At the same time, you won’t have the luxury of just working with one source at a time in your research paper. That paper would quickly triple in length if you did that! You need to be able to address multiple sources at the same time just for the sake of saving space! But it is also an important skill to practice. For instance, you have to be able to blend multiple sources together in a PowerPoint slide for presentations.

Using multiple sources is also a way to understand a topic more deeply. This is where your skill of synthesis comes into play as a writer. Synthesizing builds on comparison and contrast but moves beyond just comparing and contrasting. It is making something new. So, synthesis allows you to combine multiple perspectives on a topic to reach or demonstrate a deeper understanding.

When working with sources, you may worry you are simply regurgitating ideas that others formulated. That is why it is important for you to develop your own assertions, organize your findings so that your own ideas are still the thrust of the paper, and take care not to rely too much on any one source, or your paper’s content might be controlled too heavily by that source.

In practical terms, some ways to develop and back up your assertions include:

• Blend sources with your assertions. Organize your sources before and as you write so that they blend, even within paragraphs. Your paper should reveal relationships among your sources and should also reveal the relationships between your own ideas and those of your sources.
• Write an original introduction and conclusion. Make the paper’s introduction and conclusion your own synthesis of the ideas you have discovered in your research. Use sources minimally in your introduction and conclusion.
• Open and close paragraphs with originality. In general, use the openings and closings of your paragraphs to explain why your sources are important. This makes your contributions to the argument clearer and also makes sure they are the first and last impressions your reader is working with. You and your ideas are the most important thing in your paper! Make sure you treat them like the most important thing.
• Use analytical strategies. Try using the paragraph frames and strategies you learned earlier, like comparison, contrast, summary, description, and definition. This helps signpost your thinking for your reader.

A phrase such as “A 1979 study revealed that...” is an obvious announcement of citation to come. Another recommended technique is the insertion of the author’s name into the text to announce the beginning of your cited information. This gives you a way to manage who is talking for your reader: “Williams says ______________. Yet, Williams is wrong because....” Without the author’s name to clarify what is your belief and what is William’s, the whole thing can run together for your reader. You can think of this almost like you are writing dialogue for a play. You want to make it clear for your reader who is “talking” in your paper.

try it

Look for a place to use one of these strategies in your own paper. You can even use one of these templates to get you started:

• X states, “[blank].”
  
• As X puts it, “[blank].”
  
• According to X, “[blank].”
  
• X writes, “[blank].”
  
• In her book/essay [blank], X maintains that “[blank].”
  
• Writing in the journal [blank], X complains that “[blank].”
  
• In X's view, “[blank].”

Let’s take a look at an excerpt from a political science paper that clearly has a balance between original writing and cited information.

EXAMPLE

The above political upheaval illuminates the reasons behind the growing Iranian hatred of foreign interference; as a result of this hatred, three enduring geopolitical patterns have evolved in Iran, as noted by John Limbert (1985). First...

Note how the writer begins by redefining her previous paragraph’s topic (political upheaval), then connects this to Iran’s hatred of foreign interference, then suggests a causal relationship and ties her ideas into John Limbert’s analysis, which lets the reader know that a synthesis of Limbert’s work is coming. This writer’s work also becomes more credible and meaningful because right in the text, she announces the name of a person who is a recognized authority in the field. Even in this short excerpt, we can tell that this writer is using proper citation and backing up her own assertions.