Information Literacy: Notetaking

This handout is intended to help you become more comfortable with the uses of and distinctions among quotations, paraphrases, and summaries. This handout compares and contrasts the three terms, gives some pointers, and includes a short excerpt that you can use to practice these skills.

University of Wisconsin Madison: Paraphrasing is often defined as putting a passage from an author into “your own words.” But what are your own words? How different must your paraphrase be from the original?

This handout is intended to help you use source materials responsibly and avoid plagiarizing by (a) describing the kinds of material you must document; (b) illustrating unsuccessful and successful paraphrases; (c) offering advice on how to paraphrase; and (d) providing guidelines for using direct quotations.