Summarize, Paraphrase, and Quote

Know the three ways of using a source's words and when each one fits.

When you use information from a text, you have three options, and academic directions name them precisely. To quote is to copy the author's exact words inside quotation marks. To paraphrase is to restate a specific passage in your own words, at about the same length, keeping all the meaning. To summarize is to restate only the main ideas in a much shorter form. Here is an original sentence: 'Coral reefs cover less than one percent of the ocean floor, yet they shelter roughly a quarter of all marine species.

' A quote copies it exactly. A paraphrase might be: 'Although reefs take up a tiny part of the sea bottom, about one in four ocean species lives on them. ' A summary, for a whole article that included this sentence, might be: 'Reefs are small but vital habitats. ' Quote when exact wording matters, paraphrase to explain a detail, and summarize to give the big picture.

• 1Quote: exact words in quotation marks.
• 2Paraphrase: a passage in your own words, similar length.
• 3Summarize: only the main ideas, much shorter.