Integrating Information from Sources

It is important to identify material you think will be useful in writing your paper. There are certain practices for properly incorporating information from sources into your research:

IDENTIFY USEFUL INFORMATION
Taking clear notes, on paper or in a word processing program, and highlighting photocopies of materials, are two ways to identify information for potential use later on. Don't forget about Post-Its© for flagging the pages you need!

GET COMPLETE REFERENCES
Write down complete bibliographic information for each source or photocopy the title page of books to capture this information.

USE QUOTATION MARKS
You must use quotation marks around any statement that is taken word-for-word from another person no matter the source.

PARAPHRASE
Paraphrasing means you restate a passage from a source using your own words. Be sure to reword the passage well so that it's actually different from the original work.

SUMMARIZE
Summarizing means you identify the main ideas or concepts from someone else's work using your own words.