Use summaries, paraphrases, and quotations from sources to support your points.

Summaries, paraphrases, and quotations from sources are frequently used to explain concepts or reinforce an explanation. Chapter 26 (in Part 4, “Research Strategies”), explains how to write an effective summary or paraphrase and to decide when to summarize, paraphrase, or quote from a source. But keep the following in mind:

• Use summary to give the gist of a research report or other information.
• Use paraphrase to provide specific details or examples when the language of the source is not especially memorable.
• Use quotation to emphasize source material that is particularly vivid or clear, to convey an expert’s voice, or to discuss the source’s choice of words.

Also remember that your readers will want you to explain how the ideas from the sources you cite reinforce the points you are making. So make sure you comment on sources, making the relationship between your own ideas and the supporting information from sources absolutely clear. (For help with integrating information from sources, see p. 157.)