Introduce paraphrases clearly in your text, usually with a phrase that includes a signal word and names the author of the source. Summaries, too, need to be carefully integrated into your text, with the source identified.

Student Benjy Mercer-Golden integrated this summary into his researched argument:

David Blood and Al Gore of Generation Investment Management, an investment firm focused on “sustainable investing for the long term” (“About”), wrote a groundbreaking white paper that outlined the perverse incentives company managers face. For public companies, the default practice is to issue earnings guidances—announcements of projected future earnings—every quarter. Gore and Blood argue that this practice encourages executives to manage for the short term instead of adding long-term value to their company and the earth.

Note that he introduces his sources (Gore and Blood), establishes the sources’ expertise by identifying their connection to the field, and uses the signal verb argue to characterize the summary as making a case, not simply offering information.

Whenever you include summaries, paraphrases, quotations, visuals, or media files in your own writing, it is crucially important that you identify the sources of the material; even unintentional failure to cite material that you drew from other sources may constitute plagiarism. Be especially careful with paraphrases and summaries, where there are no quotation marks to remind you that the material is not your own.

For Multilingual Writers: Identifying sources