Sources

This section is about a number of different topics which all relate to placing your own text in a wider context. In the process of planning and writing a text you will more often than not find that you make use of all kinds of information which you gather from other sources. What is more, in argued texts you will often find yourself taking a precise stand with regard to what other people have to say. In other words, your own text will not exist in isolation, and cannot be truly appreciated unless you make the wider context clear to your reader.

There are basically three different ways to report on the content of another text. First of all you can summarize a large chunk of text, possibly a complete one, by stating what you consider to be the main aim or the main point of the text. Secondly you can paraphrase; this will mean less detail than in the original but more detail than in a summary. And finally you can quote the original text directly.

There are clear cases where you may and should quote someone directly. For instance, if another writer presents an opinion which is the basis for commentary on your part, then a direct quotation will allow the reader first-hand insight into what that author actually wrote. Interestingly, authors choose in the main to quote statements with which they wish to disagree rather than agree. You may also quote directly in order to illustrate a point you are making, but you must be very sparing with this use. Moreover, it must be clear that you cannot formulate things more elegantly or succinctly yourself.

You must not quote if all you seek to do is to present descriptions of events or facts which you could just as well put in your own words. Most particularly, you must not quote things which are generally knowable, for instance factual information which can be found in an atlas or an encyclopaedia.

What you need to guard against above all else is summarizing, paraphrasing or quoting something without making it clear that you are not the author. If you do not express indebtedness where indebtedness is due, you are committing plagiarism. We cannot emphasize too much how serious this matter is. In Britain it is actually a criminal offence.