Whenever you are citing information that comes from a different source, you can either paraphrase the information or use a direct quote. A direct quote should be used when the specific words that the author uses are well-suited to your passage. However, paraphrasing should be used most of the time. Paraphrasing should be used when the quote can be better expressed through your own words. Paraphrasing is also useful when the direct quote does not fit your passage or when you have already used a lot of direct quotes in your text.