Use a combination of quoting, paraphrasing and summarizing to robustly support your thesis.
Academic writing requires you to:
Analyze your sources to understand the arguments they make and the information they use to support their arguments.
Decide how those sources relate to your thesis.
Synthesize information from sources to support, expand or challenge your own ideas.
Synthesize source material with your own ideas to create something original.
Avoid:
Over-summarizing. This resource explains how to use summary wisely.
Over-quoting. A good rule of thumb is to keep your quoted material to 10-15% of your paper.
Misinterpretation. Read your sources carefully to avoid misinterpreting or oversimplifying a source for the purposes of your paper.