Counterpoint: If I read a paper from a field I'm not an expert in, I certainly value an eloquent summary of the state of the art in the author's words (supporte

Counterpoint: If I read a paper from a field I'm not an expert in, I certainly value an eloquent summary of the state of the art in the author's words (supported, of course, by plenty of citations). You will not achieve a coherently structured introduction if you limit yourself to the exact phrases found in source material (and especially if you require that each source material be quoted verbatim at least once).