purdue owl paraphrasing

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Paraphrase: Write It in Your Own Words

Learn to borrow from a source without plagiarizing .

A Paraphrase is...

• your own rendition of essential information and ideas expressed by someone else, presented in a new form.
• one legitimate way (when accompanied by accurate documentation) to borrow from a source.
• a more detailed restatement than a summary, which focuses concisely on a single main idea.

Paraphrasing is a valuable skill because...

• it is better than quoting information from an undistinguished passage.
• it helps you control the temptation to quote too much.
• the mental process required for successful paraphrasing helps you to grasp the full meaning of the original.

Six Steps to Effective Paraphrasing

• Reread the original passage until you understand its full meaning.
• Set the original aside, and write your paraphrase on a note card.
• Jot down a few words below your paraphrase to remind you later how you envision using this material. At the top of the note card, write a key word or phrase to indicate the subject of your paraphrase.
• Check your rendition with the original to make sure that your version accurately expresses all the essential information in a new form.
• Use quotation marks to identify any unique term or phraseology you have borrowed exactly from the source.
• Record the source (including the page) on your note card so that you can credit it easily if you decide to incorporate the material into your paper.

Some examples to compare:

The original passage:.

Students frequently overuse direct quotation in taking notes, and as a result they overuse quotations in the final [research] paper. Probably only about 10% of your final manuscript should appear as directly quoted matter. Therefore, you should strive to limit the amount of exact transcribing of source materials while taking notes.

A legitimate paraphrase:

In research papers students often quote excessively, failing to keep quoted material down to a desirable level. Since the problem usually originates during note taking, it is essential to minimize the material recorded verbatim.

An acceptable summary:

Students should take just a few notes in direct quotation from sources to help minimize the amount of quoted material in a research paper.

A plagiarized version:

Students often use too many direct quotations when they take notes, resulting in too many of them in the final research paper. In fact, probably only about 10% of the final copy should consist of directly quoted material. So it is important to limit the amount of source material copied while taking notes.

Paraphrasing Exercise

Directions: On a separate piece of paper, write a paraphrase of each of the following passages. Try not to look back at the original passage.

• "The Antarctic is the vast source of cold on our planet, just as the sun is the source of our heat, and it exerts tremendous control on our climate," [Jacques] Cousteau told the camera. "The cold ocean water around Antarctica flows north to mix with warmer water from the tropics, and its upwellings help to cool both the surface water and our atmosphere. Yet the fragility of this regulating system is now threatened by human activity."
• The twenties were the years when drinking was against the law, and the law was a bad joke because everyone knew of a local bar where liquor could be had. They were the years when organized crime ruled the cities, and the police seemed powerless to do anything against it. Classical music was forgotten while jazz spread throughout the land, and men like Bix Beiderbecke, Louis Armstrong, and Count Basie became the heroes of the young. The flapper was born in the twenties, and with her bobbed hair and short skirts, she symbolized, perhaps more than anyone or anything else, America's break with the past.
• Of the more than 1000 bicycling deaths each year, three-fourths are caused by head injuries. Half of those killed are school-age children. One study concluded that wearing a bike helmet can reduce the risk of head injury by 85 percent. In an accident, a bike helmet absorbs the shock and cushions the head.
• Matisse is the best painter ever at putting the viewer at the scene. He's the most realistic of all modern artists, if you admit the feel of the breeze as necessary to a landscape and the smell of oranges as essential to a still life. "The Casbah Gate" depicts the well-known gateway Bab el Aassa, which pierces the southern wall of the city near the sultan's palace. With scrubby coats of ivory, aqua, blue, and rose delicately fenced by the liveliest gray outline in art history, Matisse gets the essence of a Tangier afternoon, including the subtle presence of the bowaab, the sentry who sits and surveys those who pass through the gate.
• While the Sears Tower is arguably the greatest achievement in skyscraper engineering so far, it's unlikely that architects and engineers have abandoned the quest for the world's tallest building. The question is: Just how high can a building go? Structural engineer William LeMessurier has designed a skyscraper nearly one-half mile high, twice as tall as the Sears Tower. And architect Robert Sobel claims that existing technology could produce a 500-story building.

Paraphrasing Exercise: Possible Answers

Here are sample answers for the paraphrasing exercise:

• According to Jacques Cousteau, the activity of people in Antarctica is jeopardizing a delicate natural mechanism that controls the earth's climate. He fears that human activity could interfere with the balance between the sun, the source of the earth's heat, and the important source of cold from Antarctic waters that flow north and cool the oceans and atmosphere.
• During the twenties lawlessness and social nonconformity prevailed. In cities organized crime flourished without police interference, and in spite of nationwide prohibition of liquor sales, anyone who wished to buy a drink knew where to get one. Musicians like Louis Armstrong become favorites, particularly among young people, as many turned away from highly respectable classical music to jazz. One of the best examples of the anti-traditional trend was the proliferation of young "flappers," women who rebelled against custom by cutting off their hair and shortening their skirts.
• The use of a helmet is the key to reducing bicycling fatalities, which are due to head injuries 75% of the time. By cushioning the head upon impact, a helmet can reduce accidental injury by as much as 85%, saving the lives of hundreds of victims annually, half of whom are school children.
• Matisse paintings are remarkable in giving the viewer the distinct sensory impressions of one experiencing the scene first hand. For instance, "The Casbah Gate" takes one to the walled city of Tangier and the Bab el Aassa gateway near the Sultan's palace, where one can imagine standing on an afternoon, absorbing the splash of colors and the fine outlines. Even the sentry, the bowaab vaguely eyeing those who come and go through the gate, blends into the scene as though real..
• How much higher skyscrapers of the future will rise than the present world marvel, the Sears Tower, is unknown. However, the design of one twice as tall is already on the boards, and an architect, Robert Sobel, thinks we currently have sufficient know-how to build a skyscraper with over 500 stories.

Reconstruction: Paraphrasing

• Primary Sources
• Common Knowledge
• Paraphrasing
• Annotated Bibliographies

The Purdue OWL site has some helpful exercises to practice paraphrasing.

• Purdue OWL Paraphrasing guide
• Purdue OWL exercises
• More Paraphrasing Exercises More exercises from Florida International University.

What is a paraphrase?

Paraphrasing is not simply rearranging the words of someone else's sentence. Nor is it replacing their words with synonyms. It is taking the gist of their idea and putting it into your own words. IT MUST BE FOLLOWED BY A CITATION. When should you paraphrase:

• You don't want to use a dull or bland quote.
• You want to avoid too many direct quotations
• paraphrasing is a good mental exercise that shows that you truly understand the material

If you are looking at a large amount of material, a paragraph let's say, you do not want to paraphrase line by line. Instead, you want to focus on reading the whole section and take out one main point. Can you summarize that section into one main idea sentence?

If your paraphrase is too close to the original content then it is better off to use quotation marks and just use the direct quotation.

Original Text from "Irish Immigration." Immigration . Library of Congress, n.d. Web. 23 Jan. 2014:

"Their [the Irish's] organizational ability coupled with the large number of Irish living in U.S. cities, made the Irish a powerful political force. They literally transformed politics in American cities by putting local power in the hands of men of working class origin."

Bad Paraphrase:

The Irish changed politics in American cities. Men of working class origin were given local power and because of their organizational ability along with their large numbers living in U.S. cities they became a powerful political force.

Acceptable Paraphrase with CITATION:

The Irish wielded great political power, particularly in the cities. By empowering the working classes this ethnic group became a powerful and influental voice in politics ("Irish Immigration").

How to paraphrase

• Read the original text. Read it several times in order to truly understand it's meaning
• Cover up the original text
• Without looking at the original text write a summary or overview of the original source material in your owd words
• Compare the two to determine if yours is too close to the original
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Module 3: Mechanics of academic writing

• Created by Maura Ferrarini Meagher , last modified by Kristen Mary-Martha Koob on Oct 24, 2017

Learning Objectives

Students will be able to:

• define common knowledge
• articulate the difference between paraphrasing and direct quoting
• distinguish among summarizing, paraphrasing, and synthesizing
• locate original work on a secondary citation
• identify how citing sources is a responsibility of all scholars (it's not just about not cheating, but about finding your voice as a scholar)
• know where to find the appropriate citation style for your discipline/school

Other possible LO (or maybe goes into Module 4 ?)

• cite original work following the mechanics of the citation style required for their discipline/a specific journal

Graduate students

Content Brainstorm

• Best practices
• Link to resources (i.e. school specific writing centers)
• "If it's not common knowledge you don't need to cite it"
• Publicly available information still needs verification of the claims making (i.e when citing statistics)
• Making judgement calls - it's what's expected of you as developing your voice as a scholar
• Facts, information, knowledge, and  expression  (intellectual work that deserves to be recognized; respecting authorship)
• Learning to synthesize and analyze information shows you can talk about a topic/subject because YOU understand it
• The danger of secondary citations - you need to read  the core idea
• You're demonstrating your voice and understanding

DEFINE and GIVE AN EXAMPLE of common knowledge.

Definition from Harvard Guide to Using Sources: " Common knowledge is information generally known to an educated reader, such as widely known facts and dates, and, more rarely, ideas or language. Facts, ideas, and language that are distinct and unique products of a particular individual's work do not count as common knowledge and must always be cited."  https://usingsources.fas.harvard.edu/exception-common-knowledge  

General facts and basic information, i.e. The United States has three branches of government. Definitions of general terms (though grad students should never ever write sentences like  "The dictionary defines X as...". Claims that do not require external substantiation, for example:

"Information seeking is a primary activity of everyday life." (from Library Science article)

"With the exponential growth in information and communication technology, online tutorial support has become an increasingly popular method for student learning in open and distance education." (from ed tech article) 

"When referring to the term ‘classroom’, many instructors naturally tend to only think about the traditional physical classroom." (from computer-assisted learning article)

In graduate level writing, or at least in APA type research articles, the uncited "common knowledge" is usually the introductory information. 

Definition from Yale Writing Center :" If you are familiar with the notion of “common knowledge” from earlier writing experiences, you may have noticed that its definition is easy to state, but can be hard to apply in a particular case. The “common” way to talk about common knowledge is to say that it is knowledge that most educated people know or can find out easily in an encyclopedia or dictionary. Thus, you might not know the date of the most recent meeting of the Federal Reserve, but you can find it out quite easily. Further, the term “common knowledge” carries the sense of “communal” knowledge—it is community information that no particular individual can fairly claim to own. One sign that something is community knowledge is that it is stated in 5 or more sources. So, if it’s known to educated people, or can be easily looked up, or appears in many sources, it is likely to be “common knowledge” and so does not need to be cited.

HOW to cite common knowledge.

(In this case, it's not citing, but explaining why it does not need to be cited.)

  Common Knowledge

The Harvard Guide to Writing with Sources describes categories of common knowledge, which you do not have to cite. The information below is from that website.

Widely Known Facts

The first category is widely known facts , such as Andrew Jackson was the seventh president of the United States.

However, be sure to cite the sources of assertions that are the product of an individual’s thought, research, or analysis. For example, you read Sean Wilentz's book on Andrew Jackson and wrote a paper in which you repeated Wilentz's claim that Andrew Jackson believed his Indian removal policy would protect Indians rather than harm them. In this case, you would need to cite Wilentz as the source of this idea.

Information that No Particular Individual Discovered

The second category, while perhaps not widely known is Information that No Particular Individual Discovered , for instance Franz Boas, the distinguished American ethnologist, held the first academic appointment in anthropology in the United States .

Very well-known phrases

Thirdly, very well-known phrases can be considered common knowledge. For instance, if you wrote a paper that compares one of President Obama's inaugural address lines to this very well-known phrase from John F. Kennedy's Inaugural Address, "Ask not what your country can do for you—ask what you can do for your country," you would not need to provide a citation for that phrase.

However, if you used multiple quotations from JFK’s speech, you would need to cite them so that the reader could confirm the original language.

If you are unsure whether or not a fact or quote is common knowledge, ask a writing consultant or be on the safe side and/or cite it!

DEFINE and GIVE AN EXAMPLE of paraphrasing.

Is there a definition of paraphrasing from the existing HGSE tutorial that we can re-use?

The tutorial only has a definition on paraphrase from the Merriam Webster Online Dictionary: a restatement of a text, passage, or work giving the meaning in another form. 

Examples from the HGSE paraphrasing tutorial handout . 

Also, not sure how to word this, but I think one place where students get in trouble is finding one or two sentences from a work that they want to paraphrase. The shorter the original quote, the harder it is to rephrase in your own words.

Definition from Purdue OWL: "Your own rendition of essential information and ideas expressed by someone else, presented in a new form."  https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/619/01/

Another definition from Purdue OWL: "Paraphrasing involves  putting a passage from source material into your own words. A paraphrase must also be attributed to the original source. Paraphrased material is usually shorter than the original passage, taking a somewhat broader segment of the source and condensing it slightly." https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/563/1/  

HOW to paraphrase.

Additional resources that explain paraphrasing., define and give an example of direct quoting..

Definition from Purdue OWL: "Quotations m ust be identical to the original, using a narrow segment of the source. They must match the source document word for word and must be attributed to the original author."  https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/563/1/

HOW to use direct quotes.

Additional resources that explain direct quoting., define and give an example of summarizing..

See drawing on Kris' whiteboard.

Definition from Purdue OWL:  "Summarizing involves putting the main idea(s) into your own words, including only the main point(s). Once again, it is necessary to attribute summarized ideas to the original source. Summaries are significantly shorter than the original and take a broad overview of the source material."  https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/563/1/

Examples on summarizing, quoting, and paraphrasing from Purdue Owl .

HOW to summarize.

Additional resources that explain summarizing., define and give an example of synthesizing., how to synthesize., additional resources that explain synthesizing., define and give an example of secondary citations. (hold off on this), what are the similarities between paraphrasing and direct quoting, what are the differences between paraphrasing and direct quoting .

From Harvard Guide to Using Sources: 

When you use any part of a source in your paper—as background information, as evidence, as counterargument to which you plan to respond, or in any other form—you will always need to decide whether to quote directly from the source or to paraphrase it. Unless you have a good reason to  quote directly from the source , you should paraphrase the source. Any time you paraphrase an author's words and ideas in your paper, you should make it clear to your reader why you are presenting this particular material from a source at this point in your paper. You should also make sure you have represented the author accurately, that you have used your own words consistently, and that you have cited the source.

So, for example, it may be important for a reader to see a passage of text quoted directly from Tim O'Brien's  The Things They Carried  if you plan to analyze the language of that passage in order to support your thesis about the book. On the other hand, if you're writing a paper in which you're making a claim about the reading habits of American elementary school students or reviewing the current research on Wilson's disease, you should paraphrase text from your sources. In these cases, the information you're providing is more important than the exact words used to make this claim. 

https://usingsources.fas.harvard.edu/summarizing-paraphrasing-and-quoting

What are the SIMILARITIES among summarizing, paraphrasing and synthesizing?

What are the differences among summarizing, paraphrasing and synthesizing .

Purdue Owl lists the differences among quotations, paraphrasing and summarizing. It makes more sense to group these together as they serve the same purpose. 

"These three ways of incorporating other writers' work into your own writing differ according to the closeness of your writing to the source writing.

Quotations  must be identical to the original, using a narrow segment of the source. They must match the source document word for word and must be attributed to the original author.

Paraphrasing  involves putting a passage from source material into your own words. A paraphrase must also be attributed to the original source. Paraphrased material is usually shorter than the original passage, taking a somewhat broader segment of the source and condensing it slightly.

Summarizing  involves putting the main idea(s) into your own words, including only the main point(s). Once again, it is necessary to attribute summarized ideas to the original source. Summaries are significantly shorter than the original and take a broad overview of the source material."

Why should students not use secondary citations?

What are strategies students can use to locate the original work from a secondary citation.

Search the citation in Hollis ->Journals 

Why should students care about demonstrating academic integrity? (Why do we cite sources?)

From Purdue OWL

Quotations, paraphrases, and summaries serve many purposes. You might use them to:

• Provide support for claims or add credibility to your writing
• Refer to work that leads up to the work you are now doing
• Give examples of several points of view on a subject
• Call attention to a position that you wish to agree or disagree with
• Highlight a particularly striking phrase, sentence, or passage by quoting the original
• Distance yourself from the original by quoting it in order to cue readers that the words are not your own
• Expand the breadth or depth of your writing

https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/563/01/

Terms to Define

• Common knowledge
• Paraphrasing
• Direct quoting
• Secondary citations
• Had meeting to solidify learning objectives and more discussion around the type of content we want to have in the tutorial.
• Ning had more content to include that she's been working on for GSE

Jonathan Paulo

I have a couple questions:

• Maybe this is something you discussed earlier, but what is our distinction between synthesizing and summarizing? Are we thinking of summarizing as the summary of a single source, and synthesizing as the synthesis of multiple sources? I notice that most tutorials on this subject focus on quoting, paraphrasing, and summarizing, especially in terms of integrating and working with a single source. I just wanted to make sure we have a clear distinction so it doesn't come across as too similar, or too different, where synthesizing has less to do with integrating a source, and more to do with the overall research process.  
• As I see a number of different libraries providing definitions, tutorials, examples of quoting, paraphrasing, and summarizing, I do wonder if we are reinventing the wheel a little. I know we talked about this at our meeting and decided that our tutorial is more focused on graduate students and includes more unique content, especially Module 1 and Module 2, but perhaps this Module 3 could tie-into existing content, especially the Harvard Guide to Using Sources, which seems widely used at Harvard, which covers quoting, paraphrasing, and summarizing , and common knowledge , and maybe we could synthesize their examples into a concise and quick guide? The OWL also has content on this , as well as further help with paraphrasing , which I notice many libraries referring to. Not that we can't be original and create new content, I just want to make sure we should in this case.
• Apr 20, 2017

Kris M Markman

Hi Jonathan,

• Yes, I see summarizing as a single work, and synthesizing as bringing together multiple summaries. So for a grad student, their literature review should really be more about synthesizing than just giving a list of summaries, but you have to know how to summarize before you can synthesize. So perhaps this is one place where we can make the tutorial stand out, is to really emphasize the higher-order skill of synthesizing and critically analyzing sources and integrating them into your own work?

2. I agree completely and I guess I'm not sure what to do about this–I'd love to hear others' thoughts. Clearly people at Harvard have expressed that there is a need for a tutorial like this, and yet there are so many out there. Maybe we do just think of artful ways to quote or point to existing content that we think is already exemplary?

So I guess my question is "Why, with so many existing tutorials and help sites out there, do students still struggle with this topic?"

• Apr 21, 2017

Thank you for your response.

On the first point, thank you for clarifying our intentions for summarizing and synthesizing. I agree, I think emphasizing the higher-order skill of synthesizing could make this tutorial stand out, since other tutorials don't go beyond summarizing a single source. And since students sometimes look for single articles to cover every aspect of their topic, focusing on synthesizing will be a good way to illustrate the concept of arguing your topic through multiple sources, each with a potentially different perspective, that students synthesize to create their original voice.

On the second point, if we like some of the Harvard Guide to Using Sources content, and/or the OWL content, I think quoting or pointing to that content is a good idea, especially in terms of reinforcing and connecting to those guides for further help. I think an artful way of doing so is to make it as concise as possible, and more illustrative. I think one of the reasons students still struggle with this topic, despite all the tutorials out there, is that many are very text heavy and too lengthy, and I wonder how closely students are actually reading, comprehending, and transferring those lessons. I also think it's a skill you have to do in order to be better at it. Seeing an example is helpful, but until you give it a try you may not really get it. Maybe we somehow encourage practice? 

• Apr 24, 2017
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How to Avoid Plagiarism

• Defining Plagiarism
• Proper vs. Improper Paraphrasing
• Writing Skills

Improper Paraphrasing

Improper paraphrasing is a very common form of plagiarism. This occurs when one lifts a direct phrase from another work and changes just a few words - and then claims the work as wholly their own. Learning how to properly paraphrase is a very important component of good writing. But, remember, just because you have properly paraphrased does not mean that you do not need to cite the source of the original idea. Paraphrasing is simply a way of putting someone else's ideas into your own words - it does not make the idea your own.

Examples of Paraphrasing

Paraphrasing is when you take an original idea from an author's work and reword, or rephrase, it so that the words are your own. It is important to remember that no matter how successful you are at paraphrasing, only the words are your own. When you paraphrase you must give credit through a citation for the author's original idea.

Original Phrase

"Western law begins with two major subgroups. One contains the legal systems of the European continent. Although there are many differences among European legal systems, they are all descended from the law of the Roman Empire and were influenced by the procedures of Medieval Roman Catholic canon law."

Dorothy H. Bracey, Exploring Law and Culture 31 (2006).

If you want to use this exact language in a paper, or any other work for a course, you must use quotation marks and provide a citation. If you want to use the idea, but not necessarily the author's words, you can paraphrase - but remember, you need to really need to explain the idea in your own words for it to be properly paraphrased; and don't forget the citation! 

Western law has two major subgroups. One is the legal systems of Europe. There are differences between the European legal systems, but they are all descended from the Roman Empire and influenced by the procedures of the Medieval Roman Catholic law.

With or without a citation, the above phrase is plagiarism. Changing a few words and omitting others is not enough for proper paraphrasing. You must really understand what the phrase means and then put it in your own words. 

Proper Paraphrasing

At first glance, it can seem like the legal traditions of European countries are all very different. However, as part of one of the larger subgroups of Western law, European legal systems largely share a common origin in the Roman Empire and Medieval Roman Catholic Church law.

This is an example of proper paraphrasing (and citation). The original phrase has been reworded and the original idea is being attributed to the original author.

Help With Paraphrasing

If you feel like you need help with paraphrasing, there are some very good resources online. Purdue University has an online writing lab (the OWL) that offers tips on how to paraphrase as well as a quiz to see if you really understand how to paraphrase. This is an important skill to practice in order to avoid plagiarism. 

• Purdue's OWL instructions on how to paraphrase
• Purdue's OWL paraphrase exercise

Checklist From the OWL

6 Steps to Effective Paraphrasing

• Reread the original passage until you understand its full meaning.
• Set the original aside, and write your paraphrase on a note card.
• Jot down a few words below your paraphrase to remind you later how you envision using this material. At the top of the note card, write a key word or phrase to indicate the subject of your paraphrase.
• Check your rendition with the original to make sure that your version accurately expresses all the essential information in a new form.
• Use quotation marks to identify any unique term or phraseology you have borrowed exactly from the source.
• Record the source (including the page) on your note card so that you can credit it easily if you decide to incorporate the material into your paper.

Taken from Purdue Online Writing Lab, Paraphrase: Write It in Your Own Words

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Quoting, Paraphrasing, and Summarizing

• Quoting, Summarizing, Paraphrasing, from OWL of Purdue Three ways of incorporating the words and ideas of other people into your own writing as explained by Purdue University Online Writing Lab.

Examples and Exercises for Understand Paraphrasing and Summarizing

Practice identifying appropriately paraphrased passages with the University of Arizona's Global Campus Writing Center Paraphrasing Activity .

Practice summarizing and paraphrasing with this introductory exercise from the Owl of Purdue, answers provided.

Write your own paraphrases and evaluate then with the OWL of Purdue paraphrasing exercise and answers .

Examples of plagiarism and Tutorials to learn more

• Summarizing, Paraphrasing, and Quoting from the OWL of Purdue
• Academic Integrity Tutorial with examples  from NIU
• Examples of Plagiarism from Bowdoin College
• Plagiarism Tutorial from IU
• Plagiarism Tutorial playllist on YouTube from Texas A&M

See also...

• MLA Guide to Avoiding Plagiarism
• MLA 9th Edition Guide from OC Libraries
• MLA Guide from OWL of Purdue
• Zotero Bib Free, high-quality citation generator with no ads
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Plagiarism Prevention and Academic Integrity Resources: Paraphrasing and Quoting Sources

• About Plagiarism
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Quoting, Paraphrasing, Summarizing

Information adapted from: Quoting, Paraphrasing, & Summarizing. UAGC Writing Center (n.d.). Retrieved February 2, 2022, from https://writingcenter.uagc.edu/quoting-paraphrasing-summarizing.

Quoting, Paraphrasing, Summarizing Resources

• Quoting, Paraphrasing, and Summarizing Purdue OWL provides guidance on quoting, paraphrasing, and summarizing.
• Paraphrasing- how to write it in your own words Purdue OWL provides resources on how to paraphrase.
• Quoting, Paraphrasing, and Avoiding Plagiarism Krause, S. D. (2016). Quoting, paraphrasing, and avoiding plagiarism. Oregon Writes Open Writing Text.
• Quoting, Paraphrasing, & Summarizing Explore 3 different ways of including the ideas of others into your assignments. University of Arizona Global Campus Writing Center.

OWL Purdue: Quoting, Paraphrasing, and Summarizing

"Quotations must be identical to the original, using a narrow segment of the source. They must match the source document word for word and must be attributed to the original author.

Paraphrasing involves putting a passage from source material into your own words. A paraphrase must also be attributed to the original source. Paraphrased material is usually shorter than the original passage, taking a somewhat broader segment of the source and condensing it slightly.

Summarizing involves putting the main idea(s) into your own words, including only the main point(s). Once again, it is necessary to attribute summarized ideas to the original source. Summaries are significantly shorter than the original and take a broad overview of the source material."

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Plagiarism and Turnitin

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Should You Cite It?

Any information from an outside source should be cited. This includes ideas, facts, charts and graphs, paraphrases, and quotations.

• Should I Cite This? This flowchart from Purdue OWL helps visualize when a citation is needed.

Citing Properly to Avoid Plagiarism

Once you have brought source material into your writing (via quotation, summary, or paraphrase), your next task is to cite or identify it. This is essential because giving credit to the creator of the source material helps you avoid plagiarism. Identifying your sources also helps your reader understand which written content is from a source and which represents your ideas.

When you cite or identify source materials, you make it absolutely clear that the material was taken from a source. Note that if you don’t do that, your reader is left to assume the words are yours—and since that isn’t true, you will have committed plagiarism.

For college-level work, citing sources generally means two things: in-text or parenthetical citation and a “Works Cited” or “References” page. What these two things look like will be a little different for different citation styles like APA or MLA. The specific details required and the order in which they appear changes a little between different formats, but the general purpose is the same.

• Citation Guide This guide created by the Academic Support Center includes guidance about common citation questions and templates for APA and MLA styles.
• How to Cite Sources This guide explains how to properly cite sources step-by-step for any citation style.

Learn the basics of citing in APA style in this recorded workshop from the Academic Support Center.

Attribution

Much of the text on this page is adapted from  The Word on College Reading and Writing  by Carol Burnell, Jaime Wood, Monique Babin, Susan Pesznecker, and Nicole Rosevear. It is licensed under a  Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License . 

Did You Know?

Improperly paraphrased text can be plagiarism, even if it is cited. it's important to use your own words unless you are quoting a source.

Paraphrasing Properly to Avoid Plagiarism

A paraphrase

• Is in your own words.
• Avoids personal opinion.
• Is completely rephrased from the original.
• Provides an accurate representation of the information in the original text.

It can be easy to rely on some of the original author’s phrasing or direct synonyms for the author’s original words. Remember that a paraphrase must be entirely your own writing, not just phrases or words substituted in the same sentence structure, length, etc. used by the original text. Write paraphrases in sentence structures that are natural to you and true to your own writing voice. The only job of a paraphrase is to accurately and completely represent the relevant idea presented in the text you are paraphrasing.

Paraphrasing Examples

Here is a brief passage from Sarah Boxer’s article in The Atlantic, “ An Artist for the Instagram Age ”: “The fact that some folks have managed to make the scene while others get left out in the cold is integral to the excitement of participatory art. The thrill is akin to exotic travel, or getting to see Hamilton. Because not everyone who wants the experience actually gets the experience, these works, even if their intentions and messages are democratic, tend to become exclusive affairs.”

Which of the following is an appropriate paraphrase of this passage? Why is that one “good” and the other one less functional as a paraphrase?

• The truth that many people have been able to attend these events as others have been shut out of them is key to what makes this kind of art appealing. The excitement is similar to visiting foreign countries or attending a showing of a sold-out musical. Since some people who wish to attend can’t do so, these art forms, despite not necessarily wanting to, often end up denying access to many would-be attendees.
• Boxer notes that this kind of art only maintains its appeal as long as there are more people clamoring to view it than can possibly actually view it. This reliance on scarcity means these artists are ultimately relying on elitist principles to find their success and remain in demand.

It was probably obvious to you pretty quickly that the second example is a stronger paraphrase. There is a clearer sense for my writing voice in it, with sentence structures that come more naturally to me and language that is my own.

The first example, by comparison, is a rather awkward attempt to preserve the original quote’s exact structures without directly copying the author’s words or phrases, and I’m not even sure it makes sense in a couple of spots (I had to reach for some similar-but-not-identical language). This type of poor paraphrasing with replaced words would likely be deemed plagiarism. 

• APA Paraphrases This document from the Academic Support Center provides guidance about how to paraphrase and cite a source in APA style.
• Paraphrase: Write It in Your Own Words This page from Purdue OWL provides guidance for paraphrasing, with an example.
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Quoting, Paraphrasing, and Summarizing

• Quoting, Paraphrasing and Summarizing From the Purdue OWL

Purdue OWL provides an excellent example showing quoting, paraphrasing and summarizing in the same paragraph:

In his famous and influential work the Interpretation of Dreams , Sigmund Freud argues that dreams are the "royal road to the unconscious" (page #), expressing in coded imagery the dreamer's unfulfilled wishes through a process known as the "dream-work" (page #). According to Freud, actual but unacceptable desires are censored internally and subjected to coding through layers of condensation and displacement before emerging in a kind of rebus puzzle in the dream itself (page #).

Quoting: "royal road to the unconscious" and "dream-work"

Paraphrasing: "According to Freud, actual..."

Summarizing: "In his famous and influential work..."

For more paraphrasing examples, see Successful vs. Unsuccessful Paraphrasing .

Source: Driscoll, Dana and Allen Brizee. "Quoting, Paraphrasing, and Summarizing." Purdue Online Writing Lab . Purdue University, 14 Dec. 2011. Web. 27 Jul. 2012.

Not sure how to properly paraphrase your source?  Purdue OWL has a resource just on that! Click here.

Direct Quotes (Using an Author's Exact Words)

• College-level writing is about processing information and creating your own new ideas, so you should only use direct quotes (i.e., an author's exact words) when it is absolutely necessary (e.g., when an author uses unique terminology).  Other times you should summarize or paraphrase. 
• If you do quote directly, quote only partial sentences , not full sentences or paragraphs, unless you are providing a critical analysis of a text (e.g., a story or poem).
• Be sure that all direct quotes are enclosed with quotation marks (".").
• Examples: Purdue OWL: Quoting, Paraphrasing, and Summarizing
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What is paraphrasing?

Paraphrasing involves a detailed rewriting of a passage from source material into your own words.  Essentially, a writer will paraphrase when they want to incorporate someone else's idea into a paper without directly quoting (using quotation marks) them.  A paraphrase will typically be of similar length to the original source.  A paraphrase must  be credited to the original source.

When should I paraphrase?

Paraphrasing is, perhaps, the most common way to legitimately incorporate someone else's material into your writing.  You should consider paraphrasing when the wording of the original source is less important than the source.  This will allow you to maintain a smooth continuity in your writing.  Paraphrases are typically more detailed than a summary (discussed below).

Consider paraphrasing to:

• change the organization of ideas presented in the original source
• simplify material
• clarify technical or specialized information into language that is appropriate for your reading audience
• avoid the temptation to quote too much

Note:  When paraphrasing, avoid keeping the same structure of the original material or merely just changing some of the words.  e faithful to stay true to the meaning of the original material and avoid adding your own ideas into a paraphrase.

This material has been adapted from the University of Houston Victoria: Decide When to Quote, Paraphrase, and Summarize (page no longer available as of 03/15/2024).

What does paraphrasing look like?

Example of paraphrasing:.

Original Material

In The Sopranos , the mob is besieged as much by inner infidelity as it is by the federal government. Early in the series, the greatest threat to Tony's Family is his own biological family. One of his closest associates turns witness for the FBI, his mother colludes with his uncle to contract a hit on Tony, and his kids click through Web sites that track the federal crackdown in Tony's gangland.

Fields, Ingrid Walker. “Family Values and Feudal Codes: The Social Politics of

America’s Twenty-First Century Gangster.” Journal of Popular Culture 37.4

(2004). Academic Search Complete . Web. 13 Mar. 2012.

Paraphrase:

In the first season of The Sopranos , Tony Soprano's mobster activities are more threatened by members of his biological family than by agents of the federal government. This familial betrayal is multi-pronged. Tony's closest friend and associate is an FBI informant, his mother and uncle are conspiring to have him killed, and his children are surfing the Web for information about his activities (Fields).

This example is from Duke Libraries'Paraphrasing. (page no longer available; redirects to "Citing Sources" 7/26/13).

How do I paraphrase?

Step 1: Read over what you want to paraphrase carefully until you understand its full meaning.

Step 2: Set the original passage aside where you won't look at it.

Step 3: Write the meaning of the passage in your own words (i.e., explain it to yourself).  Be sure to give proper credit to the source. 

Step 4: Check the paraphrase against the original to ensure you haven't accidentally used the same words or phrases and verify that the information you wrote is accurate.

Step 5: Set the material aside and work on something else for a few minutes.

Step 6: When you return to your work, reread your paraphrase and modify as necessary.  Setting yourself apart from a paraphrase will allow you to return with a fresh perspective and the words of the original source will have faded.  This will allow you to revise and polish your own sentence choices.

Note:  The materials presented in this section have been adapted from Purdue OWL's: Paraphrase: Write it in Your Own Words (opens in a new window), Colorado State University's: How to Paraphrase Without Plagiarizing, (page no longer available; redirects to "Writing Guides" 7/7/14) and Duke Libraries' Paraphrasing. (page no longer available; redirects to "Citing Sources" 7/26/13).

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Academic Integrity: Quoting, Paraphrasing, Summarizing

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YOU SHOULD CITE WHEN:

• Referring to a source and stating someone else's opinions, thoughts, ideas, or research
• Using an image or media file that you did not create

WHEN REFERRING TO A SOURCE, YOU HAVE THREE OPTIONS FOR USING IT:

• Directly Quoting 
• Summarizing 
• Paraphrase 

"Which option you should choose depends on how much of a source you are using, how you are using it, and what kind of paper you are writing, since different fields use sources in different ways." Grounds for Argument.  When to Quote, Paraphrase, or Summarize a Source . Used under CC BY NC SA

YOU DO NOT NEED TO CITE:

• Your thoughts and your interpretations
• Common knowledge​

Purdue OWL: Quoting, Paraphrasing, and Summarizing

Harvard Guide to Using Sources: Summarizing, Paraphrasing, and Quoting

WHAT IS A DIRECT QUOTATION:  

"Must be identical to the original, using a narrow segment of the source. They must match the source document word for word and must be attributed to the original author."   Purdue University Online Writing Lab. (2012).  Quoting, Paraphrasing, and Summarizing

• If summarizing or paraphrasing cannot capture the essence or meaning of the text 
• To retain a specific or unique phrasing used by the source's author
• If you are analyzing the text itself (often in English or language classes)

BE ADVISED:

Most of the time when you cite a source, you want to summarize or paraphrase. Direct quotations should be used sparingly when the situation meets the criteria above. When you do use direct quotations:

• Do not take the quote out of context. The author's meaning should not change.
• Be sure to integrate multiple sources within your text. You don't want to have a paper or a passage that seems to have come only from one source, with little original text from you.
• Use transitions to make sure your quote adds to your paper without interrupting its flow.

HOW TO CITE A DIRECT QUOTATION:   

• Place  quotation marks  around the entire word-for-word passage, whether it's a phrase or a sentence.
• Attribute with an  in-text citation ; most citation styles request that you provide a  page or paragraph number  when directly citing.  
• If your quotation is longer, check with your citation style guide to see if additional formatting is necessary (block quotations, for example).  

WHAT IS A PARAPHRASE:  

"A paraphrase is a detailed restatement in your own words of a written or sometimes spoken source material. Apart from the changes in organization, wording, and sentence structure, the paraphrase should be nearly identical in meaning to the original passage. It should also be near the same length as the original passage and present the details of the original." University of Houston-Victoria Student Success Center (n.d.).  Decide when to Quote, Paraphrase & Summarize.

Paraphrasing is "your own rendition of essential information and ideas expressed by someone else, presented in a new form."  Purdue University Online Writing Lab. (2012).  Quoting, Paraphrasing, and Summarizing

• "When the wording is less important than the meaning of the source" University of Houston-Victoria Student Success Center (n.d.).  Decide when to Quote, Paraphrase & Summarize.
• If a summary would not provide enough specific details

HOW TO CITE A PARAPHRASE:  

• Attribute with an in-text citation; some citation styles request that you provide a page or paragragh number whenever available.
• When paraphrasing, you must change both the sentence structure and language of the original text.  Therefore, since you will be changing the text, you do NOT need quotation marks around your paraphrase.

Includes 6 steps to effective paraphrasing and examples.

WHAT IS A SUMMARY:  

"Involves putting the main idea(s) into your own words, including only the main point(s).... Summaries are significantly shorter than the original and take a broad overview of the source material."   Purdue University Online Writing Lab. (2012).  Quoting, Paraphrasing, and Summarizing

"Similar to paraphrasing, summarizing involves using your own words and writing style to express another author's ideas. Unlike the paraphrase, which presents important details, the summary presents only the most important ideas of the passage." University of Houston-Victoria Student Success Center (n.d.).  Decide when to Quote, Paraphrase & Summarize.

• To provide necessary background information for your audience
• When broad, concise information will suffice 

HOW TO CITE A SUMMARY:  

• You should not be using any word-for-word quotations or language unique to the source, so you do NOT need quotation marks around your summary.

COMMON KNOWLEDGE:

It doesn't necessarily mean that most people would know it offhand. And sometimes it's a judgment call because what seems like common knowledge to one person isn't to another. Here are good rules of thumb:

• If you can find the same information in multiple places, stated in relatively the same way, it's common knowledge  (Generally, it is said that you should find the information three to five sources)
• If most people are aware of this fact, or if it's general reference, it's common knowledge

CAUTION:  Opinions and unique terminology/phrasing do not qualify as common knowledge.

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ENG 112: Research Process

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Topic Selection: Purdue OWL

Purdue OWL (Online Writing Lab from Purdue University) has put together a more detailed summary on " Choosing a Topic ." (Click the title in quotes to see for yourself!)

Primary, Secondary, and Tertiary Sources

Introduction to sources.

Basic Differences

This is a more detailed breakdown of the difference in both the humanities and the sciences.

 Used by permission.  Created by Rebecca Hyams, Reference Librarian, Borough of Manhattan Community College Library.

 https://bmcc.libguides.com/primarysecondarytertiary

Summary & Paraphrase from Purdue's OWL

Paraphrase: write it in your own words.

Purdue University's OWL (Online Writing Lab) has produced this useful instructional guide on how to paraphrase to avoid plagiarism.  Click the title above to review the site.

And remember:  Even though you paraphrase a section from a source, you still need to credit it!  Refer to the MLA or APA sections to learn how.

Paraphrasing and Summary

"Whether you are writing for the workplace or for academic purposes, you will need to research and incorporate the writing of others into your own texts. Two unavoidable steps in that process are paraphrasing (changing the language into your own) and summarizing (getting rid of smaller details and leaving only the primary points)."  Click the above link to learn more!

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FAQ: How do I paraphrase?

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Paraphrasing means taking the ideas and information from an original source and writing it in your own words. Paraphrasing helps you understand a resource by interpreting and rewording it in your own voice. It also reduces direct quotations and keeps your voice in your writing. This makes your papers more authentic and easier to read.

Like direct quotations, a paraphrase must include a citation giving credit to the original source.

Paraphrasing tips:

• Read through the original passage several times to fully understand its meaning.
• Write the main ideas and key words of the passage. Then, write alternate ways of conveying the same idea with different words.
• Note any unique words or phrases in the original passage that would lose their meaning if you re-wrote them. You can incorporate them into your paraphrase as direct quotations, with quotation marks around them.
• Rewrite the sentence structure, word order and grammar used in the original source. This gives your writing a different voice.

Use these websites and articles for more information about paraphrasing:

• Critical Skills: Paraphrasing This link opens in a new window  - Salem Press Encyclopedia
• Paraphrase: Write It in Your Own Words This link opens in a new window  - Purdue OWL
• Paraphrasing This link opens in a new window  - APA Style
• Paraphrasing  This link opens in a new window - (San José State University)

Further Help

This information is intended to be a guideline, not expert advice. Always speak to your instructor about citation styles and paper formats for your course.

For help with citations and more, visit Academic Support. To access Academic Support, visit your Brightspace course and select Tutoring and Mentoring from the Academic Support pulldown menu. Then, select 24/7 Drop-In Tutoring from the top navigation menu.

Visit these guides for more information:

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If you are having trouble locating a specific resource please visit the  search page  or the  Site Map . The Citation Chart  provides a detailed overview of MLA Style, APA Style, and Chicago Manual of Style source documentation by category.

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These OWL resources will help you conduct research using primary source methods, such as interviews and observations, and secondary source methods, such as books, journals, and the Internet. This area also includes materials on evaluating research sources.

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These OWL resources will help you use the research you have conducted in your documents. This area includes material on quoting and paraphrasing your research sources, as well as material on how to avoid plagiarism.

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These OWL resources will help you learn how to use the American Psychological Association (APA) citation and format style. This section contains resources on in-text citation and the References page, as well as APA sample papers, slide presentations, and the APA classroom poster.

These OWL resources will help you learn how to use the Modern Language Association (MLA) citation and format style. This section contains resources on in-text citation and the Works Cited page, as well as MLA sample papers, slide presentations, and the MLA classroom poster

Chicago Manual of Style

This section contains information on the Chicago Manual of Style method of document formatting and citation. These resources follow the 17th edition of the Chicago Manual of Style, which was issued in 2017.

Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Style

These resources describe how to structure papers, cite sources, format references, and handle the complexities of tables and figures according to the latest Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) guidelines.

American Medical Association (AMA) Style

These resources provide guidance on how to cite sources using American Medical Association (AMA) Style, 10th Ed., including examples for print and electronic sources.

Research Overview

We live in an age overflowing with sources of information. With so many information sources at our fingertips, knowing where to start, sorting through it all and finding what we want can be overwhelming! This handout provides answers to the following research-related questions: Where do I begin? Where should I look for information? What types of sources are available?

Conducting Primary Research

Primary research involves collecting data about a given subject directly from the real world. This section includes information on what primary research is, how to get started, ethics involved with primary research and different types of research you can do. It includes details about interviews, surveys, observations, and analysis.

Evaluating Sources of Information

Evaluating sources of information is an important step in any research activity. This section provides information on evaluating bibliographic citations, aspects of evaluation, reading evaluation, print vs. online sources, and evaluating Internet sources.

Searching Online

This section covers finding information online. It includes information about search engines, Boolean operators, Web directories, and the invisible Web. It also includes an extensive, annotated links section.

Internet References

This page contains links and short descriptions of writing resources including dictionaries, style manuals, grammar handbooks, and editing resources. It also contains a list of online reference sites, indexes for writers, online libraries, books and e-texts, as well as links to newspapers, news services, journals, and online magazines.

Archival Research

This resource discusses conducting research in a variety of archives. It also discusses a number of considerations and best practices for conducting archival research.

This resources was developed in consultation with Purdue University Virginia Kelly Karnes Archives and Special Collections staff.