PARAPHRASING
to Avoid Plagiarism
Pay Attention!
This can make or break your
paper
Lisa Shaw
Miami Dade College North Campus!
Plagiarism = using another’s
words OR ideas as your own
without giving proper credit
within the paper.
This means that even if you take an idea and change it into your
own words (paraphrase), you MUST still give credit to the
original source.
Taking another’s ideas is THEFT and is a crime. If you own
a car dealership and someone steals a car from the
showroom, it’s theft – someone has stolen the means by
which you make a living. Taking a writer’s words or ideas
without properly crediting him/her is the same thing: you are
stealing the means by which that person earns his or her
livelihood.
When in doubt, GIVE CREDIT two ways
1) Use a signal phrase: “According to……”
2)
Use the author’s last name and page number
the quote appeared on AFTER you give the
information (Smith 48).
PARAPHRASE = relaying the same
INFORMATION as the original but changing both
1. The words
2. The sentence structure
You do NOT use quotation marks with paraphrase
But you DO give credit to the author
THAT
Using the word THAT to introduce the
information will help you paraphrase smoothly
For example
Patrick Henry said, “I regret that I have
but one life to give for my
country:” (direct
quotation)
Patrick Henry said that he wished he had more
than one life to sacrifice for America’s freedom.
Is this an acceptable paraphrase?
Patrick Henry said, “I regret that I have
but one
life to give for my country:” (direct quotation)
Patrick Henry said that he wished he had more than
one life to sacrifice for America’s freedom.
Yes. All the words have been changed but the
meaning remains intact.
TWO MUSTS when paraphrasing
1. Change all the words, including word FORMS.
That means if the original had the word responsible, you
can’t use the word responsibility in a paraphrase, Find a
synonym
2. You must change the structure of the sentence so that it
doesn’t resemble the original at all.
Plagiarism
Patrick Henry regretted that he had only one life to
sacrifice for his country.
Is this an acceptable paraphrase?
Patrick Henry regretted that he had only one life to
sacrifice for his country.
This is UNACCEPTABLE for two reasons:
1)“only one life” is the exact phrase that appeared in
the original
2)The sentence structure is identical to the original
Make sure that you have COMPLETELY changed the
words and the format. REMEMBER TO GIVE CREDIT
AND REMEMBER NOT TO USE QUOTATION
MARKS
Like this:
Patrick Henry said he was sorry that he had “only
one life” to sacrifice for his country.
The combination
Usually it’s more effective to use of integrate some
of the original with your own rewording; hence you
combine quotation and paraphrase.
DIRECT QUOTATION:
Bill Clinton said, “I did not have sexual relations with that
woman.”
Bill Clinton said that he did not have an affair with
woman.
Is this plagiarism?
YES!
The word “that woman”
was used in the original.
SOME ACCEPTABLE PARAPHRASES:
Bill Clinton denied having an affair with
Monica Lewinsky.
Bill Clinton insisted he did not have an affair
with Monica Lewinskly.
Bill Clinton faced reporters, adamantly denying
an intimate relationship with Monica Lewinsky.
When the original phrasing is so precise or says
something significant about the speaker’s personality,
you want to preserve it by using a combination
paraphrase/quotation.
Bill Clinton denied having an affair with “that woman”
or’
Bill Clinton proclaimed he never engaged in “sexual
relations” with Ms Lewinsky.
Most of your research paper will be composed of
paraphrase rather than direct quotation, so practice
the skill until you’re comfortable with it.
Good Luck !