Paraphrasing and
Using Sources
Writing Center
Statement on Plagiarism
 Plagiarism (the intentional or unintentional theft of
intellectual ideas), occurs whenever any information
is used from another source without giving the
author(s) of that source credit for the information.
 You must document sources every time you borrow
any information, including facts, statistics, numbers,
ideas, concepts, names, locations, or dates.
 Even if you are paraphrasing or summarizing
When to Cite
 Anytime you borrow thoughts, ideas, concepts,
figures, or theories from an outside source, you need
to give credit to those authors.
 Your citation should be provided immediately after
you invoke a source.
 If you cite a source multiple times throughout a
paragraph, cite the author in the first sentence in
which you use their ideas, and if you readers can
make the assumption you are using the same source
throughout the paragraph, you only need the one
citation.
How to Cite
 In APA style you need to cite the author(s) of the
piece, and provide a year of publication.
 For example, (Smith, 2007).
 For direct quotes, a page number must be included
as well: (Smith, 2007, p. 57)
 Page numbers are not required for paraphrasing, but
can be included by the author.
What is Paraphrasing?
 Paraphrasing is the process of the writer breaking
down what he or she is reading, pulling out only
the information that is relevant to the topic he or
she is writing on. Properly paraphrased
information should be written in the writer’s own
words with an understanding of the information he
or she is choosing to use.
 When writing a research paper, you are expected to
integrate your cited material into your paper. Simply
using direct quotes will not accomplish that.
The Purpose of Paraphrasing
 When writing in APA, the use of direct quotes should
be limited. Your paper should include only two or
three direct quotes.
 In APA style, how something is said is not nearly as
important as what is said.
 Papers in APA style should focus in on what you are
doing to combine the arguments of others, and use
them, in addition to your own words, to create a new
academic argument.
The Importance of a Focus Statement
 Your focus statement will let you know how to
properly paraphrase, and what pieces of an article
are important to sample for your essay.
 The authors of the piece you are citing have their
own specific purpose for writing, which is different
than your purpose, so you will want to refocus their
ideas with your thesis in mind.
 While paraphrasing work, it is important to
remember the goal of using outside sources is to
support your work, so you will have to refocus the
paraphrase so it specifically deals with the focus of
How to Paraphrase
 While paraphrasing, you want to take the most
important aspect of what an original author is
saying, and put it in your own words.
 When paraphrasing, you do not want to merely
rearrange the original author’s words, but refocus
them to support the purpose of your writing.
 To properly paraphrase, it is important to have a
strong focus statement.
Example
 Topic: The importance of meditation in stress
management.
 Quote: “Through the implementation of private,
focused, daily meditation in a quiet space, 70% of
participants reported feeling less stressed, while 59%
reported feeling more confident in their
relationships, and 68% reported feeling physically
energized” (Corbin, 2001, p. 418).
 Paraphrase: “A majority of people who participated
in mediation saw various physical and mental
benefits (Corbin, 2001).
How to Paraphrase
 Find the main idea within a direct quote that you
plan on using.
 Read that quote multiple times until you have a
strong understanding of it.
 Take that idea and write it down on a separate piece
of paper. Ignore everything else the author said that
isn’t that idea.