Paraphrasing and Summarizing
Plagiarism
• One of the primary purposes for paraphrasing and
summarizing is to avoid plagiarism.
• Plagiarism is ILLEGAL!
According to the Merriam-Webster Online
Dictionary, to "plagiarize" means
• to steal and pass off (the ideas or words of another) as
one's own
• to use (another's production) without crediting the
source
• to commit literary theft
• to present as new and original an idea or product derived
from an existing source
Paraphrasing
Paraphrasing is putting a piece of text into your own
words.
You don’t leave out any pertinent information,
although you may condense it just a bit. The
importance is in the re-wording and changing sentence
structures.
When paraphrasing, you have to be careful to avoid
plagiarism, and you should always credit your source.
Paraphrasing
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. Lester, James D. Writing
Research Papers. 2nd ed. (1976): 46-47.
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 quoted material. So it is important to limit
the amount of source material copied while taking notes.
Paraphrasing Gone Wrong!
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 quoted material. So it is
important to limit the amount of source material copied while
taking notes.
• The boldface phrases are directly lifted from the
original text.
• The italicized phrases are simply replaced with
synonyms.
• The structure is the same.
Paraphrasing
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. Lester, James D. Writing
Research Papers. 2nd ed. (1976): 46-47.
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. (Lester 46-47).
Paraphrasing: Now You Try It!
“Empathy helps people behave more generously,
but some are worried that our society, with its
Personal Brands and Snapchats, is losing this
crucial characteristic. Recent research has
suggested that college students have become less
empathetic since the 70s, so much so that
scientists are saying they should read great works
of literature in order to better see situations from
different points-of-view.”
Paraphrase or Plagiarism?
Original text:
Annie Oakley’s life spanned years of tremendous change
for American women. By the time of her death in 1926,
Americans were celebrating the liberated, urban-focused,
modern times of the Jazz Age. Women had won the right to
vote, wore less restrictive clothes, and followed a changing ideal
that was loosening some of the restrictions on women’s roles
and behavior that had reigned throughout the 19th century.
Paraphrase or plagiarism?:
Annie Oakley’s life spanned years of significant changes
for American women. By the time she died in 1926, women had
the vote, wore looser clothing, and embraced the freedom from
restrictive 19th century roles and behaviors.
PLAGIARISM!
• It sounds too much like the original, with similar
sentence structures.
Annie Oakley’s life spanned years of
significant changes for American women. By
the time she died in 1926, women had the
vote, wore looser clothing, and embraced the
freedom from restrictive 19th century roles
and behaviors.
Paraphrase or Plagiarism?
Original text:
"He [Poe] makes us understand that the
voluble murderer has been tortured by the
nightmarish terrors he attributes to his victim..."
(Gargano 1672).
Paraphrase or Plagiarism?
Poe makes us comprehend that the talkative
killer has been persecuted by the frightening
horrors he assigns to his prey (Gargano 1672).
PLAGIARISM!
• This is the same exact sentence, but the writer
plugged in synonyms in place of key words.
• Poe makes us comprehend that the talkative
killer has been persecuted by the frightening
horrors he assigns to his prey.
Paraphrase or Plagiarism?
Original text:
To the extent that a woman's self-image is
challenged or threatened by an unattainable ideal of an
impossibly thin female physique, she may well become
susceptible to disruption of her self-regard, and may be
more likely to develop an eating disorder.
Paraphrase or plagiarism?:
If a woman interprets the media's representation of
thinness as the ideal she must achieve, her sense of selfesteem might be threatened and even damaged, making
her more likely to exhibit disordered eating patterns
(Polivy & Herman, 2004, p. 2).
PARAPHRASE!
• It is sufficiently different from the original.
Summarizing
Summarizing is taking large selections of text and
shortening them down to just the most important
information.
Summaries strip away extraneous examples and
verbiage. They focus on the gist of it, the heart of
the matter.
Summarizing
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. Lester, James D. Writing
Research Papers. 2nd ed. (1976): 46-47.
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 (Lester 46-47).
Summarizing: Now You Try It!
The typical gender breakdown in tech companies
seems to be about 70-30 men-to-women (Google,
Facebook, Twitter)—with some companies slightly
more balanced (LinkedIn, Yahoo, eBay) than
others. But few of the leading tech firms that have
stepped forward to share their diversity details
have workforces that reflect the actual 50-50
gender split in the larger population. Which is why
Pandora stood out when it announced this week
that 51 percent of its employees are men and 49
percent of them are women.
Summaries: Too much, too little, or
just right?
Original text:
A girl in Osceola County was rushed to Nemours Children's Hospital on
Saturday after she was attacked by a water moccasin, a venomous snake, officials
confirmed Thursday. Animal control and fire rescue responded.
"The child was bitten on the back of her heel,'' Mark Pino, a county
spokesman, said in email to the Orlando Sentinel. "One of our officers responded
to a snake bite call and determined it was a water moccasin. He searched for the
snake and found it under a shed," Pino said. "The officer looked at the bite and was
able to clearly identify two fang marks.“ The child's foot swelled, he said, and there
was a "central black spot," a sign that the toxic venom was destroying her flesh.
The officer knew it was a venomous snake bite and told responders to rush
her immediately to Nemours Children's Hospital so she could receive antivenom
treatment.
The snake was turned over to Reptile World Serpentarium, an attraction
in St. Cloud. "We have a verbal agreement with them to take all venomous snakes
we capture,'' Pino said.
Summaries: Too much, too little, or
just right?
Option #1:
A girl was a bit by a snake.
Summaries: Too much, too little, or
just right?
Option #2:
A girl in Osceola county was bit by a venomous
water moccasin. When officers found the two fang
marks and the black spot, they knew it was
poisonous.
Summaries: Too much, too little, or
just right?
Option #3:
A girl in Osceola county was rushed to the hospital
after being bitten by venomous water moccasin.