Paraphrasing
This is not to say that you can’t use information that exists in other places.
- To avoid plagiarism, writers must rewrite the ideas in their own words (called paraphrasing) and cite the original source of the information.
- Paraphrasing is similar to summarizing. Summaries only include the essential ideas of a work, while paraphrases include more details. Regardless of what you call it, you must cite the original source.
- Depending on the circumstance, you may prefer to use an exact quote, surrounded by quotation marks. This is also acceptable, provided you give a full citation.
A word to the wise:
Changing every third word in a passage does not count as paraphrasing. You are better off quoting and citing the actual source!
