This document defines paraphrasing and provides guidance on how to properly paraphrase sources. It states that paraphrasing involves taking an author's words and making them your own while maintaining the overall meaning. Paraphrasing should be slightly shorter than the original and change the wording and sentence structure significantly. The document outlines a five-step process for paraphrase and discusses common mistakes like not altering the wording or ideas enough that can result in plagiarism. It also provides two sample paraphrases, identifying one as plagiarized for not changing the structure or words, while the other is not plagiarized because it properly cites the source and rewords the original passage.

1. Paraphrasing
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2. Definition
• Paraphrasing: When you paraphrase a source,
you are simply taking the author's words and
making them your own. Paraphrasing may be
slightly shorter than the original source and is
the most commonly used method of
integrating an author's words into one's own
work.

3. Why paraphrase?
• Avoid plagiarism without over-quoting.
• Force yourself to fully comprehend the
material being paraphrased.

4. How to paraphrase:
1.
Read through a passage carefully; you may need to read a text
more than once!
2.
Identify main ideas from the passage and include those in your
paraphrasing.
3.
Set the original text aside and record your paraphrased version.
4.
Check your paraphrased version with the original text to make
sure you have changed the language significantly, while sticking to
the main ideas.
5.
Include a citation at the end. Even though you have changed the
wording, the ideas are still someone else’s!

5. Common paraphrasing pitfalls:
• The following common mistakes will result in
plagiarism:
– Not changing the order of the wording or ideas.
– Not changing the language or word choice
significantly enough.
– Failure to accurately cite the source.

6. Practice: Is it Plagiarism?
(All examples taken from the University of Indiana Writing Lab, www.indiana.edu)
• Here’s the ORIGINAL text, from page 1 of Lizzie Borden: A
Case Book of Family and Crime in the 1890s by Joyce
Williams et al.:
The rise of industry, the growth of cities, and the expansion of
the population were the three great developments of late
nineteenth century American history. As new, larger, steampowered factories became a feature of the American
landscape in the East, they transformed farm hands into
industrial laborers and provided jobs for a rising tide of
immigrants. With industry came urbanization, and large cities
(like Fall River, Massachusetts, where the Bordens lived)
became the centers of production, as well as of commerce
and trade.

7. Sample 1:
The increase of industry, the growth of cities, and
the explosion of the population were three large
factors of nineteenth century America. As steamdriven companies became more visible in the
eastern part of the country, they changed farm
hands into factory workers and provided jobs for
the large wave of immigrants. With industry came
the growth of large cities like Fall River where the
Bordens lived which turned into centers of
commerce and trade as well as production.

8. Sample 1: Is it plagiarize?
• YES.
• This writer did not adequately change the
order of the original writing or the word
choice.
• They also failed to include a citation.

9. Sample 2:
• Fall River, where the Borden family lived, was
typical of northeastern industrial cities of the
nineteenth century. Steam-powered
production had shifted labor from agriculture
to manufacturing, and as immigrants arrived
in the US, they found work in these new
factories. As a result, populations grew, and
large urban areas arose. Fall River was one of
these manufacturing and commercial centers
(Williams 1).

10. Sample 2: Is it plagiarized?
• NO.
• The author uses a citation.
• This writer adequately changes the order of
the original writing or the word choice.

11. Guided Practice:
• Take a passage from your own research that you
would like to incorporate into your essay.
• Paraphrase the passage using the guidelines
discussed in this presentation.
• When you have finished, trade with a partner and
evaluate one another’s work.
– Did the significantly chance the wording and sentence
structure?
– Did they include a citation?