2. How to paraphrase sources
• Paraphrasing means formulating someone else’s ideas in your own words.
• To paraphrase a source, you have to rewrite a passage without changing the meaning of the
original text.
• Paraphrasing is an alternative to quoting, where you copy someone’s exact words and put them in
quotation marks.
• In academic writing, it’s usually better to paraphrase instead of quoting, because it shows that
you have understood the source and makes your work more original.
• Every time you paraphrase, it’s important to cite the source.
• You also have to be careful not to use wording that is too similar to the original. Otherwise,
you could be at risk of committing plagiarism.
3. How to paraphrase in five steps
• Read the passage several times to fully understand the meaning
• Note down key concepts
• Write your version of the text without looking at the original
• Compare your paraphrased text with the original passage and make
minor adjustments to phrases that remain too similar
• Cite the source where you found the idea
4. Paraphrasing example
• Original passage
“The number of foreign and domestic tourists in the Netherlands rose above 42 million in 2017,
an increase of 9% and the sharpest growth rate since 2006, the national statistics office CBS
reported on Wednesday” (DutchNews.nl, 2018).
• Paraphrased version
According to the national statistics office, the Netherlands experienced dramatic growth in
tourist numbers in 2017. More than 42 million tourists travelled to or within the Netherlands
that year, representing a 9% increase—the steepest in 12 years (DutchNews.nl, 2018).
CHECK:
1. The text is rewritten in your own words
2. The meaning of the text did not change
3. The source is cited correctly according to APA in-text citation rules
5. Paraphrasing tips
• The five steps to paraphrasing may seem straightforward, but
writing an idea in a different way than the published version can be
difficult. These are four tricks you can apply to help you do so.
• Start your first sentence at a different point from that of the
original source
• Use synonyms (words that mean the same thing)
• Change the sentence structure (e.g. from active to passive voice)
• Break the information into separate sentences
6. We have applied these four tips to the example below.
• Original quote:
“But the hearing was about more than Facebook; it exposed a critical turning point
as the power, sophistication and potential exploitation of technology outpaces what
users, regulators or even its creators expected or seem prepared to handle” (Roose &
Kang, 2018, para. 11).
• Paraphrased version:
The hearing made it apparent that the expectations of creators, regulators and users
have been rapidly eclipsed by technology in general, not only Facebook. Such
technologies now extend beyond what these parties are able to manage, due to their
immense influence, potential for exploitation and sophistication (Roose & Kang,
2018, para. 11). 7 8 9 10
7. 1. Start your first sentence at a different point from that
of the original source
• In the example, you can see that we started by
introducing the context (the hearing) followed by the
last part of the original sentence: the expectations of
creators, regulators and users. In fact, the key pieces of
information are mentioned in a completely different
order. 6
8. 2. Use as many synonyms as possible
• Synonyms are words or phrases that means the same thing. Our
example uses several synonyms:
• “exposed a critical turning point” → “made it apparent”
• “outpaces” → “rapidly eclipsed”
• “power” → “immense influence”
• If you’re struggling to think of synonyms, a thesaurus can be a
useful tool. However, don’t overdo it! It’s perfectly acceptable and
often necessary to use some of the same words as the original text.
In this example, it would be unnecessarily confusing to use
synonyms for words like “technology”. 6
9. 3. Change the sentence structure
• For example, if the sentence was originally in the active voice, change it to passive.
• The active voice is when a sentence is led by the subject (the thing doing the action).
When the object (the thing receiving the action) leads the sentence, that sentence is
written in the passive voice.
• “technology outpaces what users, regulators or even its creators expected” → “the
expectations of creators, regulators and users have been rapidly eclipsed by
technology“
• In this example, technology is the subject; the expectations of creators, regulators and
users are the object. The original quote was written in the active voice, while the
paraphrase uses the passive voice. 6
10. 4. Break the information into separate sentences
• Although paraphrasing will usually result in a word count
roughly the same as an original quote, you may be able to
play with the number of sentences to make the text different.
• In this example, one long sentence was broken into two. The
opposite could also be the case, i.e. if the original quote is
comprised of two sentences, you may be able to combine the
information into one. 6
11. How to cite a paraphrase
• Once you have your perfectly paraphrased text, you need to ensure
you credit the original author. No matter what citation style you use,
you always paraphrase in the same way. The only thing that is
different is the in-text citation.
12. Paraphrasing vs. quoting
• If you complete thorough research and take notes on the sources you
read, you will naturally end up paraphrasing most of the important
information you find rather than using direct quotes. It is wise to limit
the number of direct quotes in your paper because:
• Paraphrasing shows that you clearly understand the meaning of a text
• Your own voice will remain dominant throughout your paper
• Quotes reduce the readability of your text
• Quotes are appropriate when:
• Giving a precise definition
• Saying something about the author’s language or style
• Providing evidence in support of an argument
• Critiquing or analyzing a specific claim
13. Paraphrasing vs. summarizing
• A paraphrase is a rewriting of a specific passage from someone else, so it will
be approximately the same length as the source’s original quote.
• When you completely or partially describe the outcome of a more substantial
part of the research, it is called a summary.
• There is a distinct difference between paraphrasing and summarizing.
However, in general (as is the case in many universities), both are often
referred to as paraphrasing.
14. Example of summarized text
Summary:
An article published in April 2018 highlighted clear differences between
generations of children in the Netherlands, stating that 70% of the grandparents
of the current generation spent more time outside than at home, compared to
10% today. Since 2013, the percentage of children who play outside every day
has decreased from 20% to just 14%. There are several negative outcomes for
children that have resulted from lack of outdoor play, including increasing
problems with short-sightedness due to a preference for time on computers,
shortages of Vitamin D, problems with weight, and limited development of
social skills (DutchNews.nl, 2018).
15. Avoiding plagiarism
• When paraphrasing, you have to be careful to avoid accidental plagiarism.
• This can happen if the paraphrase is too similar to the original quote, with
phrases or whole sentences that are identical (and should therefore be in
quotation marks). It can also happen if you fail to properly cite the source of
the paraphrase.
• To make sure you’ve properly paraphrased and cited all your sources, you
could elect to run a plagiarism check before submitting your paper (Turnitin).
