Paraphrasing

With paraphrasing, the ideas are borrowed, but the borrower's writing must be entirely original. In other words, you borrow ideas (rather than exact words) from another source, and then rewrite those ideas in your own words.

• The wording and structure of a proper paraphrase do not resemble the wording and structure of the original source.
• The issue of structure is frequently overlooked, yet it is a critical element of writing. A correct paraphrase should not mirror the original source's sentence construction or organization of ideas.
• Unlike a direct quotation, a proper paraphrase requires no quotation marks.
• Paraphrases are generally more concise than original passages. By paraphrasing borrowed material, you can also avoid excessive reliance on quotations.
• Although learning how to paraphrase can be difficult, developing this skill is essential to avoid plagiarizing written material.

Any paraphrase must be cited because its content originated with another source, not the author of the paraphrase.

• While you can effectively identify an original source within the text of a paraphrase (e.g., "Werner Sollors, in Beyond Ethnicity, argues that . . ."), you must still provide a full citation for the original source (see Acknowledging & Citing Sources).