Paraphrasing

How to Paraphrase | Step-by-Step Guide

Paraphrasing means putting someone else’s

ideas into your own words. Paraphrasing a
source involves changing the wording while
preserving the original meaning.
 Paraphrasing is an alternative to quoting
(copying someone’s exact words and putting
them in quotation marks). In academic
writing, it’s usually better to integrate
sources by paraphrasing instead of quoting. It
shows that you have understood the source,
reads more smoothly, and keeps your own
voice front and center.
 Every time you paraphrase, it’s important
to cite the source. Also take care not to use
wording that is too similar to the original.
Otherwise, you could be at risk of
committing plagiarism.
 How to paraphrase in five easy steps

How to paraphrase correctly

Putting an idea into your own words can be

easier said than done. Let’s say you want to
paraphrase the text below, about population
decline in a particular species of sea snails.
Example: Source text

Like other marine animals living near heavily

populated coasts, horse conchs have lost considerable
habitat to development and pollution, including
favorite breeding grounds along mud flats and
seagrass beds. Their Gulf habitat is also warming due
to climate change, which scientists think further
pressures the animals, based on the negative effects
extra heat has on other big mollusks (Barnett, 2022).
Incorrect paraphrasing

You might make a first attempt to paraphrase it by

swapping out a few words for synonyms.

Example: Incorrect paraphrasing

Example: Incorrect paraphrasing

Like other sea creatures inhabiting the vicinity of

highly populated coasts, horse conchs have lost
substantial territory to advancement and
contamination, including preferred breeding grounds
along mud flats and seagrass beds. Their Gulf home is
also heating up due to global warming, which
scientists think further puts pressure on the creatures,
predicated upon the harmful effects extra warmth has
on other large mollusks (Barnett, 2022).
 ORIGINAL TEXT PARAPHRASE
Like other marine animals living Like other sea creatures
near heavily populated coasts, horse inhabiting the vicinity of highly
conchs have lost considerable habitat populated coasts, horse conchs have
to development and pollution, lost substantial territory to
including favorite breeding grounds advancement and contamination,
along mud flats and seagrass beds. including preferred breeding grounds
Their Gulf habitat is also warming due along mud flats and seagrass beds.
to climate change, which scientists Their Gulf home is also heating up due
think further pressures the animals, to global warming, which scientists
based on the negative effects extra think further puts pressure on the
heat has on other big mollusks creatures, predicated upon the
(Barnett, 2022). harmful effects extra warmth has on
other large mollusks (Barnett, 2022).
Why is this a poor paraphrase?

This attempt at paraphrasing doesn’t

change the sentence structure or order of
information, only some of the word choices.
And the synonyms chosen are poor.
• “Advancement and contamination” doesn’t really convey
the same meaning as “development and pollution.”

• Sometimes the changes make the tone less academic:

“home” for “habitat” and “sea creatures” for “marine
animals.”

• Adding phrases like “inhabiting the vicinity of” and “puts

pressure on” makes the text needlessly long-winded.

• Global warming is related to climate change, but they don’t

mean exactly the same thing.
 ORIGINAL TEXT PARAPHRASE
Like other marine animals living Like other sea creatures
near heavily populated coasts, horse inhabiting the vicinity of highly
conchs have lost considerable habitat populated coasts, horse conchs have
to development and pollution, lost substantial territory to
including favorite breeding grounds advancement and contamination,
along mud flats and seagrass beds. including preferred breeding grounds
Their Gulf habitat is also warming due along mud flats and seagrass beds.
to climate change, which scientists Their Gulf home is also heating up due
think further pressures the animals, to global warming, which scientists
based on the negative effects extra think further puts pressure on the
heat has on other big mollusks creatures, predicated upon the
(Barnett, 2022). harmful effects extra warmth has on
other large mollusks (Barnett, 2022).
 Because of this, the text reads awkwardly, is
longer than it needs to be, and remains too
close to the original phrasing. This means you
risk being accused of plagiarism.

Correct paraphrasing

Let’s look at a more effective way of

paraphrasing the same text.
Example: Correct paraphrasing

Scientists believe that temperature rises

resulting from climate change are negatively
impacting horse conchs living in the Gulf of
Mexico. Development and pollution have also
deprived them of important breeding grounds
(Barnett, 2022).
Why is this a good paraphrase?
• Only included the information that’s relevant to
our argument (note that the paraphrase is
shorter than the original)

• Introduced the information with the signal

phrase “Scientists believe that …”

• Retained key terms like “development and

pollution,” since changing them could alter the
meaning
• Structured sentences in our own way instead of
copying the structure of the original

• Started from a different point, presenting

information in a different order.

• Because of this, we’re able to clearly convey the

relevant information from the source without
sticking too close to the original phrasing.
Another example of paraphrasing:
How to cite a paraphrase

Once you have your perfectly paraphrased text,

you need to ensure you credit the original author.
You’ll always paraphrase sources in the same
way, but you’ll have to use a different type of in-
text citation depending on what citation style you
follow.
Paraphrasing vs. quoting

It’s a good idea to paraphrase instead of quoting

in most cases because:

• Paraphrasing shows that you fully understand

the meaning of a text.

• Your own voice remains dominant throughout

your paper.
• Quotes reduce the readability of your text.
 But that doesn’t mean you should never
quote. Quotes are appropriate when:

• Giving a precise definition.

• Saying something about the author’s

language or style (e.g., in a literary
analysis paper).
• Providing evidence in support of an argument

• Critiquing or analyzing a specific claim

Paraphrasing vs. summarizing

A paraphrase puts a specific passage into your

own words. It’s typically a similar length to the
original text, or slightly shorter.

When you boil a longer piece of writing down

to the key points, so that the result is a lot shorter
than the original, this is called summarizing.
 Paraphrasing and quoting are important tools
for presenting specific information from
sources. But if the information you want to
include is more general (e.g., the overarching
argument of a whole article), summarizing is
more appropriate.
Example: Summarizing
 Avoiding plagiarism when you paraphrase

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.
 Paraphrasing tools are widely used by
students, and can be especially useful for non-
native speakers who may find academic writing
particularly challenging. While these can be
helpful for a bit of extra inspiration, use these
tools sparingly, keeping academic integrity in
mind.
 To make sure you’ve properly paraphrased
and cited all your sources, you could elect to
run a plagiarism check before submitting your
paper. And of course, always be sure to read
your source material yourself and take the first
stab at paraphrasing on your own.
 Sex differences have also been found in the use of coping
strategies. College women reported greater use of emotion-
focused coping strategies including expressing feelings,
seeking emotional support, denial, acceptance, and positive
reframing than college men (Eaton and Bradley 2008).
College men, however, reported greater use of some types of
emotion-focused strategies such as mental disengagement
through the use of alcohol than college women (Kieffer et al.
2006). Furthermore, past research showed that college
women who endorsed feminine values were more likely to
use emotion-focused coping strategies (Blanchard-Fields et
al. 1991).