Published on April 8, 2022 by Courtney Gahan and Jack Caulfield. Revised on July 14, 2022. 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. If you’re struggling to get to grips with the process of paraphrasing, check out our easy step-by-step guide in the video below. 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. You might make a first attempt to paraphrase it by swapping out a few words for synonyms. 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). 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: 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. Let’s look at a more effective way of paraphrasing the same text. Here, we’ve: Because of this, we’re able to clearly convey the relevant information from the source without sticking too close to the original phrasing. Compare your paper with 99.3 billion webpages and 8 million publications. Scribbr Plagiarism Checker Examples of paraphrasingExplore the tabs below to see examples of paraphrasing in action.
How to cite a paraphraseOnce 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.
The Scribbr Citation Generator will automatically
create a flawless APA citation
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Citation Generator will automatically create a flawless APA citation The Scribbr Citation Generator will automatically create a flawless APA citation The Scribbr Citation Generator will automatically create a flawless APA citation The Scribbr Citation Generator will automatically create a flawless APA citation The
Scribbr Citation Generator will automatically create a flawless APA citation The Scribbr Citation Generator will automatically create a flawless MLA citation The Scribbr Citation Generator will automatically create a flawless MLA citation The Scribbr Citation Generator will automatically create a flawless MLA citation The
Scribbr Citation Generator will automatically create a flawless MLA citation The Scribbr Citation Generator will automatically create a flawless MLA citation The Scribbr Citation Generator will automatically create a flawless MLA citation The Scribbr Citation Generator will automatically create a flawless MLA citation The
Scribbr Citation Generator will automatically create a flawless MLA citation Paraphrasing vs. quotingIt’s a good idea to paraphrase instead of quoting in most cases because:
But that doesn’t mean you should never quote. Quotes are appropriate when:
Paraphrasing vs. summarizingA 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: SummarizingMartin (2016) argues it is important to consider the impact of human architecture on the evolution of other species. Stating that the indoor biome—the realm of species that live and reproduce largely inside human-built structures—represents an understudied area for ecologists, Martin makes the case for studying this biome as an essential way of understanding the world of the Anthropocene. Avoiding plagiarism when you paraphraseWhen 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. Check out our research on the best plagiarism checkers in 2022, or check out Scribbr’s free plagiarism checker that came best out of the test.Frequently asked questions about paraphrasingHow do I paraphrase effectively? To paraphrase effectively, don’t just take the original sentence and swap out some of the words for synonyms. Instead, try:
The main point is to ensure you don’t just copy the structure of the original text, but instead reformulate the idea in your own words. What is the difference between plagiarism and paraphrasing? Plagiarism means using someone else’s words or ideas and passing them off as your own. Paraphrasing means putting someone else’s ideas in your own words. So when does paraphrasing count as plagiarism?
When should I quote instead of paraphrasing? To present information from other sources in academic writing, it’s best to paraphrase in most cases. This shows that you’ve understood the ideas you’re discussing and incorporates them into your text smoothly. It’s appropriate to quote when:
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