Paraphrasing and Summarizing

Plagiarism• One of the primary purposes for paraphrasing and

summarizing is to avoid plagiarism.• Plagiarism is ILLEGAL!

According to the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, to "plagiarize" means• to steal and pass off (the ideas or words of another) as

one's own• to use (another's production) without crediting the

source• to commit literary theft• to present as new and original an idea or product

derived from an existing source

ParaphrasingParaphrasing is putting a piece of text into your own words.

You don’t leave out any pertinent information, although you may condense it just a bit. The importance is in the re-wording and changing sentence structures.

When paraphrasing, you have to be careful to avoid plagiarism, and you should always credit your source.

ParaphrasingThe original passage:

Students frequently overuse direct quotation in taking notes, and as a result they overuse quotations in the final

[research] paper. Probably only about 10% of your final manuscript should appear as directly quoted matter. Therefore, you should strive to limit the amount of exact transcribing of source materials while taking notes. Lester, James D. Writing Research Papers. 2nd ed. (1976): 46-47.

A plagiarized version:Students often use too many direct quotations when they

take notes, resulting in too many of them in the final research paper. In fact, probably only about 10% of the final copy should consist of quoted material. So it is important to limit the amount of source material copied while taking notes.

Paraphrasing Gone Wrong!A plagiarized version:

Students often use too many direct quotations when they take notes, resulting in too many of them in the final

research paper. In fact, probably only about 10% of the final copy should consist of quoted material. So it is important to limit the amount of source material copied while taking notes.

• The boldface phrases are directly lifted from the original text.

• The italicized phrases are simply replaced with synonyms.

• The structure is the same.

ParaphrasingThe original passage:

Students frequently overuse direct quotation in taking notes, and as a result they overuse quotations in the final [research] paper. Probably only about 10% of your final manuscript should appear as directly quoted matter. Therefore, you should strive to limit the amount of exact transcribing of source materials while taking notes. Lester, James D. Writing Research Papers. 2nd ed. (1976): 46-47.

A legitimate paraphrase:In research papers students often quote excessively, failing

to keep quoted material down to a desirable level. Since the problem usually originates during note taking, it is essential to minimize the material recorded verbatim. (Lester 46-47).

Paraphrasing: Now You Try It!

“Empathy helps people behave more generously, but some are worried that our society, with its Personal Brands and Snapchats, is losing this crucial characteristic. Recent research has suggested that college students have become less empathetic since the 70s, so much so that scientists are saying they should read great works of literature in order to better see situations from different points-of-view.”

Paraphrase or Plagiarism?Original text:

Annie Oakley’s life spanned years of tremendous change for American women. By the time of her death in 1926, Americans were celebrating the liberated, urban-focused, modern times of the Jazz Age. Women had won the right to vote, wore less restrictive clothes, and followed a changing ideal that was loosening some of the restrictions on women’s roles and behavior that had reigned throughout the 19th century.

Paraphrase or plagiarism?:

Annie Oakley’s life spanned years of significant changes for American women. By the time she died in 1926, women had the vote, wore looser clothing, and embraced the freedom from restrictive 19th century roles and behaviors.

PLAGIARISM!

•It sounds too much like the original, with similar sentence structures.

Annie Oakley’s life spanned years of significant changes for American women. By the time she died in 1926, women had the vote, wore looser clothing, and embraced the freedom from restrictive 19th century roles and behaviors.

Paraphrase or Plagiarism?Original text:

"He [Poe] makes us understand that the voluble murderer has been tortured by the nightmarish terrors he attributes to his victim..." (Gargano 1672).

Paraphrase or Plagiarism?Poe makes us comprehend that the

talkative killer has been persecuted by the frightening horrors he assigns to his prey (Gargano 1672).

PLAGIARISM!

•This is the same exact sentence, but the writer plugged in synonyms in place of key words.

•Poe makes us comprehend that the talkative killer has been persecuted by the frightening horrors he assigns to his prey.

Paraphrase or Plagiarism?Original text:

To the extent that a woman's self-image is challenged or threatened by an unattainable ideal of an impossibly thin female physique, she may well become susceptible to disruption of her self-regard, and may be more likely to develop an eating disorder.

Paraphrase or plagiarism?:If a woman interprets the media's representation of

thinness as the ideal she must achieve, her sense of self-esteem might be threatened and even damaged, making her more likely to exhibit disordered eating patterns (Polivy & Herman, 2004, p. 2).

PARAPHRASE!

•It is sufficiently different from the original.

Summarizing

Summarizing is taking large selections of text and shortening them down to just the most important information.

Summaries strip away extraneous examples and verbiage. They focus on the gist of it, the heart of the matter.

SummarizingThe original passage:

Students frequently overuse direct quotation in taking notes, and as a result they overuse quotations in the final [research] paper. Probably only about 10% of your final manuscript should appear as directly quoted matter. Therefore, you should strive to limit the amount of exact transcribing of source materials while taking notes. Lester, James D. Writing Research Papers. 2nd ed. (1976): 46-47.

An acceptable summary:Students should take just a few notes in direct

quotation from sources to help minimize the amount of quoted material in a research paper (Lester 46-47).

Summarizing: Now You Try It!The typical gender breakdown in tech companies seems to be about 70-30 men-to-women (Google, Facebook, Twitter)—with some companies slightly more balanced (LinkedIn, Yahoo, eBay) than others. But few of the leading tech firms that have stepped forward to share their diversity details have workforces that reflect the actual 50-50 gender split in the larger population. Which is why Pandora stood out when it announced this week that 51 percent of its employees are men and 49 percent of them are women.

Summaries: Too much, too little, or just right?

Original text:A girl in Osceola County was rushed to Nemours Children's

Hospital on Saturday after she was attacked by a water moccasin, a venomous snake, officials confirmed Thursday. Animal control and fire rescue responded.

"The child was bitten on the back of her heel,'' Mark Pino, a county spokesman, said in email to the Orlando Sentinel. "One of our officers responded to a snake bite call and determined it was a water moccasin. He searched for the snake and found it under a shed," Pino said. "The officer looked at the bite and was able to clearly identify two fang marks.“ The child's foot swelled, he said, and there was a "central black spot," a sign that the toxic venom was destroying her flesh.

The officer knew it was a venomous snake bite and told responders to rush her immediately to Nemours Children's Hospital so she could receive antivenom treatment.

The snake was turned over to Reptile World Serpentarium, an attraction in St. Cloud. "We have a verbal agreement with them to take all venomous snakes we capture,'' Pino said.

Summaries: Too much, too little, or just right?

Option #1:

A girl was a bit by a snake.

Summaries: Too much, too little, or just right?

Option #2:

A girl in Osceola county was bit by a venomous water moccasin. When officers found the two fang marks and the black spot, they knew it was poisonous.

Summaries: Too much, too little, or just right?

Option #3:

A girl in Osceola county was rushed to the hospital after being bitten by venomous water moccasin.