An Introduction to

Paraphrasing &Citation

Plagiarism is…

“the act of presenting the words, ideas, images, sounds, or the creative expression of others as your own.”

72%In the United States…

…of students admitted cheating on a written assignment

Based on the research of Donald L. McCabe, Rutgers UniversitySource: “CIA Research.” Center for Academic Integrity, Duke University, 2003 <http://academicintegrity.org/cai_research.asp>.

If you have… • included the words

and ideas of others in your work that you neglected to cite,

• had help you wouldn’t want your teacher to know about,

YOU HAVE PROBABLY PLAGIARISED!!

Intentional Plagiarism• Copying a friend’s work

• Buying or borrowing paper

• Cutting and pasting blocks of text from electronic sources without documenting

• Media “borrowing”without documentation

• Web publishing without permissions of creators

What are the Consequences?

Is it worth the risk?

• “0” on the assignment• Referral to administrators• Suspension or dismissal

from school and/or activities

• Note on student record• Loss of reputation among

the school community• Loss of job• Prosecution

SOLUTION?

PARAPHRASING!

Paraphrasing is…

Presenting someone else’s essential ideas and information

in your own language

Why Paraphrase?!

• Avoid plagiarism!

• Provide support (or give examples) for your writing

• Demonstrate you’ve read broadly / deeply

• Highlight / Target a position you wish to support or disagree with

• Highlight ‘cool’ phrases

44STEPS TO PARAPHRASING

#1 Select only the information you need

#2 Use your own words

Use synonyms

More than half of the business women who attended the conference were in business with their husbands

The terrible accident on the Karak Highway was the result of bad weather.

Raw honey is believed to be an ancient treatment for healing wounds.

There has been unrest in most parts of the region due to the civil war.

Interchange active and passive voices

Andrew repaired the machine. The problem was due to the electrical circuits being wired wrongly.

On Tuesday night, a heavy storm ravaged Kuala Lumpur. The storm destroyed dozens of houses and buildings in the inner city.

#3 Give credit to original author

a) Cite it right!

b) Use quotes for key words and

phrases

Examples

“We live in the shadow of the sixties. Of all the artificial constructs by which we delineate our immediate past, ‘the sixties’ have the greatest purchase on the mass imagination. They stand rightly or not, as the dominant myth of the modern era”

Green, J. (1999) All Dressed Up: Sixties and the Counter-Culture, London: Jonathan Cape Ltd

Words to use when citing

• Green (1999) argues…

• Green (1999) reports…

• Green (1999) concludes…

• Green (1999) finds…

• Green (1999) states…

• Green (1999) observes…

• Green (1999) notes…

#4 Compare what you wrote with original text

Check it!

• Are main ideas and substance covered?

• Are there key words and phrases?

• Did you use your own words and modify sentence structure?

• Did you give credit to author?

• Is it at least 60% similar in length?

Spot the mistakes (1)

Copied word for word without attribution - Plagiarism

Original

“At the crux of any discussion of what happened during the sixties, one inevitably comes up against the word ‘revolution’. For the purposes of this discussion it seems best to divide the ‘revolution’ into two parts.”

Student’s Work

At the crux of any discussion of what happened during the sixties, one inevitably comes up against the word ‘revolution’. For the purposes of this discussion it seems best to divide the ‘revolution’ into two parts.

Spot the mistakes (2)

The 2nd sentence is directly lifted but only the 1st is attributed – Plagiarism

Original

“At the crux of any discussion of what happened during the sixties, one inevitably comes up against the word ‘revolution’. For the purposes of this discussion it seems best to divide the ‘revolution’ into two parts.”

Student’s Work

Green (1999) points out the inevitability of encountering the word ‘revolution’ when looking at the sixties. For the purposes of this discussion it seems best to divide the ‘revolution’ into two parts.

Spot the mistakes (3)

This is still plagiarism. The essay example just exchanges one word for another.

Original

“At the crux of any discussion of what happened during the sixties, one inevitably comes up against the word ‘revolution’. For the purposes of this discussion it seems best to divide the ‘revolution’ into two parts.”

Student’s Work

At the core of any discussion of what occurred during the sixties, one unavoidably meets the word ‘revolution’. For the intention of this discussion, it is necessary to separate the ‘revolution’ into two parts.

Spot the mistakes (4)

The source is correctly referenced. No plagiarism.

Original

“At the crux of any discussion of what happened during the sixties, one inevitably comes up against the word ‘revolution’. For the purposes of this discussion it seems best to divide the ‘revolution’ into two parts.”

 Student’s Work

Green (1999) argues that any discussion of ‘the sixties’ inevitably involves use of the term ‘revolution’. In his book, he chooses to divide this ‘revolution’ into two distinct parts.

Exercises!

Paraphrase the below

“Being overweight can cause sleep problems, including clogged airways that constrain breathing. But because a lack of sleep actually triggers the hormones that boost hunger and appetite, sleeping too little can also rise your chances of getting fat.”

Penn, M. & Zalesne, E. (2007) Microtrends: Surprising tales of the way we live today, London: Penguin

Two other solutions

• Quoting

• Summarizing

Of the more than 1000 bicycling deaths each year, three-fourths are caused by head injuries. Half of those killed are school-age children. One study concluded that wearing a bike helmet can reduce the risk of head injury by 85 percent. In an accident, a bike helmet absorbs the shock and cushions the head.

"Bike Helmets: Unused Lifesavers," Consumer Reports(May 1990): 348

Please Summarize

How to Quote

Gore (1992) describes his stance on the preservation of the Pacific Yew, a tree with potentially important medicinal uses:

The Pacific Yew can be cut down and processed to produce a potent chemical, Taxol, which offers some promise of curing certain forms of lung, breast and ovarian cancer in patients who would otherwise quickly die. It seems an easy choice – sacrifice the tree for a human life – until one learns that three trees must be destroyed for each patient treated. (p. 119)

• Point-by-point

• May be long (up to a few paragraphs)

• Includes details

• May have quotes

• Only main ideas

• Usually short (1-2 sentences)

• Avoids details

• No quotes

Both must be in your own words and retain original meaning of author

PARAPHRASE SUMMARY

At KDU, plagiarism is dealt with via an anti-plagiarism system known as Turn-It-In.

SAMPLE!

Get your lecturer to

give you the

CLASS ID and PASSWORD

relevant to your class!

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