Paraphrasing, Plagiarism, and Summarizing Notes

Paraphrase To restate or reword a text or passage using different words Why do I need to paraphrase? If you take the words of a poet or author and write and restate them in your own words, you can better understand the ideas the author or poet is trying to convey (to communicate or make known)

Sample 1 Most spiders live on land, but this spider is different. It spends most of its time under water. How does it breathe? It breathes by making a tent full of air bubbles under water. First it spins a web in the shape of a bell. Then it fixes it to plants under the water. Next it swims up to the top of the water and traps a tiny bubble of air with its hairy black legs. It drags the bubble to its web. It does this many times until its home is full of air. Then it sits nice and snug in its web and feeds on tiny fish and other water animals.

Now you try to paraphrase that paragraph Now let’s hear your work---

Why do I NEED to paraphrase? BECAUSE if you copy “…Taking and passing off someone else’s work or ideas as your own is called plagiarism . . . (from Latin plagiārius, kidnapper, literary thief).” ~ Macmillan Dictionary

Plagiarism This is considered Cheating! You probably already knew that!

But did you know . . . Keeping any of the same vocabulary without quotations, even if it is cited is plagiarism? Keeping the original order of ideas or keeping the sentence structure without quotations is plagiarism, too? Yes, changing words but copying the sentence structure of a source without giving credit is PLAGIARISM. Not using ANY of your own ideas (AND YOUR entire paper is cited) is plagiarism? That is called copying. Copying is plagiarism. Inaccurately paraphrasing or misrepresenting the author’s intentions is plagiarism?

So, what should I do? 1. The best way to take notes and conduct research without plagiarism is easy. Give credit to the person who did the work. If you have used someone’s words and ideas, give credit to the source. QUOTE and CITE the source. Use your own words as often as you can. Make sure you don’t just change one or two words. Read the research/information and then put the information in your words. Change it up---including the sentence structure. 3. When in doubt, credit your source!

Summarizing A summary is a short statement that presents the main idea and most important details of a piece of writing. To summarize you--- pull out main ideas focus on key details break down the larger ideas write only enough to convey the gist or main points take succinct but complete notes in your own words

How to summarize: 1. As you read, identify and record the most important information, or main idea, and details that support the main idea. (Write that in a few sentences. ) 2. Use your own words to briefly describe the main idea and events in the text. Organize your information so that the details and events appear in chronological order.

How to summarize (continued) 3. Reread your work to make sure you’ve included the most important information and left out unnecessary information. Then review and revise your summary as needed. 4. The key is to make sure you are using your words.

Happy Researching!