Unit 4: Paraphrasing and Quoting with APA

Question: What are paraphrasing and quoting and how do they compare and contrast? Paraphrasing is putting a source’s ideas in your own words and sentence structure. Quoting is using the exact words, enclosed in quotation marks, of the source. Do not use quotation marks, but do provide parenthetical citation; for example, (Li, 2008). Use quotation marks and parenthetical citation; for example, (“Citation Rules,” 2008).

Step 1: Understand the basics. A source is an article, book, or other resource you have used to support your own ideas. Credit any  Idea you get from a source  Idea that is not original to you if not common knowledge, which is Known by people in your field Available in many sources Available in general reference works

Step 1: Understand the basics. Which is common knowledge?  Each year, 20,000 new products are introduced to American supermarkets.  Mitochondrial DNA can be used to trace human migration patterns.  A year has 365 days.

Step 1: Understand the basics. Which is common knowledge?  Each year, 20,000 new products are introduced to American supermarkets (Howe, Butt, & Timmons, 2004). Howe, C. D., Butt, J. L., & Timmons, M. C. (2004, June 1) The tyranny of too much. Retrieved April 3, 2007, from Blackfriars Communications Web site:

Step 1: Understand the basics. Which is common knowledge? Mitochondrial DNA can be used to trace human migration patterns Depends; biologists know this; others might not. When in doubt, cite. Groleau, Groleau, R. (2002, January). Tracing ancestry with mtDNA. Retrieved April 3, 2007, from Neanderthals on Trial Web site:

Step 1: Understand the basics. Which is common knowledge?  A year has 365 days. Known by people in your field Available in many sources Available in general reference works Does not belong to any one person Does not need to be cited

Step 1: Understand the basics. Ideas often are called “intellectual property.” Like tangible property, ideas can be stolen. Paraphrasing and quoting provide two ways of acknowledging source authors. Failing to give credit to sources is plagiarism.

Step 2: Understand APA basics for giving credit to sources. What is APA format? It is a standard for documenting sources. A source is a person or document from which you have obtained information you will use for your own writing. APA format for documentation is widely used by writers in the social sciences, education, psychology, and business.

Step 3: When should we use APA documentation? Document borrowed information in two places:  where it’s used in the paper  on the references page Borrowed information includes  summaries (ideas, but not exact words)  paraphrases (ideas, but not exact words)  quotations (exact words)  dates  dollar values, numbers, percentages, statistics of any kind

Step 4: When not to use APA documentation -- Anything that is common knowledge does not need to be cited.  Example: The Declaration of Independence was written in  However, only the most obvious types of common knowledge do not have to be cited.  When in doubt, cite.

Step 5: APA has two basic parts. APA is made up of two basic elements: the parenthetical in-text citation and the references page. The parenthetical in-text citations are so called because the information appears in parentheses in the text of an essay or article. The most basic form of these in-text citations includes the author’s last name and the date of publication. Example: (Smith, 2005) If an article has no author listed, an abbreviated version of the title takes the place of the author’s last name. Example: (“Not Criminal,” 2006). The references page includes an entry for each source used. This page at its most basic is arranged in alphabetical order by author’s last name or article title when no author is listed.

Step 6: How does APA apply to paraphrasing and quoting? We use these basic parts of APA to document our use of sources as we paraphrase and quote the sources. For now, we will focus on just the first part of APA documentation: in-text citation. For example, the following slide shows an example of paraphrase with APA in-text citation.

Paraphrase: Original source’s exact words: “Responsible parents of children who regularly use the Internet to research understand that being online and unsupervised is as dangerous as the infamous ‘stranger’ on the street.” – From page 25 of Gregory Smith’s 2006 article, “What Kids Find Online” Parents are aware of the dangers of letting their children play alone in a park. Allowing children to search the ’Net without adult monitoring also puts them at risk (Smith, 2006). Paraphrase (put Smith’s ideas into your own words): oThe wording and sentence structure have changed, but an APA in-text citation gives credit for the idea. oThe in-text citation points to information about how to locate the source in the reference list.

Quoting: When quoting someone’s exact words Use quotation marks Provide a page number, when available. Work the quotation into your paragraph.  Introduce the quotation.  Paraphrase or quote your source.  Show how this supports your point.  Avoid using quotations back-to-back.

Quoting continued: Original source: “Responsible parents of children who regularly use the Internet to research understand that being online and unsupervised is as dangerous as the infamous ‘stranger’ on the street.” – From page 25 of Gregory Smith’s 2006 article, “What Kids Find Online” As used in paper: Telling children not to accept candy from strangers is not enough to proect them. As Smith (2006) warns, “Being online and unsupervised is as dangerous as the infamous ‘stranger’ on the street” (p. 25). *Note: Exact words from the source are placed in quotation marks and the page number, which is available from a PDF file, is used in the citation.

Step 7: Let’s review Paraphrasing is a)Using the exact words of a source b)Putting the ideas of a source in one’s own words and sentence structure with APA citation Quoting is a)Putting ideas from a source into one’s own words b)Using the exact words of a source with quotation marks and APA citation

Step 7: Let’s review When you paraphrase, you a)use the exact words of a source with quotation marks b)put information from the source in your own words and use quotation marks c)put information from the source into your own words, do not use quotation marks, and cite the source intext and in your reference list

Step 7: Let’s review When you quote a source, you a)use exact words from a source with quotation marks but no citation b)Use exact words from a source with quotation marks and cite the source both intext and in your reference list

Step 7: Let’s review If you’re not sure if something is common knowledge, the best thing to do is a)cite it. b)remember that it’s a judgment call. Information about where to locate a source is in a)in-text citations right after the material you used from the source. b)the reference list at the end of the paper.

Step 8: Understand how paraphrase and quotation support the writer’s own ideas. Sources can 1.support our own reasoning and logic with expert opinion 2.add credibility to an idea 3.provide additional information Sources cannot 1.be the entire essay 2.string together to create entire paragraphs

Example of source support of a writer’s ideas: Based on personal and common knowledge, the writer creates a brief paragraph about school uniforms. School uniforms may level the playing field for students whose parents cannot or will not bow to fashion trends, but uniforms may also create a new battlefield for competition. Students look alike with the same colors and styles of clothing, but brand names and high price tags can still separate designer uniforms from discount versions. Shoes and accessories increase the division between uniform brands and costs, but the benefits of uniforms may outweigh these potential problems.

The writer’s ideas supported by sources: School uniforms may level the playing field for students whose parents cannot or will not bow to fashion trends, but uniforms may also create a new battlefield for competition. Students look alike with the same colors and styles of clothing, but brand names and high price tags can still separate designer uniforms from discount versions. According to Johnson (2005), one in four students ranked uniform brand as the top priority for choosing clothing for school. Shoes and accessories increase the division between uniform brands and costs, but the benefits of uniforms may outweigh these potential problems. In fact, polls of thousands of secondary-school students indicate that young people would rather wear uniforms than so-called street clothes (Andersen, 2005). Parents tend to agree. In fact, a recent study shows that mothers rate school uniforms as “one of the top five stress reducers for the school day routine” (Kritchel, 2006, p. 75). All in all, uniforms seem destined for mixed reviews based on price versus convenience.

Here’s that paragraph again with paraphrase underlined and quotation bolded. School uniforms may level the playing field for students whose parents cannot or will not bow to fashion trends, but uniforms may also create a new battlefield for competition. Students look alike with the same colors and styles of clothing, but brand names and high price tags can still separate designer uniforms from discount versions. According to Johnson (2005), one in four students ranked uniform brand as the top priority for choosing clothing for school. Shoes and accessories increase the division between uniform brands and costs, but the benefits of uniforms may outweigh these potential problems. In fact, polls of thousands of secondary-school students indicate that young people would rather wear uniforms than so-called street clothes (Andersen, 2005). Parents tend to agree. In fact, a recent study shows that mothers rate school uniforms as “one of the top five stress reducers for the school day routine” (Kritchel, 2006, p. 75). All in all, uniforms seem destined for mixed reviews based on price versus convenience. Everything not bolded or underlined is the writer’s own idea. Notice that the source support simply backs up what the writer has already written and validates the bases for the statements. Notice also that only the quotation has quotation marks because it uses exact words from the source. See the next slide for some paraphrasing and quoting rules of thumb!

Step 9: Know when to paraphrase and when to quote. In general, paraphrase much more often than you quote. Use quotation for distinctive words (“ask not what your country can do for you,”), some statistics you cannot otherwise change, or dialogue. Use paraphrase for everything else, trying always to simplify ideas for your readers. Above all, do not use a series of paraphrases and quotations as your whole paragraph. Paragraphs are not compilations of sources; we are writing original work, not repeating our sources’ ideas only.

Step 10: Visit the Writing Center Paraphrasing document: pport/AcademicSuccess/PeerTutoring/Writing/pd f/research/How_to_Paraphrase.pdf Quoting document: pport/AcademicSuccess/PeerTutoring/Writing/pd f/research/When_To_Use_Quotations.pdf Online tutorial: html

Step 11: Homework Read over the strategies for paraphrasing on the next two slides. Using the sources you’ve found, write two short paragraphs. One paragraph should be a paraphrase of information from a source you plan to use in your paper. The other should include a quotation (an easy way to do this is to define a term used in your paper or to provide statistics about your topic). If you feel comfortable doing a reference list entry and an intext citation, go ahead and do them. If you don’t, just bring the source and your two paragraphs to the next class. You can create the citations in class.

Step 12: Additional Practice (optional) The following two slides include five passages from original sources. Choose 4 of these sources and practice paraphrasing and quoting in the Seminar Option 2 Discussion. In other words, paraphrase and quote four sources for a total of 8 sentences posted to the Seminar Discussion. You’ll need only the in-text citation part of APA format in your sentences. In the discussion, also explain how these sources might be used to support original ideas. Specific instructions are included in the presentation.

Choose 4 for the Seminar Option 2: 1. From the 2006 article “Not Criminal, Just Hopeful” (no author listed and page number not available): “Second, the immigrants have aspirations most Americans can relate to. A new survey found that 92% worked, 98% wanted to learn English and 96% were happy to be fingerprinted and subjected to a criminal background check as part of a process that might lead to them becoming legal citizens.”

2.From Donya C. Arias’s 2004 article “Alternative Medicines’ Popularity Prompts Concern,” page 6: “More than a third of U.S. citizens use some form of alternative and complementary medicine, according to a federal survey, and international public health officials are warning that such remedies need better regulation and monitoring.”

3. From Brock Read’s 2006 article “Entertainment Officials Say Colleges Do Too Little to Fight Online Piracy,” page 36: “During several previous hearings, industry representatives had sought to portray colleges as partners in the fight against piracy. But last month the heads of the largest music and movie trade groups sharply criticized institutions that have chosen not to adopt antipiracy tactics endorsed by the industry.”

4. From page 46 of Barbara Gomolski’s 2006 article “Confessions of a Full-time Telecommuter”: “For self-motivated employees, telecommuting means a productivity boost. Focused and dedicated individuals will get far more work done at home than in an office.”

5. From Andrea Baker’s 1995 article “Auto Initiative Focuses on Environment,” page 28: “Engineers at Volvo want to change the way cars are designed, and disposed of. A broad environmental initiative at the company is generating interactive databases and design innovations that could apply to cars and trucks of all makes.”