A second way that plagiarism commonly occurs is by paraphrase or summary plagiarism. A paraphrase itself occurs when your paper presents an idea from a source, but does so in a way that does not use the exact words that appear in the source. Remember, when you draw on source material, you don't have to use a direct quotation.
In fact, in most cases, it is better not to quote directly, but to paraphrase. This allows you to summarize, rephrase, interpret, and synthesize the material into a new formulation. A proper paraphrase or summary must reflect your own language, with the exception of words that might be common vocabulary or technical terms to the topic at hand.
It must also reflect your own structure and presentation. Paraphrase plagiarism, then, occurs when you paraphrase a source but fail to document it properly. Even when you present the content of a source as a paraphrase, it is necessary to alert your reader that although the words are your own, the ideas are not. This slide demonstrates what paraphrasing is not.
Compare the source material on the left with the attempted paraphrase on the right. Original words have been struck out, and new words from the student have been added at various intervals as indicated with italics. All of the remaining material in red is verbatim from the source.
This is not paraphrasing. To write a true paraphrase, you should carefully read any source material fully and repeatedly until you are certain that you understand what is being said. Then, with without looking at the source itself, write your summary of its contents in one or two sentences. Then look at your work and compare it with the source material.
Is there any place that you have used more than three words in a row from the source? Is there any place where you followed the overall structure of the source's material too closely? If so, revise your work and try again.
This slide shows a proper paraphrase. Using the same source material from the previous slide, this time the paraphrase presents the content in an entirely new way. A few overlapping words remain, as you can see in red, but they reflect language that is expected when discussing this topic, rather than reflecting a borrowing from the source. It is quite obvious that the writer did not engage in any copying and pasting, and she did not have the source material open before her eyes at the same time that she wrote the paraphrased words. How can you avoid committing paraphrase plagiarism?
You can avoid paraphrase plagiarism in much the same way that you avoid word-for-word plagiarism, through the use of proper citations. Whereas direct quotations required three elements for proper citation quotation marks, the in-text citation, and the bibliographic entry, Paraphrase citations require just two things. Since the word themselves are not borrowed, no quotation marks are needed.
But the in-text citation and the listing of the source in the bibliography are still required. This is an example of a solid paraphrase that is properly documented. Compare the source material on the left with the student paper on the right. The student paper paraphrases the source material adequately. While the student paper does repeat the words Paul and Third Missionary Journey, these words and phrases constitute common vocabulary when talking about this particular topic, and the student has rendered the ideas with his own structure and presentation.
The footnote provides the in-text citation, and the bibliographic entry appears in the bibliography at the end of the paper. Now let's assess your understanding.