How to Paraphrase

Estimated time to complete: 15-20 minutes Supported Objective:  CO2: Demonstrate an ability to find, evaluate and integrate academic sources into your research papers and presentations in a manner consistent with US academic culture and UW-Madison’s policy on academic integrity.

 

Read

Paraphrasing

A paraphrase retains the exact meaning of the original text but recasts it in your own style and words. Your version will be about as long as the original, but the structure and vocabulary will be different. In academic writing, a paraphrase must always be cited.

Tips for Paraphrasing

1. Meaning: Your paraphrase must have the same meaning as the source. It should also keep the same relationship between main ideas and supporting details.
2. Structure: The grammatical structure should be changed if this can be done without changing meaning. You can change word order, combine ideas into complex sentences, divide longer sentences into two sentences, changing parts of speech (word forms) appropriately.
3. Vocabulary: Try to use different, simpler synonyms than the original whenever possible, which is to say, rewrite the original text in your own words. Obviously, some words have no reasonable, practical synonyms (e.g. calcium, theory, proper names, numbers), and there may be specialized words related to your topic that you will need to keep the same.
4. Length: The length of your paraphrase should not vary very much from the original.
5. Style: You should put the ideas of the original text into your own language. You should not try to imitate the style of the source, even if your own seems less perfect to you. A paraphrase should seem to the reader like it could be your own idea, since the style is consistent with the rest of your text.
6. Citation: Whenever you paraphrase from another source, you must cite the original source. No exceptions.

Steps in Paraphrasing

1. Read the material you want to paraphrase.
2. Make sure you understand it completely.
3. Put away the source.
4. Write down the idea as you remember it, making sure that you are grammatical and accurate.
5. Reread the source to be sure you have not missed or misrepresented any of the material.

Prefer to watch? 

Try these videos - note that all links are external

From the University of Maryland, Baltimore Writing Center The Art of Paraphrasing: Avoiding Plagiarism Links to an external site.	From Queensland University of Technology (QUT) How To Paraphrase Links to an external site.	From CSU-Pueblo University Library How to Paraphrase Links to an external site.
	From The University of Melbourne Paraphrasing Ideas in your Writing Links to an external site.	From Justin Bolivar: How to Paraphrase Links to an external site.

 

Apply

Ready to paraphrase? 

Ready to move on? Click "next" to take the test. Don't worry, this is a low-stakes test to check your understanding. It will not have a big impact on your grades.