How to Paraphrase or Summarize
It can be difficult to put something into our own words for a paraphrase or summary. One of the easiest methods is to read the text carefully, making sure we understand what the author is saying. Then, we put away the information so we're not tempted to keep looking at it. If it is a website, close down the browser; if it is an article, turn the article upside down or hide it so we can no longer refer to it. Once the information is completely out of sight, we write out what we remember reading. (Another option is to talk about what we read with someone else like a classmate or friend. The more we can talk about and recite what we read, the better we will be at putting this information into our own words and the more successful we will be at paraphrasing or summarizing what we read and integrating this information into our work.)
Then, we look at the original text again to make sure that we truly wrote something in our own words. Although we might use a key word or phrase from the original text because it's the best way to describe the concept, the rest of the paraphrase or summary should be in our own words.
It's very important that we don't just change a few words here or there; that's not enough to put it into our own words, and it will still be considered plagiarism. Watch this short video (2 minutes and 47 seconds) to see examples of improper and proper paraphrasing.
"Avoiding Plagiarism Tutorial: Paraphrasing Your Sources [7/7]" Links to an external site. by Langara Library is licensed under CC BY 3.0
Additional Resources
- The Online Writing Lab (OWL) from Purdue University provides information on quoting, paraphrasing, and summarizing (Links to an external site.).
Text on this page was adapted from: "APA Guide to Plagiarism & Citing Sources (Canvas Module)" by Heath Ray Hayden, Bellevue College Library Media Center Links to an external site. is licensed under CC BY 4.0 / A derivative from the original work