Paraphrasing & Avoiding Plagiarism

Original: If I won the award for laziness, I would send someone to pick it up for me.

Paraphrase: I would send someone to pick up my laziness award if I won the award for laziness.

• Acceptable Paraphrase

• Plagiarism

Original: Any trip to Jamaica must include a visit to Ocho Rios to climb the falls.

Paraphrase: When vacationing in Jamaica, tourists must visit Ocho Rios to climb the falls.

• Acceptable Paraphrase

• Plagiarism

Original: Seventy-five percent of university students prefer to live in student housing.

Paraphrase: Campus housing is not a preference for around a quarter of college students.

• Acceptable Paraphrase

• Plagiarism

Paraphrases should maintain the original meaning of the text without using the same exact words.

• true

• false

How are paraphrasing and summarizing different?

• Paraphrasing is longer and more detailed.

• Paraphrasing and summarizing are exactly the same.

Paraphrased information from a source should still be cited with the author's last name and a page number.

• true

• false

Key terms can remain the same when paraphrasing.

• true

• false

Choose the best paraphrase:

The team's soccer jerseys were designed by Nike.

• Nike designed the team's soccer jerseys.

• Nike created the team's jerseys.

Every day, Mount St. Helens emits steam and, although there have been no eruptions since 1985, volcanologists are monitoring its activity.

Which choice below best paraphrases the passage?

• Scientists still observe Mount St. Helens, which last erupted in 1985. The volcano gives off steam daily.

• Mount St. Helens may erupt at any moment—it's spewing out steam every day!

Which of the following statements best describes how to paraphrase information?    

• Copy the sentence, put it in quotations, and cite the source.
• Determine key words in the sentence and replace most of them with words that have similar meanings.  Rewrite the sentence in your own words.