What is paraphrasing?
Answer
Paraphrasing is the act of re-writing others' ideas in your own words; in the way you would express those ideas.
You would normally paraphrase ideas that you have read in the literature (for example, textbooks or journal articles) so that you can use them in your own work.
You are required to paraphrase for a number of reasons:
- To connect your work to the ideas of others
- To make your writing concise by only choosing the most relevant ideas
- To demonstrate your understanding of the literature
- To work with academic integrity and not copy and paste the work of others into your assignments
Whenever you paraphrase, you will still include a citation to show where you sourced the original idea, and you will list the source in your reference list.
It's important to remember that just because you have written an idea in your own words, does not mean the idea was originally yours. You will still need to attribute the idea to the original source by citing and referencing.
Re-writing others' words verbatim is only allowed if you are quoting directly (using quotation marks, a citation, and a reference). However, it is not recommended that you include very long quotes in your work, or that you quote too frequently. Doing this may indicate to the marker that you do not understand the work you have read and could have a negative impact on your results.
For help with paraphrasing, make an appointment with the Academic Skills Team or contact us at AcademicSkills@arden.ac.uk
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