How to Recognize Acceptable Paraphrasing

Paraphrasing is a useful and sometimes necessary skill in the worlds of education and business. However, there's a fine line that you need to be aware of that separates a paraphrase, or a summary in your own words, from plagiarism.

Instructions

1. Read the paraphrased material to see if it stands on its own and makes sense in reasonable, non-technical language. Try to hear the voice of the person who wrote the paraphrased text and inspect it for too much jargon or overly eloquent sentence constructions.

2. Check to see if the paraphrased text cites a source at the end in a parenthetical reference. Also look for quotes phrases or words to recognize a text that was appropriately paraphrased and not just plagiarized.

3. Find the original text that the paraphrased text summarizes. Read the original text and then read the paraphrase. Check first to see if the paraphrase expresses the main ideas of the original text.

4. Put aside the original text after reading it and then return to reading the paraphrased text. As you read the paraphrased text ask yourself if you recognize any of the sentences, phrases or even individual words. Mark the things that you recognize and then check the original text to see if the author of the paraphrase took them directly from the original or actually did an acceptable paraphrasing.