Plagiarism and Academic Integrity Tutorial

San José State Library notes that proper paraphrasing is a multi-step process that entails:

"1. Reading the original passage,

 2. Understanding what the original author is saying,

 3. Synthesizing (putting together) the information,

 4. Expressing your understanding of these ideas in your own words and then

 5. Citing the original author."

To paraphrase is to re-express someone else's ideas in your own words. Though you do not have to enclose paraphrased information in quotes, you are still responsible for giving proper attribution to the original source of the information and for making sufficiently substantial changes so that the paraphrase is a genuinely new expression of the idea, not merely a trivial rewording of the original passage. Incorrect paraphrase is perhaps the most common type of 'accidental' plagiarism.

Key points:

• First, it is important to recognize that paraphrased material must be credited.
• Second, how you paraphrase can determine whether the material is considered plagiarized.

Look below for some examples of paraphrasing that would be considered unacceptable versus that which would be considered acceptable

Original Phrase

Moreover, public health agencies should monitor and track the most frequently shared COVID-19 vaccine misinformation on social media [12]. Risk communication targeting disease risks, the role of a vaccine in reducing COVID-19 related morbidity and mortality and known side effects of a vaccine can be posted on social media to improve health literacy among the public

Unacceptable Paraphrase Example

Also, health agencies should watch and keep track of the widely shared COVID-19 vaccine disinformation on Facebook or Twitter or other social media.   They should also communicate about the risks of getting the disease, how the vaccine can help in reducing mortality and morbidity from COVID, and they can write any side effects that are known on social media so that people in the public can become more health literate.

• This rewording is unacceptable because it only makes superficial changes to the original text such as replacing some of the words with synonyms or changing the sentence order. The paraphrase is so close to the original that it is considered essentially a direct quote without attribution. Unacceptable paraphrase, particularly close paraphrase, usually shows the student does not have a significant understanding of the subject and opens the possibility of misrepresenting the original author's ideas.

Acceptable Paraphrase

In the fight against vaccine disinformation being disseminated around the world, Islam et. al explains the importance of social media.  Not only can it be used to keep track of the false information being shared but it can be used to communicate openly and truthfully with the public about the deadliness of the disease, how vaccines can help reduce the risk, and the true and known side effects associated with the vaccine.  Through this honesty and clear communication the public can become more knowledgeable about the disease and the vaccine. (Islam et al, 2021)”

Islam, M. S., Kamal, A.-H. M., Kabir, A., Southern, D. L., Khan, S. H., Hasan, S. M. M., Sarkar, T., Sharmin, S., Das, S., Roy, T., Harun, M. G. D.,   Chughtai, A. A., Homaira, N., & Seale, H. (2021). COVID-19 vaccine rumors and conspiracy theories: The need for cognitive inoculation against    misinformation to improve vaccine adherence. PLoS ONE, 16(5), 1–17. https://doi-org.ezproxy.csusm.edu/10.1371/journal.pone.0251605

• When you have achieved an acceptable paraphrase, it feels dramatically different. It sounds like an entirely new way of expressing the idea even though every effort has been made to capture the original meaning.

• This paraphrase is acceptable because it:

  • accurately conveys the information,

  • re-expresses it in substantially different words and phrases,

  • identifies where words are exactly copied from the original, and

  • cites the original source of the information.

  • Also notice in this example that the original author is mentioned in the text. It is often considered good form to identify your source in the paraphrase itself, usually in the lead sentence introducing the ideas. The source of the small direct quote is also made clear by preceding it with the author’s name.

Acceptable Close Paraphrase

• As with all cases of partial plagiarism, it is possible to use a close paraphrase with the appropriate attribution and citation style. While direct quotation is almost always preferred, close paraphrase might be used in cases where the quoted passage uses some difficult to understand terms, or is unnecessarily long for the purposes of the paper, or uses an inconvenient grammatical turn.