paraphrasing in academic writing examples

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Paraphrasing in Academic Writing: Answering Top Author Queries

One of the most important skills for scholars to master is paraphrasing in academic writing. This is because research is built on previously published articles, which means you will often need to incorporate existing knowledge into your own work. That being said, scientific writing demands originality, which means that academics must be capable of expressing thoughts and ideas in their own words. This highlights the importance of paraphrasing in research, which allows authors to avoid plagiarism while leveraging available evidence and insights to support their research arguments.

While effective paraphrasing in research is an important skill for students and researchers, especially those who have English as a second language, this can often be a challenging task. Many academics are unsure of what needs to be reworded, while others are uncertain about how to start paraphrasing in academic writing or how to do this without changing meaning. In this article, we explain paraphrasing in research and answer the most common author queries to empower academics achieve academic writing excellence.

Table of Contents

What is paraphrasing in academic writing, how is paraphrasing different from summarizing and quoting, when should i use paraphrasing in research papers, how do i properly paraphrase a source in my research paper, how do i know when to cite a paraphrased source in my research paper, how much of my research paper should be paraphrased, what are some common mistakes to avoid when paraphrasing in a research paper, how paperpal simplifies paraphrasing in academic writing.

Paraphrasing in academic writing is when you rewrite someone else’s ideas or information in your own words while retaining the intended meaning. It is a fundamental skill for academics as it emphasizes their understanding of the material, allows them to integrate important information effectively, and also allows them to maintain academic integrity. By presenting information from existing sources differently, without using the same words or sentence structure, it also allows authors to avoid plagiarism and ensure clarity and flow in their writing.

Authors should know that while concepts are common in academic writing, the three concepts are quite different . When quoting a passage, the exact words from the original source are used within inverted comma to indicate that the information is a direct quote. On the other hand, paraphrasing involves restating existing information in your own words. Summarizing involves condensing the main points of a source into a brief overview. While all three techniques are useful, when using external sources, paraphrasing is considered the best option when if you want to retain the original meaning and avoid plagiarism.

Paraphrasing in research is best used when you want to incorporate relevant evidence or information from an external source to support your arguments or provide context for your own research. It can be used to explain a complex concept or idea in a way that your audience will clearly understand. This includes writing in an appropriate academic tone, condensing lengthy text to ensure clarity, and capturing key points from earlier sources into your work. The importance of paraphrasing in research cannot be ignored when it comes to creating a cohesive, well-supported argument while avoiding plagiarism and showcasing your mastery of the subject matter.

Remember that paraphrasing in academic writing is not just about changing a few words; it’s about expressing the original content in your unique way while respecting the source’s meaning. To properly paraphrase a source in your research paper, you should take time to read and understand the source thoroughly, make notes on the top points, and then rewrite this in your own words. It is important to be careful not to copy any phrases or sentences directly from the original source, check to ensure that the paraphrased text accurately reflects the original meaning and provide citations where needed. Take time to refine and review your research paper to ensure clarity, flow, and cohesiveness with your own work and writing style.

Authors must always cite paraphrased sources accurately in your research paper to avoid being accused of plagiarism. This is important because even if you rewrite text in your own words, you still need to give credit to the original author to lend credibility to your work and maintain research integrity. Whether it’s research papers, theses or dissertations, or even academic essays, don’t forget to check your work and ensure that you have provided all in-text citations required, with the full links in the references or bibliography section.

The amount of paraphrasing in academic writing depends on the purpose of your paper and the specific assignment or guidelines from your instructor. As a general rule, a significant portion of your paper should reflect your original ideas and contributions, including your own analysis, interpretation, and synthesis of the research, with paraphrasing of research content only used to support your arguments. It’s essential to strike a balance between your original work and the use of paraphrased sources to maintain the integrity and authenticity of your research.

While paraphrasing in academic writing, authors need to be vigilant and avoid copying phrases or sentences directly from the source. Take care not to change the original meaning of the source text, and also check that you are correctly citing the original source when paraphrasing in research. Focus on showcasing your own original ideas and contributions in your research paper instead of just relying on paraphrasing earlier research. Finally, it’s critical to ensure you are integrating the paraphrased text smoothly into your own writing; be sure to refine and retain your own voice and style to avoid unintended plagiarism.

Academics have been increasingly relying on AI tools to help them with paraphrasing in academic writing, but these generic AI tools may not be secure and often provide outputs that could be misleading. It’s also important to remember that academic writing requires specialized support, which is exactly what Paperpal offers. Trained on millions of published scholarly articles and built on 20+ years of academic expertise, Paperpal is a complete AI writing toolkit that helps students and researchers paraphrase, enhance language and grammar, and ready their work for submission.

With its deep understanding of academic writing conventions, Paperpal helps authors instantly rewrite complex text , ensure a formal academic tone, and trim length to meet strict word count limits, all without changing the essence of the original work. Refine this paraphrased text to include your own authentic writing style and avoid plagiarism, then use Paperpal’s in-depth language, grammar, spelling, punctuation, vocabulary, and consistency checks to polish your academic writing in minutes. If you haven’t tried Paperpal yet for paraphrasing in academic writing, this is your chance. Sign up now to try Paperpal for free!

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Try it for free or upgrade to  Paperpal Prime , which unlocks unlimited access to Paperpal Copilot and premium features like academic translation, paraphrasing, contextual synonyms, consistency checks, submission readiness and more. It’s like always having a professional academic editor by your side! Go beyond limitations and experience the future of academic writing.  Get Paperpal Prime now at just US$19 a month!  

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Unit 2: Paraphrasing and Avoiding Plagiarism

1 Paraphrasing Introduction

Preview Questions:

• What is paraphrasing?
• When do we have to paraphrase?
• Why do we have to paraphrase?
• Paraphrasing is a really difficult thing to do. Why can’t I just use a direct quotation every time I want to use somebody else’s idea as supporting evidence for my own writing?
• What are the criteria for a good paraphrase?
• Why do I have to learn how to paraphrase? Can’t I just use an AI-based paraphrasing tool to write my paraphrases for me?

Paraphrasing is an important skill we use in our daily lives. We might share a story we heard from a friend. When we do this, we use our own way of explaining the story. Learning how to paraphrase effectively will be useful when you write about the ideas you have read in sources.

Although there are many AI-based paraphrasing tools, learning how to paraphrase yourself is an important skill in the journey of developing your own writing.

Three criteria for a good paraphrase

• All main ideas included.
• No new ideas added.
• Uses no more than THREE words in a row from the original source.
• Changes grammar and vocabulary as much as possible.
• Includes the name of the author or the name of the source (a citation).
• You must be able to evaluate the effectiveness yourself and ensure you have the correct citation.

Citation Examples

In-text citations (APA Style)

• Baker (2017) reports that 70% of Instagram users are under 35 years old (p. 3).
• Seventy percent of Instagram users are under 35 years old (Baker, 2017, p. 3).

Adapted from: Dollahite, N.E. & Huan, J. (2012). SourceWork: Academic Writing for Success.

Paraphrase examples

1) writer versus idea focused.

Notice how the examples meet the above criteria, yet are slightly different.

Original: “More than 150 million people use Facebook to keep in touch with friends, share photographs and videos and post regular updates of their movements and thoughts.” – From David Derbyshire, “ Social Websites Harm Children’s Brains,” (2009), p. 2.

Paraphrase 1 (writer focused): Derbyshire (2009) states that over 150 million people frequently share photos and updates with friends through Facebook (p. 2).

Paraphrase 2 (idea focused): Facebook has enabled over 150 million users to share pictures and updates regularly with their friends (Derbyshire, 2009, p. 2).

2) Paraphrase of 2 or more sentences

Below are two methods for paraphrasing multiple sentences. (Note that the paraphrased information is shorter than the original; this example combines the skills of paraphrasing and summarizing.)

Original: “The pandemic tested the resilience of colleges and universities as they executed online learning on a massive scale by creating online courses, adopting and adapting to unfamiliar technologies, engaging faculty en masse in remote teaching, and successfully meeting the instructional needs of students. Those experiences and lessons should not be discarded. The next phase for higher education in a post-COVID-19 world is to harness what worked well during the emergency response period and use those experiences to improve institutional practices for the benefit of both internal and external constituencies in the future.” From John Nworie, “Beyond COVID-19: What’s next for online teaching and learning in higher education,” (2021), p. 7.

Paraphrase 1 (writer focused): Nworie (2021) recommends that the valuable lessons higher education institutions learned in response to the pandemic be applied to future education models. The development of large-scale online courses while adapting to technological challenges in the process did allow students educational needs to be met (p. 7).

Paraphrase 2 (idea focused): The valuable lessons higher education institutions learned in response to the pandemic can be applied to future education models; the development of large-scale online courses while adapting to technological challenges in the process did allow students educational needs to be met (Nworie, 2021, p. 7).

Knowledge Check

Exercise: decide which of the paraphrases below is most effective., exercise: test your knowledge about plagiarism..

From Excelsior Online Writing Lab, https://owl.excelsior.edu/plagiarism/plagiarism-how-much-do-you-know/

Academic Writing I Copyright © by UW-Madison ESL Program is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

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Study Skills

Good academic practice and avoiding plagiarism.

• Introduction
• Taking good notes
• Managing your time

Paraphrasing

• Summarising
• Common knowledge
• Referencing styles
• Referencing tools
• Understanding plagiarism
• Final thoughts

Creative Commons

To write academic work successfully you need to read round the subject and organise your ideas into a coherent argument. It is very important to reference your sources each time you include an idea or an argument from your reading, whether you have summarised the information, quoted it directly or paraphrased it. Effective quotation and use of source materials can show credibility and authority in writing you produce, as well as providing opposing views against which you can comment. Anything you cite should clearly support your conclusions. A paraphrase should be a restatement of the meaning of the original text in your own words and not simply changing some words or sentences around. Expressing ideas in your own words will strongly support your argument and show your tutor how well you understand the original material.

• Arts and Humanities example
• Social Sciences example
• STEM example

Below is an excerpt from a book with two examples of paraphrasing, one good and one bad. Look at both examples and choose which is the good example and your reasons why. Click the button to reveal the answer.

Original text

From: butler, j. (2004) undoing gender . abington: routledge..

“If a decade or two ago, gender discrimination applied tacitly to women,, that no longer serves as the exclusive framework for understanding its contemporary usage. Discrimination against women continues - especially poor women and women of colour, if we consider the differential levels of poverty not only in the United States, but globally - so this dimension of gender discrimination remains crucial to acknowledge. But gender now also means gender identity, a particularly salient issue in the politics and theory of transgenderism and transsexuality." (Butler, 2004 p.28)

Below is an excerpt from a book with two examples of paraphrasing, one good and one bad. Look at both examples and decide which which is the good example and your reasons why. Click the button to reveal the answer.

From: Varian, H. (2014) Intermediate Microeconomics: a modern approach . 9 th ed. Norton.

“Another kind of tax or subsidy that the government might use is a lump-sum tax or subsidy. In the case of a tax, this means that the government takes away some fixed amount of money, regardless of the individual’s behavior. Thus a lump-sum tax means that the budget line of a consumer will shift inward because his money income has been reduced. Similarly, a lump-sum subsidy means that the budget line will shift outward. Quality taxes and value taxes tilt the budget line one way or the other depending on which good is being taxed, but a lump-sum tax shifts the budget line inward.” (Varian, 2014 p.28)

From: Simons, M. (1999) Model Aircraft Aerodynamics. 4 th ed. Special Interest Model Books.

“All aerodynamic theory depends on the laws of motion. These, originally worked out by Isaac Newton, remain entirely valid in engineering providing the matters under discussion are confined to velocities substantially less than the speed of light, and to objects and fluids of ordinary sizes and densities. Quantum mechanics and the theory of relativity, although fundamentally preferable to the Newtonian law in advanced physics and astronomy, are not necessary for the understanding of model aircraft aerodynamics.” (Simons, 1999 p. 1).

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9 Paraphrasing and Quoting Skills

Paraphrasing.

Paraphrasing is an everyday skill we all use to relay information from one source to another. We may retell a simple story we heard at work, relay information from one person to another in our household or recap a news story we heard on the television or radio. In doing so we are using paraphrasing techniques.

At university paraphrasing is a fundamental skill that is often expected to be demonstrated from the very first semester. It is a helpful skill because at university you are operating within a community of academic thinkers. You need to be able to address the ideas of others with integrity while also contributing your own original thoughts to the learning environment.

This chapter will enable you to identify and formalise the paraphrasing techniques you may already be familiar with, plus teach you some new skills.

In academic writing paraphrasing is a set of techniques used to express another person’s ideas in your own words. Therefore, each time material is paraphrased it must include an in-text citation and end of text reference (more about this in the referencing Chapter 10). To use someone else’s ideas without giving appropriate credit is call plagiarism and may incur academic penalties.

Watch a Youtube video by Scribbr “How to Paraphrase in 5 Easy Steps” . [1]

Paraphrasing Techniques

Start by reading the passage several times to gain understanding.

Note down key concepts as you read.

Write your own version of the passage, without looking at the original. This will test if the key concepts have been remembered yet you are capable of putting the ideas into your own words.

Compare the two texts (the original with your own) and edit any sections that may be too close to the original wording.

Cite the source of the original text to avoid plagiarism [see Chapter 10: Referencing].

Paraphrasing Tips

a.  Start at a different point in the original passage (re-order the material).

b.  Use synonyms .

c.  Change the sentence structure, e.g., active / passive voice (see Chapter 7: Sentence Basics).

d.  Break up long sentences or combine shorter ones.

• Review the example of a paraphrased paragraph on the video above. [2]

Paraphrasing Example

Original text.

Just seven kilometres from Brisbane’s city centre, UQ College is located in the beautiful grounds of The University of Queensland St Lucia Campus.

Considered one of the most beautiful campuses in the world, UQ campus is a vibrant mix of old sandstone buildings, modern architecture, parklands and lakes. It’s a city within a city, with everything you need to study, live and relax [3] .

Paraphrasing Notes

Key information: UQ College is located at The University of Queensland St Lucia Campus; it is close to the city centre of Brisbane; the campus is well-equipped.

Paraphrased Text

UQ College is only seven kilometres from Brisbane’s central district  at The University of Queensland St Lucia Campus and is well equipped with everything a student needs. It is both architecturally pleasing and has beautiful natural spaces in which to study and relax.

Techniques Used in the Above Paraphrase:

• It began at a different point – rearranged the information
• It used synonyms . For example, “Brisbane’s city centre” = Brisbane’s central district.
• Instead of listing categories, it grouped things together. For example, “a vibrant mix of old sandstone buildings, modern architecture” = architecturally pleasing; “parklands and lakes” = natural spaces.
• It kept key facts. For example, “UQ College”, “seven kilometres from Brisbane” and “The University of Queensland St Lucia Campus”.
• It alters the sentence structure and now there are two sentences instead of three.
• It maintains the original meaning.

Practise paraphrasing the following text. Follow the steps above and identify which techniques you are using. Maintain the original meaning of the text.

In your chosen courses you will engage in practical tasks that relate to real-world uses of your academic skills and knowledge. Your teachers will encourage you to develop your own learning style and help you to achieve your study goals.

Classrooms and laboratories are equipped with the latest technologies and equipment and our courses cover a variety of topics and use a mix of course materials, including textbooks, video, audio and digital content [4] .

In short, a quote in Academic Writing means to repeat words that someone else has said or written. It is represented within a body of text using double quotation marks. A quote is verbatim . As soon as you deviate from the original words, it is no longer a direct quote and can be misinterpreted as poor paraphrasing.

Use quotes sparingly in Academic Writing. The following is a useful guide to when it may be appropriate to quote material rather than paraphrase, though paraphrasing is considered better academic practice.

• If you are analysing an author’s position/claim/argument and want to state it clearly before addressing it.
• The language of the passage is instrumental to its meaning, for example, poetry, creative writing, technical or medical language.
• You are completing an in-depth analysis of a text, for example, studying literature and analysing Shakespeare’s plays.
• You wish to add weight or credibility to your own argument by enlisting the words of an expert for support. Use this very sparingly.

The following information, plus more, is available through the UQ Library Style Guide for APA 7th style referencing [5] . There are many different referencing styles, so always confirm with your lecturer/tutor which style is being used for your course. It can vary from course to course across programs.

A direct quotation reproduces word-for-word material taken directly from another author’s work, or from your own previously published work. You cannot resubmit work from a previous assessment submitted via Turnitin. This will raise a red flag as plagiarism and may lead to an academic misconduct enquiry.

If the quotation is  fewer than 40 words , incorporate it into your paragraph and enclose it in double quotation marks. Place the in-text reference before the full stop.

David Copperfield starts with “Whether I shall turn out to be the hero of my own life, or whether that station will be held by anybody else, these pages must show” (Dickens, 1869, p. 1).

If the quotation  comprises 40 or more words , include it in an indented, freestanding block of text, without quotation marks. At the end of a block quotation, cite the quoted source and the page number in parentheses, after the final punctuation mark.

Whether I shall turn out to be the hero of my own life, or whether that station will be held by anybody else, these pages must show. To begin my life with the beginning of my life, I record that I was born (as I have been informed and believe) on a Friday, at twelve o’clock at night. It was remarked that the clock began to strike, and I began to cry, simultaneously. (Dickens, 1896, p. 1)

In the following Chapter 10 you will learn about referencing paraphrases and quotes in your own academic writing.

• Scribbr. (2019, October 31). How to paraphrase in 5 easy steps [Video]. Youtube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oiM0x0ApVL8&t=235s ↵
• All Paraphrasing techniques and tips are taken from the cited Sribbr Youtube video, for continuity of content. ↵
• https://www.uqcollege.edu.au/about-campus ↵
• https://www.uqcollege.edu.au/programs-tpp ↵
• https://guides.library.uq.edu.au/referencing/apa7/direct-quotes ↵

the practice of taking someone else's work or ideas and passing them off as one's own

a word that has the same or nearly the same meaning as another in the same language, e.g. happy, joyful

in exactly the same words as were used originally

Academic Writing Skills Copyright © 2021 by Patricia Williamson is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

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Good Academic Practice: A Guide

• Finding, using and referencing sources

Paraphrasing

Tips for paraphrasing, examples of paraphrasing.

• Academic Language
• Conclusion, references and further reading

Good paraphrasing demonstrates an understanding of another person's ideas. You'll want to think about how you can use different expressions from those used by the authors. If you borrow the words and phrases from the passage then you could be penalised for plagiarism. Even when paraphrasing it is  important to credit the original writer. You could use a phrase such as 'According to Smith (2000)....' to introduce their ideas.

In order to paraphrase well, you must understand the essence of a writer's argument. Here are some reading strategies that may help you to do that:

• Gain an overview of the article or chapter by reading the introduction and conclusion.
• Then read the document through quickly, to get a 'feel' for the structure of it.
• When you read through again, focus on things that are relevant to your essay. As you read, consider the writer's argument. What are they saying? Do you agree or disagree?
• Then put the article out of sight, and try to sum up the writer's argument in one sentence or short paragraph. This will force you to use your own words and will test your understanding of what you have read. You can then check the original text to ensure that you have produced a fair summary. 

An original piece of text, from the University of Birmingham (2014):

The University's 250 acre campus was recently listed in the top ten most beautiful Universities in Britain by The Telegraph. It is a campus that is expanding and improving all the time with our most recent investments being in the planned building of a brand new multi-million pound sports centre, a redeveloped library with a cultural hub and a brand new student hub housed in the iconic Aston Webb building (University of Birmingham, 2014).

Paraphrase 1:

• Only a few words changed. This would be considered plagiarism.

The University's large campus was recently listed by The Telegraph in the top ten most beautiful universities in Britain. It is a campus that is growing and developing all the time with its most recent investments being in the planned building of a new sports centre, an improved library with a cultural hub and a brand new student hub housed in the famous Aston Webb building. 

Paraphrase 2:

• Uses totally different expressions but gets to the heart of what the original passage wanted to convey. This paraphrase also credits the original author at the start.

The University of Birmingham website (2014) reports that its campus was recently listed in the Telegraphs 'top ten most beautiful Universities in Britain.' It goes on to highlight that the campus is being continually developed. Future plans include a new sports centre, a state-of-the-art library and a student hub. 

University of Birmingham (2014)  About Birmingham.   Available at: www.birmingham.ac.uk/undergraduate/birmingham/About-Birmingham.aspxLinks to an external site. (Accessed: 6 May 2014).

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Capstone Form and Style

Evidence-based arguments: paraphrasing, basics of paraphrasing.

A successful paraphrase is your own explanation or interpretation of another person's ideas. Paraphrasing in academic writing is an effective way to restate, condense, or clarify another author's ideas while also providing credibility to your own argument or analysis. While successful paraphrasing is essential for strong academic writing, unsuccessful paraphrasing can result in unintentional plagiarism. Look through the paraphrasing strategies below to better understand what counts as an effective paraphrase.

Effective Paraphrasing Strategies

If you’re having trouble paraphrasing a text effectively, try following these steps:

• Reread the original passage you wish to paraphrase, looking up any words you do not recognize, until you think you understand the full meaning of and intention behind the author's words.
• Next, cover or hide the passage. Once the passage is hidden from view, write out the author's idea, in your own words, as if you were explaining it to your instructor or classmates.

Have I accurately addressed the author's ideas in a new way that is unique to my writing style and scholarly voice? Have I tried to replicate the author's idea or have I simply changed words around in his/her original sentence(s)?

• Last, include a citation, which should contain the author's name, the year, and the page or paragraph number (if available), directly following your paraphrase.

Examples of Paraphrasing

Here is the original source an author might use in a paper:

Differentiation as an instructional approach promotes a balance between a student's style and a student's ability. Differentiated instruction provides the student with options for processing and internalizing the content, and for constructing new learning in order to progress academically.

Here is an example of bad paraphrasing of the source. Even though the student is citing correctly, underlined words are simply synonyms of words used in the original source. You can also see how the sentence structure is the same for both the original source and this paraphrase.

Differentiation is a way to encourage equality between the approach and talent of the student (Thompson, 2009). This type of instruction gives students different ways to deal with and grasp information , and for establishing new learning to move on in education (Thompson, 2009).

Here is an example of a better way to paraphrase the source. In this example, the author has taken the essential ideas and information from the original source, but has worded it in her own way, using unique word choice and sentence structure. The author has condensed Thompson's (2009) information, including what is relevant to her paper, but leaving out extra details that she does not needed.

Teachers use differentiated instruction to help students learn, allowing the teacher to cater lessons to the way each student learns and each student's skill (Thompson, 2009).

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Paraphrasing: Things you need to know...

Paraphrasing i s the process of reading a section of text and then re-writing it using your own words I t is necessary in university study as it shows that you have understood the information.

REMEMBER - the information has come from text that somebody else has written, so you must  still cite the author appropriately according to the referencing system used on your course. If you do not reference the source it will be classed as plagiarism, even if you have put into your own words.

For effective paraphrasing it is important to:

• Read first for understanding
• Summarise the key points
• Re-write the statement in your own words
• Place in quotation marks any phrases used from the original source
• Include the appropriate citation 
• Paraphrasing Paraphrasing is demonstrating your understanding of the texts you are reading by writing them in your own words.

Need to know more...

• Related pages
• External links
• Academic writing Illustrates the main features of academic writing so that you are aware of what it is and what it involves

Paraphrasing - How to Paraphrase - Step-by-Step Guide & Examples (Scribbr)  https://www.scribbr.co.uk/working-sources/paraphrasing/  [Accessed 10 February 2023]

What's the Difference? Summarizing, Paraphrasing & Quoting (Quetext Blog)  https://www.quetext.com/blog/difference-between-summarizing-paraphrasing-quoting  [Accessed 10 February 2023]

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How to Perfect Your Paraphrasing: Advice and Examples

So, you're finally getting around to writing that research paper for your biology class and need to gather some evidence to support your thesis . Or maybe you realized that you can't just simply skim through the textbook when preparing for your next history exam (you learned you lesson on the last one…). Or maybe you're just really confused about what a particular passage is saying in your book and you're looking for a way to simplify the meaning without losing the original ideas. If this is you, you might consider paraphrasing. What's paraphrasing? We're glad you asked!

Paraphrasing

Did your teacher ever tell you to cover a book and rewrite what you just read from memory? We can remember doing this as early as elementary school, when we were learning about how to incorporate evidence into our (appropriately) elementary-level paragraphs. Your teachers were introducing you to the process of paraphrasing!

Paraphrasing is the process of rewording something written or spoken by another source to provide a simplified, clearer meaning. Paraphrasing is done at all levels, and for several purposes: teachers paraphrase material for their students' benefit, and scholars often paraphrase the sources they use in their papers and other published research . Paraphrasing, therefore, is a great way for academics to better understand what it is they are reading, researching, or studying. After all, what better way to understand material than to put it into words you're familiar with?

Paraphrasing is useful in research papers or analytical essays because it allows you to bring external sources into your own work without relying too heavily direct quotations. This isn't to say that you can paraphrase a work without referencing the source (that would be plagiarism!), but it is a good way to make your work more coherent and independent.

Now, just because we might remember being introduced to this process so early in our academic careers does not mean that it's an easy process. On the contrary, paraphrasing can actually be quite challenging. Paraphrasing requires analytical and deductive thinking and great writing skills. You must be able to read and understand material and then reword it in your own words and style while maintaining the original meaning of the source.

Summarizing vs paraphrasing

You may be asking yourself, what's the difference between summarizing and paraphrasing? While they may seem quite similar at first glance, there is a difference between the two processes.

Summarizing is a much broader concept, literally. Summaries will present the material in a much more general fashion, rewording only the biggest main ideas from a source. Summaries are almost always be short and to the point.

Paraphrasing can be about any part of a source, not just the main ideas. Paraphrasing will expand beyond the main ideas to include all the source material, although special attention may be drawn to particular points, if that was the original source's intention. There is more attention to detail in paraphrasing. A paraphrase may be shorter, longer, or the same length as the original source.

When to paraphrase

Paraphrasing is widely used in academia because it is a way for academics to provide evidence towards their own arguments or to learn more about a particular subject. When you want to paraphrase is really up to you, but here are just a few instances where you may choose to paraphrase:

• To clarify short sentences or passages from a source
• To break down a larger passage or quote from a source for clarification
• When you want to use the source as evidence to prove your argument but do not want to use direct quotations
• When you want to reword someone else's ideas
• When you want to take notes on a certain source while maintaining the original meaning of the source
• When you want to explain images from research such as charts and graphs

How to paraphrase

Since paraphrasing can be difficult, we've devised a step-by-step guide for you to follow. This will help simplify the process as you simplify your source material.

• Read the section of text, carefully : This may seem like a no brainer, but you should always begin by selecting the section of the text you wish to paraphrase and reading it.
• Reread the source, carefully : We may sound a bit redundant with all this "reading carefully" instruction, but it's essential that you use close-reading skills to deduct what is being said. Have you ever read something without reading it, like when you're skimming a paragraph but you're thinking about something entirely different, so it's basically like you read nothing? Save the skimming for another day.
• Understand what you're reading : It's essential that you understand what you're reading. This why we keep directing you to read carefully. Again, this is not a time to get distracted. You can skim material without actually reading it, but this will lead to mistakes in paraphrasing and even potential plagiarism . This is why we said paraphrasing requires analytical thinking and writing skills. If you find that you're in over your head with the source material, we suggest looking at alternative sources you understand more readily, or you could read up more on the particular source you are determined to understand. Either way, understanding what you're reading is essential to paraphrasing. After all, how can you reword something you don't even understand?
• Identify the main points : You've selected a section of the source or text you wish to paraphrase and have read it over a couple of times, ensuring that you understand the meaning. Great! Now, you should pull out the main points of the section, including any specific vocabulary or references to particular points that are essential to what the source is saying. This is what you're going to want to include in your own paraphrasing. If you find these terms or points important, then you need to highlight them in your own words. This brings us to our next step in successful paraphrasing.
• Use similar (but not exact) language : Synonyms are your best friends here. They're a great way to retain the original intention behind certain words or phrases without using the exact language from the source. For example, if a source describes something as being "impactful", you may use the world "influential" as a synonym. "Impactful" and "influential" both allude to the noun as having some kind of effect on something else.
• Retain the original source's voice/attitude : If you're reading a source that conveys a positive attitude about the subject material, then you should also maintain a positive voice when rewording the material. You may be using this information to as evidence to prove or disprove your own paper's argument. Regardless of how you intend to use this source, you must maintain the integrity of the original source by maintaining a similar tone. Changing the voice of the source would mean altering the meaning behind what was already written, which is the very opposite of what you want to do when paraphrasing.
• Create your own sentence structure : For this, we don't mean simply putting the first sentence last and the last sentence first. Remember, paraphrasing is not just changing a few words here and then and switching around the sentence order. What we mean by this is that you can (and should!) play around with the syntax. This is a great way to paraphrase the original text without losing the original meaning. You can lengthen some sentences, shorten others, or combine similar ideas into one sentence. As long as the sentences are your own, you can experiment with how you present them.
• Use quotes for specific vocab : If you're reading something that has field-specific vocabulary, it's best to quote these terms or phrases instead of using synonyms. For example, it's easy and not harmful to the original text to change the word "impactful" to "influential", as we did above. However, it's not as easy to use synonyms for a field-specific vocabulary word like "biodiversity." You should use your best judgement when determining what you should keep in quotes and what you should change.
• Be concise : The whole point of paraphrasing is for you to break down what you have read and put it into your own words to better understand it. Don't complicate things by including new terminology or explanations. Model your paraphrasing after the original while remaining clear and concise in your language and sentence structure. If you read over your paraphrased work and it seems more complicated than the original text, then you've done something wrong.
• Check your work : Now that you've paraphrased the text, compare it to the original. You should ensure that you've accurately conveyed the original meaning of the text while maintaining a safe distance from the original. What we mean by this is you should check to ensure you've done an adequate job of rewording what was already written. Although you want what you have written to have a similar meaning to the original, make sure you have not unintentionally plagiarized.
• Cite the original source : Although this may not be your usual way of including evidence in your writing, such as providing direct quotations, you do still need to cite your source . These ideas are not originally yours. Since you got them from somewhere, make sure to give credit where credit is due. This will allow you to refer back to the source that helped you and it will provide another source for readers of your work to reference. Academia is all about sharing information to expand knowledge and resources.

Although we've provided you with a comprehensive, step-by-step guide on how to paraphrase, you may still be scratching your head. That's okay! It's normal to struggle with paraphrasing. If you need additional help, you can use this tool . This paraphrasing tool allows you to insert a block of text from a source you're trying to paraphrase and to choose from a variety of tools that will best paraphrase the text. For example, you may be worried about paraphrasing because it can morph into plagiarism if you are not careful. Fear not, there is a tool for that! Simply paste the text into the tool and choose "Plagiarism Remover." This will paraphrase the original source to ensure you are not plagiarizing.

Examples of paraphrase

Now that you know how to paraphrase, we figured we would provide you with some of our own examples of paraphrase. We will show you the do's and don't's of paraphrasing, so you know if you failed or succeeded in your mission.

• Original : In some studies, coffee has been proven to expand the life of human beings.
• Bad paraphrase : In some studies, coffee has been proven to extend the life of humans.
• Good paraphrase : Studies have shown that coffee can extend human life.

So, what made the bad paraphrase bad? Notice how we only changed one word: "expand". We changed "expand" to "extend" but this is not enough. We plagiarized the rest of the sentence, so this is not paraphrasing. What makes the good paraphrase good? Notice how we maintained the point of the original sentence, that coffee has been shown to add years to human lives, but we did more than just change a single word. Let's take a look at another example.

• Original : Covid-19 is an airborne virus and may result in a stuffy nose, coughing, slow heartrate and breathing, and in some instances, a fever.
• Bad paraphrase : Covid-19 can be an airborne virus which results in a stuffy nose and cough, a fever, and breathing problems.
• Good paraphrase : Covid-19 can spread via airborne particles and can result in a variety of symptoms including, but not limited to, fever, respiratory issues, and nasal congestion.

Notice how our bad paraphrase changed a few words and terms but is mostly too similar to the original sentence. Also, the bad paraphrase creates ambiguity where there is none. The original states, "Covid-19 is an airborne virus" and the bad paraphrase states "Covid-19 can be an airborne virus." This is especially dangerous in medical/science writing!

Our good paraphrase changed the sentence structure, so our paraphrase ended up being longer than the original sentence, which is fine. We condensed symptoms like "coughing" and "slow heartrate and breathing" into "respiratory issues" and changed "stuffy nose" to "nasal congestion." This is an example of properly paraphrasing a source. We maintained the main ideas of the original sentence while using our own words and sentence structure.

Give it a try

Now it's your turn to try paraphrasing! Whether you're gathering evidence for your next English essay or jotting down notes to study for your next chemistry exam, try to paraphrase the source material. Not only will this help you simplify what you're reading, but it will also provide you with excellent practice for your analytical thinking and writing. It forces you to think analytically and creatively, stretching those mind muscles to think for yourself and reflect your own learning in what you write!

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Academic Writing: Summarising, paraphrasing and quoting

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• Summarising, paraphrasing and quoting

Summarising, Paraphrasing and Quotations

Academic writing requires that you use literature sources in your work to demonstrate the extent of your reading (breadth and depth), your knowledge, understanding and critical thinking. Literature can be used to provide evidence to support arguments and can demonstrate your awareness of the research-base that underpins your subject specialism.

There are three ways to introduce the work of others into your assignments: summarising, paraphrasing and quotations.

When, Why & How to Use

• Summarising
• Paraphrasing

Definition: Using your own words to provide a statement (‘summary’) of the main themes, key points, or overarching ideas of a complete text, such as a book, chapter from a book, or academic article.

When to use:

• Useful for providing an overview or background to a topic
• Useful for describing your knowledge and understanding from a single source
• Useful for expressing your combined knowledge and understanding from several sources (synthesis of sources)

Why to use:

• Demonstrates your understanding of your reading
• Demonstrates your ability to identify the main points from a larger body of text or to draw together the main points from several sources

How to use:

• Should offer a balanced representation of the main points
• Should be expressed in your own words (except for technical terminology or conventional terms that appear in the original)
• Should not include detailed discussion or examples
• Should not include information that is not in the original text
• Should avoid using the same sentence structures as the original text
• Read the original text (more than once if necessary) to make sure you fully understand it
• Note the main points in your own words
• Recheck the original text to ensure you have covered the key content and meaning
• Rewrite using formal, grammatically correct academic writing
• Requires in-text citation and referencing
• No page numbers in in-text citation

Example (using Harvard referencing style, from CiteThemRight online, Cite Them Right - Summarising (Harvard) (citethemrightonline.com) :

'Nevertheless, one important study (Harrison, 2007) looks closely at the historical and linguistic links between European races and cultures over the past five hundred years.'

Definition: Using your own words to express an author’s specific point from a short section of text (one or two sentences, or a paragraph), retaining the original meaning.

• Used where the meaning of the text is more important than the exact words
• Useful for expressing the author’s specific point more concisely and in a way that clarifies its relationship to your work
• Useful for stating factual information such as data and statistics from a source
• Demonstrates that you have understood the content and can express it independently, rather than relying on the author’s words
• Allows you to use your own style of writing and your own ‘voice’ in your work
• Allows you to integrate the ideas to fit more readily with your own work and to improve the flow of the writing
• Must not change the original meaning
• Must go further than just changing a few words or changing the word order as this could amount to plagiarism (you would not be fully expressing the idea in your own words)
• Use different sentence structures from the original source
• Use different vocabulary from the original source to convey the meaning
• Read the original text several times, and identify the key content which is important and relevant to your work to distinguish this from content which is less important
• Identify any specialist terminology or key words which are essential
• Think about your reason for paraphrasing and how it relates to your own work
• Roughly note down your understanding of the relevant content in your own words (don’t copy) without looking at the original text
• Reread the original text and refine your notes to ensure that you are not misrepresenting the author, to determine whether you have captured the important aspects of the piece and to make sure your paraphrasing is not too similar to the original
• Rewrite this in formal, grammatically correct academic writing
• Requires page number/s in the in-text citation to precisely locate the original content on which the paraphrasing is based within the source

Example (using Harvard referencing style, from CiteThemRight online, Cite Them Right - Paraphrasing (Harvard) (citethemrightonline.com) :

'Harrison (2007, p. 48) clearly distinguishes between the historical growth of the larger European nation states and the roots of their languages and linguistic development, particularly during the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. At this time, imperial goals and outward expansion were paramount for many of the countries, and the effects of spending on these activities often led to internal conflict.'

Definition: Using the author’s exact words to retain the author’s specific form of expression, clearly identifying the quotation as distinct from your own words (for example using quotation marks or indentation).

• Used where the author’s own exact words are important, rather than just the meaning
• Useful where the author’s original choice of words conveys subjective experience, uses persuasive language, or carries emotional force
• Useful where the precise wording is significant, for example in legal texts
• Useful for definitions
• Useful if the author’s own words carry the weight of power and authority that supports your argument
• Useful if you want to critique an author’s point, to ensure you do not misrepresent their meaning
• Useful if you want to disagree with the author as their own words may express their opposition to your argument enabling you to engage with and resist their point of view
• Useful if the author has expressed themselves so concisely, distinctively, and eloquently that paraphrasing would diminish the quality of the statement
• Demonstrates your ability to identify relevant and significant content from a larger body of work
• Demonstrates that you have read and understood the wider context of the quotation and can integrate it into your own work appropriately
• Should be used selectively (over-use of quotations does not demonstrate your own understanding)
• Should not be used just to avoid expressing the meaning in your own words or because you are not confident you have understood the content
• Make sure that the quotation is reproduced accurately, including spelling and punctuation
• Comment on the quotation and its relationship to your point, for example explain its interest and relevance, show how it applies to a particular situation, or discuss its limitations
• Short quotations of no more than three lines should be contained within quotation marks (you can use double or single quotations marks, but be consistent and note that Turnitin only recognises double quotation marks)
• Longer quotations (used sparingly) should be included as a separate paragraph indented from the main text, without quotation marks
• Don’t use quotation marks for technical terminology which is accepted within your specialism, and which is part of the common language of your academic discipline
• Requires page number/s in the in-text citation to precisely locate the quote within the source

Examples (from CiteThemRight online, Cite Them Right - Setting out quotations (Harvard) (citethemrightonline.com) ):

Short quotation (using Harvard referencing style):

'If you need to illustrate the idea of nineteenth-century America as a land of opportunity, you could hardly improve on the life of Albert Michelson’ (Bryson, 2004, p. 156).

Long quotation (using Harvard referencing style):

King describes the intertwining of the fate and memory in many evocative passages, such as:

So the three of them rode towards their end of the Great Road, while summer lay all about them, breathless as a gasp. Roland looked up and saw something that made him forget all about the Wizard’s Rainbow. It was his mother, leaning out of her apartment’s bedroom window: the oval of her face surrounded by the timeless gray stone of the castle’s west wing! (King, 1997, pp. 553-554)

Altering quotations:

You can omit part of a quotation by using three dots (ellipses). Only do this to omit unnecessary words which do not alter the meaning.

Example (from CiteThemRight online, Cite Them Right - Making changes to quotations (citethemrightonline.com) ).

'Drug prevention ... efforts backed this up' (Gardner, 2007, p. 49).

You can insert your own or different words into a quotation by placing them in square brackets. Only do this to add clarity to the quotation where it does not alter the meaning.

Example (from CiteThemRight online, Cite Them Right - Making changes to quotations (citethemrightonline.com) ):

'In this field [crime prevention], community support officers ...' (Higgins, 2008, p. 17).

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• How to Paraphrase | Step-by-Step Guide & Examples

How to Paraphrase | Step-by-Step Guide & Examples

Published on 8 April 2022 by Courtney Gahan and Jack Caulfield. Revised on 15 May 2023.

Paraphrasing means putting someone else’s ideas into your own words. Paraphrasing a source involves changing the wording while preserving the original meaning.

Paraphrasing is an alternative to  quoting (copying someone’s exact words and putting them in quotation marks ). In academic writing, it’s usually better to paraphrase instead of quoting. It shows that you have understood the source, reads more smoothly, and keeps your own voice front and center.

Every time you paraphrase, it’s important to cite the source . Also take care not to use wording that is too similar to the original. Otherwise, you could be at risk of committing plagiarism .

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Table of contents

How to paraphrase in five easy steps, how to paraphrase correctly, examples of paraphrasing, how to cite a paraphrase, paraphrasing vs quoting, paraphrasing vs summarising, avoiding plagiarism when you paraphrase, frequently asked questions about paraphrasing.

If you’re struggling to get to grips with the process of paraphrasing, check out our easy step-by-step guide in the video below.

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Putting an idea into your own words can be easier said than done. Let’s say you want to paraphrase the text below, about population decline in a particular species of sea snails.

Incorrect paraphrasing

You might make a first attempt to paraphrase it by swapping out a few words for  synonyms .

Like other sea creatures inhabiting the vicinity of highly populated coasts, horse conchs have lost substantial territory to advancement and contamination , including preferred breeding grounds along mud flats and seagrass beds. Their Gulf home is also heating up due to global warming , which scientists think further puts pressure on the creatures , predicated upon the harmful effects extra warmth has on other large mollusks (Barnett, 2022).

This attempt at paraphrasing doesn’t change the sentence structure or order of information, only some of the word choices. And the synonyms chosen are poor:

• ‘Advancement and contamination’ doesn’t really convey the same meaning as ‘development and pollution’.
• Sometimes the changes make the tone less academic: ‘home’ for ‘habitat’ and ‘sea creatures’ for ‘marine animals’.
• Adding phrases like ‘inhabiting the vicinity of’ and ‘puts pressure on’ makes the text needlessly long-winded.
• Global warming is related to climate change, but they don’t mean exactly the same thing.

Because of this, the text reads awkwardly, is longer than it needs to be, and remains too close to the original phrasing. This means you risk being accused of plagiarism .

Correct paraphrasing

Let’s look at a more effective way of paraphrasing the same text.

Here, we’ve:

• Only included the information that’s relevant to our argument (note that the paraphrase is shorter than the original)
• Retained key terms like ‘development and pollution’, since changing them could alter the meaning
• Structured sentences in our own way instead of copying the structure of the original
• Started from a different point, presenting information in a different order

Because of this, we’re able to clearly convey the relevant information from the source without sticking too close to the original phrasing.

Explore the tabs below to see examples of paraphrasing in action.

• Journal article
• Newspaper article
• Magazine article

Once you have your perfectly paraphrased text, you need to ensure you credit the original author. You’ll always paraphrase sources in the same way, but you’ll have to use a different type of in-text citation depending on what citation style you follow.

Generate accurate citations with Scribbr

It’s a good idea to paraphrase instead of quoting in most cases because:

• Paraphrasing shows that you fully understand the meaning of a text
• Your own voice remains dominant throughout your paper
• Quotes reduce the readability of your text

But that doesn’t mean you should never quote. Quotes are appropriate when:

• Giving a precise definition
• Saying something about the author’s language or style (e.g., in a literary analysis paper)
• Providing evidence in support of an argument
• Critiquing or analysing a specific claim

A paraphrase puts a specific passage into your own words. It’s typically a similar length to the original text, or slightly shorter.

When you boil a longer piece of writing down to the key points, so that the result is a lot shorter than the original, this is called summarising .

Paraphrasing and quoting are important tools for presenting specific information from sources. But if the information you want to include is more general (e.g., the overarching argument of a whole article), summarising is more appropriate.

When paraphrasing, you have to be careful to avoid accidental plagiarism .

Students frequently use paraphrasing tools , which can be especially helpful for non-native speakers who might have trouble with academic writing. While these can be useful for a little extra inspiration, use them sparingly while maintaining academic integrity.

This can happen if the paraphrase is too similar to the original quote, with phrases or whole sentences that are identical (and should therefore be in quotation marks). It can also happen if you fail to properly cite the source.

To make sure you’ve properly paraphrased and cited all your sources, you could elect to run a plagiarism check before submitting your paper.

To paraphrase effectively, don’t just take the original sentence and swap out some of the words for synonyms. Instead, try:

• Reformulating the sentence (e.g., change active to passive , or start from a different point)
• Combining information from multiple sentences into one
• Leaving out information from the original that isn’t relevant to your point
• Using synonyms where they don’t distort the meaning

The main point is to ensure you don’t just copy the structure of the original text, but instead reformulate the idea in your own words.

Paraphrasing without crediting the original author is a form of plagiarism , because you’re presenting someone else’s ideas as if they were your own.

However, paraphrasing is not plagiarism if you correctly reference the source . This means including an in-text referencing and a full reference , formatted according to your required citation style (e.g., Harvard , Vancouver ).

As well as referencing your source, make sure that any paraphrased text is completely rewritten in your own words.

Plagiarism means using someone else’s words or ideas and passing them off as your own. Paraphrasing means putting someone else’s ideas into your own words.

So when does paraphrasing count as plagiarism?

• Paraphrasing is plagiarism if you don’t properly credit the original author.
• Paraphrasing is plagiarism if your text is too close to the original wording (even if you cite the source). If you directly copy a sentence or phrase, you should quote it instead.
• Paraphrasing  is not plagiarism if you put the author’s ideas completely into your own words and properly reference the source .

To present information from other sources in academic writing , it’s best to paraphrase in most cases. This shows that you’ve understood the ideas you’re discussing and incorporates them into your text smoothly.

It’s appropriate to quote when:

• Changing the phrasing would distort the meaning of the original text
• You want to discuss the author’s language choices (e.g., in literary analysis )
• You’re presenting a precise definition
• You’re looking in depth at a specific claim

Cite this Scribbr article

If you want to cite this source, you can copy and paste the citation or click the ‘Cite this Scribbr article’ button to automatically add the citation to our free Reference Generator.

Gahan, C. & Caulfield, J. (2023, May 15). How to Paraphrase | Step-by-Step Guide & Examples. Scribbr. Retrieved 14 May 2024, from https://www.scribbr.co.uk/working-sources/paraphrasing/

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You’ve already learned the importance of citing your sources in academic work. But how do you acknowledge and cite generative artificial intelligence tools like ChatGPT?

Before we get started, it’s important to remember that not all instructors allow students to use generative AI in their assignments. You should check with your individual instructor for their policies. When in doubt, ask!

Before You Use (and Cite), Reflect: Why and How Am I Using Generative AI?

As an instructor and a writer, I have found that generative artificial intelligence tools can be helpful to explore ideas, refine research questions, outline arguments, and break down difficult concepts for students. When my students use ChatGPT, I ask them to include a citation to the tool they used and also to provide a brief reflection about how they used ChatGPT and how they checked the information for accuracy. Here is an example of a reflection from Luka Denney’s essay in Beginnings and Endings , a student-created open education resource.

For this essay, I used Chat GPT as a resource to give me a summary of the feminist and queer theory analysis lens, “Feminist queer theory is a critical analysis lens that combines feminist theory and queer theory to examine how gender and sexuality intersect and shape social power dynamics. This approach challenges the dominant cultural norms that promote heteronormativity, gender binary, and patriarchy, which result in marginalizing individuals who do not conform to these norms.” With this, it helped me better understand the material so I could write better essays. This information was accessed on, May 6th, 2023.

Reflecting on how and why you are using generative AI can help you to ensure that you are not plagiarizing from this tool.

Luka’s reflection is an example of an acknowledgement statement , which is separate from a citation. Increasingly, students should become familiar with AI acknowledgement statements and clarify with their instructors when these statements are needed.

Suggestions for Acknowledging Use of AI

Monash University provides helpful recommendations for how to acknowledge when and how you’ve used generated material as part of an assignment or project. If you decide to use generative artificial intelligence such as ChatGPT for an assignment, it’s a best practice to include a statement that does the following:

• Provides a written acknowledgment of the use of generative artificial intelligence.
• Specifies which technology was used.
• Includes explicit descriptions of how the information was generated.
• Identifies the prompts used.
• Explains how the output was used in your work.

The format Monash University provides is also helpful. Students may include this information either in a cover letter or in an appendix to the submitted work.

Definition: Term

I acknowledge the use of [insert AI system(s) and link] to [specific use of generative artificial intelligence]. The prompts used include [list of prompts]. The output from these prompts was used to [explain use].

Academic style guides such as APA already include guidelines for including appendices after essays and reports. Review Purdue Owl’s entry on Footnotes and Appendices for help.

Citing AI Chatbots

In some situations, students may want to cite information from a chatbot conversation, such as a definition or discussion of a concept they want to use in an essay. The American Psychological Association (APA) and the Modern Language Association (MLA), two of the most frequently used style guides for college writing, have both provided guidelines for how to do this.

ChatGPT includes the ability to share links to specific chats. It’s a best practice to include those links in your reference. For other tools like Google Doc’s Writing Assistant, links are not yet available, so it’s important to be transparent with your reader about how and when you are using AI in your writing.

Here’s an example of a shared chat link in ChatGPT 3.5. When you click on the link, you’ll be able to see both the author’s prompts and the chatbot’s responses. Including links provides transparency for your writing process.

According to the American Psychological Association (APA), ChatGPT should be cited like this:

When prompted with “Is the left brain right brain divide real or a metaphor?” the ChatGPT-generated text indicated that although the two brain hemispheres are somewhat specialized, “the notation that people can be characterized as ‘left-brained’ or ‘right-brained’ is considered to be an oversimplification and a popular myth” (OpenAI, 2023).

OpenAI. (2023). ChatGPT (Mar 14 version) [Large language model]. https://chat.openai.com/chat

The Modern Language Association (MLA) uses a template of core elements to create citations for a Works Cited page. MLA asks students to apply this approach when citing any type of generative AI in their work. They provide the following guidelines:

• Cite a generative AI tool whenever you paraphrase, quote, or incorporate into your own work any content (whether text, image, data, or other) that was created by it.
• Acknowledge all functional uses of the tool (like editing your prose or translating words) in a note, your text, or another suitable location.
• Take care to vet the secondary sources it cites. (MLA)

Here are some examples of how to use and cite generative AI with MLA style:

Example One: Paraphrasing Text

Let’s say that I am trying to generate ideas for a paper on Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s short story “The Yellow Wallpaper.” I ask ChatGPT to provide me with a summary and identify the story’s main themes. Here’s a link to the chat . I decide that I will explore the problem of identity and self-expression in my paper.

My Paraphrase of ChatGPT with In-Text Citation

The problem of identity and self expression, especially for nineteenth-century women, is a major theme in “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman (“Summarize the short story”).

Works Cited Entry

“Summarize the short story “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman. Include a breakdown of the main themes” prompt. ChatGPT. 24 May Version, OpenAI, 20 Jul. 2023, https://chat.openai.com/share/d1526b95-920c-48fc-a9be-83cd7dfa4be5

Example Two: Quoting Text

In the same chat, I continue to ask ChatGPT about the theme of identity and self expression. Here’s an example of how I could quote the response in the body of my paper:

When I asked ChatGPT to describe the theme of identity and self expression, it noted that the eponymous yellow wallpaper acts as a symbol of the narrator’s self-repression. However, when prompted to share the scholarly sources that formed the basis of this observation, ChatGPT responded, “As an AI language model, I don’t have access to my training data, but I was trained on a mixture of licensed data, data created by human trainers, and publicly available data. OpenAI, the organization behind my development, has not publicly disclosed the specifics of the individual datasets used, including whether scholarly sources were specifically used” (“Summarize the short story”).

It’s worth noting here that ChatGPT can “ hallucinate ” fake sources. As a Microsoft training manual notes, these chatbots are “built to be persuasive, not truthful” (Weiss &Metz, 2023). The May 24, 2023 version will no longer respond to direct requests for references; however, I was able to get around this restriction fairly easily by asking for “resources” instead.

When I ask for resources to learn more about “The Yellow Wallpaper,” here is one source it recommends:

“Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s The Yellow Wallpaper: A Symptomatic Reading” by Elaine R. Hedges: This scholarly article delves into the psychological and feminist themes of the story, analyzing the narrator’s experience and the implications of the yellow wallpaper on her mental state. It’s available in the journal “Studies in Short Fiction.” (“Summarize the short story”).

Using Google Scholar, I look up this source to see if it’s real. Unsurprisingly, this source is not a real one, but it does lead me to another (real) source: Kasmer, Lisa. “Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s’ The Yellow Wallpaper’: A Symptomatic Reading.” Literature and Psychology 36.3 (1990): 1.

Note: ALWAYS check any sources that ChatGPT or other generative AI tools recommend.

A Checklist for Acknowledging and Citing Generative A.I. Tools

In conclusion, it’s important to follow these five steps if you are considering whether or not to use and cite generative artificial intelligence in your academic work:

• Check with your instructor to make sure you have permission to use these tools.
• Reflect on how and why you want to use generative artificial intelligence in your work. If the answer is “to save time” or “so I don’t have to do the work myself,” think about why you are in college in the first place. What skills are you supposed to practice through this assignment? Will using generative artificial intelligence really save you time in the long run if you don’t have the opportunity to learn and practice these skills?
• If you decide to use generative artificial intelligence, acknowledge your use, either in an appendix or a cover letter.
• Cite your use of generative artificial intelligence both in text and on a References/Works Cited page.
• Always check the information provided by a generative artificial intelligence tool against a trusted source. Be especially careful of any sources that generative artificial intelligence provides.

These tools are rapidly evolving and have the potential to transform the way that we think and write. But just as you should not use a calculator to solve a math equation unless you understand the necessary steps to perform the calculation, you should also be careful about “outsourcing” your thinking and writing to ChatGPT.

Denney, L. (2023). Your body, your choice: At least, that’s how it should be. Beginnings and Endings: A Critical Edition. https://cwi.pressbooks.pub/beginnings-and-endings-a-critical-edition/chapter/feminist-5/

McAdoo, T. (2023, April 7). How to cite ChatGPT. APA Style Blog. https://apastyle.apa.org/blog/how-to-cite-chatgpt

Modern Language Association. (2023, March 17). How do I cite generative AI in MLA style? https://style.mla.org/citing-generative-ai/

Monash University. (n.d.). Acknowledging the use of generative artificial intelligence. https://www.monash.edu/learnhq/build-digital-capabilities/create-online/acknowledging-the-use-of-generative-artificial-intelligence

OpenAI (2023). Yellow Wallpaper themes. ChatGPT (24 May version) [Large Language Model]. https://chat.openai.com/share/70e86a32-6f04-47b4-8ea7-a5aac93c2c77

Weiss, K. & Metz, C. (2023, May 9). When A.I. chatbots hallucinate. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/01/business/ai-chatbots-hallucination.html

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Powered by Open AI technologies ChatGPT & GPT-4. The product is independently developed and not affiliated, endorsed, or sponsored by OpenAI. Chat Bot AI: Ask AI Assistant offers: o- Copy text anywhere on your Mac and the GPT-4 powered AI Assistant will automatically detect it. o- Check for mistakes in seconds with the help of AI ChatBot Assistant. o- Generate content for Emails, Stories, Articles, Blogs and anything. o- Paraphrase any content professionally with GPT-4 powered AI Assistant. o- Reply to Emails with professional copy generated by GPT-4 powered chatbot. o- Summarise anything with the AI Assistant. o- Translate anything into any language with precision and accuracy. o- Create Custom prompts to personalise your AI Assistant. Key Features: Paraphrasing Precision: Unleash the power of paraphrasing with Chat Bot AI: Ask AI Assistant paraphrasing feature. Whether you're a student looking to rephrase academic content or a professional refining your communication, the app ensures your text is not just altered but transformed with nuance and accuracy. Summarisation Made Simple: Summarise lengthy articles, reports, or documents into concise summaries with Chat Bot AI: Ask AI Assistant. Let the app analyse and extract key information, providing clear, digestible summaries that save time and enhance your understanding of the content. Multilingual Mastery: Break down language barriers effortlessly. Chat Bot AI: Ask AI Assistant employs cutting-edge translation algorithms to seamlessly convert text into various languages. Whether you're communicating with international clients, translating research material, or learning a new language, the app is your go-to linguistic companion. Mistake-Free Communication: Elevate your writing with the built-in error-checking feature. Ensure your documents, emails, and messages are free from grammatical errors, spelling mistakes, and awkward phrasing. Chat Bot AI: Ask AI Assistant acts as your meticulous proofreader, enhancing the overall quality of your written communication. Custom Prompts for Personalisation: Tailor your interactions with ChatGPT and GPT-4 by creating custom prompts. Whether you want creative writing assistance, brainstorming support, or specific responses to unique queries, Chat Bot AI: Ask AI Assistant empowers you to personalise your experience with these advanced language models. Seamless Integration: Chat Bot AI: Ask AI Assistant redefines convenience with its seamless integration into your MacBook's workflow. The app operates discreetly in the background, ready to assist whenever you copy text. No need to switch between applications – just copy, and let Chat Bot AI: Ask AI Assistant enhance your text effortlessly. How It Works: Copy and Paste: Simply copy the text you want to work on, whether it's an email, article, or any other content, and Chat Bot AI: Ask AI Assistant takes care of the rest. Automatic Detection: Watch as the app seamlessly detects copied text and initiates the appropriate action – be it paraphrasing, summarising, translating, or error checking. Real-Time Results: Experience the power of ChatGPT and GPT-4 in real-time as Chat Bot AI: Ask AI Assistant delivers accurate and contextually relevant results, enhancing your text with precision and efficiency. EULA: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy Policy: https://sniper-guard.com/privacy-policy/ The Chat Bot AI: Ask AI Assistant app is not the officially endorsed OpenAI application. Instead, it leverages the official OpenAI API to enable access to the GPT-4 Model. For free access to OpenAI's AI Models, you can visit the official OpenAI website.

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