Student's guide to writing college papers, Fourth edition - Kate L. Turabian 2010

Creating a fair paraphrase
Quoting, paraphrasing, and summarizing sources
Writing your paper

As with a summary, when you paraphrase you report what a source says in your own words. But you don't leave out important details. Don't worry about length: your paraphrase may be a little shorter or longer than the original. What's important is that you convey all of the important information from the original.

Some new researchers wonder why they should bother to paraphrase: If a paraphrase has to contain everything important in the original, why not just quote it? That's easier, not to mention safer. Quoting may be easier, but quotations are not always the best way to approach readers. First, when readers see too many quotations, they may suspect that you have just quilted together the ideas of others, with no contribution of your own. Second, when you use your own words, you show readers not only that you understand the source but how you understand it. Finally, many sources use language that you would never use. For example, how many students would use a phrase like this one from the quote below: “technology begets more technology”? Your paper will seem more unified and more a product of your own understanding if it sounds more like you than like your sources.

When you paraphrase, read the passage until you think you understand not just its main idea but its details and complications. Then, without looking back at the source, say out loud what you understand as though you were explaining it to a classmate. (If you stumble, try it again.) When you are happy with an oral version, write it in your draft. Be sure that your paraphrase sounds more like you than like the source:

Original:

According to Jared Diamond, “Because technology begets more technology, the importance of an invention's diffusion potentially exceeds the importance of the original invention. Technology's history exemplifies what is termed an autocatalytic process: that is, one that speeds up at a rate that increases with time, because the process catalyzes itself” (301).

Paraphrase:

According to Jared Diamond, technology feeds on itself. One invention leads to another, and then to still more at a rate that increases with time. So what is most important about an invention may not be the invention itself but how quickly it spreads (301).

In most cases, writers introduce a paraphrase in the same way that they introduce a stand-alone quotation, with a phrase or clause that names the source:

According to Jared Diamond, technology feeds on itself. . . .

Jared Diamond argues that technology feeds on itself. . . .

QUICK TIP

How to Name Your Sources

When you refer to a source the first time, use his or her full name. Do not precede it with Mr., Ms., Professor, or Doctor; you can use titles like Mayor, Senator, President, Reverend, or Bishop. If you mention the source again, use just the last name:

According to Steven Pinker, “Claims about a language instinct . . . have virtually nothing to do with possible genetic differences between people.” Pinker goes on to argue that “language is not . . .”