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

Don't paraphrase too closely
Preventing plagiarism
Writing your paper

You paraphrase appropriately when you represent an idea in your own words more clearly or pointedly than the source does. But readers will think that you cross the line from fair paraphrase to plagiarism if they can match most of your words with those of your source. For example, unlike the paraphrase in 10.3, this one plagiarizes the original:

Original:

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 (Diamond, 301).

Paraphrase:

According to Diamond, technology gives birth to more technology. As a result, the importance of the spread of an invention may exceed the importance of the invention itself. The history of technology shows what is called an autocatalytic process through which the invention of new technologies speeds up at an increasing rate because the process of change catalyzes itself (301).

The writer of this version may think that she has used her own words: she changes some of Diamond's complex phrases into simpler ones: begets → gives birth, diffusion → spread, exemplifies → shows. But the paraphrase follows the original step-by-step, word by word. That, for most readers, is plagiarism.

QUICK TIP

Safe Paraphrasing

To avoid unintentionally seeming to be guilty of plagiarism by paraphrase, don't read your source as you paraphrase it. Read the passage, look away, think about it for a moment. Then still looking away, restate it in your own words. Then check whether you can run your finger along your sentence and find the same ideas in the same order as in your source. If you can, so can your readers. Try again.