Rules for writers, Tenth edition - Diana Hacker, Nancy Sommers 2021

Put summaries and paraphrases in your own words
Citing sources; avoiding plagiarism
Writing Papers in MLA Style

A summary condenses information from a source; a paraphrase conveys the information using roughly the same number of words as the original source. When you summarize or paraphrase, it is not enough to name the source. You must restate the source’s meaning using your own words and sentence structure. (See also 52c and 56a.) Half-copying the author’s sentences either by using the author’s phrases in your own sentences without quotation marks or by plugging synonyms into the author’s sentence structure (sometimes called patchwriting) is a form of plagiarism.

The first paraphrase of the following source is plagiarism, even though the source is cited, because the paraphrase borrows too much of its language from the original. The highlighted strings of words have been copied exactly (without quotation marks), and the writer has closely echoed the sentence structure of the source, merely substituting some synonyms.

ORIGINAL SOURCE

[A]ntiobesity laws encounter strong opposition from some quarters on the grounds that they constitute paternalistic intervention into lifestyle choices and enfeeble the notion of personal responsibility. Such arguments echo those made in the early days of tobacco regulation.

— Michelle M. Mello et al., “Obesity — the New Frontier of Public Health Law,” p. 2602

PLAGIARISM: UNACCEPTABLE BORROWING

Health policy experts Mello and others argue that antiobesity laws encounter strong opposition from some quarters because they interfere with lifestyle choices and decrease the feeling of personal responsibility. These arguments mirror those made in the early days of tobacco regulation (2602).

To avoid plagiarizing an author’s language, resist the temptation to look at the source while you are summarizing or paraphrasing. After you have read the passage you want to paraphrase, set the source aside. Ask yourself, “What is the author’s meaning?” In your own words, state your understanding of the author’s ideas. Then return to the source and check that you haven’t used the author’s language or sentence structure or misrepresented the author’s ideas. Following these steps will help you avoid plagiarizing the source.

ACCEPTABLE PARAPHRASE

As health policy experts Mello and others point out, opposition to food and beverage regulation is similar to the opposition to early tobacco legislation: the public views the issue as one of personal responsibility rather than one requiring government intervention (2602).

HOW TO

Be a responsible research writer

Using good citation habits is the best way to avoid plagiarizing sources and to demonstrate that you are a responsible researcher.

1. Cite your sources as you write drafts. Don’t wait until your final draft is complete to add citations. Include a citation when you quote from a source, when you summarize or paraphrase, and when you borrow facts that are not common knowledge.

2. Place quotation marks around direct quotations, both in your notes and in your drafts.

3. Check each quotation, summary, and paraphrase against the source to make certain you aren’t misrepresenting the source. For a paraphrase, be sure that your language and sentence structure differ from those in the original passage.

4. Provide a full citation in your works cited list. It is not sufficient to cite a source only in the body of your paper; you must also provide complete publication information for each source in a list of works cited.

EXERCISE 55—1

Summarize the following passage from a research source. Then paraphrase the same source. Use MLA-style in-text citation.

Until recently, school-readiness skills weren’t high on anyone’s agenda, nor was the idea that the youngest learners might be disqualified from moving on to a subsequent stage. But now that kindergarten serves as a gatekeeper, not a welcome mat, to elementary school, concerns about school preparedness kick in earlier and earlier. A child who’s supposed to read by the end of kindergarten had better be getting ready in preschool.

— Erika Christakis, “How the New Preschool Is Crushing Kids,” The Atlantic, Jan.—Feb. 2016, p. 18