what is paraphrasing in academic writing

what is paraphrasing in academic writing

The Importance of Paraphrasing in Academic Writing

1. Definition of paraphrasing

Paraphrasing is the process of expressing someone else’s idea using your own words. You modify the words and sentence structure while preserving the main concept. It is a valuable skill for academics as it helps in gaining a deeper understanding of a subject. A well-executed paraphrase is important because it demonstrates your comprehension of the topic and aids the reader in better grasping the content. The key to paraphrasing is to convey the idea in your own words. This does not mean simply changing a few words in the original sentence and considering it a paraphrase. A successful paraphrase should be approximately the same length as the original, as you are explaining an idea of equal value. Merely substituting a few words can still lead to plagiarism, whether intentional or unintentional.

2. The role of paraphrasing in academic writing

Firstly, it enables you to reexpress information in a form more suitable for your particular audience. In the case of quoting a short passage from an entirely different work (and assuming your audience are not experts in the subject matter of the quote), it is often better to present the central idea of the passage in your own words, instead of using the author’s words. This would be more accessible to your readers. Similarly, if you are writing a paper which will be graded by one of your peers, it is entirely reasonable to assume that the reader will have a high familiarity with the topic and the various terminology you employ. Rather than risk annoying the reader by compelling them to look up a term which you have used in an unfamiliar way, it is better to just use the term in a more general sense. For example, “The hardware engineer loaded a program to test the new driver” could be rephrased as “The man who works with computer parts ran some software to check the functionality of the driver”. This form of paraphrasing takes into account the target audience and is an important skill to learn for managing different professional writing situations.

3. Benefits of paraphrasing in academic writing

You still interested? Oh! Thanks for your patience! There are several benefits of paraphrasing in academic writing. First of all, accurate paraphrasing helps you to avoid accusations of plagiarism. By putting information into your own words, you show that you have a good understanding of the source material. While it will be necessary to include some quoted terminology in your writing, too much direct quotation is discouraged. A research project, however complex, should not simply consist of a series of quotations strung together – at the very least, it should be a synthesis of others’ ideas. Although there is no hard and fast rule, it is generally agreed that paraphrasing is more economical than quoting, as quoting can often be something of a crutch for the writer (especially if used excessively) and is likely to damage the flow of your work, with the material from the source being too overbearing. Therefore, a good quote is always a fine rhetorical device, but it should be used sparingly and to the greatest effect. Another advantage of paraphrasing lies in its potential to strengthen your retention of the source material. When you effectively put a passage into your own words, you have demonstrated a clear understanding of the material and therefore can more easily commit it to memory than if you were to simply use the source’s words. This could be especially useful in the case of preparing for exams on the material you are writing about. When asked a question, it is often easier to recollect something you have genuinely understood than a passage you have simply seen in a book – though whether it is useful to commit something to memory that you have said you would simply put in a book at a later date is a different matter!

4. Strategies for effective paraphrasing

Produce a final, revised version of your paraphrase.

Check your version with the original. Have you used synonyms? If so, double-check these words in the dictionary. Some words may have the same meaning but different connotations. For example, impolite and discourteous have similar meanings, but impolite has a stronger negative connotation. Other words may have multiple meanings, so ensure you’ve used the correct one for the context. Remember, there’s no rule stating that a word in your new version can only replace one word in the original, and you may need to change the grammar of the original sentence.

Set aside the original and write your own version on a blank sheet of paper. Compare your version to the original once you’re done. Is the meaning clear and comprehensive? If yes, and if the piece is for a real purpose (not just an exercise), have someone else compare the two versions. If any part of your version is unclear, go back and rewrite it. If everything you’ve written is clear and concise but doesn’t convey the same meaning, then you haven’t successfully paraphrased.

Read the original source multiple times to ensure complete understanding. Take notes and differentiate between facts and opinions to avoid unintentional plagiarism.

5. Conclusion: Enhancing your academic writing with paraphrasing

With the growth of the internet, the expectation that people in all professions should be able to write quickly and accurately is becoming more and more widespread. The pressure to produce written work can lead to problems as many people will have to write about things that they do not fully understand. For university students, this situation can occur frequently because they often have to write about complex ideas which they may be struggling to understand. According to Sutherland-Smith, one way to deal with this is through ‘transforming written text’. She states that while this can involve many different techniques such as summarizing or explaining, one of the most useful can often be paraphrasing. This is because the process of changing the wording and sentence structure of a passage can often lead to a much clearer understanding of the content and thus enable the production of a clearer written explanation.

English for Academic Studies points out that paraphrasing skills are important for academic writers because it is better to use one’s own words to interpret or explain another’s idea. By doing so, this demonstrates that one has understood the idea and can explain it clearly to others. However, this is only true if the paraphrased work is still attributed to the original source.