CHAPTER 32 Using Sources and Avoiding Plagiarism

CHAPTER 32

Using Sources and Avoiding Plagiarism

32a How do I use sources well?Now’s the time to turn from researching to writing your research paper. Youintegrate suitable material into your paper by using QUOTATIONS (32h),PARAPHRASES (32i), and SUMMARIES (32j), while always being sure to avoidPLAGIARISM. Your SOURCE-BASED WRITING needs to be accurate, effective,and honest.

The final step in using sources well is to use correct documentation(Chapters 33 and 34). Documentation means making two types of entries inyour research paper each time you draw upon a source for support:

1. Writing a parenthetical citation for each quotation, paraphrase, and summaryyou take from sources (for examples in MLA STYLE, see section 33c).

2. Composing a WORKS CITED or REFERENCES list. This list needs to includefull bibliographic information on each source from which you havequoted, paraphrased, and summarized (for examples in MLA style, see33d).

A documentation style refers to a specific system for providing infor-mation on sources used in a research paper. Documentation styles varyamong the disciplines. This handbook presents two documentation styles:MLA STYLE in Chapter 33 and APA STYLE in Chapter 34.

The University of Chicago Press and the Council of Science Editors (CSE)support their own systems of documentation. For complete Chicago Manual(CM) information, consult The Chicago Manual of Style, Fifteenth Edition(Chicago UP, 2003) or its website <http://www.press.uchicago.edu/Misc/Chicago/cmosfaq/>. The CSE endorses two documentation systems widelyused in mathematics and the physical and life sciences. At the time of thiswriting, CSE is preparing a revised seventh edition of its Scientific Style andFormat; for up-to-date information, see <http://councilscienceeditors.org>.Some instructors may require Columbia Online Style (COS) to documentelectronic sources. Consult the companion website for more specificguidelines: <http://www.columbia.edu/cu/cup/cgos/idx_basic.html>.

32b What is plagiarism?To plagiarize is to present another person’s words or ideas as if they wereyour own. Plagiarism, like stealing, is a form of academic dishonesty or

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How do I avoid plagiarism? 32c

cheating. Because it’s a serious offense, plagiarism can be grounds for a fail-ing grade or expulsion from college.

32c How do I avoid plagiarism?Here’s how to avoid plagiarism. First, understand that researchers usesources carefully by honestly and suitably QUOTING (32h), PARAPHRASING

(32i), and SUMMARIZING (32j) their ideas and words—a popular memorydevice for this is Use QPS. Second, become comfortable with the conceptof DOCUMENTATION, which you need to use each time you quote, paraphrase,and summarize your sources. Box 32-1 describes the main strategies you canuse to avoid plagiarism.

BOX 32-1 S U M M A RY

Strategies for avoiding plagiarism

■ Use DOCUMENTATION to acknowledge your use of the ideas or phrasingsof others, taken from the sources you’ve compiled on your topic.

■ Become thoroughly familiar with the documentation style that yourinstructor tells you to use for your research paper (Chapters 33 and34). To work efficiently, make a master list of the information requiredto document all sources that you quote, paraphrase, or summarizeaccording to your required documentation style.

■ Write down absolutely all the documentation facts that you’ll need foryour paper, keeping careful records as you search for sources.Otherwise, you’ll waste much time trying to retrace your steps to get adocumentation detail you missed.

■ Use a consistent system for taking CONTENT NOTES. Perhaps usedifferent colors of ink or another coding system to keep these threeuses of sources separate:1. Quotations from a source (require documentation)2. Material paraphrased or summarized from a source (requires

documentation)3. Thoughts of your own triggered by what you’ve read or experienced

in life (no documentation required), making sure to maintain thedistinction between your own thinking and the ideas that comedirectly from a source

■ Write clear, perhaps oversize, quotation marks when you’re directlyquoting a passage. Make them so distinct that you can’t miss seeingthem later.

■ Consult with your instructor if you’re unsure about any phase of thedocumentation process.

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Types of plagiarism

You’re plagiarizing if you do any of the following:

■ Buy a paper from an Internet site, another student or writer, or anyother source

■ Turn in any paper that someone else has written, whether it was givento you, you downloaded it from the Internet, or you copied it from anyother source

■ Change selected parts of an existing paper, and claim the paper as yourown

■ Combine the ideas from many sources and claim that they’re your ownthoughts

■ Use general or specific ideas from a source without using full andcorrect documentation telling where you got the ideas

■ Copy or paste into your paper any KEY TERMS, PHRASES, sentences, orlonger passages from another source without using documentation totell precisely where the material came from

■ Neglect to put quotation marks around words that you quote directlyfrom a source, even if you document the source

Box 32-2 lists major types of plagiarism, all of which you can avoid by fol-lowing the advice in Box 32-1.

Never assume that your instructor can’t detect plagiarism. Instructorshave keen eyes for writing styles different from the ones students generallyproduce and from your own style in particular. In addition, instructors can access Web sites that electronically check your submitted work againstall material available online. Further, Internet sites such as <http://www.turnitin.com> allow instructors to check your writing against hundredsof thousands of papers for free or for sale on the World Wide Web and theInternet. (Also, that site adds your paper to its huge database of studentpapers so that no one can plagiarize your work.) Moreover, when instructorsreceive papers that they suspect contain plagiarized passages, they can checkwith other professors to see whether a student paper looks familiar.

Another important way to avoid plagiarism is to dive willingly into anyinterim tasks your instructors build into their research assignments. Thesetasks can help you enormously as you conduct your research and write yourpaper. For example, many instructors today set interim deadlines such as adate for handing in a WORKING BIBLIOGRAPHY (30i), a list of all doc-umentation details for sources you’ve located in your search but haven’t yet

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How do I work with the Internet to avoid plagiarism? 32d

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Guidelines for avoiding plagiarizing fromthe Internet

■ Never cut and paste directly into your paper from online sources. Youcan too easily lose track of what language is your own and whatmaterial came from a source. You’ll need to document each item.

■ Keep downloaded or printed Internet sources in computer files thatare separate from your draft, whether you intend to draw upon thesources as quotations, summaries, or paraphrases. Be extremely carefulabout how you manage those copies. Whenever you know the exactplace where you think an item would fit in your paper, record thatlocation very clearly (use another color or a much larger font), butnever paste it in.

■ Make sure that you write every detail of information that identifies thesource and is called for in the documentation style you need to use.

evaluated for their value and reliability. Another possible assignment is toprepare an annotated bibliography, which includes all documentationinformation and a brief summary or commentary on each source that you’veevaluated (31j) as trustworthy and useful for your research paper. Further,some instructors want to read and coach you about how to improve one ormore of your research paper drafts. In some cases, they might want to lookover your research log (30e), content notes, and/or photocopies of yoursources.

32d How do I work with the Internet to avoid plagiarism?

The Internet can both greatly help researchers and create potential newproblems. One problem is that the Internet allows anyone to say anything,so many Internet sources lack reliability and aren’t legitimate for researchpurposes (31j). The second problem is that students might plagiarize morereadily from Internet sources.

For example, you might be tempted to download a completed researchpaper from the Internet. Don’t. That’s intellectual dishonesty, which can getyou into real trouble not only with your instructor but also with the college.Or you might be tempted to borrow wording from what you wrongly con-sider an “obscure” Internet source. Don’t. Not only is this intellectual dis-honesty, but instructors will easily detect it (32c). Box 32-3 provides guide-lines for avoiding plagiarism of Internet sources.

➞


■ If you’re taking CONTENT NOTES in a computer file, copy or paste materialonto a blank page if you intend to use it as a direct quotation from aprinted or downloaded source. Make certain to place quotation marksaround the quoted material and to include proper documentation. Do thisat the moment you copy or paste the quotation. If you put off documentinguntil later, you may forget to do it or get it wrong. Also, in a different fontor color, type your reason for thinking the quotation might be useful.

■ SUMMARIZE or PARAPHRASE materials before you include them in yourpaper. If for the sake of convenience you’ve printed or downloadedInternet sources into separate files, never copy directly from those filesinto your paper. On the spot, summarize or paraphrase the sources.

■ QUOTE carefully if you decide you must quote a passage directly from asource. Make sure to use quotation marks; perhaps signal with adifferent font or color that you have quoted.

■ Keep all documentation information together as you work with eachsource. Then, at the very moment you put a quote, paraphrase, orsummary in your paper, enter all documentation information in aparenthetical citation and in your bibliography. Never put this off untillater, because the details might slip your mind, you might forget to dothe documentation entirely, or you might get it wrong as you try toreconstruct your thinking.

■ If you think that you may have plagiarized by mistake, check your workagainst papers and files on the Internet. Try typing one or twosentences—always putting them in quotation marks—into the searchwindow at google.com. You might also submit your work to one of thefor-profit plagiarism-detection services. These for-profit services chargeyou money for their work, and they also keep a copy of your paper intheir databases.

Guidelines for avoiding plagiarizing from theInternet (continued)

32e What don’t I have to document?You don’t have to document common knowledge or your own thinking.Common knowledge is information that most educated people know,although they may need to remind themselves of certain facts by looking upinformation in a reference book. For example, here are a few facts of com-mon knowledge that you don’t need to document.

■ Bill Clinton was the US president before George W. Bush.

■ Mercury is the planet closest to the sun.

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What must I document? 32f

■ Normal human body temperature is 98.6°F.

■ All the oceans on our planet contain salt water.

A very important component of a research paper that doesn’t need doc-umentation is your own thinking, which is based on what you’ve learned asyou built on what you already knew about your topic. It consists of yourANALYSIS, SYNTHESIS, and interpretation of new material as you read orobserve it. Obviously, you need to cite the ideas that led to your conclusion,but you don’t need to cite your own thinking. On the other hand, if you finda source that states this very idea, you must cite it.

32f What must I document?You must document everything that you learn from a source. This includesideas as well as specific language. Expressing the ideas of others in your ownwords doesn’t release you from the obligation to tell exactly where you gotthose ideas—you need to use complete, correct documentation. Here’s anexample in action:

S O U R C ESearle, John R. “I Married a Computer.” Rev. of The Age of SpiritualMachines, by Ray Kurzweil. New York Review of Books 8 Apr. 1999:34+. [This source information is arranged in MLA documentation style.]

O R I G I N A L ( S E A R L E ’ S E X A C T W O R D S )We are now in the midst of a technological revolution that is full of sur-prises. No one thirty years ago was aware that one day household com-puters would become as common as dishwashers. And those of us whoused the old Arpanet of twenty years ago had no idea that it wouldevolve into the Internet. [This appears on page 37 of the source.]

P L A G I A R I S M E X A M P L E ( U N D E R L I N E D W O R D S A R E P L A G I A R I Z E D )The current technological revolution is surprising. Thirty years ago, noone expected computers to be as common today as air conditioners.What once was the Arpanet has evolved into the Internet, and no oneexpected that.

Even though the student changed some wording in the example above, theideas aren’t original to that student. To avoid plagiarism, the student isrequired to document the source.

C O R R E C T E X A M P L E ( U S I N G Q U O TAT I O N , P A R A P H R A S E , A N D D O C U M E N TAT I O N )John Searle states that we live in a technologically amazing time of changein which computers have “become as common as dishwashers” (37).Twenty years ago, no one could have predicted the Arpanet would becomethe Internet (37). [This citation is arranged in MLA documentation style.]


The writer of the example above has used Searle’s ideas properly througha combination of quotation and paraphrase and documentation. She cor-rectly quotes the phrase “become as common as dishwashers.” She para-phrases the statement “We are now in the midst of a technological revolutionthat is full of surprises,” rephrasing it as “we live in a technologically amaz-ing time of change.” She also paraphrases the sentence “And those of us whoused the old Arpanet of twenty years ago had no idea that it would evolveinto the Internet” as “Twenty years ago, no one could have predicted theArpanet would become the Internet.” Finally, she gives the author’s name inthe sentence and twice includes parenthetical citations, which would lead thereader to find the source on the WORKS CITED page. Sections 32g through32j explain exactly how to use sources effectively and document correctly.

32g How can I effectively integrate sources into my writing?

Integrating sources means blending information and ideas from others withyour own writing. Before trying to integrate sources into your writing, youneed to have ANALYZED and then SYNTHESIZED the material. Analysis requiresyou to break ideas down into their component parts so that you can thinkthem through separately. The best time to do this is while you’re readingyour sources and taking CONTENT NOTES. Synthesis requires you to makeconnections among different ideas, seeking relationships and connectionsthat tie them together.

32h How can I use quotations effectively?A quotation is the exact words of a source enclosed in quotation marks. Youface conflicting demands when you use quotations in your writing. Althoughquotations provide support, you can lose coherence in your paper if you usetoo many quotations. If more than a quarter of your paper consists of quota-tions, you’ve probably written what some people call a “cut and pastespecial”—merely stringing together a bunch of quotations. Doing so gives yourreaders—including instructors—the impression that you’ve not bothered todevelop your own thinking, and you’re letting other people do your talking.

In addition to avoiding too many quotations, you also want to avoid usingquotations that are too long. Readers tend to skip over long quotations andlose the drift of the paper. Also, your instructor might assume that you justdidn’t take the time required to PARAPHRASE or SUMMARIZE the material.Generally, summaries and paraphrases are more effective for reconstructingsomeone else’s argument. If you do need to quote a long passage, makeabsolutely sure every word in the quotation counts. Edit out irrelevant parts,using ellipsis points to indicate deleted material (28d and 32h.1). Box 32-4provides guidelines for using quotations. Sections 32h.1 and 32h.2 giveexamples of acceptable and unacceptable quotations.

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How can I use quotations effectively? 32h

32h.1 Making quotations fit smoothly with your sentences

When you use quotations, the greatest risk you take is that you’ll end up withincoherent, choppy sentences. You can avoid this problem within each sen-tence, when the words you quote fit smoothly with three aspects of the restof your sentence: grammar, style, and logic. Based on the source materialthat follows, examine these examples.

S O U R C EGoleman, Daniel. Emotional Intelligence. New York: Bantam, 1995. 9.[This source information is arranged in MLA documentation style.]

O R I G I N A L ( G O L E M A N ’ S E X A C T W O R D S )These two minds, the emotional and the rational, operate in tight har-mony for the most part, intertwining their very different ways of know-ing to guide us through the world.


Guidelines for using quotations

1. Use quotations from authorities on your subject to support or refutewhat you write in your paper.

2. Never use a quotation to present your THESIS STATEMENT or TOPIC

SENTENCES.3. Select quotations that fit your message. Choose a quotation only in

these cases:

■ Its language is particularly appropriate or distinctive.

■ Its idea is particularly hard to paraphrase accurately.

■ The authority of the source is especially important to support yourthesis or main point.

■ The source’s words are open to interpretation.4. Never use quotations in more than a quarter of your paper. Instead,

rely on paraphrase (32i) and summary (32j).5. Quote accurately. Always check each quotation against the original

source—and then recheck it.6. Integrate quotations smoothly into your writing.7. Avoid PLAGIARISM (32b–d).8. Enter all DOCUMENTATION precisely and carefully.


I N C O H E R E N T G R A M M A R P R O B L E MGoleman explains how the emotional and rational minds “intertwiningtheir very different ways of knowing to guide us through the world” (9).[Corrected: Goleman explains the process of emotional and rational minds“intertwining their very different ways of knowing to guide us through theworld” (9).]

I N C O H E R E N T S T Y L E P R O B L E MGoleman explains how the emotional minds based on reason worktogether by “intertwining their very different ways of knowing to guideus through the world” (9). [Corrected: Goleman explains how the emo-tional and rational minds work together by “intertwining their very differentways of knowing to guide us through the world” (9).]

I N C O H E R E N T L O G I C P R O B L E MGoleman explains how the emotional and rational minds work togetherby “their very different ways of knowing to guide us through the world”(9). [Corrected: Goleman explains how the emotional and rational mindswork together by combining “their very different ways of knowing to guideus through the world” (9).]

C O R R E C T U S E O F T H E Q U O TAT I O NGoleman explains how the emotional and rational minds work togetherby “intertwining their very different ways of knowing to guide us throughthe world” (9). [This citation is arranged in MLA documentation style.]

After writing sentences that contain quotations, read the material aloudand listen to whether the language flows smoothly and gracefully. Perhapsyou need to add a word or two placed in brackets (28c) within the quotationso that its wording works grammatically and effortlessly with the rest of yoursentence. Of course, make sure your bracketed additions don’t distort themeaning of the quotation. For example, the following quotation comes fromthe same page of the source quoted above. The bracketed material explainswhat these minds refer to in the original quotation—this helps the readerunderstand what was clear in the context of the original source but isn’t clearwhen quoted in isolation.

O R I G I N A L ( G O L E M A N ’ S E X A C T W O R D S )In many or most moments, these minds are exquisitely coordinated;feelings are essential to thought, thought to feeling.

Q U O TAT I O N W I T H E X P L A N AT O R Y B R A C K E T S“In many or most moments, these minds [emotional and rational] are ex-quisitely coordinated; feelings are essential to thought, thought to feel-ing” (Goleman 9). [This citation is arranged in MLA documentation style.]

Another way to create a smooth integration of a quotation in your sen-tence is to delete some words, always using an ellipsis where the deletion

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occurs. You also might delete any part of the quotation that interferes withconciseness and the focus you intend in your sentence. When you use anellipsis, make sure that the remaining words accurately reflect the source’smeaning and that your sentence structure still flows smoothly. The originalof the following quotation appears on page 377.

Q U O TAT I O N W I T H E L L I P S I SGoleman contends that, generally, “these two minds, the emotional andthe rational, operate in tight harmony . . . to guide us through theworld” (9). [This citation is arranged in MLA documentation style.]

In this example, the words “for the most part, intertwining their very differ-ent ways of knowing” have been deleted from the original material so thatthe quotation is more concise and focused.

32h.2 Using quotations to enhance meaningPerhaps the biggest complaint instructors have about student researchpapers is that sometimes quotations are simply stuck in, for no apparent rea-son. Whenever you place words between quotation marks, they take on spe-cial significance for your message as well as your language. Without context-setting information in the paper, the reader can’t know exactly what logicleads the writer to use a particular quotation.

Furthermore, always make sure your readers know who said each groupof quoted words. Otherwise, you’ve used a disembodied quotation (someinstructors call them “ghost quotations”). Although quotation marks set offsomeone else’s words, they need explanation and context, or they’ll tell thereader nothing about who is being quoted and why. This reflects poorly onthe clarity of your writing.

S O U R C EWright, Karen. “Times of Our Lives.” Scientific American Sept. 2002:58–66. [This source information is arranged in MLA documentation style.]

O R I G I N A L ( W R I G H T ’ S E X A C T W O R D S )In human bodies, biological clocks keep track of seconds, minutes,days, months and years.

I N C O R R E C T ( D I S E M B O D I E D Q U O TAT I O N )The human body has many subconscious processes. People don’t haveto make their hearts beat or remind themselves to breathe. “In humanbodies, biological clocks keep track of seconds, minutes, days, monthsand years” (Wright 66).

C O R R E C TThe human body has many subconscious processes. People don’t haveto make their hearts beat or remind themselves to breathe. However,other processes are less obvious and perhaps more surprising. KarenWright observes, for example, “In human bodies, biological clocks keeptrack of seconds, minutes, days, months and years” (66).


Rarely can a quotation begin a paragraph effectively. Start your para-graph by relying on your TOPIC SENTENCE, based on your own thinking.Then, you can fit in a relevant quotation somewhere in the paragraph, if itsupports or extends what you have said.

Another strategy for working quotations smoothly into your paper is tointegrate the name(s) of the author(s), the source title, or other informationinto your paper. You can prepare your reader for a quotation using one ofthese methods:

■ Mention in your sentence directly before or after the quotation the name(s)of the author(s) you’re quoting.

■ Mention in your sentence the title of the work you’re quoting from.

■ Give additional authority to your material. If the author of a source is a note-worthy figure, you gain credibility when you refer to his or her credentials.

■ Mention the name(s) of the author(s), with or without the name of thesource and any author credentials, along with your personal introductorylead-in to the material.

Here are examples of the methods listed above. They use author names andsource titles effectively.

S O U R C EGardner, Howard. The Disciplined Mind: What All Students Should Under-stand. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1999. 72. [This source information isarranged in MLA documentation style.]

O R I G I N A L ( G A R D N E R ’ S E X A C T W O R D S )While we all possess all of the intelligences, perhaps no two persons—not even identical twins—exhibit them in the same combination ofstrengths.

I N T E G R AT I N G A U T H O R ’ S N A M E W I T H Q U O TAT I O NHoward Gardner explains, “While we all possess all of the intelligences,perhaps no two persons—not even identical twins—exhibit them in thesame combination of strengths” (72). [This citation is arranged in MLAdocumentation style.]

I N T E G R AT I N G A U T H O R ’ S N A M E A N D S O U R C E T I T L EHoward Gardner explains in The Disciplined Mind: What All StudentsShould Understand: “While we all possess all of the intelligences, per-haps no two persons—not even identical twins—exhibit them in thesame combination of strengths” (72). [This citation is arranged in MLAdocumentation style.]

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I N T E G R AT I N G A U T H O R ’ S N A M E , C R E D E N T I A L S , A N D S O U R C E T I T L EHoward Gardner, a psychologist and the author of fifteen books on thehuman mind, states in The Disciplined Mind: What All StudentsShould Understand, “While we all possess all of the intelligences, per-haps no two persons—not even identical twins—exhibit them in thesame combination of strengths” (72). [This citation is arranged in MLAdocumentation style.]

I N T E G R AT I N G A U T H O R ’ S N A M E W I T H Y O U R O W N T H I N K I N G A S I N T R O D U C T O R Y A N A LY S I S

The psychologist Howard Gardner claims that humans possess eight in-telligences, but he notes: “While we all possess all of the intelligences,perhaps no two persons—not even identical twins—exhibit them in thesame combination of strengths” (72). [This citation is arranged in MLAdocumentation style.]

You can also integrate a quotation into your writing by interrupting thequotation with your own words. If you insert your own words within the quo-tation, you are required to put those words between brackets, as with theword “eight” in the following example:

“While we all possess all of the [eight] intelligences,” Howard Gardnerexplains, “perhaps no two persons—not even identical twins—exhibitthem in the same combination of strengths” (72). [This citation isarranged in MLA documentation style.]

A L E R T: After using an author’s full name in the first reference, you candecide to use only the author’s last name in subsequent references. Thisholds unless another source has that same last name.

E X E R C I S E 3 2 - 1 Working individually or with your peer-response group,read the following original material, from “What Makes You Who You Are” byMatt Ridley in Time (2 June 2003): 60. Then, read items 1 through 5 andexplain why each is an incorrect use of a quotation. Next, revise each num-bered sentence so that it correctly uses a quotation. End each quotationwith this MLA-style parenthetical reference: (Ridley 60).

O R I G I N A L ( R I D L E Y ’ S E X A C T W O R D S )

Human beings differ from chimpanzees in having complex, grammaticallanguage. But language does not spring fully formed from the brain; itmust be learned from other language-speaking human beings. This capaci-ty to learn is written into the human brain by genes that open and close acritical window during which learning takes place. One of those genes,FoxP2, has recently been discovered on human chromosome 7 by AnthonyMonaco and his colleagues at the Wellcome Trust Centre for HumanGenetics in Oxford. Just having the FoxP2 gene, though, is not enough. If a


child is not exposed to a lot of spoken language during the critical learningperiod, he or she will always struggle with speech.

U N A C C E P TA B L E U S E S O F Q U O TAT I O N S

1. Scientists are learning more about how people learn languages. “Humanbeings differ from chimpanzees in having complex, grammatical language”(Ridley 60).

2. People might assume that individuals can acquire speaking abilitiesthrough hard individual work, “but language must be learned from otherlanguage-speaking human beings” (Ridley 60).

3. Helping the language learning process “by genes that open and close acritical window during which learning takes place” (Ridley 60).

4. In 2002, one gene important for language development “has recently beendiscovered on human chromosome 7 by Anthony Monaco and his col-leagues” (Ridley 60).

5. Parents should continually read to and speak with young children, because “ifchildren are not exposed to a lot of spoken language during the critical learn-ing period of childhood, they will always struggle with speech” (Ridley 60).

32i How can I write good paraphrases?A paraphrase precisely restates in your own words and your own writingstyle the written or spoken words of someone else. Select for paraphrase onlythe passages that carry ideas you need to reproduce in detail. Because para-phrasing calls for a very close approximation of a source, avoid trying to para-phrase a whole chapter—or even a whole page; use SUMMARY instead. Expectto write a number of drafts of your paraphrases, each time getting closer toeffectively rewording and revising the writing style so that you avoidPLAGIARISM. Box 32-5 provides guidelines for writing paraphrases.

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Guidelines for writing paraphrases

1. Decide to paraphrase authorities on your subject to support orcounter what you write in your paper.

2. Never use a paraphrase to present your thesis statement or topicsentences.

3. Say what the source says, but no more.4. Reproduce the source’s sequence of ideas and emphases.5. Use your own words and writing style to restate the material. If some

technical words in the original have no or awkward synonyms, you➞


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How can I write good paraphrases? 32i

Here’s an example of an unacceptable paraphrase and an acceptable one.

S O U R C E

Goleman, Daniel. Emotional Intelligence. New York: Bantam, 1995. 9.[This source information is arranged in MLA documentation style.]

O R I G I N A L ( G O L E M A N ’ S E X A C T W O R D S )These two minds, the emotional and the rational, operate in tight har-

mony for the most part, intertwining their very different ways of knowingto guide us through the world. Ordinarily there is a balance between emo-tional and rational minds, with emotion feeding into and informing theoperations of the rational mind, and the rational mind refining and some-times vetoing the inputs of the emotions. Still, the emotional and rationalminds are semi-independent faculties, each, as we shall see, reflecting theoperation of distinct, but interconnected circuitry of the brain.

In many or most moments, these minds are exquisitely coordinated;feelings are essential to thought, thought to feeling. But when passionssurge, the balance tips: it is the emotional mind that captures theupper hand, swamping the rational mind.

U N A C C E P TA B L E P A R A P H R A S E ( U N D E R L I N E D W O R D S A R E P L A G I A R I Z E D )The emotional and the rational parts of our mind operate in tight har-

mony for the most part as they help us make our way through our lives.Usually the two minds are balanced, with emotion feeding into andinforming the operations of the rational mind, and the rational mind refin-ing and sometimes overruling what the emotions desire. Still, the emotion-al and rational minds are semi-independent faculties, for as research shows,although they function separately, they are linked in the brain.

Most of the time our two minds work together, with feelings neces-sary for thinking and thinking necessary for feeling. Nevertheless, if

may quote the original’s words—but do so very sparingly. Forexample, you can use the term human chromosome 7 if you’reparaphrasing the original source by Matt Ridley in Exercise 32-1.

6. Never distort the source’s meaning as you reword and change thewriting style.

7. Expect your material to be as long as, and often longer than, theoriginal.

8. Integrate your paraphrases smoothly into your writing.9. Avoid plagiarism (32b–d).

10. Enter all DOCUMENTATION precisely and carefully.

Guidelines for writing paraphrase (continued)


strong emotions develop, it is the emotional mind that captures theupper hand, swamping the rational mind (Goleman 9).

A C C E P TA B L E P A R A P H R A S EAccording to Goleman, the emotional and rational parts of our mind

work together to help us make our way through our lives. Usually, thetwo minds have equal input. The emotional mind provides informationto the logical mind, and the logical mind processes the data and some-times overrules emotional desires. Nevertheless, while the two mindsshow a biological connection in the brain, each can assert some inde-pendence. Most of the time our two minds work together, with feelingsnecessary for thinking and thinking necessary for feeling. Still, if strongemotions develop, passions overrule logical thinking (9). [This citation isarranged in MLA documentation style.]

The first attempt to paraphrase is not acceptable. The writer simplychanged a few words. What remains is plagiarized because the passage keepsmost of the original’s language, has the same sentence structure as the original,and uses no quotation marks. The documentation is correct, but its accuracydoesn’t make up for the unacceptable paraphrasing. The second paraphrase isacceptable. It captures the meaning of the original in the student’s own words.

E X E R C I S E 3 2 - 2 Working individually or with your peer-response group, dothe following:

1. For a paper on the place of censorship in the coverage of military conflicts,paraphrase the following paragraph from Regarding the Pain of Others bySusan Sontag (New York: Farrar, 2003). Start with words mentioning Son-tag, and end with this parenthetical page reference: (65).

O R I G I N A L ( S O N TA G ’ S E X A C T W O R D S )

There had always been censorship, but for a long time it remained desul-tory, at the pleasure of generals and heads of state. The first organized banon press photography at the front came during the First World War; both theGerman and French high commands allowed only a few selected military pho-tographers near the fighting. (Censorship of the press by the British GeneralStaff was less inflexible.) And it took another fifty years, and the relaxation ofcensorship with the first televised war coverage, to understand what impactshocking photographs could have on the domestic public. During the Viet-nam era, war photography became, normatively, a criticism of war. This wasbound to have consequences: Mainstream media are not in the business ofmaking people feel queasy about the struggles for which they are beingmobilized, much less of disseminating propaganda against waging war.

2. In one of your sources for a current research assignment, locate a para-graph that is at least 150 words in length and write a paraphrase of it. Ifyou have no such assignment, choose any material suitable for a college-level paper. Your instructor may request that you submit a photocopy of theoriginal material, so make a copy to have on hand.

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How can I write good summaries? 32j

32j How can I write good summaries?A summary differs from a PARAPHRASE (32i) in one important way: A paraphrase restates the original material completely, but a summaryprovides only the main point of the original source. A summary is muchshorter than a paraphrase. Summarizing is the technique you will use mostfrequently in writing your research paper, both for taking notes and for inte-grating what you have learned from sources into your own writing.

As you summarize, you trace a line of thought. This involves deleting lesscentral ideas and sometimes transposing certain points into an order moresuited to summary. In summarizing a longer original—say, ten pages ormore—you may find it helpful first to divide the original into subsectionsand summarize each. Then, group your subsection summaries and use themas the basis for further condensing the material into a final summary. You willlikely have to revise a summary more than once. Always make sure that asummary accurately reflects the source and its emphases.

When you’re summarizing a source in your CONTENT NOTES, take care not to be tempted to include your personal interpretation along with some-thing the author says. Similarly, never include in your summary your ownjudgment about the point made in the source. Your own opinions and ideas,although they have value, don’t belong in a summary. Instead, jot them downimmediately when they come to mind, but separate them clearly from yoursummary. Write your notes so that when you go back to them you can be sure to distinguish your opinions or ideas from your summary. Highlight your personal writing with a screen of yellow or some other color, or use anentirely different font for it. Box 32-6 provides guidelines for writing goodsummaries.


Guidelines for writing summaries

1 Use summaries from authorities on your subject to support or refutewhat you write in your paper.

2. Identify the main points you want to summarize and condense themusing your own words without losing the meaning of the originalsource.

3. Never use a summary to present your THESIS STATEMENT or TOPIC

SENTENCES.4. Keep your summary short.5. Integrate your summaries smoothly into your writing.6. Avoid PLAGIARISM (32b–d).7. Enter all DOCUMENTATION precisely and carefully.

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Here’s an example of an unacceptable summary and an acceptable one.

S O U R C ETanenbaum, Leora. Catfight: Women and Competition. New York:Seven Stories P, 2002. 117–18. [This source information is arranged inMLA documentation style.]

O R I G I N A L ( TA N E N B A U M ’ S E X A C T W O R D S )Until recently, most Americans disapproved of cosmetic surgery,

but today the stigma is disappearing. Average Americans are lining up for procedures—two-thirds of patients report family incomes of less than $50,000 a year—and many of them return for more.Younger women undergo “maintenance” surgeries in a futile attempt to halt time. The latest fad is Botox, a purified and diluted form of botulinum toxin that is injected between the eyebrows to eliminatefrown lines. Although the procedure costs between $300 and $1000and must be repeated every few months, roughly 850,000 patients have had it performed on them. That number will undoubtedly shoot up now that the FDA has approved Botox for cosmetic use. Even teenagers are making appointments with plastic surgeons. Morethan 14,000 adolescents had plastic surgery in 1996, and many of them are choosing controversial procedures such as breast implants,liposuction, and tummy tucks, rather than the rhinoplasties of previousgenerations.

U N A C C E P TA B L E S U M M A R Y ( U N D E R L I N E D W O R D S A R E P L A G I A R I Z E D )Average Americans are lining up for surgical procedures. The latest

fad is Botox, a toxin injected to eliminate frown lines. This is an insanely foolish waste of money. Even teenagers are making appointments with plastic surgeons, many of them for controversialprocedures such as breast implants, liposuction, and tummy tucks(Tanenbaum 117–18).

A C C E P TA B L E S U M M A R YTanenbaum explains that plastic surgery is becoming widely accept-

able, even for Americans with modest incomes and for younger women. Most popular is injecting the toxin Botox to smooth wrinkles.She notes that thousands of adolescents are even requesting contro-versial surgeries (117–18). [This citation is arranged in MLA documen-tation style.]

The unacceptable summary above has several major problems: It doesn’tisolate the main point. It plagiarizes by taking much of its language directlyfrom the source. Examples of plagiarized language include all the under-lined phrases. Finally, the unacceptable summary includes the writer’s

32j USING SOURCES AND AVOIDING PLAGIARISM

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Which verbs can help me weave source material into my sentences? 32k

interpretation (“This is an insanely foolish waste of money”) rather thanobjectively representing the original. The acceptable summary concisely iso-lates the main point, puts the source into the writer’s own words, calls atten-tion to the author by including her name in the summary, and remains objec-tive throughout.

E X E R C I S E 3 2 - 3 Working individually or with your peer-response group, dothe following:

1. Summarize the following paragraph from “Vanishing Before Our Eyes” byEdward O. Wilson in Time (24 Apr. 2000): 29–30. Start your summary witha phrase mentioning the author, and end with this parenthetical reference:(29–30).

O R I G I N A L ( W I L S O N ’ S E X A C T W O R D S )

By repeated sampling, biologists estimate that as few as 10% ofthe different kinds of insects, nematode worms, and fungi have been discovered. For bacteria and other microorganisms, the number could be well below 1%. Even the largest and most intensively studied organisms are incompletely cataloged. Four species of mammals, forexample, have recently been discovered in the remote Annamite Mountains along the Vietnam-Laos border. One of them, the saola orspindlehorn, is a large cowlike animal distinct enough to be classified in agenus of its own. Earth, as far as life is concerned, is still a little-known planet.

2. Write a summary of your paraphrase of the Sontag material in Exercise 32-2.Use the parenthetical reference given there.

3. Write a summary of a passage from a source you’re currently using for apaper assigned in one of your courses. If you have no such assignment,choose any material suitable for a college-level research paper. Yourinstructor might request a photocopy of the material you’re summarizing,so make a copy to have on hand.

32k Which verbs can help me weave source materialinto my sentences?

The verbs listed in Box 32-7 on the next page can help you work quotations,paraphrases, and summaries smoothly into your writing. Some of these verbsimply your position toward the source material (for example, argue,complain, concede, deny, grant, insist, and reveal). Other verbs imply a moreneutral stance (for example, comment, describe, explain, note, say, andwrite). For many examples of effective use of such verbs, see the studentresearch papers presented in sections 33e, 34h, and 36e.



Verbs useful for integrating quotations,paraphrases, and summaries

acknowledges discusses organizesagrees distinguishes points outanalyzes between/among preparesargues emphasizes promisesasks endeavors to provesasserts establishes questionsbalances estimates recognizesbegins explains recommendsbelieves expresses refutesclaims finds rejectscomments focuses on remarkscompares grants reportscomplains illuminates revealsconcedes illustrates saysconcludes implies seesconfirms indicates showsconnects informs signalsconsiders insists specifiescontends introduces speculatescontradicts maintains statescontrasts means suggestsdeclares negates supportsdemonstrates notes supposesdenies notices thinksdescribes observes wishesdevelops offers writes

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Documents

CHAPTER 32 Using Sources and Avoiding Plagiarism