What Is Paraphrasing and How to Do It Correctly?

Paraphrasing is a widely used literary device in all areas of writing and content creation. At the same time, it is one of the main problems that students face in their university projects due to lack of practice. 

In today’s article, we’re going to explain what paraphrasing is, what it means, and how you can paraphrase texts to make your essays and academic papers excel, so you won’t buy argumentative essay anymore.

What Does Paraphrasing Mean?

Paraphrasing consists of rewriting someone else’s speech, but in your own words. In this sense, paraphrasing is understood as the reinterpretation we make of a written work while maintaining its meaning.

Thus, in paraphrasing, we must convey the idea expressed by the original author but rephrase the text in our own words. Similarly, we must follow the same line of ideas and keep the new discourse consistent and coherent.

In using this practice, we must give credit to the author of the original, otherwise, we commit academic plagiarism. This is a highly reprehensible and punishable act.

The benefits offered by this resource are manifold. We can say that taking another author’s ideas and incorporating them into our reasoning, pro or con, helps us bolster our hypothesis. Similarly, by using paraphrasing, we can demonstrate that we have understood the meaning and purpose of the text we have read. Therefore, our judgment as researchers will undoubtedly be affirmed positively.

Why Is Paraphrasing Important?

The best college essay writing services say that the ability to paraphrase a text or written document is extremely important because it demonstrates that the person using the resource has understood the true meaning of the original text.

Therefore, paraphrasing shows that you have a good command of the subject matter. Also, by paraphrasing the text in your own words, you limit the use of quotations, which makes your writing more fluent when reading.

Similarly, in keeping with your own meaning, paraphrasing allows you to enhance your discourse because you can use the reference text to emphasize your own voice by approving or rejecting the original idea.

How Do You Paraphrase According to APA Style?

As we have seen, paraphrasing is about rewriting another author’s ideas in your own words. Although we are in the business of rewording and creating new text, the original ideas belong to someone else. For this reason, we must identify the original author to avoid plagiarism.

To that end, APA standards recommend paraphrasing as a useful practice to avoid direct quotations, but with certain rules. Here are the main aspects you should include when paraphrasing according to APA standards:

• You should always include the author’s last name and year of publication

• It is recommended, but not necessary, to include the page number

• If the paraphrase involves several sentences, it is recommended that you cite them directly and then continue to cite them without having to cite them again

• If the paraphrase includes several sources, it is advisable to repeat the citation so that the source is clear.

Tips for Proper Paraphrasing

Here are some tips to help you make the most of this useful literary resource in your college life.

Reread the Text

Refer back to the original text as many times as necessary. Remember that the purpose of this resource is to demonstrate that you understood the source you referred to, while at the same time giving readers a simplified version of the material in question.

Use Flashcards to Record Your Concepts

As you read the original text, we recommend that you use flashcards and aids to memorize ideas that seem fundamental and important to you. This way, you can build a new text based on the original text.

Compare the Two Texts

Be sure to compare the original text with the version you are creating based on the retelling. This way, you can check to see if you have lost the coherence of your writing and if you have deviated from the ideological line of the original author.

Respect citations and bibliographic references

As we said before, by citing the sources you cited, you avoid appropriating someone else’s discourse. Therefore, citing the authors of the sources you cited prevents the commission of academic plagiarism.

Conclusion

Faced with writing academic papers such as essays, research papers, or thesis statements, students can often become confused and not know what to do. All you need is a good understanding of the rules of writing. We hope that our tips above will help you write at the highest level!