How to Integrate Sources into Papers: 2. Paraphrasing

• There is not a good reason to use a quotation. Paraphrasing is usually more effective, and can help better support your argument, if the exact wording of the source is not important to the point you are trying to make.

• You need to explain or clarify a quotation that you did use in your paper.

• There is a need to simplify detailed or complex information for your audience.

• All paraphrased information must be cited with an in-text citation.
• Do not "word swap," which is changing a few words from the original text with synonyms or changing the order of some of the words. This is a form of plagiarism.
• Make sure you retain the meaning of the original text when you paraphrase.
• It is okay to use some of the author's words from the original text in your paraphrase, but they must have quotation marks around them.
• Remember to explain to your readers why the paraphrased information is important to the point you are making.

Mr. President, I confess that I do not entirely approve of this Constitution at present; but, Sir, I am not sure I shall never approve it; for, having lived long, I have experienced many instances of being obliged, by better information or fuller consideration, to change my opinions even on important subjects, which I once thought right, but found to be otherwise.

• Benjamin Franklin tells the president of the Constitutional Convention that he does not entirely approve of the Constitution at the present time, but that he is not sure he will never approve it. He points out that he has lived a long time, and in his experience there have been many instances when better information of fuller consideration of a topic have made him change his opinions on important subjects that he had originally thought to be correct. He points out that he finds himself more likely to doubt his own judgment the older he gets, and contrasts his knowledge of his own fallibility with other people’s conviction of their infallibility.

Mr. President, I confess that I do not entirely approve of this Constitution at present; but, Sir, I am not sure I shall never approve it; for, having lived long, I have experienced many instances of being obliged, by better information or fuller consideration, to change my opinions even on important subjects, which I once thought right, but found to be otherwise.

• Benjamin Franklin tells the president of the Constitutional Convention that although he is currently uncertain about the Constitution they have created, he may eventually acknowledge its effectiveness. This is due, he explains, to new information or a different understanding of similarly important topics that have caused him to change his mind in the past.